Gilgamesh

Figure of Gilgamesh in the palace of Sargon II (Museum of the Louvre).

Gilgamesh or Gilgamesh (Akkadian: 𒄑𒂅𒈦, Gilgameš, /ɡɪl.'ɡa.meʃ/ formerly 𒄑𒉈𒂵𒈩 Bilgamesh), also known as Istubar, was a ruler of the Sumerian city of Uruk (present-day Warqa, in Iraq) and a hero of Mesopotamian mythology. According to the Sumerian Royal List, Gilgamesh, son of the goddess Ninsun and a priest named Lillah, was ruler of the Kulab district and king of Uruk. Around the year 2750 B.C. he succeeded Lugalbanda, reigned for 126 years and left the throne to his son Ur-Nungal, who ruled for 30 years.Early scholars of the Sumerian language misread his name as Izdubar .

He has achieved fame mainly as the protagonist of the Gilgamesh Epic, considered the oldest literary work in the world. The poem recounts his achievements, accompanied by his friend Enkidu, and his quest of immortality after his death.

Epic of Gilgamesh

The paleo-Babylonian legend about this king tells that the citizens of Uruk, seeing themselves oppressed, asked the gods for help, who sent a character named Enkidu to fight against Gilgamesh and defeat him. But the fight becomes very even, without a clear winner. Eventually, Enkidu acknowledges Gilgamesh as king, and the two fighters become friends. Together they decide to go on a long journey in search of adventure, in which they face fantastic and dangerous animals.

In his absence, the goddess Inanna (known to the Babylonians as Ishtar and later as Astarte) watches over and protects the city. Inanna declares her love to the hero Gilgamesh, but he rejects her, provoking the wrath of the goddess, who in revenge sends the Bull of storms to destroy both characters and the entire city. Gilgamesh and Enkidu kill the Bull, but the gods are enraged by this fact and punish Enkidu with death. Very saddened by the death of his friend, Gilgamesh turns to a sage named Utnapishtim (Ziusudra in Sumerian, which can mean 'he of the Remote Days'), the only human, along with his wife, whom the Gods saved from the Universal Flood and granted immortality. Gilgamesh appeals to him to grant him eternal life, but Utnapishtim tells him that this gift has only been granted once to a human, and that it will not happen again, just like the Deluge.

Finally, Utnapishtim's wife asks her husband, as a consolation for his journey, to tell Gilgamesh where to locate the plant that restores youth (but not life or eternal youth). The wise man relents and reveals that the plant is in the depths of the sea. Gilgamesh decides to go in search of it and indeed finds it, but on his way back to Uruk he takes a bath, and when he leaves the plant aside, a snake steals it (based on the fact that snakes shed their skin, and that is why return to youth). The hero returns to the city of Uruk, whose magnificence is described at the end of the poem.

According to journalistic sources, in 2001, in a group of tablets from Iraq, the Assyriologist Giovanni Pettinato would have read a different ending to the epic, according to which Gilgamesh committed suicide upon returning to Uruk, burying himself alive with eighty members of his cut.

The figure of Gilgamesh remains valid because the desire that moves him is universal (to escape death), and therefore the lesson he receives is universal: that immortality is an exclusive gift of the gods and it is folly to aspire to she. The reader of any age is also moved by the hymn to sacred friendship contained in the work, which probably influenced Homer's Iliad.

Cuneiform references

In the Epic of Gilgamesh it is said that he ordered the construction of the legendary walls of Uruk. In historical times Sargon I of Acad boasted of having destroyed those walls to demonstrate his military might. Many scholars have pointed out that the myth of the Flood included in the Epic of Gilgamesh constitutes a clear precedent for the biblical story of the universal flood that is narrated in Genesis.

Fragments of an epic text found in Me-Turan (today Tell Haddad) say that Gilgamesh at the end of his days was buried under the waters of the Euphrates River, after diverting its course. In April 2003, journalistic notes indicated that a German expedition would have discovered, in the ruins of Uruk, indications of this fact.

Despite the lack of direct evidence, most scholars are not opposed to considering Gilgamesh a historical figure, especially since inscriptions have been found confirming the historical existence of other figures associated with him, such as the kings Enmebaragesi and Aga of Kish. If Gilgamesh really existed, he probably lived in about the 27th century BCE. C. Some of the oldest Sumerian texts cite his name as Bilgamesh . Initial difficulties in reading cuneiform meant that in 1891 Gilgamesh's name was read: Izdubar.

