The Epic of Gilgamesh
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Load more
Recommended publications
-
The Epic of Gilgamesh Humbaba from His Days Running Wild in the Forest
Gilgamesh's superiority. They hugged and became best friends. Name Always eager to build a name for himself, Gilgamesh wanted to have an adventure. He wanted to go to the Cedar Forest and slay its guardian demon, Humbaba. Enkidu did not like the idea. He knew The Epic of Gilgamesh Humbaba from his days running wild in the forest. He tried to talk his best friend out of it. But Gilgamesh refused to listen. Reluctantly, By Vickie Chao Enkidu agreed to go with him. A long, long time ago, there After several days of journeying, Gilgamesh and Enkidu at last was a kingdom called Uruk. reached the edge of the Cedar Forest. Their intrusion made Humbaba Its ruler was Gilgamesh. very angry. But thankfully, with the help of the sun god, Shamash, the duo prevailed. They killed Humbaba and cut down the forest. They Gilgamesh, by all accounts, fashioned a raft out of the cedar trees. Together, they set sail along the was not an ordinary person. Euphrates River and made their way back to Uruk. The only shadow He was actually a cast over this victory was Humbaba's curse. Before he was beheaded, superhuman, two-thirds god he shouted, "Of you two, may Enkidu not live the longer, may Enkidu and one-third human. As king, not find any peace in this world!" Gilgamesh was very harsh. His people were scared of him and grew wary over time. They pleaded with the sky god, Anu, for his help. In When Gilgamesh and Enkidu arrived at Uruk, they received a hero's response, Anu asked the goddess Aruru to create a beast-like man welcome. -
Understanding Gilgamesh: His World and His Story Aims Toward This Process of Communication
University of Pretoria etd – De Villiers, G (2005) UNDERSTANDING GILGAMESH: HIS WORLD AND HIS STORY by GEZINA GERTRUIDA DE VILLIERS submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree DOCTOR LITTERARUM (SEMITIC LANGUAGES) in the FACULTY OF HUMANITIES at the University of Pretoria SUPERVISOR : PROF GTM PRINSLOO Pretoria October 2004 University of Pretoria etd – De Villiers, G (2005) CONTENTS Pag CHAPTER 1 : INTRODUCTION 1-1 1. Motivation for research 1-2 2. Research problem 1-4 3. Hypothesis 1-5 4. Purpose for research 1-5 5. Methodology 1-6 5.1. Source-orientated inquiry 1-6 5.2. Discourse-orientated analysis 1-7 5.2.1. Epic: poetry or prose? 1-7 6. Premises 1-9 7. Contents 1-12 CHAPTER 2 : THE STANDARD BABYLONIAN GILGAMESH EPIC 2-14 1. The narrative 2-15 CHAPTER 3 : THE SOURCE HISTORY OF THE EPIC OF GILGAMESH 3-38 1. The Sumerian past 3-38 1.1. General background 3-38 1.2. Cities 3-40 1.3. Animals 3-45 1.4. Kings 3-46 1.5. Theology 3-49 2. Sumerian literature: the five poems on Bilgames 3-56 2.1. Obscure origins: did the king really exist? 3-56 2.2. The poems 3-58 2.3. The function of the Sumerian poems 3-71 3. From frivolous frolic to academic achievement: entertainment to literature 3-72 University of Pretoria etd – De Villiers, G (2005) 3.1. Writing 3-72 3.2. From Sumerian to Akkadian 3-74 3.3. The Sumerian Renaissance 3-76 3.4. The end of Ur III and the Isin-Larsa period 3-79 3.5 Babylon 3-81 3.5.1. -
The Epic of Gilgamesh
Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-88094-7 - The Cambridge Companion to the Epic Edited by Catherine Bates Excerpt More information 1 A. R. GEORGE The Epic of Gilgamesh Introduction The name ‘Epic of Gilgamesh’ is given to the Babylonian poem that tells the deeds of Gilgamesh, the greatest king and mightiest hero of ancient Mesopotamian legend. The poem falls into the category ‘epic’ because it is a long narrative poem of heroic content and has the seriousness and pathos that have sometimes been identified as markers of epic. Some early Assyri- ologists, when nationalism was a potent political force, characterized it as the ‘national epic’ of Babylonia, but this notion has deservedly lapsed. The poem’s subject is not the establishment of a Babylonian nation nor an episode in that nation’s history, but the vain quest of a man to escape his mortality. In its final and best-preserved version it is a sombre meditation on the human condition. The glorious exploits it tells are motivated by individ- ual human predicaments, especially desire for fame and horror of death. The emotional struggles related in the story of Gilgamesh are those of no collective group but of the individual. Among its timeless themes are the friction between nature and civilization, friendship between men, the place in the universe of gods, kings and mortals, and the misuse of power. The poem speaks to the anxieties and life-experience of a human being, and that is why modern readers find it both profound and enduringly relevant. Discovery and recovery The literatures of ancient Mesopotamia, chiefly in Sumerian and Babylonian (Akkadian), were lost when cuneiform writing died out in the first century ad. -
Mesopotamian Epic."
