MARCIEGAMBETTA
Marcie Gambetta
English 231
Epic of Gilgamesh
Tablets 9-11
Reading Journal 14
10/15/14
FIRST THOUGHTS
My first thoughts about reading the Epic of Gilgamesh tablets are a little bittersweet because it is ending. I am looking forward to the conclusion and to see if Gilgamesh is ultimately able to overcome his hardships. I am also a little anxious and hope today's work will go much smoother. It was very frustrating yesterday when I was forced to start from scratch and redo everything because my computer completely crashed when I was trying to upload my work, deleting all of my work.
QUOTES
From Tablet 9 - "When the gods created man they allotted to him death, but life they retained in their own keeping. As for you, Gilgamesh, fill your belly with good things; day and night, night and day, dance and be merry, feast and rejoice. Let your clothes be fresh, bathe yourself in water, cherish the little child that holds your hand, and make your wife happy in your embrace; for this too is the lot of man."
In this quote Siduri, the tavern keeper, is painting a picture. She is trying to dissuade Gilgamesh from spending his life pursuing an unattainable goal. She tells him he should instead, find joy in what he has and make the most of it, to appreciate the good things, and celebrate his life. The Bible says, all men are appointed to die and their days are written in the Book of Life. (Hebrews 9:27, Ecclesiates 3:2, Psalm 139:16) It also discusses, how we should be happy and rejoice in the day the Lord has made. (Psalm 118:24, Nehemiah 8:10)
From Tablet 11 - "Abandon wealth and seek living beings! Spurn possessions and keep alive living beings!"
This quote is from Ea, who as I showed in the first reading journal I did for Epic of Gilgamesh is part of a Triad and has similarities to Jesus and the Trinity. Ea tells Utanapishtim to abandon his wealth and seek living beings. During his ministry, Jesus, repeatedly tells people to not to be materialistic, to sell their possessions and give to the needy. (Luke 12:33, Proverbs 11:24-25, Mark 10:21) They are both showing something that should be true to us today. It is important not to value material items because they can be taken away in an instant and mean nothing, what is truly important are people and our relationships with them. (Job)
From Tablet 11 - "Then, at last, Ishtar also came, she lifted her necklace with the jewels of heaven that once Anu had made to please her. 'O you gods here present, by the lapis lazuli round my neck I shall remember these days as I remember the jewels of my throat; these last days I shall not forget.'"
This quote from Tablet 11 is a very obvious one, but I thought it was a good one to discuss. After, Utanapishtim gave his sacrifice, the god Istar appeared and gave this pledge. This is pretty similar to the story of Noah in the Bible. After the waters had receded, he gave an offering. (Genesis 8:21) God then sent a rainbow as a reminder of his promise to never destroy the earth again by flood. (Genesis 9:11-14) Istar's necklace could be considered a rainbow, it is made of various rainbow colored jewels and "lifts" it up (like a rainbow). She uses this rainbow necklace that she had lifted up to also make a pledge to remember and never do this again.
QUESTIONS
What does Utanapishtim tell his wife about all men?
Utanapishtim tells his wife not to trust Gilgamesh because, "all men are deceivers, even you he will attempt to deceive." This is a reference to the nature of the human to sin. After Adam and Eve ate from the forbidden fruit sin entered mankind's life. Utanapishtim is wise and he knows this is the nature of man. (Galatians 5:17, Romans 7:23, Romans 5:12)
What does it mean when it says people turn to clay?
When people turn to clay in the story, it means they have died. I think they say turn to clay because the bodies are returning to the earth. "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust". Also, in this story and also in the bible people are created out of clay. Before they have life breathed into them they are only clay, once they have a spirit and life they are human. Once their spirit and life has left them, they are just clay vessels again. (Ecclesiates 12:7, Genesis 3:19, Psalm 104:29)
VOCABULARY
Adad:
Definition: Lord of the storm, rider of the storm
Sentence: Adad was considered Lord of the Storm and would often ride a bull or lion, I associated him with wind and lightning.
Definition: a divine herald of storm and bad weather
Sentence: Shullat and Hanish would herald the coming of the storm, I associated them with wind and thunder.
Definition: god of the abyss and god of war
Sentence: Ninurta was the god of the abyss and the god of war.
SUMMARY/RESPONSE
Tablet 9 is discussing Gilgamesh and his grief. In despair Gilgamesh flees to the wilderness. I think this is not only out of crazed grief but also in an attempt to connect with Enkidu. Enkidu came from the wilderness and Gilgamesh misses him, so Gilgamesh goes to where Enkidu came from. Grows his hair out, puts on clothes of hair, and is with the animals. This story is a mirror of the the story in the Bible about King Nebuchadnezzar. King Nebuchadnezzar continually ignores God and doesn't do right by his people. So God punishes him, he goes crazy. He leaves his palace and goes to live in the wild, his hair grows out like the feathers of a bird and his nails like claws. (Daniel 4)
Gilgamesh sets off to find Utanapishtim, the survivor of the great flood who was given immortality. On his quest, Gilgamesh is circled by lions, which he kills. Then he arrives at Mt. Mashu where there are Scorpion Beings who guard the rising and the setting of the sun. These Scorpion Beings inspire trembling and terror, the sight of them is death. The beings, though, recognized the godliness of Gilgamesh and spoke with him. They question why he is there, he explains his quest, and they tell him that no mortal man has ever passed through the dark valley. Gilgamesh tells them to open the gate, which they do. The send him on and tell him to fear not. This reminded me of Psalm 23, where it discusses not to be afraid of walking through the valley of the shadow of death because God will be with you. After a long time traveling Gilgamesh finally arrives at the sea. Coming out of the valley he sees the sun rise for the first time in a long time. He finds himself in the garden of the gods, where jewels grow on bushes and vines. Shamash sees him and tells him he will not find what he seeks.
