All nations have their heroes. In ancient Mesopotamia, such a glorified hero was King Gilgamesh - warlike and wise, seeking immortality. Found plaques with inscriptions telling about him are probably the very first monument of literary skill.
Who is Gilgamesh?
The legend of Gilgamesh is also an invaluable source of knowledge about the beliefs of the Sumerians. In ancient Mesopotamia, the king of Uruk (strong and developed at that time a populated city-kingdom) was a cruel Gilgamesh in his youth. He was strong, stubborn, and had no respect for the gods. His strength was so superior to the strength of an earthly man that he could defeat a bull or a lion with one hand, as the biblical hero Samson did. He could go to another part of the world to perpetuate his name; and cross the sea of Death to give people hope for an immortal life on earth.
Most likely, after his death, the people so exalted in the tales of their king that they called him two-thirds god, and only one-third - man. He achieved such veneration thanks to an irrepressible thirst for finding the gods and demanding eternal life. It is this plot that describes the Babylonian legend of Gilgamesh.
This legend of a hero who has experienced many woes in wanderings is analyzed by philosophers and theologians, hoping to find answers to eternal questions about life and death that the Sumerians may have known.
Gilgemesh's friend - Enkidu
Another main character of the epic is the strong Enkidu, who came from the gods to kill Gilgamesh. So cruel was the king of Uruk treating the people that people prayed the supreme goddess to create an adversary for his king, so that the young warrior had much to do with young enthusiasm and militant force.
And the goddess Sumera created at the request of the afflicted half-beast and half-man. And he received the name Enkidu - the son of Enki. He came to fight and defeat Gilgamesh. But when he failed to defeat his opponent in a duel, Enkidu and Gilgamesh resigned to the fact that their mighty forces were the same. Subsequently, Gilgemesh became Enkidu's best friend. And Gilgamesh even brought him to his mother - the goddess Ninsun, so that she would bless the half-beast as a sibling for her son.
Together with Enkidu, the hero went to the country of cedars. Apparently, the country of cedars was called modern Lebanon. There they killed the guard of the cedar forest - Humbaba, for which Enki's son suffered.
According to legend, he died of an illness after 12 difficult days instead of Gilgamesh himself. The king bitterly mourned his close friend. But Gilgamesh himself was destined to continue his journey on earth. The summary of the epic about Gilgamesh gives an idea of how much the friendship with this creature disrespectful to the gods of Gilgamesh has changed. And after the death of this hero, the king was again radically transformed.
Tradition Plaques
Scientists from all countries are interested in the question of where the epic about Gilgamesh was created. The epic was written on clay tablets. There is an assumption that a legend was written somewhere in the 22 century. BC. Found 12 tablets with cuneiform texts at the end of the 19th century. The very first of them (the one that tells of the flood) was found during excavations of the library of the ancient Assyrian king Shurbanipall. At that time, the city of Nineveh was at this place. And now this is the territory of today's Iraq.
And then researcher George Smith recovered in search of other tables in the territory of Ancient Sumer. Altogether there are 12 songs in the epic, each of which contains 3,000 poetic lines of text. Now all these clay tablets are stored in the English Museum of World History.
Later, after the death of D. Smith, other tablets were found and decoded. The Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh was found in Syriac, Akkadian and 2 other ancient languages.
Who recorded the epic: versions
Who wrote the poem, Assyriologists are unknown. The legend of a hero who can bear the most terrible burdens for the sake of a higher goal is the most valuable book of Sumer. Some legends say that Gilgamesh himself, after his arrival from unknown countries, undertook to write with a chisel on clay about his adventures, so that the ancestors did not forget about them. But this is an unlikely version. A poem could be written by a person possessing the thinking of an artist and an artistic syllable, one who believed in the power of words, not weapons.
Someone among the people who had a clear literary talent, combined all the scattered legends into a single story and wrote it in the form of a poem. This poem about Gilgamesh, which has survived to this day, is considered the first literary work.