' / Prof. Scott B. Noege1 Chair, Dept. of Near Eastern Languages and Civilization University of Washington "Mesopotamian Epic." First Published in: John Miles Foley, ed. The Blackwell Companion to Ancient Epic London: Blackwell (2005), 233-245. ' / \.-/ A COMPANION TO ANCIENT EPIC Edited by John Miles Foley ~ A Blackwell '-II Publishing ~"o< - -_u - - ------ @ 2005 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd BLACKWELL PUBLISHING 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148-5020, USA 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK 550 Swanston Street, Carlton, Victoria 3053, Australia The right ofJohn Miles Foley to be identified as the Author of the Editorial Material in this Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988, without the prior permission of the publisher. First published 2005 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd 1 2005 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A companion to ancient epic / edited by John Miles Foley. p. cm. - (Blackwell companions to the ancient world. Literature and culture) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 1-4051-0524-0 (alk. paper) 1. Epic poetry-History and criticism. 2. Epic literature-History and criticism. 3. Epic poetry, Classical-History and criticism. I. Foley, John Miles. II. Series. PN1317.C662005 809.1'32-dc22 2004018322 ISBN-13: 978-1-4051-0524-8 (hardback) A catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library. -
Gilgameshgilgamesh
HalloweenHalloween (All(All --HallowsHallows --Eve)Eve) SunsetSunset Oct.Oct. 3131 toto SunsetSunset Nov.Nov. 11 Roots: Gaelic (Ireland, Scotland) pagan festival of Samhain (sau:in ) and the Christian holy day of All Saints. Old Irish “summer’s end,” the end of the lighter half of the year and the beginning of “the darker half.” Festival of the dead. Ancient Gaels: The border between this world and the otherworld became thin on Samhain, allowing spirits, both harmless and harmful, to pass through. SamhainSamhain Some animals are being slaughtered and plants are dying. Bonfires : People and livestock walk between them as a cleansing ritual; bones of slaughtered animals are cast into the flames. Costumes and masks are worn to copy the spirits or placate them. Young men with masked , veiled or blackened faces, dressed in white. Shamhnag —turnips which were hollowed out and carved with faces to make lanterns —were also used to ward off harmful spirits. SamhainSamhain 22 Was also called F eile Moingfhinne (meaning “festival of Mongfhionn,” a goddess of the pagan Irish worshipped on Samhain) . In medieval Ireland , a principal festival celebrated with a great assembly at the royal court in Tara, lasting for three days. Places are set for the dead at the Samhain feast and stories and tales of the dead are told of the ancestors. Guishers —men in disguise, were prevalent in 16 th century. Children going door to door “guising” in costumes and masks carrying turnip lanterns and offering entertainment in return fo r food or coins was traditional. SamhainSamhain 33 Divination is a common folkloric practice that has survived in r ural areas. -
The Epic of Gilgamesh
The Epic of Gilgamesh 47 The Epic of Gilgamesh Perhaps arranged in the fifteenth century B.C., The Epic of Gilgamesh draws on even more ancient traditions of a Sumerian king who ruled a great city in what is now southern Iraq around 2800 B.C. This poem (more lyric than epic, in fact) is the earliest extant monument of great literature, presenting archetypal themes of friendship, renown, and facing up to mortality, and it may well have exercised influence on both Genesis and the Homeric epics. 49 Prologue He had seen everything, had experienced all emotions, from ex- altation to despair, had been granted a vision into the great mystery, the secret places, the primeval days before the Flood. He had jour- neyed to the edge of the world and made his way back, exhausted but whole. He had carved his trials on stone tablets, had restored the holy Eanna Temple and the massive wall of Uruk, which no city on earth can equal. See how its ramparts gleam like copper in the sun. Climb the stone staircase, more ancient than the mind can imagine, approach the Eanna Temple, sacred to Ishtar, a temple that no king has equaled in size or beauty, walk on the wall of Uruk, follow its course around the city, inspect its mighty foundations, examine its brickwork, how masterfully it is built, observe the land it encloses: the palm trees, the gardens, the orchards, the glorious palaces and temples, the shops and marketplaces, the houses, the public squares. Find the cornerstone and under it the copper box that is marked with his name. -
Gilgamesh: He Who Saw All. California Univ., Berkeley. Office Of
