The Epic of Gilgamesh consists of tales of an ancient king which started as different stories and poems dating back at least to the Sumerian 3rd Dynasty of Ur (ca 2100BCE).
They were later combined into what is now known as the “Epic of Gilgamesh”, which became a popular piece of literature in ancient Mesopotamia.
There have been a number of slightly different versions of this “epic” which may have been standardised some time between the 13th and 10th century BCE.
It seems to have been a well known piece of literature throughout the Levantine world from northern Anatolia, to Mesopotamia and south into Canaan, with a copy having been found at Megiddo.
Biblical scholars have often found this “epic” of interest due to it containing many of the same themes and motifs as found in the Hebrew Bible.
The Bible and The Babylonia Epic of Gilgamesh Similarities
Within both the Bible and the Epic of Gilgamesh we find tales about a Flood which destroys almost everything.
We also find Gilgamesh possessing a plant of immortality where a serpent deprives him of.
Also, in a similar vein to Jacob in the Bible, Gilgamesh wrestles overnight a divinely appointed assailant, who predicts that Gilgamesh will prevail over all others.
The closest parallels to the Bible and the epic of Gilgamesh can be found in its wisdom text of Ecclesiastes.
In Ecclesiastes the Qoheleth/author writes comments such as lamenting the futility of “chasing after the wind” on a number of occasions.
This is reminiscent of Gilgamesh’s advice to the dying Enkidu:
“Mankind can number his days. Whatever he may achieve, it is only wind”.
Both the Epic of Gilgamesh and Ecclesiastes, wrestle with searching for meaning in the face of mortality.
So Who was This Mysterious Gilgamesh?
He was half god half human.
His mother was a goddess named Ninsumun and his father is generally said to be either Lugal-Banda or some unnamed spirit.
His uterine half-brother is god Dumuzi.
Gilgamesh was the king of Uruk, a city in modern-day Iraq.
He was a dispotic tyrant who mistreated his subjects.
He also raped every woman in his city the night after she got married!
The women of Uruk prayed the gods for help.
Gilgamesh’s grandmother, goddess Aruru, created a human-like being named Enkidu (half man, half beast) and sent it on Earth in order to make Gilgamesh change.
Enkidu at first lived as an animal.
He became a true human being only after he had sex with a priestess called Shamkhat, who taught him the rules of civilization.
Gilgamesh was about to rape a young bride, when Enkidu stopped him.
Enkidu and Gilgamesh started fighting until they preferred kisses over punches and fell in love with each other.
Enkidu and Gilgamesh lived many adventures together, they killed monsters such as Khumbaba and The Bull of Heaven, but by doing so they enraged the gods.
The gods punished Enkidu with death.
Gilgamesh then started fearing death.
He travelled to the limits of the world in search of Umnapishtim and his wife, two humans who became immortals!
On the way he found goddess Shiduri, the alewife, who told him that his quest will be in vain.
According to her, humans should not search for immortality but rather enjoy their earthly life.
Gilgamesh was not convinced by her speech and continued his quest.
He found Umnapishtim, but he could not make him immortal.
He revealed to him the story of the flood, however.
Umnapishtim also told him about a plant granting eternal youth.
Gilgamesh managed to pick up the plant, but a serpent ate it.
Gilgamesh then returned to Uruk, his homeland.
Gilgamesh wrote down his own story on twelve tablets, that were exposed on the gates of his city.
In this way he gained a sort of immortality, since the memory of his actions will last forever.
In the end Gilgamesh died.
Read Also: The Epic Adventures of Nimrod and Gilgamesh
The gods aknowledged his quest for immortality and granted him the privilege of seeing light in the Underworld, which was not possible for other souls.
Gilgamesh’s myth became an inspiration for Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey as well as the creation and flood story retold in the Genesis, the first book of the Bible.
Gilgamesh and Enkidu’s love has been compared to Achilles and Patroclos’s.
But Gilgamesh’s journey also echoes Odysseus’s.
Both Circe and Calypso are similar to the alewife Shiduri.
Enkidu has been compared to Adam.
Shamkhat, like Eve, is a woman who gives her partner knowledge through sex.
The serpent denies Adam immortality and Gilgamesh eternal youth.
It is also believed there were TWO Gilgamesh-es, I and II.
Number two was the one seen on the statue at the Louvre in France.
Gilgamesh 2 was just a conflation of Gilgamesh 1 who was ostensibly a Nephilim (Genesis 6) along with his friend Enkidu.
Some believe Gilgamesh 2 (2nd Book of Gilgamesh) was an offspring of Ham, Noah’s son, and was just copying legends orally handed down from Ham.
Probably a relative of Cush or Nimrod the fathers of the diabolically driven Sumerians who just butchered the real narrative from Ham, who was there at the flood in person!
Many also believe Nimrod and Gilgamesh are the same but after deep research, we can boldly say they are not!
Get ready for more stories from the Mahabharata and The Enuma Elish!