Summary of the Gilgamesh Epic
The poem about Gilgamesh begins with a description of how the young and jerky king conquered Uruk and refused to obey the king of the city of Kish Agg. Together with the young warriors, he defends his kingdom, orders to build a stone wall around the city. This is the first mention of Gilgamesh. Further, the myth tells of Gilgamesh and the huluppu tree (a willow planted on the banks of the Euphrates River by the gods), in whose trunk the demoness Lilith is hidden. And in the root of the tree planted by the gods, a huge snake buried. Gilgamesh is shown here as a brave defender, who did not allow to defeat the mighty tree, loved by the Assyrian goddess of love Inanna.
When the fertility goddess Ishtar (Isis among the Greeks) appreciated the courage of the young king, she ordered him to become her husband. But Gilgamesh refused, for which the gods sent to the earth a formidable and huge bull, eager to destroy the hero. Gilgamesh, along with a loyal and hardy friend, defeats the bull, as did the giant Humbabu.
And the king’s mother, when he planned the campaign, was extremely alarmed and asked not to go into battle against Humbaba. But still Gilgamesh did not listen to anyone, but decided everything himself. Together with a friend, they defeat the giant protecting the cedar forest. They cut down all the trees, uproot huge roots. Friends did not use these trees for construction or for anything else. Cedars have only some sacred meaning in the epic.
Then, for the murder of the giant and the deforestation of the sacred forest, the gods kill Enkida. He died from an unknown disease. Despite all the pleas, the gods did not have mercy on the half-beast. So tells the Sumerian epic about Gilgamesh.
Gilgamesh puts on rags and sets off on an unknown path in order to find true knowledge of what death is and to implore eternal life from higher powers. He crossed the waters of death, was not afraid to come to its other shore, where Utnapishtim lived. He told Gilgamesh about a flower that grows at the bottom of the Sea of Death. Only one who picks a marvelous flower can extend his life, but still not forever. Gilgamesh ties heavy stones to strong legs, and throws himself into the sea.
He managed to find a flower. However, on the way home he plunges into a cool pond, and leaves the flower on the shore unattended. And at this time the snake steals a flower, becoming younger in the eyes of the hero. And Gilgamesh returned home, defeated by his defeat. After all, he never allowed himself to lose. Here is a summary of the epic about Gilgamesh.
Biblical flood in the legend of Ancient Sumer
The first ruler of the city of Uruk certainly existed. The Gilgamesh myth is not a fiction. However, after millennia, the image of a real person and fiction merged so that today it is not possible to separate these images.
The Gilgamesh poem contains a detailed account of the Flood. Following a path that is open only to the Sun, Gilgamesh comes for answers to his questions to the kingdom of Utnapishtim - the only immortal among people. The great-ancestor Utnapishtim, who knew all the secrets, told him about the terrible flood in antiquity and the ship of salvation built. The prototype of the great-ancestor of Utnapishtim is the Old Testament Noah. How the Sumerians know this story about the Biblical flood is incomprehensible. But according to bible legends, Noah really lived for more than 600 years, and could be considered immortal for representatives of other nations.
Found in the lands that were previously Assyrian, "The Legend of Gilgamesh, who saw everything" is a find of unprecedented significance, as it provides food for thought. This legend is compared in meaning to the "Book of the Dead" of the Egyptian people and even to the Bible.
The main idea of the poem
The idea of the poem is not new. The transformation of the character of the hero is inherent in many old legends. For such studies, the found epic about Gilgamesh is especially valuable. An analysis of the beliefs of the Sumerians, their ideas about life and the gods, their ideas about what life is after death - all this continues to be investigated until now.
What is the main idea traced in the legend? As a result of his wanderings, Gilgamesh does not receive what he was looking for. At the end of the legend, as the myth of Gilgamesh describes, the flower of immortality appears at the cunning snake. But the spiritual life in the hero of the epic is born. From now on, he believes that immortality is possible.
