The first literature, the must-read: Gilgamesh
Posted by Dave Bath on 2007-08-10
If you read only one story to wrestle with your human nature as an ordinary person, or your duties as a leader, it’s a tale from the dawn of writing, uncluttered by the complications we’ve created for ourselves in nearly 5000 years, when you were well-off if you possessed a woven cloth large enough to cover yourself.
My shortened version is below.
Then, the only issues to write about were the fundamentals that still challenge us:
- Living, only to die
- The (then relatively recent) separation of humans from nature
- The role of true leaders
- Justice, including treatment of prisoners.
It’s also a ripping yarn, the first story of our civilization, the adventures of the first superhero.
If you don’t know what I’m referring to, let me give you a (very) short version of the story of Gilgamesh (or Bilgames), an (exaggerated) account of the 2700 BCE (approx) King of Uruk (in modern Iraq), when writing couldn’t describe action or emotion, merely tally sheep and bricks. About 500 years later, writing matured, and tales of Gilgamesh formed the standard training of scribes and moral education of middle-eastern rulers for well over a thousand years.
The Young King
Gilgamesh, Uruk’s king,
two parts god, one part man
had superhuman strength,
but was still mortal.
Not an evil king, he didn’t
understand his people couldn’t:
dig canals as fast as he,
play sport as hard as he,
make love all night.
Uruk’s exhausted people
prayed for a saviour.
Man of Nature, Man of Society
Enkidu was very strong,
lived in the wild with animals,
saved them from traps,
ate grass,
knew no speech.
A priestess-prostitute
was sent to "tame" him.
Her perfumes rubbed on Enkidu,
then animals shunned him.
Enkidu, dejected,
returned to the priestess,
shown clothes, beer and bread,
then to Uruk he was led.
Hearing cries of worn-out townsfolk,
Enkidu long wrestled Uruk’s lord.
The king was delighted
on finding an equal,
took Enkidu as brother,
was gentler to his people.
Adventure, Injustice
Seeking adventure and Lebanon’s cedar,
Gilgamesh and Enkidu travelled long,
skirting flames from dragon’s caves,
(seeping oil, lit by lightning).
Trapping Humbaba, the
demon forest warden,
Enkidu urged death to the
tree-loving monster.
Some say Enkidu
killed the bound captive.
Some say Gilgamesh
followed his friend’s lead.
Home the heroes took the cedars,
dressing them for temple doors.
Drought
The Goddess Inanna,
advances spurned by Gilgamesh,
sent a drought, her
"Bull of Heaven", that
dried the rivers,
baked the earth,
killed the crops,
broke the city.
Gilgamesh and Enkidu,
working together,
killed the Bull,
saved the city.
Death, Grief
Angry Inanna, her dear Bull killed,
pleaded with the other gods,
called for death to
Enkidu and Gilgamesh.
They marked only Enkidu,
killer of a captive,
for slow, wasting death,
then dusty shadow.
Enkidu died.
Gilgamesh, grief-stricken,
saw his own mortality,
fled city for the wild.
Long he wandered,
hair became matted,
his only clothes were
dog skin scraps
rudely sewn together.
Quest for Immortality
Fearing death, wanting life eternal
Gilgamesh crossed half the world
seeking the only man
granted immortality for
building an ark,
saving men and animals,
from seven day’s rain
and world-engulfing flood.
"If you can’t conquer sleep
then you can’t conquer death"
the sage said to the wanderer,
then tested the former king.
Gilgamesh failed.
But Utnapishtim softened,
told him of a magic plant,
hiding in sharp shell,
found on ocean’s floor.
Gilgamesh thanked the sage,
searched for the charm,
gained it for a moment,
lost it to a snake.
Resolution
Finally Gilgamesh,
gaining understanding,
went back to his kingly tasks,
shepherd to his people.
"Only good names
live through eternity.
Look at the walls I built:
long will they guard my city.
Look at Uruk’s central square:
marvel at it’s paving,
not of sun-dried mud and straw
but oven-fired brick."
Archæologists are still finding and translating other parts of Gilgamesh lore, so the Penguin edition is at least twice the size of the 70 page version of my youth.
Another story, not part of the classic 12-tablet version, describes the heroes’ defence of Uruk from the army of a superpower (Uruk was a middleweight).
Gilgamesh captures the enemy king, without a major battle, then offers him friendship, lets the enemy army go home, rather than kill or enslave them. These supplementary tales were favorites of young scribes for nearly 1500 years: Gilgamesh gained his immortality.
Notes
I have not followed the classic 12-tablet structure (which starts and ends with praise for Gilgamesh’s infrastructure and wisdom), and have but hinted at a few episodes (the flood and ark story being the most notable). I’m no poet, my condensation doesn’t parse well, but the short sharp lines and unsophisticated language should give you a hint of the originals and the better translations.
