The Epic of Gilgamesh as Translated by Andrew George - Book Report/Review Example

The Epic of Gilgamesh The Epic of Gilgamesh is one of the most important literary works in the history of man. It was the very first surviving work of fiction and may very well be humankind’s first as well. The narrative is estimated to date back from the beginnings of civilization in Mesopotamia and tells of a story of Gilgamesh (an actual historical figure), the fifth king of Uruk, which was a Sumerian city established after the Great Flood. Gilgamesh acquired the city states that surrounded it, eventually forming some kind of a small nation. This work has a right of place in the world’s literature, wrote Nancy Sandars (1972), not only because it precedes the Homeric epic by at least one and a half thousand years, but also because of the quality and character of the story that they tell - a mixture of pure adventure, of morality, and of tragedy. (p. 7) According to Kenneth Rexroth (1986), the Epic of Gilgamesh is a highly developed fictional narrative, stressing that: It is not a myth. Even to call it an epic requires a stretching of the definition. It is more like a novel of modern, individualistic hero than it is like Homer’s Iliad. It is spiritual adventure, a story of self-realization, the discovery of meaning of the personality, of a type that would never change down the four-thousand-year-long history of human imagination… It is modern because it is like a dream of a modern man. (1) This paper will examine this highly significant work and determine how it reflects the society in which it was created and in how it reveals the economic, political, cultural, religious and social structures that defined the Mesopotamian society. Background There are several variations to the Epic of Gilgamesh particularly in the literature of the Hittite, Hurrian, Canaanite, Sumerian and Assyrian. One could even find a hint of Gilgamesh’s repute in the Islamic Koran. The most complete chronicle of the epic was found in Assurbanipal’s library, formed just before the destruction of Nineveh in the seventh century B.C. The story is divided into several chapters or episodes: a meeting of friends, then the forest journey, the flouting of a fickle goddess, the death of Enkidu and the quest for an ancient wisdom and immortality. These episodes demonstrate a single theme that reflects the permeation of pessimism in the Mesopotamian thought, which, according to Sandars, lay partly in the precariousness of life in the city-states. (p. 22) The city-states which are dependent on the vagaries of flood and drought as well as turbulent neighbors; then on the characters of their gods who supposedly have the means to cause such conditions. This is the general reflection that the Epic of Gilgamesh has shown in regard to the Mesopotamian society. The social, economic, cultural and political lives that permeated in the period were all underlying dimensions to the above situation. Early Civilization and the City-State The Epic of Gilgamesh became crucial in shedding light to the development of Sumerian city-states. The Epic is particularly helpful in depicting how city-states were constructed, the significance of the city walls, among other aspects in city-building and early human settlement. Ainslie Embree and Carol Gluck (1997), enlightened us in this aspect: In the period when village farming was developing, movement into the region was characterized by settlement at critical junction points where water access (and eventual control) was ensured. These settlements became centers of cultural activity. (p. 238) As cities started to be constructed, a distinct Mesopotamian civil knowledge in city craft emerged. This is reflected in the Epic during the start of the narrative. Here we are offered a glimpse of Uruk and exhorted to admire its vast expanse, particularly the walls that Gilgamesh built. The listener invited to admire the city of Uruk See if its wall is not (as straight) as the (architect’s) string, Inspect its… wall, the likes of which no one can equal; Touch the threshold-stone – it dates from ancient times. Approach the Eanna Temple, the dwelling of Istar, Such as no later king or man will never equal. Go up on the wall and walk around, Examine its foundations, inspect its brickwork thoroughly. Is not its masonry of baked brick, Did not the Seven Sages themselves lay out its plans? One square mile city, one square mile palm groves, one square mile brick-pits, (and) the Istar Temple… Three square miles and… Uruk it encloses. (From Tablets I and XI: cf. Dalley 1989, 50, 120) J.N. Postgate (1992) noted that, indeed, at Uruk, the city walls actually dates back to the ED period and is in fact 9 kilometers in length, also explaining that the walls itself represented the city’s political identity as much as the city temple represents its religious identity. (p. 74) This is particularly important because at the time of the Epic, a Sumerian city is in itself a state. The Role of Religion The discourse on religion leads us first to the location of Uruk, and of Mesopotamia in general, which is far from desirable. The physical environment was punctuated by bouts of ferocious floods, heavy rainfall, hot winds, as well as lingering oppression of a humid climate. This harsh environment and the resulting conditions, such as the perennial famine, easily convinced the Mesopotamians that surely there are powerful forces at work who are causing such dismal situation. At one point, for instance, Gilgamesh lamented about the floods which causes the earth to tremble and claim the ripeness of the harvest. Because of this, the people started to accept a scheme of things that are governed by powerful cosmic forces they came to identify as the gods and goddesses. With all the deities that the Mesopotamians have conjured to animate all aspects of the universe, religion and the priests became powerful influences in all aspects of the Mesopotamian society during Gilgamesh time. Indeed, according to Duiker and Spielvogel (2006), human relationships became anchored on the gods since subservience is supposedly part of the natural order of things. They said that Mesopotamians believed that: “human beings were created to do the manual labor gods were unwilling to do for themselves. (p. 14) Politics The dynamics of leadership and the significance of warrior kings characterize Mesopotamian civilization in Gilgamesh time. In the narrative we are given insights in regard to how city-states such as Uruk were led by leaders who are able to gather clans and power in such a way that they are able to secure wealth in