Similarities Between Gilgamesh And Mesopotamia

In The Epic of Gilgamesh and the Old Testament the common theme, the wrath of the gods, connects the two literature works to Mesopotamia civilization. This theme was not only a written impression of that time period but a literal belief felt by the people of Mesopotamia.

To begin with the Mesopotamians believed in the gods and goddesses. They would praise them for a significant reason either if its water, nature, wind, sun, etc. and each god has their own specific powers. To please the gods they will have to sacrifice one for a specific desire or necessity. In The Epic of Gilgamesh it is said that gods feast and love the smell of burnt human flesh; “When the gods smelled the sweet savor, they gathered like flies over the sacrifice” . The relationships that Mesopotamians have with their gods is cruel, they please the gods with sacrifices. This is what they believed was necessary to have a peaceful life with no catastrophic chaos. The Mesopotamians wanted harmony with their gods so they don’t die. Mesopotamians did not only believe in one god but many gods so they would worship the gods for specific needs. They also viewed the gods as the highest level class, in other words

In The Genesis and The Epic of Gilgamesh there are three main similarities. These similarities are the flood, the food, and the snake. In Genesis God sent a flood to destroy all of mankind, just like how the gods sent a flood to also destroy mankind in Gilgamesh. In both stories God chose someone to build boat to restart mankind, in Genesis he chose Noah, and in Gilgamesh he chose Utnapishtim. The food plays different role in each story. In Genesis food was what it took for them to look their immortality, however in Gilgamesh food was needed in order to achieve immortality. The snake is what it took for the characters to lose immortality. However, there were different outcomes of the snake either taking food or saying you should eat the food.

There is a lot of evidence to prove and explain how the Israelite people might have known or heard some Babylonian myths. This evidence is shown through similarities in the Genesis creation myths and many Babylonian myths. As an example, there are many similarities shown throughout the Gilgamesh story that relates to the Noah story in Genesis. Some similarities include the heroes character, the order to build a boat, the number of animals, the means of the flood, and the action of sacrificing after the flood. These are only a few of the many similarities interpreted in these stories.

What is The Great Flood? Throughout history, there have always been works of literature explaining a flood that had taken place, causing the human population to almost be extinct. Genesis and The Epic of Gilgamesh, both containing this very significant and important flood, have many similarities and differences showing their parallels, which include how they were ordered to save the human population, the differences and similarities in the test to find land, and facts about why and how long it lasts. All of these things began to prove the significant parallels within the two well-known works of literature.

The setting is around 3000 BCE, surrounded on all sides by vast, arid deserts, steep cliffs, and extensive bodies of water. And, in these massive deserts civilization exists; there are grand, shining empires, pillars of humanity. Ancient Egypt and Ancient Mesopotamia, both known as cradles of civilization, were hosts to some of the greatest ancient kingdoms of mankind. These empires shared a number of common practices due to similar geographical settings, but likewise they were different in their structure, customs, and views. The ancient civilizations of Egypt and Mesopotamia shared many similarities; however Egypt was more prosperous economically, established a superior, unwavering political structure, and possessed more unified and content religious views.

Character is built in several different ways. Some may view character as how one handles a certain hectic situation or how well one person treats another. A true definition character contains these elements, but one’s character is built and developed mainly on how one picks and chooses his time to act and his time to wait. This definition refers to restraint and discipline. Gilgamesh and Homer’s The Odyssey uses many instances in which the main characters must use incredible restraint to protect not only themselves, but also the ones they care for and love. Although both stories use this theme of self-control and discipline to develop certain personalities, each one tells a different account of how these characters are viewed by their

The two great floods in both the Gilgamesh story and in the Hebrew Bible have many similarities and have many differences. In both stories the gods planned to destroy the Earth because they did not like the way that people were behaving and felt that they should be punished for their actions. Like the story of Noah in the Hebrew Bible, Utanapishtim was warned by a god that a great flood was coming and that he should build a boat to protect himself, his family and the animals (81). Both gods instructed the two men to build a boat in specific cubit measurements. After both floods they boats landed on the mountains and birds were used to find land. Although these two great flood stories have many similarities they also have a few differences. For instance, in the great flood in Genesis the length of the boat was 300 cubits, the width was 50 cubits and the height was 30 cubits. In Gilgamesh, the boat was ten dozen cubits in height and ten dozen cubits square (82). The two floods also did not last the same amount of time; the flood in Genesis lasted for 40 days and 40 nights whereas the flood in Gilgamesh only lasted for 6 days and 6 nights. The flood in Gilgamesh was not determined by just one God like in the story of Noah, but was determined by a group

