The Epic of Gilgamesh.. A review

Few months back, I got the chance of reading the EPIC OF GILGAMESH...and extracted some interesting facts from it...so here goes...

Brief account of the Epic of Gilgamesh

Gilgamesh was an oppressive ruler of the Sumerians, whose people called to the gods to send an archenemy. Enkidu, the uncivilized demigod, was sent for it. The king sent a harlot to “civilize” the savage enemy. Later, the enemies became friends and went out on many adventures. They enraged the gods and Enkidu got killed. Gilgamesh now feared death. Searching for immortality, he met Utnapishtim, the immortal man, who rescued from the global flood. Gilgamesh asked for immortality but could not attain it. In the end, he dreams of Enkidu who tells him about the world of the dead.

Linking the “Gilgamesh” and the “Genesis”

The epic of “Gilgamesh” is an extraordinary piece of literature. Its characters, incidents, different events related to divine beings; all

are appealing and compel the reader to continue till the end. This epic has strong (factual or superficial) connections with some classic ancient happenings and the hidden meanings rooted within the Biblical statements. It is also hypothesized that the manuscripts of the Babylonian epic of Gilgamesh were quite similar to the Biblical records in Hebrew; so it could be possible that they had a somewhat common origin (Alexander Heidel. The University Of Chicago Press, Chicago & London).A theory even states that the Epic of Gilgamesh was written in about 2000 B.C., while the incident of the flood of Genesis was recorded in 400 B.C.; pointing towards the fact that Bible got records of some events from the Babylonian account. Below are two of the most pondered upon Biblical incidents, comparing them with the Babylonian writings.

A. Comparison of “Enkidu’s civilizing” and “the sin of Adam and Eve”:

The epic of “Gilgamesh” bears a story of an uncivilized, savage semi-god, Enkidu, sent on the Earth to rid the people from a ruthless king, Gilgamesh. Enkidu was a wild animal from all aspects. His strength was unmatched; equal to that of the Gods, unless he met a harlot named Shamhat. She seduced and attracted him, resulting in broken connection with the nature and loss of strength. He became a civilized man. In another saga, a man living alone in the natural setting, a Heaven, meets a woman. They commit a sin and face God’s anger, resulting in expulsion from the paradise; sounds familiar? Yes, this is the story of Adam and Eve. The Biblical version states that their sin was the stealth of a fruit from the “forbidden tree”, and God threw them down on the Earth. After that, man formed a civilization in the world. The scholars and Biblicists, when comparing these two incidents, find certain resemblances and various differences between them.

Similarities:

Creation and purpose Adam was made from wet soil, so was Enkidu. The purpose of their creation was to serve the God/s.

Before civilization Both Adam and Enkidu, before civilization, were wild. They had no sense of covering the body, thus wore no clothes and lived among the animals.

First companion and civilization Both were uncivilized and knew nothing about the human behavior unless encountered by a woman. Enkidu found the company of Shamhat, a harlot, while Adam met Eve, his very first companion. As a result, they got civilized.

Before the first mistake Adam enjoyed every blessing of the God, had the whole Eden as his home and could do everything there, except one thing, taking fruit from a “forbidden tree”. Enkidu, too, enjoyed the strength of a demigod, who never committed a sin before he met Shamhat.

The mistake The point which arouses curiosity is that what was the “forbidden tree”? The most probable answer to it would be sex. Many scholars have pointed it out that Adam and Eve never knew of sex, until they made the grave mistake. It is also stated in various versions of the Bible, that after committing the sin, their “differentiating organs” became prominent. See the connection?  In “Gilgamesh”, Shamhat is a temple prostitute, who is given the duty of “civilizing” Enkidu. Later, Enkidu curses her for bringing him to civilization. It is also believed that later, in order to prevent sex from becoming a common ritual in the society, it was declared a sin and prohibited in the Bible.

Differences:

The creators In the “Gilgamesh”, a goddess created Enkidu, while in “Bible” it is stated that God created Adam. 

The contrary beliefs In the Babylonian article, intercourse was not believed as an offense, though Gilgamesh’s oppression of sleeping with newly wed brides was a sin for the gods. While for Adam and Eve, their first sin, as assumed by the scholars, was sex, so it was forbidden for all.

Punishments Gilgamesh got an archenemy descended from the gods, because of his sins including forced sex, but Enkidu was not punished for being “civilized” by having intercourse with a harlot. Contrarily, Adam and Eve were banished from the Eden, forever.

Conclusion

Though both accounts seem similar, we can not say that any of these is completely true or false. These may have common origin or belong to totally variant sources. The real fact is yet to be unveiled.

B. Floods of the “Genesis” and the “Gilgamesh”; how similar, how different?

Who is not aware of the flood of the “Genesis”? Similar in many ways, different as well, the two ancient incidents have mystified most of the readers and scholars, raising doubts regarding the origin and factuality of the two. Following are the resemblances noted by various scholars in the two materials.

Reason for flood The Gods in both the legendary stories sent flood in the world in rage.

The floods were worldwide The flood occurred worldwide, taking along with it every living and non living being. Even the huge mountains were covered with water. 

The God/s warned the most pious and righteous man Utnapishtim, in the “Gilgamesh” was warned by the God Ea, and in the “Genesis”, Noah was given a straight caution about the coming flood by the God Yahweh.