In Tablet 10 Gilgamesh comes up to Siduri, the tavern keeper. She saw him and thought he was a criminal, so she barred the door. Gilgamesh then proceeded to act like a criminal and threaten to break down her door if she doesn't open it. He explains who he is and she asks him why, if he is who he says he is, does he look like he does. He explains his gaunt cheeks and wild appearance by telling her about his long quest and the death of his brother Enkidu. He tell her how he wouldn't allow Enkidu to be buried until he saw a maggot come out of his nose on the sixth day. This timeline actually correlates to what we know about blowflies today. Blowflies are the flies that lay their eggs on human remains. There are three stages to maggot growth, the third stage occurs about six days after death and it is when the maggots start moving away from the source to pupate.
Again, Gilgamesh is told he will fail, only Shamash travels across the sea. Gilgamesh demands a map, telling her he will wander the wilderness or cross the sea, but he will find Utanapishtim. She sees he is serious and so, warns him about the waters of death and asks him about his plan to survive them. She tells him about the ferryman, Urshanabi, and thinks that maybe he will let Gilgamesh travel with him. Gilgamesh is in a state of fury, and as a result is not thinking very intelligently. He stomps over to Urshanabi and proceeds to smash things Urshanabi needs to make the voyage to see Utanapishtim. Urshanabi points out to Gilgamesh, his folly, and sets Gilgamesh off to go chop down 300 planks to use in the waters of death. As he sets off, his journey is reminiscent of Jason's epic journey. As they near the waters of death, Urshanabi warns Gilgamesh not to allow his hands to touch the water. This reminds me of the river Styx and the ferryman. Utanapishtim sees the boat arriving and wonders why they are using sticks, instead of the normal tackle used and also why the person driving is not Urshanabi. Again, Gilgamesh is questioned about why he looks as he does, he explains the reason to Utanapishtim.
In Tablet 11 Gilgamesh sees something in Utanapishtim and Utanapishtim sees something in Gilgamesh. They see that they have both shared hardships and quests, they see they are kindred spirits and both relax. Gilgamesh asks Utanapishtim the question he has been longing to ask about how he came to have life and be in the assembly of the gods. Utanapishtim tells Gilgamesh he will share the secret with him.
Utanapishtim recounts the story of how Enlil grew tired of all the noise humankind made and how he persuaded the rest of the gods to annihilate them. He explains that Ea came to him and told him to build a boat giving him specific dimensions. This is similar to the Biblical story of Noah. (Genesis 5:32-10:1) In the Bible, Noah is told to build the ark because mankind has become to wicked and Noah and his family are the only righteous people left. God would like to cleanse the earth and start over, he gives Noah specific instruction on how to build the ark, just like Ea did with Utanapishtim. Utanapishtim told the people in the village to help him build the boat and they do. Then, the night before the "riders of the storm" are to begin Shamash appears and tells him to board the boat along with his family, all the animals, and craftsmen. In both stories the boat is sealed up and the storm begins.
There are differences from Noah's story. In the Epic of Gilgamesh the earth is flooded simply because humankind bothers the gods, in the Bible the earth is flooded because humankind has become too wicked. The dimensions of the boat are different for each story. In Utanapishtim's story other people, besides his family, are allowed on board, in Noah's, Noah tries three times to find someone else, besides his family, worthy to save and is unsuccessful. In the Bible the storm rages for 40 days and 40 nights, it then takes another 150 days for the water to start receding. Then, on the seventeenth day of the seventeenth month the ark comes to rest on Mt. Ararat. After that, the waters recede for another ten months before the tops of any mountains can be seen. In the Epic of Gilgamesh the storm only rages for six days and seven nights and the boat only rested on Mt. Nimush for seven days. The sequencing and timing of bird scouts is different too. In the Biblical story a raven is sent after forty days from when the tips of the mountains became visible. The raven searched but could not find land and returned, next Noah sent a dove, the dove also searched and ended up returning. Noah waited seven days and sent out another dove and this time it returned with an olive branch. Noah waited seven more days to be sure and sent the dove out again and this time it did not return. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, on the seventh day after the boat comes to rest on the mountain, Utanapishtim sends out a dove, swallow, and raven. The dove and swallow return because they cannot find land, the raven is successful and does not return.
