![]() ![]() Once Enkidu is rejected by the animal world, the woman Shamhat gives him clothing and teaches him to drink beer and eat bread-all technological developments that separate humans from animals. In both stories, a woman is responsible for the transition of a man who had once eaten and drunk with the animals to a state of estrangement from nature. There are particularly interesting similarities between the Garden of Eden story in Genesis and the story of Enkidu’s movement from nature to culture and civilization. In the Epic, the gods create Enkidu, who runs wild with the animals in the open country, as a companion for Gilgamesh. Likewise, the idea that it is mortality-the impetus behind Gilgamesh’s quest-that separates gods and humans is found in other Mesopotamian and Egyptian writings, as well as in Gen 3:22. So when Joseph dreamed of sheaves of corn and bowing stars ( Gen 37:5-11), the author was probably not copying Gilgamesh’s oracular dreams. For example, it was widely believed that dreams could be divinely inspired, cryptic forecasts of the future. ![]() Because of this, it is difficult to state with any certainty that the Epic directly influenced the stories of the Bible. ![]() It shares many motifs and ideas (such as the Flood) with other ancient Near Eastern texts. The Gilgamesh Epic was familiar in the biblical world: copies have been found at Megiddo, Emar, Northern Anatolia, and Nineveh. But the Epic also includes a character whose story bears even more similarities to stories in the Hebrew Bible: Gilgamesh’s possession of a plant of immortality is thwarted by a serpent (compare Gen 3), he wrestles in the night with a divinely appointed assailant who proclaims the hero’s identity and predicts that he will prevail over all others (compare Gen 32:23-32), and he is taught that the greatest response to mortality is to live life in appreciation of those things which make us truly human (compare Eccl 9:7-10). Of these, the best-known is probably the Epic’s flood story, which reads a lot like the biblical tale of Noah’s ark ( Gen 6-9). He had carved his trials on stone tablets.The Epic of Gilgamesh, a literary product of Mesopotamia, contains many of the same themes and motifs as the Hebrew Bible. To the edge of the world and made his way back, exhaustedīut whole. Into the great mystery, the secret places, He had seen everything, had experienced all emotions,įrom exaltation to despair, had been granted a vision He came a far road, was weary, found peace,Īnd set all his labours on a tablet of stone. He brought back a tale before the Deluge. He saw what was secret, discovered what was hidden, He who saw the Deep, the country's foundation,Īnd of everything, the sum of wisdom. He went on a long journey, was weary, worn-out with labour, returning he rested, engraved on a stone the whole story. He was wise, he saw mysteries and knew secret things, he brought us a tale of the days before the flood. This was the man to whom all things were known this was the king who knew the countries of the world. I will proclaim to the world the deeds of Gilgamesh. Some chunks are still completely missing in all versions though.įor a relatively up-to-date literal translation of the standard epic and all related material in verse form, see The Epic of Gilgamesh (1999, translated for Penguin Classics by Andrew George.įirst lines in three English translations: Sandars ![]() Relevant words, lines and verses from earlier versions of the epic The available source material), translators have often inserted Uncovered material, have appeared regularly, either with or without We now have about two-thirds of the Standard Version of the epic, about half of the Old Babylonian epic preserved in up to eight versions, fragments of the Middle Babylonian epic from at least seven sources, and five of the Sumerian poems that provided some of the earliest written contributions to the eventual epic.Ĭomplete new translations of the epic, including the latest Translators have studied all the ancient Gilgamesh-related works, or fragments of works, as they have been brought to light. THE POEM | THE TEXT | THE TRANSLATIONS Filling in the gaps.or not ![]()
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