DOCUMENT RESUME ED 460 918 SO 033 302 TITLE Gilgamesh: He Who Saw All. INSTITUTION California Univ., Berkeley. Office of Resources for International and Area Studies. PUB DATE 2000-00-00 NOTE 15p.; Part of History through Literature in the 6th/7th Grade Core Curriculum Fall 1999 and Spring 2000 Institute. AVAILABLE FROM Office of Resources for International and Area Studies (ORIAS), 2223 Fulton Street, Rm. 338, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-2306. Tel: 510-643-0868; Fax: 510-643-7062; e-mail: [email protected]. For full text: http://ias.berkeley.edu/orias/gilgamesh.html. PUB TYPE Guides Classroom Teacher (052) EDRS, PRICE MF01/PC01 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Ancient History; *Curriculum Development; Curriculum Enrichment; Foreign Countries; Grade 6; Grade 7; Intermediate Grades; Junior High Schools; Middle Schools; Social Studies; *World Literature IDENTIFIERS Babylonia (Sumer); *Gilgamesh ABSTRACT The historical Gilgamesh was a Sumarian king of Uruk around 2700 B.C. Sumarian fragments of the legend that grew up around him have been found dating back to about 2000 B.C. These lesson plans on Gilgamesh were developed during the Office of Resources for International and Area Studies (ORIAS) summer institute on history through literature, in which 6th and 7th grade teachers shared resources and sketched plans for introducing epic heroes and villains from the ancient and medieval worlds. A bibliography of basic books on the Ancient Near East was supplied for the lessons by Dr. John Hayes. The first lesson, "Gilgamesh Lives" (Deborah Petranek), was developed for the sixth grade and needs three to four weeks for completion. -
Desire, Discord, and Death : Approaches to Ancient Near Eastern Myth / by Neal Walls
DESIRE, DISCORD AND DEATH APPROACHES TO ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN MYTH ASOR Books Volume 8 Victor Matthews, editor Billie Jean Collins ASOR Director of Publications DESIRE, DISCORD AND DEATH APPROACHES TO ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN MYTH by Neal Walls American Schools of Oriental Research • Boston, MA DESIRE, DISCORD AND DEATH APPROACHES TO ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN MYTH Copyright © 2001 American Schools of Oriental Research Cover art: Cylinder seal from Susa inscribed with the name of worshiper of Nergal. Photo courtesy of the Louvre Museum. Cover design by Monica McLeod. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Walls, Neal H., 1962- Desire, discord, and death : approaches to ancient Near Eastern myth / by Neal Walls. p. cm. -- (ASOR books ; v. 8) Includes bibliographical references and indexes. ISBN 0-89757-056-1 -- ISBN 0-89757-055-3 (pbk.) 1. Mythology--Middle East. 2. Middle East--Literatures--History and crticism. 3. Death in literature. 4. Desire in literature. I. Title. II. Series. BL1060 .W34 2001 291.1'3'09394--dc21 2001003236 Contents ABBREVIATIONS vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS viii INTRODUCTION Hidden Riches in Secret Places 1 METHODS AND APPROACHES 3 CHAPTER ONE The Allure of Gilgamesh: The Construction of Desire in the Gilgamesh Epic INTRODUCTION 9 The Construction of Desire: Queering Gilgamesh 11 THE EROTIC GILGAMESH 17 The Prostitute and the Primal Man: Inciting Desire 18 The Gaze of Ishtar: Denying Desire 34 Heroic Love: Requiting Desire 50 The Death of Desire 68 CONCLUSION 76 CHAPTER TWO On the Couch with Horus and Seth: A Freudian -
The Epic of Gilgamesh
COREComp. by: PG0963 Stage : Proof ChapterID: 9780521880947c01 Date:29/ Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk 11/09 Time:13:00:38 Filepath:H:/01_CUP/3B2/Bates-9780521880947/ ProvidedApplications/3B2/Proof/9780521880947c01.3d by SOAS Research Online 1 A. R. GEORGE The Epic of Gilgamesh Introduction The name ‘Epic of Gilgamesh’ is given to the Babylonian poem that tells the deeds of Gilgamesh, the greatest king and mightiest hero of ancient Mesopotamian legend. The poem falls into the category ‘epic’ because it is a long narrative poem of heroic content and has the seriousness and pathos that have sometimes been identified as markers of epic. Some early Assyri- ologists, when nationalism was a potent political force, characterized it as the ‘national epic’ of Babylonia, but this notion has deservedly lapsed. The poem’s subject is not the establishment of a Babylonian nation nor an episode in that nation’s history, but the vain quest of a man to escape his mortality. In its final and best-preserved version it is a sombre meditation on the human condition. The glorious exploits it tells are motivated by individ- ual human predicaments, especially desire for fame and horror of death. The emotional struggles related in the story of Gilgamesh are those of no collective group but of the individual. Among its timeless themes are the friction between nature and civilization, friendship between men, the place in the universe of gods, kings and mortals, and the misuse of power. The poem speaks to the anxieties and life-experience of a human being, and that is why modern readers find it both profound and enduringly relevant. -