Both Noah and Utanapishtim throw open the doors and let all of the living things out, with Noah it took a little longer as they waited for the land to dry. Once they are able to step on dry land, they both immediately give a sacrifice. In the Bible story God was pleased with the fragrant offering and made a covenant to never flood the earth again and the rainbow will be the sign. Every time there is a rainstorm, God will send a rainbow as a reminder of the covenant. In the Epic of Gilgamesh the gods smell the fragrant offering and the first one to arrive is Istar. Istar is not happy with what the gods have done to humankind and she holds up her jeweled necklace and gives an oath to never allow this to happen again. Enlil arrives and is enraged that humans have survived but La reasons with him. Telling him not all people are bad (so maybe the flood did have to do with wicked humans), to judge each crime individually, and let the punishment fit the crime. Enlil relents and has compassion for Utanapishtim and his wife. He takes them into the boat and blesses them with immortality. While Noah did not get immortality, he was blessed with a very long life, he lived 950 years. In regards to the two stories, the story of Noah seems more realistic as far as the lengths of time required for waters to recede and land to dry up. It also seems to me, that Noah's flood was more catastrophic and world wide, again due to the durations and just how high the waters were over the mountains. Perhaps they were separate events and Gilamesh's was a smaller scale flood. There is evidence of worldwide catastrophic flooding in the world in central America, America, Ireland, Mesopotamia, Egypt, etc. and there was also physical evidence in the form of delta deposits found worldwide. There is also much evidence of smaller scale floods in the area of Mesopotamia and also within possible time frames.
At the conclusion of Utanapishtim's story, he tells Gilgamesh that he can become immortal if he can stay awake for six days and seven nights. Immediately Gilgamesh falls asleep. Utanapishtim knows Gilgamesh will not believe he fell asleep, so he tells his wife to bake a loaf of bread for each day Gilgamesh sleeps. Upon waking and finding out he fell asleep, Gilgamesh is filled with woe. Utanapishtim has Urshanabi take Gilgamesh to a place to clean up and be refreshed. After he is clean, he sets off with Urshanabi to go home but before he can leave Utanapishtim's wife convinces him to take pity on Gilgamesh. He does, and tells Gilgamesh of a plant at the bottom of the sea. If Gilgamesh can get this plant and eat it, his youth will be restored. So, Gilgamesh goes to the bottom of the sea, fights the thorns and manages to bring the plant back to the surface. He is happy and triumphant. He declares he will take it back to Urek and allow the old men to eat it and become young, once he has taken care of them he will eat it and also become young. Unfortunately for Gilgamesh, the wily serpent steals the plant from him before he can get back. Gilgamesh is expectedly upset and even more so when he realizes he doesn't know where to go to find the plant again. Sadly he returns to Urek, he proudly shows his city to Urshanabi and this is where this version of the story ends.
The themes that stood out the most to me were "Overcoming Adversity". In these tablets Gilgamesh must repeatedly not allow himself to be disheartened and to avoid turning back. He is repeatedly told how bad he looks from the journey, the toil it has taken on him, and that he will not make it to the end of his journey. He uses great tenacity and perseverance to reject the negativity and proceed on toward the goal. Even, when after he thinks he has attained his prize and it is taken from him, he still perseveres. This theme is also evident in the bible, there are several places were mankind is urged to forget what is behind them and to press on toward the goal, and to run the race in such a way as to win the prize. (Philippians 3:13-14, 1 Corinthians 9:24)
I used the Formalism form of Literary Analysis to analyze this text. This text is ancient and yet people could apply parts in it to their lives today. I thought it would be important to view it through this lens. Even though there is some ancient symbolism, the ideas can stand on their own in any time and you do not need the time frame to understand the ideas presented.
WORKS CITED
George, A. R. The Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic: Introduction, Critical Edition and Cuneiform Texts. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2003.
Print.
The Bible. New International Version
Bulkeley, Tim. "Bible Dictionary: Baal, Canaanite God."Bible Dictionary: Baal, Canaanite God. N.p., 1996-2005. Web. 13 Oct. 2014.
Dictionary. Dictionary.com LLC 2014. Retrieved 9/27/14, from http://dictionary.reference.com/
"Epic of Gilgamesh." (n.d.): n. pag. Books Online. Assyrian International News Agency. Web.
Rostankowski, Cynthia, trans. Epic of Gilgamesh. N.p.: n.p., n.d. San Jose State University. Web. 14 Oct. 2014.
Bloom, Harold, and Blake Hobby. The Hero's Journey. New York: Bloom's Literary Criticism, 2009. Print.
Hayes, Dr. Walter. "Notable Earthquakes in the Mediterranean Region." N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Oct. 2014.
Cooper, James. "Whyangels?com - What the Bible Says about Angels!"Seraphim, Cherubim & The Four Living Creatures. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2014.
Photo Credit:
Adad http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c3/Teisheba.JPG/275px-Teisheba.JPG
Cloud http://drbobgonzales.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/storm-photography-mitch-dobrowner-1.jpg
Istar
Nebuchadnezzar http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/db/William_Blake_-_Nebuchadnezzar_-_WGA02216.jpg
Scorpion Beings http://s2.hubimg.com/u/8858785_f248.jpg
Storm Rider http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h162/Finstar_one/StormBringerFinal2-2.jpg
Reading Journal
