Epic of Gilgamesh, is the earliest known literature in the world. The earlies version of this ancient Sumerian legend is believed to be composed at approximately 2100BC. It is a series of poems and Sumerian legends, the most complete version we have today, preserved on 12 clay tablets from the library of the Assyrian king from 7BC. The entire epic is composed as a series of poems.
Needless to say, this is indeed an extremely valuable piece of literature. This fascinating and bizzare story is centred on Gilgamesh, king of Uruk. He is a demi-god whose strength is unmatched, with impressive physical build and handsome features. Gilgamesh oppressed the citizens of Uruk in two ways: in the form of claiming the right to the first night of any newly wedded bride. The second form of oppression is by taxing young men's strength in all sorts of useless physical activities and labors. The citizens of Uruk cried out to their gods for help, the gods responded by creating Enkidu. A primitive and wild man whose strength can match that of Gilgamesh's to be his rival. He was spotted by a hunter, who informed Gilgamesh of the pending threat. In response to the threat, Gilgamesh sent a seductress to Enkidu, who was seduced and became civilized. However, Enkidu made a journey into the city, and fought a great battle against Gilgamesh, only to acknowledge Gilgamesh's superiority in strength. The two became close friends, and made a perilous journey to slay Hambaba, the deadly orge of the Cedar Forest. They succeed, but before the orge died, he cursed Enkidu to die a horrible death. The duo returned to the city of Uruk, where the Goddess Ishtar (sounds familiar? King Nebuchadnezzar II build the Gate of Ishtar, dedicated to the Goddess Ishtar in 575BC, the gate is indirectly mentioned in the Book of Daniel from OT) attempted to seduce Gilgamesh. After Gilgamesh refused her advancement, Ishtar became furious, and stormed to her father, borrowed the Bull of Heaven in attempt to kill Gilgamesh. The bull wrcked havoc in Uruk, but Gilgamesh and Enkidu, with their combined efforts they manged to kill the bull.
As the heroic duo celebrated, the gods became angry with them for killing Humbaba and the Bull of Heaven. As a punishment, one of them had to die. Enkidu was then struck with illness that eventually took his life. Seeing his friend's death, Gilgamesh was saddened about his friend, and at the same time became greatly distressed about his own, future death. After a great lamentation, Gilgamesh left Uruk, dressed in animal skins and wandered the wild in search of eternal life. He searched for Utnapishtim, who knew the secret of immortality and was amongst the few survivors who survived a "great flood" (sounds familiar? Let's talk about this later). On his journey, Gilgamesh killed a few lions and took the skins for cloth. After a dangerous journey, Gilgamesh arrived at the end of the earth, where the entrance was guarded by two horrible scorpion men. He convinced the scorpion men to reveal the location of Utnapishtim, and braved the trial of the Path of Sun in complete darkness, and completed the path before the sun caught up with him. At the other end, Gilgamesh finally arrived at the garden of paradise, and found the ferry man Urshanabi to help him to cross the sea to see Utnapishtim. Urshanabi was accompanied by stone giants. Gilgamesh thought the stone giants were hostile and killed the giants, the only creatures that can help him cross the Water of Death (deadly to touch).
Urshanabi came up with an alternative plan, and after following Urshanabi's instructions. Gilgamesh crossed the sea and finally found Utnapishtim. Utnapishtim told Gilgamesh that, an obsession to avoid the natural death of human will only take away his joy in life. However, he also told Gilgamesh in order to obtain immorality, Gilgamesh must first pass a trial of no sleeping for 6 days and 7 nights. Due to weariness from long travels, Gilgamesh fell asleep, therefore failing the test. Utnapishtim asked his wife to bake one bread a day while Gilgamesh is asleep, so he cannot deny his failure. Gilgamesh woke, and realizing that he will never be able to defeat death, because he cannot even defeat sleep. Utnapishtim told the ferryman to take Gilgamesh back. However, as a parting gift, Utnapishtim told Gilgamesh that there is a special plant at the bottom of the sea, that will replenish his youth. Gilgamesh was overjoyed, dived into the water and retreived the plant. However, as he emerge from the water, a serpent stole the plant and shed its skin as it departs (strange isn't it? Does that sound familiar to you?). After the magical plant was stolen, Gilgamesh wept as all hopes for immortality was gone and his efforts were ultimately futile. He then returned to Uruk, where he realized that he will only be remembered as long as the massive walls of Uruk shall stand.