UNIVERSITY of CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO a Tale of Love And
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO A Tale of Love and Revenge An Interpretation of the Epic of Gilgamesh A thesis submitted in partial satisfaction of the Requirements for the degree Master of Fine Arts in Visual Arts by Elmira Mohebali Committee in charge: Professor Babette Mangolte, Co-Chair Professor Ricardo Dominguez, Co-Chair Professor Norman Bryson Professor Page duBois Professor Mariana Wardwell 2014 Copyright Elmira Mohebali 2014 All Right Reserved The MFA thesis of Elmira Mohebali is approved and it is acceptable in quantity and form for publication on microfilm and electronically: _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ Co-Chair _________________________________________________ Co-Chair University of California, San Diego 2014 iii Dedicated to My Mother, Jamileh Piran. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Signature Page …………………………………………………………… iii Dedication………………………………………………………………… iv Table of Contents …………………………………………………………. v Abstract of the Thesis….…………………………………………………. vi Introduction.....…………………………………………………………….. 1 Love Letter #1....…………………………………………………… 3 The Epic of Gilgamesh Through the Ages....………………………………………………………. 5 Love Letter #2....…………………………………………………… 10 Gilgamesh Epic as Presented The Original Plot....……………………………………………………….. 11 Empathizing with a Goddess Finding Inanna/Ishtar Within…….……………….…………………….. 14 Love Letter #3....…………………….……………….……… 17 My Version of the Epic -
CHARACTER DESCRIPTION Gilgamesh- King of Uruk, the Strongest of Men, and the Perfect Example of All Human Virtues. a Brave
CHARACTER DESCRIPTION Gilgamesh - King of Uruk, the strongest of men, and the perfect example of all human virtues. A brave warrior, fair judge, and ambitious builder, Gilgamesh surrounds the city of Uruk with magnificent walls and erects its glorious ziggurats, or temple towers. Two-thirds god and one-third mortal, Gilgamesh is undone by grief when his beloved companion Enkidu dies, and by despair at the fear of his own extinction. He travels to the ends of the Earth in search of answers to the mysteries of life and death. Enkidu - Companion and friend of Gilgamesh. Hairy-bodied and muscular, Enkidu was raised by animals. Even after he joins the civilized world, he retains many of his undomesticated characteristics. Enkidu looks much like Gilgamesh and is almost his physical equal. He aspires to be Gilgamesh’s rival but instead becomes his soul mate. The gods punish Gilgamesh and Enkidu by giving Enkidu a slow, painful, inglorious death for killing the demon Humbaba and the Bull of Heaven. Aruru - A goddess of creation who fashioned Enkidu from clay and her saliva. Humbaba - The fearsome demon who guards the Cedar Forest forbidden to mortals. Humbaba’s seven garments produce a feeling that paralyzes fear in anyone who would defy or confront him. He is the prime example of awesome natural power and danger. His mouth is fire, he roars like a flood, and he breathes death, much like an erupting volcano. In his very last moments he acquires personality and pathos, when he pleads cunningly for his life. Siduri - The goddess of wine-making and brewing. -
Atra-Hasis: a Survey
Grace Theological Journal 12.2 (Spring, 1971) 3-22 Copyright © 1971 by Grace Theological Seminary. Cited with permission from ATRA-HASIS: A SURVEY JAMES R. BATTENFIELD Teaching Fellow in Hebrew Grace Theological Seminary New discoveries continue to revive interest in the study of the ancient Near East. The recent collation and publication of the Atra-hasis Epic is a very significant example of the vigor of this field, especially as the ancient Near East is brought into comparison with the Old Testa- ment. The epic is a literary form of Sumero-Babylonian traditions about the creation and early history of man, and the Flood. It is a story that not only bears upon the famous Gilgamesh Epic, but also needs to be compared to the narrative of the Genesis Flood in the Old Testament. The implications inherent in the study of such an epic as Atra-hasis must certainly impinge on scholars' understanding of earth origins and geology. The advance in research that has been conducted relative to Atra- hasis is graphically apparent when one examines the (ca. 1955) rendering by Speiser1 in comparison with the present volume by Lambert and Millard.2 Although Atra-hasis deals with both creation and flood, the pre- sent writer has set out to give his attention to the flood material only. Literature on mythological genres is voluminous. Therefore the present writer will limit this study to a survey of the source material which underlies Atra-hasis, a discussion of its content and its relation to the Old Testament and the Gilgamesh Epic. James R.