- Historical titbits
- In ancient Sumeria, Inanna (a.k.a. Ishtar, a.k.a. E-anna) was usually embodied in the town’s high priestess, with "Inanna " and king consummating the symbolic marriage of church and state once a year.
- Gilgamesh’s mother, Ninsun, is another "goddess" in the epic, but was probably a retired "Inanna ".
- Humbaba is sometimes known is Huwawa
- Useful background
- Selected translations/reworkings
There are many translations, many freely available on the internet, but newer ones are more complete.- Kramer’s translation is perhaps the most poetic of the close translations, and the book includes example versions transliterated into our alphabet so you can hear the rythms of the original poetry, but I cannot find a reference on the web.
- The best widely-available version is the NEWER Penguin edition, translated by Andrew George (Amazon)
- Stephen Mitchell’s version is discussed, in comic form, book and available free on the web, which includes a comic-strip "essay" speech by the author on the themes and moral subtleties (e.g. "monsters" can have attractive qualities and deserve mercy)
- A good primary children’s picture-book three-volume series (a few sentences per page, 30 pp per volume) has been written by Ludmila Zeman: Gilgamesh The King covers the story until Gilgamesh and Enkidu become friends, The Revenge of Ishtar, and The Last Quest of Gilgamesh
- A musical version by Tony Garone, with good summaries of the story and characters, sets of links.
Bruce said
I’ve been reading the bit about the possible shared origins between Noah and Utnapishtim. Not sure what I think yet although I’m entertaining the notion of them being two stories derived from the same inspiration.
Have to look into it more really, but I’m (vaguely) aware of a paleogeological theory that points to a flood that probably happened at the right time so as to inspire the Noah narrative. Not sure about Utnaposhtim though, would have to check the dates.
Will pester you with more if I find more.
Dave Bath said
It’s worth remembering that Abraham left “Ur of the Chaldees” which was another power near Uruk, long after Gilgamesh, and the flood story was old at the time of Gilgamesh.
The giveaway is that later stories tend to be exagerrated: the 7 days rain (of the Gilgamesh) verses the 40 days rain (of the Jewish tradition) is thus suggestive that the Sumerian tradition is older.
While the flood stories are the most interesting to the public, I think the focus on basic human questions is the more important, and the more powerful part of the series of poems. The major theme is perhaps the ultimate question facing sapient beings: “I am alive, but will die, so what’s the point? It seems unfair!”
Personally, I think JWH could learn from Gilgamesh about the importance of infrastructure (what has he done?) and the need for justice even to adversaries (Gitmo, extraordinary rendition, etc).
The most current theory about the inspiration for the flood story is the inundation of the Black Sea when a wall between the Mediterranean and the valley that was to be the Black see crumbled. From memory, this was about 5000 BCE. There is some evidence of town structures under the black sea, and calculations show that the flood would have risen at something like the speed of a human running. If you were a ultra-marathon runner you might have made it.
Bruce said
Ahah… You’ve been doing your homework. Although less a crumbling wall and more the movement of the North Anatolian Fault. ;-)
Dave Bath said
It’s a beauty to scare the fundamentalist Christian door-knockers: sucker them with an “I’m a scientist and look for evidence”, they come out with the flood, and then you go for “reporter closer to the time” argument, and conclude with “so according to your reasoning, we should be worshipping Ishtar, El and Enlil….” and then they run away and never come back!
The “Black Books” scene where the bookshop owner drags in the christians and corrects them repeatedly is sooooo accurate when it comes to the knowledge of most Christians on theological and Middle Eastern history questions.
Heh heh heh!
Ann El Khoury said
Dave, did you write the short version? Great stuff! I’m bookmarking this.
Dave Bath said
Ann
Yep, I wrote the short version. While I’m moderately happy with it, it still needs work for tighter scanning. Despite that, I think I have captured some sense of the flow of the original with short tight feet and mixed length of stanzas. I’m particularly happy with the 1-liners (”Enkidu died”, “Gilgamesh failed”) for key events.
If you feel like pointing out where the scanning is ugliest, let me know, and I’ll try to improve things.
It’s quite an old article, but seems to be getting hits from people generally searching for info on the net rather than blog-readers. I’m chuffed at this.
Thanks again for the compliment.
Nigel Carney said
I would love to read the gilgamesh epic having just completed the 64 dvd series of the Mahabharat..steeped in ancient wisdoms as well and in stark contrast to modern day story telling…i tried watching TV on sat night and realised that sat nite is murder nite…every channel was obsessed with murder…anyway..its great that these epics have survived and I will be on the look out a copy…here is rhapsodicas wrap up of the mahabharat family tree and the encoded elements
http://rhapsodicablog.copley.org.au/?p=43
I recently watched a documentary on Mesopatamia (IRAQ) which claimed it was the place where language was first uncovered challenging by belief that it was in fact in the northern hemisphere the Indus Valley (Rahjistan area)…and it now turns out the rock glyph libraries language sets contain not only specific instructions but also story narrative.