In most texts, the name Gilgamesh is preceded by the determinative for divine beings (DINGIR). However, there is no evidence of a contemporary cult, and the Sumerian Gilgamesh myths suggest that deification occurred later (unlike the case of the Akkadian god-kings).

Immortality concept

The concept of immortality present in the epic refers to a divine quality reserved for the Mesopotamian gods of that time. According to the text:

"When the gods created men

They decreed that they were destined to die,

and have preserved immortality in their hands." (column III)

We can analyze a key point between the mortal-immortal relationship and its god-man equivalence.

Consequently, immortality is forged with great value in the Mesopotamian culture where man is in a constant search to achieve it and avoid the suffering that death entails and enjoy the pleasures that were offered in the ancient world. Therefore a tenable cause can be found for the obsession with the achievement of immortality, according to Kramer:

"The Sumerian thinkers said that life is full of uncertainty and that man can never enjoy complete security, as he is unable to foresee the fate that has been assigned to him by the gods, whose designs are unpredictable. After death, man is nothing more than an impotent and wandering shadow in the dark darkness of Hell, where "life" is nothing more than a miserable reflection of earthly life. [...] they accepted as a great immediate truth that man had been created by the gods only for their profit and pleasure, and that, therefore, could not be regarded as a free being; for them, death was only the reserved gods.

On the other hand, from the epic there are two key factors to achieve immortality, which are: desire and objective.

In desire, is the motivation on the part of man to achieve his goal from the need to satisfy his pleasures; the desire to possess what is wanted becomes a primitive impulse for the subject. In the text, we find that the scribe refers to this temptation to fulfill his mission:

"Look at the strong man who desires immortality:
The dream, like a furious wind, has wrapped it." (Column III)

The feeling of achieving immortality is Gilgamesh's greatest wish. Therefore, it becomes his priority to reach it. In the objective, reference is made to the goal set by the individual to fulfill his desire regardless of the means or obstacles he encounters on the way. This is evidenced when:

At the bottom of the water there is a plant similar to the thorny bark,

and that he shall prick, like the rosal, and smite thee;

if your fingers catch it, you will possess immortality!(Column III)

Gilgamesh makes the decision to go after the plant despite the physical damage that this action could cause him; At that moment his desire is very great and he overcomes the obstacles, which leads him to fulfill his goal. From this, the concept of immortality can be taken into account to apply it in Mesopotamian society, which was considered by historians as a civilization based on religion, where each member fulfilled their role in relation to it.

In context, the inhabitants of Mesopotamia created a lifestyle around their beliefs, they built large temples to worship their gods and it was believed that these divinities lived there, which were attended by priests. The mythology of this civilization was characterized by idolizing a superior being with unlimited power, infinite wisdom and above all immortals.

According to National Geographic, "The Mesopotamian gods had the appearance, qualities and defects of men, having been conceived in human likeness. They were largely a reflection of the society that had created them. In other words, it was a transposition to a heavenly level of what was happening in the earthly world. The gods ate, fought, loved, married and had a family like any other man. But there was a notable difference: death was unknown to them" (2001). Therefore, his immortality was a characteristic of superiority. Therefore, "the gods received all kinds of care, as they were groomed and dressed and adorned with jewels in a display of indescribable ostentation." They were even taken out for a walk in a procession, generally as part of the celebration of certain religious festivities, the most important of which was New Year" (Bottero, 2001).

Summary

In summary, the development of the concept of immortality in the ancient Mesopotamian cities can be known thanks to the epic of Gilgamesh, which was written approximately in 2500 BC. C. and it is the first text that gives us detailed information about one of the most influential kings in the history of Uruk, who, thanks to his journeys, undertakes one last journey in search of immortality. It can be seen that this search is undertaken due to a strong motivation for the death of Enkidu. In the epic, it is briefly related that the gods possess this valued virtue since creation, which is exclusively reserved for them. To conclude, the concept of immortality can be taken and appreciated as a by-product of religion, which is considered sacred due to its divine attributes and is essential for the structuring of Mesopotamian civilization. In addition, immortality is considered one of the highest virtues that ancient man can achieve due to his direct and intimate relationship with the gods.