The history and culture behind the world’s oldest recorded story – Epic of Gilgamesh, with a brief background of Ancient Mesopotamia.

1. The Epic of Gilgamesh and
Ancient Mesopotamia

2. Mesopotamia– Geography (circa 4000 BC
)
• Mesopotamia means “the land
between the rivers.”
• It is located in an agriculturally
rich region between the Tigris
and Euphrates rivers (also known
as the “Fertile Crescent” or
“cradle of civilizations”.
• It was located in the region
known today as Iraq as well as
parts of Iran.

3. Mesopotamia’s Ruling Societies
from 5000 BCE – 600 BCE
S

4. Sumerians (5000-2100 BC)

5. Sumerians (5000-2100 BC)
2. Government and Society
Sumerians lived in city-states. These cities were
walled (fortified) for protection and surrounded by
vast, open land.
The largest city-states were Ur, Uruk, and
Lagash. The Sumerians never developed a
central, unifying government between the three,
leaving them vulnerable to attack.
Sumerian society developed a three-level class
system (nobles, middle class, peasants).

6. Sumerian
City States

7. 3. Religious Beliefs
-The Sumerians (and later the
Babylonian people) worshipped a
pantheon of gods and goddesses.
-Regardless of one’s actions in life,
they did not believe in life after death.
They believed that after one dies
there is only emptiness.
Sumerians (5000-2100 BC)

8. Anu – father of gods
and god of the sky
(similar to Zeus)
Enlil – god of the air
Utu – sun god;
lord of truth and justice

9. 4. Cultural Achievements
Developments in math and science – A
precise 12 month calendar, the concept of
zero, “Pythagorean theorem”
Sumerians (5000-2100 BC)

10. Sophisticated technology –
terraced temples (ziggurats),
wheeled vehicles, sail boats, animal-
drawn plows.

11. A Ziggurat.

12. World’s first writing
system – cuneiform.
Formed by reed markings
on wet clay tablets.
The Epic of Gilgamesh, the
first work of fiction ever
recorded, was etched on
stone tablets in cuneiform.

13. History of
Epic of
Gilgamesh
While there is no evidence that the
events in the epic actually happened,
there was a Gilgamesh who ruled the
Sumerian dynasty of Uruk in 2,700
BCE
The Epic of Gilgamesh,
the first work of fiction ever
recorded, was etched on
over 40,000 clay tablets in
cuneiform in 2,000 BCE.

14. Akkadians (2100 - 2000 BC)
The Akkadian people easily take over
Sumerian culture – perhaps because of
Sumer’s lack of a unified government.
However, Sumerian culture is main-
tained through these shifts in power.
Under their king, Sargon, the
Akkadians produce a version of
Gilgamesh.

15. Babylonians (2000-1700 BC)
The Babylonians recognized the value of
Sumerian culture and adopted much of it as
their own.
Sumerian became a literary
language (much like Latin
today).

16. Hanging Gardens of
Nebuchadnezzar

17. King Nimrod’s
Tower of Babel

18. Code of
Hammurabi

19. Hittites (1700-700 BC)
The Hittites may have been among the first to
work meteoric iron for use as a precious metal in
such things as thrones and ceremonial daggers.
There is no evidence that they know how to
produce iron cost-effectively enough, and to make
it hard enough, to use as weapons of war.
Probably the most important Hittite contribution is
to modern history. Hittite diplomatic tablets
tended to include long preambles about
negotiations that had gone before, and about the
history of relations between Hatti and other
nations.

20. Assyrians (700-600 BC)
In first millennium – under
the Assyrian empire –
the Epic of Gilgamesh
took on its final written
form.

21. The final translation was added
to the King’s library at Nineveh.
After the destruction of
Nineveh by the Chaldeans in
612 BCE, the epic was lost
until the library was excavated in
1872 CE.

22. KEY FACTS

26. Enkidu - Companion and friend of Gilgamesh. Hairy-
bodied and brawny, Enkidu was raised by animals. Even
after he joins the civilized world, he retains many of his
undomesticated characteristics. Enkidu looks much like
Gilgamesh and is almost his physical equal. He aspires to
be Gilgamesh’s rival but instead becomes his soul mate.
The gods punish Gilgamesh and Enkidu by giving Enkidu
a slow, painful, inglorious death for killing the demon
Humbaba and the Bull of Heaven.

27. Shamhat - The temple prostitute who tames
Enkidu by seducing him away from his natural
state. Though Shamhat’s power comes from
her sexuality, it is associated with civilization
rather than nature. She represents the
sensuous refinements of culture—the
sophisticated pleasures of lovemaking, food,
alcohol, music, clothing, architecture,
agriculture, herding, and ritual.

28. Utnapishtim - A king and priest of Shurrupak, whose
name translates as “He Who Saw Life.” By the god Ea’s
connivance, Utnapishtim survived the great deluge that
almost destroyed all life on Earth by building a great boat
that carried him, his family, and one of every living creature
to safety. The gods granted eternal life to him and his wife.