The summary of the epic about Gilgamesh is not subject to strict logical presentation. Therefore, there is no way to trace consistently how the hero developed, what his interests were. But the legend says that Gilgamesh strove for fame like no other. Therefore, he goes to a dangerous battle with the giant Humbaba, from which the hero is saved only by a request to the god Shamash of his mother goddess. God Shamash raises the wind, obscuring the giant's eye, and those helps the heroes in their victory. But Gilgamesh again needs fame. He goes on. It goes into the waters of death.
Nevertheless, at the end of the poem, the king finds peace of mind when he sees the almost finished walls around the kingdom of Uruk. His heart rejoiced. The hero of the epic discovers the wisdom of being, which tells of the infinity of the soul, working for others. Gilgamesh is relieved - he was able to do something for future generations.
He listened to the advice of the gods that was given to him in the garden: man is mortal in nature, and you need to value your short life, to be able to enjoy what is given.
Analysis of some philosophical issues raised in the epic
The heir to the throne and the hero in such an ancient source as the poem about Gilgamesh goes through various trials and is transformed. If at the beginning the king appears in the image of an unbridled, wayward and cruel young man, then after the death of Enkidu he is already capable of deep hearted sorrow for a friend.
For the first time realizing the futility of existence, fearing the death of the body, the hero of the poem turns to the gods to find out the secrets of life and death. From now on, Gilgamesh cannot just rule his people, he wants to learn about the secret of death. His soul comes to complete despair: how could the indefatigable strength and energy in the body of Enkidu perish? This fire of the soul leads the hero farther from his native land, gives strength to overcome unprecedented difficulties. This is how the epic about Gilgamesh is interpreted. The philosophical problems of being and non-being are also highlighted in these verses. Especially in the passage that says about the lost flower, supposedly granting the coveted immortality. This flower is clearly a philosophical symbol.
A deeper interpretation of this epic is a transformation of the spirit. Gilgamesh from a man of the earth turns into a man of heaven. The image of Enkidu can be interpreted as the bestial instincts of the king himself. And the fight against him means a battle with oneself. Ultimately, the king of Uruk conquers his lower beginning, acquires the knowledge and qualities of the character of the being by two-thirds of the divine.
Comparison of the Gilgamesh epic with the Egyptian Book of the Dead
A bright allusion can be found in the story of Gilgamesh crossing through the waters of the dead with the help of Charon. Charon in Egyptian mythology is a deep, skinny old man who carries the deceased from the mortal world to another world and receives payment for this.
The legend of Gilgamesh also mentions what the world of the dead is according to the beliefs of the Assyrians. This is an oppressive spirit abode, where water does not flow, not a single plant grows. And a person receives payment for all acts only during his lifetime. Moreover, his life is obviously short and meaningless: "Only the gods with the Sun will remain forever, and man - his years are numbered ..."
The Egyptian "Book of the Dead" is a papyrus, where various spells are recorded. The second section of the book is devoted to how souls enter the underworld. But if Osiris decided that the soul did more good, she was released and allowed to be happy.
Gilgamesh after communication with the gods sent back to his world. He bathes, puts on clean clothes, and although he loses the flower of life, is in his native Uruk a renewed, sanctified blessing.
Epic translated by Dyakonov
Russian Orientalist I.M. Dyakonov in 1961 began to translate the epic. In his work, the translator relied on V.K. Shileika. The epic about Gilgamesh was the most accurate for him. He worked a lot of ancient materials, and by this time it was already known to the scientific world that the prototype of the hero still existed.
This is a valuable literary and historical document - an epic about Gilgamesh. Dyakonov's translation was reprinted in 1973 and again in 2006. His translation is the mastery of a philological genius, multiplied by the value of an ancient legend, a historical monument. Therefore, all those who have already read and appreciated the Babylonian legend, the legend of Gilgamesh, reviews about the book left wonderful.