land and control of water. Gilgamesh, for instance, conquered the surrounding city-states, in effect, enlarging his dominion and control over an expanse of land beside the Tigris. He became renowned not merely because he traced his bloodlines to those of the gods. Rather, he conquered surrounding city-states solidifying his claim to a revered king status. As Uruk became stable and flourished, Gilgamesh stake on the kingship was reinforced. Another important dimension to this fact about leadership in the Epic is how it portrayed state decisions and policymaking. It appears that they were made in light of the advice of both the elders and the young men of the city. Postgate stressed that this practice of duality in political system (at least in terms of policymaking) survived into Old Babylonian times. The prologue of the Epic, underscored the political relationship to religion. Here, the text was already exhorting future rulers - the target of the prologue – to be patient: wait for the gods, do nothing without their say so. (George, p. xxxvi) The epic clearly illustrated that there is no distinction made between the political and religious in ancient Mesopotamia, the political institutions are governed by theocracy, where the king is a ruler and a descendant from god at the same time. The kingship as bestowed by the gods was the central institution in Mesopotamian society. At one point, the Epic said: Whoever you may be, governor, prince or anyone else, Whom the gods may choose to exercise kingship, I have made you a tablet box and written a stone tablet… Behold this stone tablet, Give ear to what this stone tablet says! (George, p. xxxvi) The Mesopotamian kings, however, are not like those rulers in ancient Egypt who saw themselves as gods. As with Gilgamesh, it appears that the Mesopotamian rulers saw themselves as great men who had been chosen by the gods to represent them on earth. From this reading, the gods in the Epic governed through Gilgamesh and that the king, in turn, reported to the gods about the affairs and the conditions of the dominion and sough their advice. The laws are also dispensed by the king as mandated by the deities, however, unlike the Egyptians, the Mesopotamian king must follow the laws as with any ordinary man. These laws, which would eventually consist the famous code of Hammurabi, wrote Perry et al. (2008), provided Mesopotamians with a measure of security. An interesting finding has been suggested by C. Scott Littleton (2005) in regard to the relationship between the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Code of Hammurabi. According to him, it was Hammurabi, who gathered together poets, adapters, and editors to translate the Epic of Gilgamesh from Sumerian language to Babylon’s Akkadian and that the product reflected the more humanistic focus of Hammurabi’s law, which set new economic, social, and political standards for all levels in society in Babylon. (p. 573) Economy Religion also played an important role in the society’s economy as one would find after reading the Epic. The reason is that the local economy extremely benefits from the priestly and commercial hierarchy and economic exchanges that characterize sacrificial cults. The epic depicted some parts that tell us how it is imperative for citizens to sacrifice to the gods in order for them to be safe, for their economy to prosper, to avoid calamities and satisfy individual wishes regarding all of life exigencies. It seemed that the economy in Mesopotamia allowed a greater incidence of private enterprise. This is because trade was not controlled by the state bureaucracy and that priests and merchants, in fact, encourage trade. This dimension to the Mesopotamian public life, as underscored by the Epic of Gilgamesh, highlighted one of the driving factors behind the creation of codes and laws. Due to the importance given on trading activities, governments started to institute regulations to prevent fraud and severe punishment for dishonesty and the creation of system of weights and measures that facilitated trade. The code of Hammurabi previously mentioned is the culmination of this development. Conclusion The Epic of Gilgamesh, as this paper has outlined, is useful because this literary material, as with others found throughout the human history, are crucial in reconstructing their contemporary societies, particularly those that are now lost to us. Specifically, the Epic of Gilgamesh generated information in regard to the world views and perspectives of the Mesopotamians and their social system, from the basest ranks, the lowly peasants, to the lofty nobility. In particular, the Epic have shown how religion permeated in all sectors of the society, influencing how the state is governed, how the economy is conducted, how the culture is directed, and how houses, buildings and walls should be built, among others. Epic tales such as the Gilgamesh narrative, added Allison Thomason, can yield the characteristics of humans particularly those of survival and the interrelationship within a social group. (p. 30) This is perhaps why the Epic is crucial in terms of its capacity to enlighten in regard to the Mesopotamian values and their conceptions of what makes an ideal ruler and more generally, what makes a good individual. All in all, the Epic of Gilgamesh is a testament that literature and any other cultural artifact respond to the political, socio-economic and spiritual movements in the society where it is being produced. Hence, it was helpful in depicting for us the elements that defined the ancient Mesopotamian society. Like other artifacts, the Epic was able to describe, praise, criticize or reject these elements and their trends and developments. References Dalley, S.M. (1989). Myths from Mesopotamia. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Duiker, W. and Spielvogel, J. (2006). World History, Volume 1. Cengage Learning. Embree, A. and Gluck, C. (1997). Asia in western and world history: a guide for teaching. M.E. Sharpe. George, A. (2003). The epic of Gilgamesh: the Babylonian epic poem and other texts in Akkadian and Sumerian. Penguin Classics. Littleton, S. (2005). Gods, Goddesses, and Mythology, Volume 4. Marshall Cavendish. Perry, M., Jacob, M., Jacob, J., Chase, M. and Von Laue, T. (2008). Western Civilization: Ideas, Politics, and Society, Volume I: To 1789. Cengage Learning. Postgate, J.N. (1992). Early Mesopotamia: society and economy at the dawn of history. Taylor & Francis. Rexroth, K. (1986). Classics revisited. New Directions Publishing. Sandars, N. (1972). The epic of Gilgamesh. Penguin Classics, 1972. Read More