The Epic of Gilgamesh is, perhaps, the oldest written story on Earth. It comes to us from Ancient Sumeria, and was originally written on 12 clay tablets in cuneiform script. It is about the adventures of the historical King of Uruk (somewhere between 2750 and 2500 BCE).
This poem is described as an epic but in fact it isn't very long, and in this version it is fast-moving and easy to read, as well as being in good metre. The author has skipped some tiresome repetitions whilst keeping enough of them to give you the general idea. I read the poem first, then the interesting introduction by Stephen Mitchell, and then the notes, which last were quite boring but one feels one should. I really recommend it not as an antiquity but as a work of art that one enters into. Here are some extracts from the poem to give a flavour of it.
Story of the civilizing of Enkidu and how Enkidu and Gilgamesh became friends (chap. 1)
"Enkidu sat down at Shamhat's feet.
He looked at her, and he understood
all the words she was speaking to him.
"Now, Enkidu, you know what it is
to be with a woman, to unite with her.
You are beautiful, you are like a god.
why should you roam the wilderness
and live like an animal? Let me take you
to great-walled Uruk, to the temple of Ishtar,
to the palace of Gilgamesh the mighty king,
who in his arrogance oppresses the people,
trampling upon them like a wild bull."
She finished, and Enkidu nodded his head.
Deep in his heart he felt something stir,
a longing he had never known before,
the longing for a true friend. Enkidu said,
"I will go, Shamhat. Take me with you
to great-walled Uruk, to the temple of Ishtar,
to the palace of Gilgamesh the mighty king.
I will challenge him. I will shout to his face:
"I am the mightiest! I am the man
who can make the world tremble! I am supreme!"
Story of the journey to the forest and the killing of Humbaba (chap. 2)
They had reached the edge of the Cedar Forest
They could hear Humbaba's terrifying roar
Gilgamesh stopped. He was trembling.
Tears flowed down his cheeks. "Oh Shamash," he cried
"protect me on this dangerous journey
Remember me, help me, hear my prayer".
They stood and listened. A moment passed.
Then, from heaven, the voice of the god
called to Gilgamesh: "Hurry, attack,
attack Humbaba while the time is right,
before he enters the depths of the forest,
before he can hide there and wrap himself
in his seven auras with their paralysing glare.
He is wearing just one now. Attack him! Now!"
They stood at the edge of the Cedar Forest,
gazing, silent. There was nothing to say.
*****
Knowing he was doomed, Humbaba cried out,
"I curse you both. Because you have done this,
may Enkidu die, may he die in great pain,
may Gilgamesh be inconsolable,
may his merciless heart be crushed with grief."
Story of Ishtar and Gilgamesh, and the Bull of Heaven (chap. 3)
When he returned to great-walled Uruk,
Gilgamesh bathed, he washed his matted
hair and shook it over his back,
he took off his filthy, blood-spattered clothes,
put on a tunic of finest wool,
wrapped himself in a glorious gold-trimmed
purple robe and fastened it with
a wide fringed belt, then put on his crown.
The goddess Ishtar caught sight of him,
she saw how splendid a man he was,
her heart was smitten, her loins caught fire.
"Come here, Gilgamesh," Ishtar said,
"marry me, give me your luscious fruits,
be my husband, be my sweet man.
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Story of the death of Enkidu (chap. 3)
Then Enkidu said to Gilgamesh,
"You who have walked beside me, steadfast
through so many dangers, remember me,
never forget what I have endured."
the day that Enkidu had his dreams,
his strength began failing. For twelve long days
he was deathly sick, he lay in his bed
in agony, unable to rest,
and every day he grew worse. At last
he sat up and called out to Gilgamesh:
"Have you abandoned me now, dear friend?
You told me that you would come and help me
when I was afraid. But I cannot see you,
you have not come to fight off this danger.
Yet weren't we to remain forever
inseparable, you and I?"
*****
When he heard the death rattle, Gilgamesh moaned
like a dove. His face grew dark. "Beloved,
wait, don't leave me. Dearest of men,
don't die, don't let them take you from me."
Story of Gilgamesh's journey to Utnapishtim (chaps. 4-6)
My friend, my brother, whom I loved so dearly,
who accompanied me through every danger -
the fate of mankind has overwhelmed him.
For six days I would not let him be buried,
thinking, "If my grief is violent enough,
perhaps he will come back to life again.
"For six days and seven nights I mourned him,
until a maggot fell out of his nose.
Then I was frightened, I was terrified by death,
and I set out to roam the wilderness.
I cannot bear what happened to my friend -
I cannot bear what happened to Enkidu -
******
and won't I too lie down in the dirt
like him, and never arise again?
That is why I must find Utnapishtim,
whom men call "The Distant One". I must ask him
how he managed to overcome death.
Story of the flood (chap. 5)
Gilgamesh said to Urshanabi,
"Come here, look at this marvellous plant,
the antidote to the fear of death.
With it we return to the youth we once had
I will take it to Uruk, I will test its power
by seeing what happens when an old man eats it.
If that succeeds, I will eat some myself
and become a carefree young man again."
But I would not spoil the story by telling you the next bit.
The oldest surviving texts of this story are in Sumerian and date from about 2100 BC. Sumerian was the learned language of ancient Mesopotamia. A later version was written on clay tablets, of which 11 have been found. This is called the Old Babylonian version, and was written in Akkadian and dates from about 1700 BC. few fragments have been found. Five hundred years after the Old Babylonian version was written, a scholar-priest called Sin-leqi-unninni revised it. This is called the standard version. Stephen Mitchell seems to be able to refer to all of these to help him with his version.
He writes a good introduction too:
The archetypal hero's journey proceeds in stages: being called to action, meeting a wise man or guide, crossing the threshold into the numinous world of the adventure, passing various tests, attaining the goal, defeating the forces of evil and going back home. It leads to a spiritual transformation at the end, a sense of gratitude, humility and deepened trust in the intelligence of the universe. After he finds the treasure or slays the dragon or wins the princess or joins with the mind of the sage, the hero can return to ordinary life in a state of grace, as a blessing to himself and to his whole community. He has suffered, he has triumphed, he is at peace.
The more we try to fit Gilgamesh into the pattern of this archetypal journey, the more bizarre, quirky and post-modern it seems.
That's perhaps why it seems so fresh, and the hero seems more like a vulnerable mortal than the stories of the Greek heroes, who were always slaying things and being very clever with string and shields. But in the end Gilgamesh did learn something through his adventures: he learned he was not nearly so clever and important as he had believed. Which I guess is the beginning of wisdom.
In 1844 excavations began on the mounds of Mosul in Iraq which turned out to be the lost city of Ninevah, the ancient capital of Assyria. Over 25,000 of the clay tablets were shipped back to the British Museum. Oh, we were shockers in those days! We behaved as arrogantly as the oil companies do now - everything we found belonged to us.
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| Incredibly beautiful and sad - I am on the lion's side, and I think the artist is, too, because the men look so unfeeling. |
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| You have got to admire whoever managed to translate this - an amazing achievement |
Post script:
Note: my favourite archaeologist believes it was a good thing we got the clay tablets in safe keeping, she fears they would have otherwise been lost, destroyed or sold.
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