Interact between acient Mesopotamia and theis enviroment - Essay Example

Interaction between ancient Mesopotamia and the environment The Mesopotamian civilization had a very close connection with nature and environment. They believed in gods of different elements of environment including the god of sun, and the god of winds. The Mesopotamian civilization thought that people on fed on natural diet were physically stronger as compared to others and particularly associated the bulls with strength and strong people were compared to bulls. The people of Uruk were heavily influenced by nature.

This is why they thought of the god of sun and the god of storm as the ones who gave Gilgamesh all the powers that he had. The people believed in a repulsion between animals and humans. This is the reason why the trapper used a woman to seduce Enkidu so that when the animals noticed that Enkidu laid with a woman, they left him. Natural diet including both vegetarian and non-vegetarian diet was considered as the source of strength in the Mesopotamian civilization. “Enkidu ate grass in the hills with the gazelle and lurked with wild beasts at the water-holes” (26).

Eating natural grass was considered as the source of strength as Enkidu was believed to have gained his strength from eating the wild grass of the hills with the gazelle. As Ninsun says to Gilgamesh, “He is the strongest of wild creatures, the stuff of Anu; born in the grass-lands and the wild hills reared him” (28). Likewise, when Enkidu entered Uruk, the people spoke of connections between his strength and the natural diet he consumed; “This is the one who was reared on the milk of wild beasts.

His is the greatest strength” (29). The people of Uruk had a strong belief in the physical strength of animals in general and the bulls in particular which is why Gilgamesh’s strength is compared to that of a wild bull. Similarly, when Enkidu encounters Gilgamesh at the gate of the home where Gilgamesh is about to make love to the bride, the strength of both Gilgamesh and Enkidu is compared to the strength of bulls in these words, “…so they grappled, holding each other like bulls. They broke the doorposts and the walls shook, they snorted like bulls locked together” (29).

When Gilgamesh throws Enkidu during the fight, Enkidu attributes the strength of Gilgamesh to the strength of his mother, “There is not another like you in the world. Ninsun, who is as strong as a wild ox in the byre, she was the mother who bore you…” (29). Concluding, the Mesopotamian civilization considered natural diet including grass and the milk of animals as the source of strength. Natural diet was probably the only but most definitely the most commonly consumed diet. Ox and bulls were considered to be very strong in the Mesopotamian civilization and the people frequently compared the strength of human beings to the strength of bulls.

The Epic of Gilgamesh provides several examples of comparison between the strength of bulls and the strength of Gilgamesh as well as Enkidu.