Dave Bath said
Actually, both Gilgamesh and Indus literature may be more recent than literature encoded on perishable material (e.g. embroidered on cloth) – and mud is more perishable than rock. It will be interesting to see what turns up when the floor of the black sea is properly investigated – there seems to be evidence of VERY old settlements there.
From my (limited) exposure to the Mahabharata, I couldn’t see anything that was so basic as nature/urban or life/death: the subject matter of the great bharat implies a very complicated social structure that would have needed fairly sophisticated background in writing to survive.
Nigel Carney said
Nature/urban is well covered in the epic, the forest was always the place of retreat for penance and meditation with the sages…so too was life/death…krishna was of course very connected to nature as were those born of the bharat lineage…the most moving image of death was the time of the great battle when arjun is in doubt about his duty to against his own family particularly the great protector of the throne Bishma who was granted the boon of choosing the time of his own death…the recital of the bhagvad gita in the middle of the battle field by krishna was the key point of the story…again highlighting the importance of duty in the face of death on the battle field…the social structure was dynastic but the lesson from the failure of King Dhritarashter to act with honour, was that filial love should never come before the needs of the society (George Bush could be equated to the Duryodhan…the inevitable product of his own fathers lack of adherence to ethics) thankfully the Pandavas prevailed and would once again honour the time honoured lore of the bharat…and everyone lived happily ever after…(the split of bharat in modern times betweens Pakistan and India seems to be the modern day sequel)..lets just hope they have the good sense not to unleash the divine weapons…another moral lesson in that great saga.
Dave Bath said
Nigel,
Here’s why the nature/urban bit is SO old in Gilgamesh. The Mahabharata (AFAIK) doesn’t go over the issue of someone who is in a STATE of nature – one who doesn’t know speech, eats grass, and that animals treat as another animal.
The life/death issues in Mahabharata (AFAIK) don’t go into the “I’m alive, and I’m going to die, why? what is death?”
Krishna’s lessons, and the subject matter, require a much more sophisticated civilization (and language), with the battle dated between around 3.5 to 4 millenia ago, while Gilgamesh the King is dated 4.7 millenia ago. The pantheon is also Aryan (the same basic mob of cow-loving, male-pantheoned horse riders that invaded Europe and destroyed earlier religions dominated by goddesses). In Gilgamesh’s time, only asses had been domesticated – horses were still considered untameable.
My favorite bit of M is where Yudhishtira won’t enter heaven if he can’t bring the dog.
As to Dhritarashtra, he just couldn’t see the point of kingship rules ;-)
Even disregarding actual dates, the value of the Gilgamesh epic is that the culture of the day, while recognizably urban, was still wrestling with basic ideas that were relatively “uncorrupted” by many of the artificialities invented since.
Nigel said
Dave,
Well you have inspired me to read the epic so I can get to the core of this and better grasp this raw affinity with nature of which you speak. My enthusiasm with the M epic is also biased on account I have a crush on Draupadi who was so full of fire (well she arrived out of a fire!) representing the pride and honour of the goddess and never let go until justice was done…and she could wash away the insult on her unbraided hair with karnas blood, kindly collected by Bhim. In many ways she was the reminder/inspiration for the Pandavas leading up to the battle…I do recall Yudhishtira going to heaven but in the version I watched he went solo…I suppose 64 hours was the compressed version and unfortunately fido must have been figured out of the story.
Dave Bath said
Nigel:
(1) Gonna have to borrow the 64 hr version
(2) No doggie???!!!!???? But that’s critical!!!! When Y refuses heaven because he cannot bear to leave poor little doggie alone, there’s a flash of smoke, dog turns into Krishna, who says what a good boy Y is, having just passed the test of compassion.
(3) So, …, when is your very very very short version of M appearing on your website?
Nigel said
Dave,
You are welcome to the 64 hr version but you need to realise the India Gramaphone Company must have had problems retaining sub-titlers and the ones they did retain always kept between a 30 and 60 second lag between image and sound, meaning what you are reading is not what you are watching…this causes a brain meltdown for approximately 4 hours after which it becomes less of a problem, the brain learns to cope…as long as you are willing to endure the test of the most mis-matched subtitles in the history of film you are welcome to the series.
I was pipped to the post so will not be crunching the epic – the whole truth has been reduced to its elements post viewing at rhapsodica http://rhapsodicablog.copley.org.au/?p=43 According to this V, V, V, short version Y was epitimising the element of truth (not compassion) which became a paradox on the battlefield when Krishna convinced Y to lie to sage Drona about the death of Drona’s son. Sahadev was the agent of compassion but I cant remember him making a trip to heaven…let alone without the Krishna canine test of fido-elity!
…all hands on deck at spontaneous productions to launch the ‘bureau of probable statistics’…after important 911 statistics were leaked by that office to the rosettamoon site!
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