-Aastha Joshi

Gilgamesh was a major hero in ancient Mesopotamian mythology and the protagonist of the Epic of Gilgamesh, an epic poem written in Akkadian during the late 2nd millennium BC. He was likely a historical king of the Sumerian city-state of Uruk, who was posthumously deified. His rule probably would have taken place sometime in the beginning of the Early Dynastic Period. Though he became a major figure in Sumerian legend during the Third Dynasty of Ur. Tales of Gilgamesh’s legendary exploits are narrated in five surviving Sumerian poems. The earliest of these is likely “Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Netherworld”, in which Gilgamesh comes to the aid of the goddess Inanna and drives away the creatures infesting her huluppu tree. She gives him two unknown objects, a mikku and a pikku, which he loses. After Enkidu’s death, his shade tells Gilgamesh about the bleak conditions in the Underworld. The poem “Gilgamesh and Agga” describes Gilgamesh’s revolt against his overlord King Agga. Other Sumerian poems relate Gilgamesh’s defeat of the giant Huwawa and the Bull of Heaven, while a fifth, poorly preserved poem relates the account of his death and funeral. In later Babylonian times, these stories were woven into a connected narrative. The standard Akkadian Epic of Gilgamesh was composed by a scribe named Sin-lēqi-unninni, probably during the Middle Babylonian Period based on much older source material. In the epic, Gilgamesh is a demigod of superhuman strength who befriends the wild man Enkidu. Together, they embark on many journeys, most famously defeating Humbaba and the Bull of Heaven, who is sent to attack them by Ishtar after Gilgamesh rejects her offer for him to become her consort. After Enkidu dies of a disease sent as punishment from the gods, Gilgamesh becomes afraid of his own death, and visits the sage Utnapishtim, the survivor of the Great Flood, hoping to find immortality. Gilgamesh repeatedly fails the trials set before him and returns home to Uruk, realizing that immortality is beyond his reach. Most classical historians agree the Epic ofGilgamesh exerted substantial influence on both the Iliad and the Odyssey. two epic poems written in ancient Greek during the 8th century BC. The story of Gilgamesh’s birth is described in an anecdote from On the Nature of Animals by the Greek writer Aelian. Aelian relates that Gilgamesh’s grandfather kept his mother under guard to prevent her from becoming pregnant, because an oracle had told him that his grandson would overthrow him. She became pregnant and the guards threw the child off a tower, but an eagle rescued him mid-fall and delivered him safely to an orchard, where the gardener raised him. The Epic of Gilgamesh was rediscovered in the Library of Ashurbanipal in 1849. After being translated in the early 1870s, it caused widespread controversy due to similarities between portions of it and the Hebrew Bible. Gilgamesh remained mostly obscure until the mid-20th century, but, since the late 20th century, he has become an increasingly prominent figure in modern culture. Stephanie. Dalley, a scholar of the ancient Near East, states that “precise dates cannot be given for the lifetime of Gilgamesh, but they are generally agreed to lie between 2800 and 2500 BC” By the Old Babylonian Period stories of Gilgamesh’s legendary exploits had been woven into one or several long epics. The Epic of Gilgamesh, the most complete account of Gilgamesh’s adventures, was composed in Akkadian during the Middle Babylonian Period by a scribe named Sin-leqi-unninni The most complete surviving version of the Epic of Gilgamesh is recorded on a set of twelve clay tablets dating to the seventh century BC, found in the Library of Ashurbanipal in the Assyrian capital of Nineveh. The epic survives only in a fragmentary form, with many pieces of it missing or damaged. Some scholars and translators choose to supplement the missing parts of the epic with material from the earlier Sumerian poems or from other versions of the Epic of Gilgamesh found at other sites throughout the Near East An inscription possibly belonging to a contemporary official under Gilgamesh was discovered in the archaic texts at Ur; his name reads: “Gilgameš is the one whom Utu has selected”. Aside from this the Tummal Inscription, a thirty four-line historiographic text written during the reign of Ishbi-Erra also mentions him. The inscription credits Gilgamesh with building the walls of Uruk. Gilgamesh is also connected to King Enmebaragesi of Kish, a known historical figure who may have lived near Gilgamesh’s lifetime. Furthermore,he is listed as one of the kings of Uruk by the Sumerian King List Fragments of an epic text found in Mê-Turan relate that at the end of his life Gilgamesh was buried under the river bed. The people of Uruk diverted the flow of the Euphrates passing Uruk for the purpose of burying the dead king within the river bed. In the epic, Gilgamesh is introduced as “two thirds divine and one third mortal.” At the beginning of the poem, Gilgamesh is described as a brutal, oppressive ruler. This is usually interpreted to mean either that he compels all his subjects to engage in forced laboror that he sexually oppresses all his subjects. As punishment for Gilgamesh’s cruelty, the god Anu creates the wild man Enkidu. After being tamed by a prostitute named Shamhat, Enkidu travels to Uruk to confront Gilgamesh. In the second tablet, the two men wrestle and, although Gilgamesh wins the match in the end, he is so impressed by his opponent’s strength and tenacity that they become close friends. In the earlier Sumerian tAlthough stories about Gilgamesh were wildly popular throughout ancient Mesopotamia,. authentic representations of him in ancient art are uncommon Popular works often identify depictions of a hero with long hair, containing four or six curls, as representations of Gilgamesh, but this identification is known to be incorrect. A few genuine ancient Mesopotamian representations of Gilgamesh do exist, however. These representations are mostly found on clay plaques and cylinder seals. Generally, it is only possible to identify a figure shown in art as Gilgamesh if the artistic work in question clearly depicts a scene from the Epic of Gilgamesh itself One set of representations of Gilgamesh is found in scenes of two heroes fighting a demonic giant, certainly Humbaba. Another set is found in scenes showing a similar pair of heroes confronting a giant, winged bull, certainly the Bull of Heaven.exts, Enkidu is Gilgamesh’s servant, but, in the Epic of Gilgamesh, they are companions of equal standing. Starting in the late twentieth century, the Epic of Gilgamesh began to be read again in Iraq. Saddam Hussein, the former president of Iraq had a lifelong fascination with Gilgamesh Hussein’s first. novel Zabibah and the King (2000) is an allegory for the Gulf War set in ancient Assyria that blends elements of the Epic of Gilgamesh and the One Thousand and One Nights Like Gilgamesh, the king at the beginning of the novel is a brutal tyrant who misuses his power and oppresses his people,but, through the aid of a commoner woman named Zabibah, he grows into a more just ruler When the United States pressured Hussein to step down in February 2003, Hussein gave a speech to a group of his generals posing the idea in a positive light by comparing himself to the epic hero. In 2000, a modern statue of Gilgamesh by the Assyrian sculptor Lewis Batros was unveiled at the University of Sydney in Australia.