The first category of culture is religion. There were several similarities between the Mesopotamians and Egyptians. The Mesopotamians and Egyptians had their own religion and beliefs. Both were polytheistic, meaning they believed in numerous gods or goddesses instead of one god or goddess. There were also several differences between the Mesopotamian and Egyptians. While the Mesopotamians and Egyptians worshiped thousands of deities, there were four main essential deities for the Mesopotamians: An, Enlil, Enki, and Ninhursaga. An was the god of heaven. Enlil was the god of wind and became the power of energy, force, and authority on the earth. Enki was the god of

In The Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh speaks of the names of the gods, means a lot of gods ,“There was Anu, lord of the firmament, their father, and warrior Enlil their counselor, Ninurta the helper, and Ennugi watcher over canals” (N. K. Sandars 25). This shows that the Mesopotamians and people from “By the Waters of Babylon” were both polytheistic and believed in multiple gods.

Both regions taxed the people and punished those who could not pay. Mesopotamia forced citizens unable to pay taxes into slavery to pay their debts. Those greatly burdened from taxes in Egypt sometimes fled into the desert. Both civilizations had kings residing over them. The Egyptian king was called a pharaoh and they were believed to be a link to the gods. Mesopotamia had kings the lugal and kept order in the civilization. Hammurabi is a memorable king or lugal, because of his relentless military efforts and severe punishments. Religion maintained great amounts of power in influence in both Mesopotamia and Egypt. The priests in Mesopotamia were in the same social class as the king and temples called ziggurats were built devoted to the gods. In Egypt, the pharaoh was reveled for his connection to the gods and elaborate burials for constructed to help him in the afterlife. The government required the people to do service, which is how the great pyramids were constructed. Temples were also created for the gods, like in Mesopotamia. The regions shared many similarities in the political structure of the

Nearly every author creates a title for their work that overall reflects the ideas and thoughts they are presenting in their writing. For instance, the article “Buddies in Babylonia: Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and Mesopotamian Homosexulaity”, it’s entirety revolves around the relationship of Gilgamesh and Enkidu and possible ways to view their overall relationship. The article is significant because the author, Jerrold S. Cooper, proposes unpopular ideas previously made by Thorkild Jacobsen about the nature of Gligamesh’s and Enkidu’s relationship. He provides theories not favorable towards his peers or audience because of the homosexuality factor Jacobsen includes. Due to this courage of suggesting behaviors, which during this time was still frowned down upon, that major protagonists of a popular epic would behave in a

This society illustrated a negative view on after life, but had good social mobility was located in between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. These rivers were extremely unpredictable and could create disaster at any moment if they flooded the area. This is one of the leading factors in why the Mesopotamian people respected the gods. They believed that the gods were in control of nature, the rivers, and their lives. One of the most common examples of their polytheistic view can be seen in the Epic of Gilgamesh.

Each civilization flourished agriculturally as a result of location. Mesopotamian's were polytheistic, as were the Egyptians, and believed that droughts and other natural disasters were the results of angry gods needing appeasement. Located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, Mesopotamia was prone to storms and flooding so it was conjectured that their gods were frequently angry with them. For this reason, they became proficient in diverting flood waters from the fields to be stored for later agricultural use. Mesopotamian's honored the gods through worship and the work that was executed from day to day. Men worked specialized jobs outside the home, whereas, women cooked, cleaned and raised the children. Women had equal rights and

First, the Mesopotamians understood the connection between gods and humans and valued civilization over nature. In Epic of Gilgamesh, one of the oldest recorded stories, Gilgamesh was made into part god. “Two thirds they made him god and one third man.” (Lualdi, 16) He was a character that had people admiring his power and was a villain of the common man. Epic of Gilgamesh also portrayed the influence a woman can have over a man and the value of civilization. After the harlot had her way with Enkidu, “he was grown weak, for wisdom was in him, and the thoughts of a man were in his heart.”