So there you have it, a summary of Epic of Gilgamesh. As a Christian, the element of the story that struck me the most is how fearful human beings are of death. By reading Epic of Gilgamesh, I realized that people today are no different to people who lived 4500 years ago in ancient Mesopotamia. All are fearful and dreadful of our own eventual, inevitable death. In the epic, Gilgamesh used his mighty power, and braved dangerous roads and perilous tasks in attempt to gain immortality. Only to fail miserably despite his great efforts,
In modern-day atheist belief, they said we can come to peace with death if we can acknowledge that life is but an accident, and has no purpose. But I think the biggest problem with the atheist belief is that it means ultimately, there is just no point to life. So if life really is just an accident, then what difference does it make if we die now or later? Why not die now and make it easier for ourselves? Actually, why not just destroy the world and put life out of existence, I mean, it's not like the world is an awesome place to be anyway right?
However, as a Christian, the Bible has confirmed that through accepting the grace of God, through accepting that Jesus Christ is my lord and savior. His death and resurrection has ensured me an eternal life with the author of life, God. Also, salvation does not come through works (Ephesians 2:8-9), but through having faith in Jesus Christ. Any good works we do are responses and expressions of our love to the grace of God who had mercy on us, with the intention to love others. See, how good is that? If Gilgamesh was a real person and is standing in front of me, I wonder how he would react if I tell him the good news of Jesus Christ.
In this ancient Sumerian legend, the mighty king of Uruk Gilgamesh, embarked a perilous journey and braved dangerous trials all for the sake of obtaining eternal life. He exerted great efforts by using his unparalleled strength and courage. Yet, ultimately his efforts were all futile and he lamented that he shall "live" only as long as his mighty deeds are remembered by the people. However, Jesus Christ, is standing at our doorways right now, knocking at our doors calling us to let him in. He wants to give us eternal life, and we don't even have to slay lions, fight stone giants and cross the deadly, poisonous water to get it. Because salvation in Jesus Christ is a gift! All we need to do is, open the door, admit that we are sinners, accept Jesus as our lord and savior, and invite Him inside into our hearts and trust Him! How good is that? Has there ever been a better news than the Gospel?
After reading Epic of Gilgamesh, I have several interesting questions in mind, and I think it would be a fascinating research to do:
1) I wonder if there is a co-relation between the "Great Flood" mentioned in Gilgamesh and the flood mentioned in the book of Genesis. Because in Gilgamesh, Utnapishtim (the immortal dude who survived the flood) received a vision with instructions from the gods to build a giant ship, therefore survived the flood. In the Bible, Noah built the ark according to the instruction from God. I wonder if the flood in both Gilgamesh and Genesis are referencing to the same event, a flood that took place in the Mesopotamian region 4500 years ago?
2) In Genesis, the serpent tempted Adam and Eve to sin, which is to eat the fruit from the tree of knowledge in the garden of Eden. In Epic of Gilgamesh, a serpent stole the magical plant that could have replenished Gilgamesh's youth. It seems there is a common theme where serpents somehow caused people to loose their eternal life. I wonder if Epic of Gilgamesh drew inspiration from Genesis, or if both Epic of Gilgamesh and Gensis are inspired by an earlier and more ancient account, probably passed down through oral tradition?
Anyway, I am really glad that I have read Epic of Gilgamesh, an ancient classic that carries great historical significance as Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, Morte d'Arthur and Beowulf. It is a fantastic story and now I can say that I've read the oldest piece of written literature in all human history!
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