29. Urshanabi - The guardian of
the mysterious “stone things.”
Urshanabi pilots a small
ferryboat across the Waters of
Death to the Far Away place
where Utnapishtim lives. He
loses this privilege when he
accepts Gilgamesh as a
passenger, so he returns with him
to Uruk.

30. Anu - The father of the gods and the god of
the firmament.
Aruru - A goddess of creation who fashioned
Enkidu from clay and her spittle.
Ea - The god of fresh water, crafts, and
wisdom, a patron of humankind. Ea lives in
Apsu, the primal waters below the Earth.
Partial List of Important Deities and Demons:

31. Humbaba - The fearsome demon who guards the Cedar Forest
forbidden to mortals. Humbaba’s seven garments produce an aura
that paralyzes with fear anyone who would withstand him. He is the
personification of awesome natural power and menace. His mouth is
fire, he roars like a flood, and he breathes death, much like an erupting
volcano. In his very last moments he acquires personality and pathos,
when he pleads cunningly for his life.

32. Tammuz - The god of vegetation and fertility,
also called the Shepherd. Born a mortal, Tammuz
is the husband of Ishtar.
Enlil - God of earth, wind, and air. A superior
deity, Enlil is not very fond of humankind.
Shamash - The sun god, brother of Ishtar,
patron of Gilgamesh. Shamash is a wise judge
and lawgiver.

33. Ishtar - The goddess of love and
fertility, as well as the goddess of
war. Ishtar is frequently called the
Queen of Heaven. Capricious and
mercurial, sometimes she is a
nurturing mother figure, and other
times she is spiteful and cruel. She
is the patroness of Uruk, where she
has a temple.

34. Ereshkigal -
Terrifying
queen of the
underworld.

35. Ninsun - The mother
of Gilgamesh, also
called the Lady
Wildcow Ninsun. She
is a minor goddess,
noted for her wisdom.
Her husband is
Lugulbanda.

36. Importance of Gilgamesh
Earliest known literary work.
Contains an account of the Great Flood and
the story of a virtuous man named Utnapishtim
who survived (likely the source for the biblical
story of Noah)
Expresses values of ancient civilization – such
as the belief in divine retribution for
transgressions such as violence, pride, the
oppression of others, and the destruction of
the natural world

37. Let’s take a
QUIZ! ^o^

38. A. A tyrant who oppresses his people
B. A holy man who consults the gods
C. A wise sage who rules with fairness
D. A fierce warrior who protects his city
1. What kind of king is Gilgamesh?
How is he first described to us?

39. 2. Why did the gods create Enkidu?
A. To defeat and overthrow Gilgamesh
B. To stop Gilgamesh from finding a bride
C. To be a counterforce to Gilgamesh
D. To prevent Gilgamesh from destroying
them

40. 3. What did the trapper do after first
seeing Enkidu?
A. Started a fire to drive the creature
away
B. Warned the people in the village of
a monster
C. Set larger traps to catch this
beast
D. Told his father he had seen a giant
man

41. 4. How did the animals react to Enkidu
after he was visited by Shamhat, the
temple prostitute?
A. Attacked him and drove him into the
woods
B. Appointed him as their protector from
hunters
C. Rejected him and no longer regarded
him as kin
D. Asked him to lead them to find food
and water

42. 5. What objects are featured in
Gilgamesh's dreams prior to
meeting Enkidu?
A. A meteor and an axe
B. A bull and a cart
C. A sword and a shield
D. A mountain and a lion

43. 6. What was Gilgamesh doing that
angered Enkidu to challenge him to a
fight?
A. Collecting heavy taxes from farmers
B. Enslaving peasants for his own
amusement
C. Sleeping with newly married brides
D. Putting the elderly of the city to
death

44. 7. What did Enkidu do after losing a
fight with Gilgamesh?
A. Agreed to become his personal
servant
B. Acknowledged his greater strength
C. Returned in shame to the wilderness
D. Begged him to spare his life

45. 8. What did Gilgamesh propose that
he and Enkidu do to gain fame and
recognition?
A. Journey to the Cedar Forest to
defeat Humbaba
B. Cross the Euphrates to conquer
Shurrupak
C. Liberate Mesopotamia from the
rule of Ea
D. Climb the mountains of Mashu to
find Shamhat

46. 9. What did Ninsun do before
Gilgamesh and Enkidu left on
their quest?
A. Prayed for their safety
B. Told them a cautionary tale
C. Obtained weapons for use
D. Packed food for them

47. 10. Gilgamesh dreams of a mountainslide and a fiery storm.
What does Enkidu tell him these dreams have predicted?
A. That they will be victorious in their quest
B. That they should choose another path
C. That they must return to the city quickly
D. That they will encounter terrible weather

48. THANK YOU!
1.A
2.C
3.D
4.C
5.A
6. C
7. B
8. A
9. A
10. A
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