Order to build an ark In “Gilgamesh”, Utnapishtim was ordered by the God Ea; and Noah in the “Genesis”, was told by the God Yahweh, about the only way of survival i.e. by building and staying in a huge ark.

Similar beings inhabited the ark A big similarity in the two incidents is the kind of people who boarded the ark. The God Ea in the “Gilgamesh” told Utnapishtim to take with him his family, some righteous people and pairs of species of all animals and birds on the land. Similarly, Noah was given orders by the God Yahweh to take his family and a pair of each variety of birds and animals on the ark

A great rain/flood covered the earth In the “Gilgamesh”, a terrifying flood came, enveloping the whole land, and drowning every being with it. In the “Genesis”, the flood was terribly disastrous too. It also took away everything with it, living or non-living. After the flood, every living being turned to clay.

Same anchoring region of the arks The arks ion both writings stopped at the mountains in the Middle East. In the “Genesis”, the ark stopped near Mount Ararat. While the boat in the “Gilgamesh” landed near the Mount Nimush ( also quoted as Nisir).

Release of birds In the “Gilgamesh”, the birds were released by Utnapishtim to check the vicinity of dry land; and in “Genesis”, Noah also released two birds, among which, the dove did not return the second time.

Sacrifice by the main character After getting off the ark, the hero of the epic thanked the Gods and showed his gratitude with a sacrificed animal. In the “Genesis”, Noah sacrificed one of every clean animal and bird to please the God Yahweh. In the “Gilgamesh” epic, Utnapishtim sacrificed a sheep, offering it to the Gods with wine.

The heroes were blessed Utnapishtim in the “Gilgamesh” was blessed by the Gods, and the God Enlil granted him and his wife with immortality. Moreover, the Gods told Utnapishtim to repopulate the earth. For this, 14 other humans were also sent. In the “Genesis”, Noah and his wife” were blessed by the God and was ordered to give birth to more humans on the Earth.

Repentance of the God/s The God/s felt repentance on their uncontrolled wrath; Noah’s God, Yahweh, though never showed any regret but promised never to send such a calamity again, and Utnapishtim’s Gods cried and apologized for the devastation they had caused. (“Mistress of the Gods wailed: The olden days have alas turned to clay, because I said evil things in the Assembly of the Gods! How could I say evil things in the Assembly of the Gods, ordering a catastrophe to destroy my people?” Gilgamesh Tablet XI).

The writings also have minute differences. They are given as under:

Varying reasons for God/s’ wrath: In the epic of “Gilgamesh”, the humans annoy the Gods with their intolerable ruckus. So they choose unanimously to get rid of all the messy mankind at once. On the other hand, the humans in “Noah’s Genesis” enrage the God because of their immoral deeds. So the God Yahweh (or Jehovah) decides to exterminate the sinful mankind from the world.

Mode of warning The “Gilgamesh” hero Utnapishtim, received a warning about the flood from the God Ea through dreams; while in the “Genesis” Noah received a direct revelation from the God Yahweh. Noah warned his neighborhood, while Utnapishtim was told to tell lie to the city folks.

Time taken to build the ark Noah’s ark was built in 100 years, while Utnapishtim’s ark was constructed in 7 days.

Different aspects of the ark Noah's ark was just 3 stories high and rectangular in shape, as recorded in the “Genesis”. Two estimated dimensions are 547 x 91 ft. and 450 x 75 ft. The Babylonian ark, according to the “Gilgamesh”, was 6 stories high and square. The Gilgamesh boat was an unseaworthy cube with a slate roof. In contrast, Noah’s ark had dimensions that were ideal for a seaworthy ship.

Additional people in Babylonian ark Utnapishtim invited additional people on the ark: a pilot and some skilled workmen, along with his own family, but Noah took only his family by the orders of the God.

Different landing points of the arks Though both the arks, as per quoted in their respective stories, landed in the Middle East, but their mountains vary. Noah's ark landed on Mt. Ararat; Utnapishtim's on Mt. Nimush; these are in the same region, but located few hundred miles apart.

Type of flood In the “Gilgamesh”, the flood was caused by heavy rain. On the contrary, the “Genesis” mentions heavy rain with ocean water emerging outward in the form of flood. 

Duration of the calamity The “Genesis” states that the flood lasted for forty days. But the “Gilgamesh” points out that the flood lasted for six days.

Different birds There is also a small difference noted regarding the birds released by the heroes of the accounts. Noah released a raven once and a dove twice, the dove did not return when sent for the second time; while Utnapishtim released three birds: a dove, a swallow and a raven. It was the raven that did not return.

Ways of being blessed Noah and Utnapishtim both showed proper reverence to the gods and were rewarded. The Gilgamesh epic says that the Utnapishtim was blessed with immortality, while Noah was not made immortal. Conclusion Religions and cultures are formed, reformed, adopted and revived with time. The similarities or difference between the two legends, the “Gilgamesh” and the “Genesis”, do not, thus, depict flaws in any of them, nor is this the reason for their comparison. Frank Lorey, an author at the Institute for Creation Research, wrote: "The Epic of Gilgamesh, then, contains the corrupted account as preserved and embellished by peoples who did not follow the God of the Hebrews." The comparative studies are made just for the sake of enhancement of knowledge and broadening of viewpoints. As for the stories, no one knows the complete truth, but He, the Ultimate Almighty.

Namra Nasir