Epic of Gilgamesh

Examples of Epic of Gilgamesh in the following topics:

• Babylonian Culture

  • In Babylonia, an abundance of clay and lack of stone led to greater use of mudbrick.
  • The use of brick led to the early development of the pilaster and column, and of frescoes and enameled tiles.
  • One of the most famous of these was the Epic of Gilgamesh, in twelve books, translated from the original Sumerian by a certain Sin-liqi-unninni, and arranged upon an astronomical principle.
  • Each division contains the story of a single adventure in the career of King Gilgamesh.
  • The origins of Babylonian philosophy can be traced back to early Mesopotamian wisdom literature, which embodied certain philosophies of life, particularly ethics, in the forms of dialectic, dialogs, epic poetry, folklore, hymns, lyrics, prose, and proverbs.

• The Sumerians

  • The Epic of Gilgamesh mentions several leaders, including Gilgamesh himself, who were likely historical kings.
  • The first dynastic king was Etana, the 13th king of  the first dynasty of Kish.
  • Toward the end of the empire, though, Sumerian became increasingly a literary language.
  • Sumerians believed in anthropomorphic polytheism, or of many gods in human form, which were specific to each city-state.
  • This clay tablet shows a bill of sale for a male slave and building, circa 2600 BCE.

• Harappan Culture

  • The Indus Valley Civilization is the earliest known culture of the Indian subcontinent of the kind we call “urban,” or centered on large municipalities, and the largest of the four ancient civilizations, which also included Egypt, Mesopotamia and China.
  • Harappans were thought to have been proficient in seal carving, the cutting of patterns into the bottom face of a seal, and used distinctive seals for the identification of property and to stamp clay on trade goods.
  • Harappan seals and jewelry have been found at archaeological sites in regions of Mesopotamia, which includes most of modern-day Iraq, Kuwait and parts of Syria.
  • Long-distance sea trade over bodies of water such as the Arabian Sea, Red Sea and the Persian Gulf may have become feasible with the development of plank watercraft, equipped with a single central mast supporting a sail of woven rushes or cloth.
  • One seal from Mohenjo-daro shows a half-human, half-buffalo monster attacking a tiger, which may be a reference to the Sumerian myth of a monster created by Aruru, the Sumerian earth and fertility goddess, to fight Gilgamesh, the hero of an ancient Mesopotamian epic poem.

• Classical Greek Poetry and History

  • In the Western classical tradition, Homer is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest of ancient Greek epic poets.
  • These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.
  • The formative influence of the Homeric epics in shaping Greek culture was widely recognized, and Homer was described as the "Teacher of Greece".
  • The Iliad (sometimes referred to as the Song of Ilion or Song of Ilium) is an ancient Greek epic poem in dactylic hexameter.
  • Explain how epic poetry influenced the development of classical Greek historical texts.

• The Mythical Period

  • There is also evidence of urbanism and the use of early writing by this time.
  • Chinese mythology tells a different story of the beginning of civilization.
  • Although dates of reign are noted, the existence of these emperors occurred before written Chinese history, and are in doubt.
  • While these events are mythological, at the root of them may be ancient memories of very early kings and rulers who emerged among the prehistoric Chinese, similar to the tales of Gilgamesh in Mesopotamia.
  • Portrait of Pangu, the creator of the universe according to Chinese mythology.

• Art and Literature in the Roman Republic

  • Some of the earliest works we possess are historical epics telling the early military history of Rome, similar to the Greek epic narratives of Homer, Herodotus, and Thucydides.
  • Virgil, though generally considered to be an Augustan poet, represents the pinnacle of Roman epic poetry.
  • His Aeneid tells the story of the flight of Aeneas from Troy and his settlement of the city that would become Rome.
  • Lucretius, in his De rerum natura (On the Nature of Things), attempted to explicate science in an epic poem.
  • The most well-known surviving examples of Roman painting consist of the wall paintings from Pompeii and Herculaneum that were preserved in the aftermath of the fatal eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE.

• The Founding of Rome

  • The most familiar of these myths, and perhaps the most famous of all Roman myths, is the story of Romulus and Remus, the twins who were suckled by a she-wolf.
  • Romulus and Remus were purported to be sons of Rhea Silvia and Mars, the god of war.
  • The national epic of mythical Rome, the Aeneid by Virgil, tells the story of how the Trojan prince Aeneas came to Italy.
  • But Virgil took the disconnected tales of Aeneas’s wanderings and his vague association with the foundation of Rome and fashioned it into a compelling foundation myth or national epic that tied Rome to the legends of Troy, explained the Punic Wars, glorified traditional Roman virtues, and legitimized the Julio-Claudian dynasty as descendants of the founders, heroes, and gods of Rome and Troy.
  • The discovery of a series of fortification walls on the north slope of Palatine Hill, most likely dating to the middle of the eighth century BCE, provide the strongest evidence for the original site and date of the founding of the city of Rome.

• Akkadian Government, Culture, and Economy

  • The king was now not only being called "Lord of the Four Quarters (of the Earth)", but also elevated to the ranks of the dingir (gods), with his own temple establishment.
  • Previously a ruler could, like the legendary Gilgamesh, become divine after death but the Akkadian kings, from Naram-Sin onward, were considered gods on earth in their lifetimes.
  • Other daughters were married to rulers of peripheral parts of the Empire (Urkesh and Marhashe).
  • Enheduanna, the "wife (high priestess) of Nanna, the Sumerian moon god, and daughter of King Sargon" of the temple of Sin at Ur, lived c. 2285–2250 BCE and is the first poet in history whom we know by name.
  • Clay seals that took the place of stamps bore the names of Sargon and his son.

• The Mixtec

  • The word "Mixtec" is often used to refer not to the group of people of Mixtec ancestry, but to the family of languages that have developed alongside the group.
  • Important ancient centers of the Mixtec include the ancient capital of Tilantongo, as well as the sites of Achiutla, Cuilapan, and Yucuñudahui.
  • The intricate metalwork of Mixtec goldsmiths formed an important part of the tribute the Mixtecs had to pay to the Aztecs during parts of their history.
  • The best known story of the Mixtec Codices is that of Lord Eight Deer, named after the day in which he was born, whose personal name is Jaguar Claw, and whose epic history is related in several codices.
  • The preservation of these extremely rare codices paints a distinct picture of Mesoamerica right before the arrival of Spanish forces.

• The Caste System

  • These roles and their importance, including the levels of power and significance based on patriarchy, were influenced by stories of the gods in the Rig-Veda epic.
  • One of these four sacred canonical texts, the Rig-Veda, described the origins of the world and points to the gods for the origin of the caste system.
  • The caste system survived for over two millennia, becoming one of the basic features of traditional Hindu society.
  • Although the Constitution of India, the supreme law document of the Republic of India, formally abolished the caste system in 1950, some people maintain prejudices against members of lower social classes.
  • A page of the Rig-Veda, one of the four sacred Veda texts, which described the origins of the world and the stories of the gods.