THE EPIC OF GILGAMESH

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1 1. THE EPIC OF GILGAMESH 3 CREATION EPICS THE EPIC OF GILGAMESH (ca B.C.) T he Epic of Gilgamesh, the best-known of the Mesopotamian myths, is one of the world's oldest surviving pieces of literature. Only incomplete versions of the story have come down to us, the longest of which is a copy written on 12 tablets found in the Royal Library of Nineveh. The epic was probably composed about 2000 B.C. and tells the story of the wanderings of Gilgamesh, the part-human, part-divine king ofuruk. Uruk, one of the most important of the Mesopotamian city-states, was ruled by a King Gilgamesh around 2000 B.C., but it is impossible to be certain that the events recounted in the epic derive from his reign. The peoples of the Ancient Near East lived precariously, always at the mercy of nature. Flood and drought were the most common natural disasters, and The Epic of Gilgamesh contains echoes of the great flood narrated in the Bible. Gilgamesh's search for the survivors of this great flood, who supposedly know the secret of everlasting life, motivates the hero's travels. The twin themes of the unpredictability of the gods and the inevitability of death dominate the epic. The Story of the Flood You know the city Shurrupak. it stands on the banks of Euphrates? That city grew old and the gods that were in it were old. There was Anu, lord of the firmament, their father, and warrior Enlil their counsellor, Ninurta the helper, and Ennugi watcher over canals; and with them also was Ea. In those days the world teemed, the people multiplied, the world bellowed like a wild bull, and the great god was aroused by the clamour. Enlil heard the clamour and he said to the gods in council, "The uproar of mankind is intolerable and sleep is no longer possible by reason of the babel." So the gods agreed to exterminate mankind. Enlil did this, but Ea because of his oath warned me in a dream. He whispered their words to my house of reeds, "Reed-house, reed-house! Wall, 0 wall, hearken reed-house, wall reflect; 0 man of Shurrupak, son of Ubara-Tutu; tear down your house and build a boat, abandon possessions and look for life, despise worldly goods and save your soul alive. Tear down your house, I say, and build a boat. These are the measurements of the barque as you shall build her: let her beam equal her length, let her deck be roofed like the vault that covers the abyss; then take up into the boat the seed of all living creatures."

2 4 PART I THE ORIGINS OF WESTERN CIVlUZATION AND THE CLASSICAL WORLD When I had understood I said to my lord, "Behold, what you have commanded I will honour and perform, but how shall I answer the people, the city, the elders?" Then Ea opened his mouth and said to me, his servant, "Tell them this: I have learnt that Enlil is wrathful against me, I dare no longer walk in his land nor live in his city; I will go down to the Gulf to dwell with Ea my lord. But on you he will rain down abundance, rare fish and shy wild-fowl, a rich harvest-tide. In the evening the rider of the storm will bring you wheat in torrents." In the first light of dawn all my household gathered round me, the children brought pitch and the men whatever was necessary. On the fifth day I laid the keel and the ribs, then I made fast the planking. The ground-space was one acre, each side of the deck measured one hundred and twenty cubits, making a square. I built six decks below, seven in all, I divided them into nine sections with bulkheads between. I drove in wedges where needed, I saw to the punt-poles, and laid in supplies. The carriers brought oil in baskets, I poured pitch into the furnace and asphalt and oil; more oil was consumed in caulking, and more again the master of the boat took into his stores. I slaughtered bullocks for the people and every day I killed sheep. I gave the shipwrights wine to drink as though it were river water, raw wine and red wine and oil and white wine. There was feasting then as there is at the time of the New Year's festival; I myself anointed my head. On the seventh day the boat was complete. Then was the launching full of difficulty; there was shifting of ballast above and below till two thirds was submerged. I loaded into her all that I had of gold and of living things, my family, my kin, the beast of the field both wild and tame, and all the craftsmen. I sent them on board, for the time that Shamash had ordained was already fulfilled when he said, "In the evening, when the rider of the storm sends down the destroying rain, enter the boat and batten her down." The time was fulfilled, the evening came, the rider of the storm sent down the rain. I looked out at the weather and it was terrible, so I too boarded the boat and battened her down. All was now complete, the battening and the caulking; so I handed the tiller to Puzur-Amurri the steersman, with the navigation and the care of the whole boat. With the first light of dawn a black cloud came from the horizon; it thundered within where Adad, lord of the storm was riding. In front over hill and plain Shull at and Hanish, heralds of the storm, led on. Then the gods of the abyss rose up; Nergal pulled out the dams of the nether waters, Ninurta the war-lord threw down the dykes, and the sevenjudges of hell, the Annunaki, raised their torches, lighting the land with their livid flame. A stupor of despair went up to heaven when the god of the storm turned daylight to darkness, when he smashed the land like a cup. One whole day the tempest raged, gathering fury as it went, it poured over the people like the tides of battle; a man could not see his brother nor the people be seen from heaven. Even the gods were terrified at the flood, they fled to the highest heaven, the firmament of Anu; they crouched against the walls, cowering like curs. Then Ishtar the sweet-voiced Queen of Heaven cried out like a woman in travail: "Alas the days of old are turned to dust because I commanded evil; why did I command this evil in the council of all the gods? I commanded wars to destroy the people, but are they not my people, for I brought them forth? Now like the spawn of fish they float in the ocean." The great gods of heaven and of hell wept, they covered their mouths. For six days and six nights the winds blew, torrent and tempest and flood overwhelmed the world, tempest and flood raged together like warring hosts. When the seventh day dawned the storm from the south subsided, the sea grew calm, the flood was stilled; I looked at the face of the world and there was silence, all mankind was turned to clay. The surface of the sea stretched as flat as a roof-top; I opened a hatch and the light fell on my face. Then I bowed low, I sat down and I wept, the tears streamed down my face, for on

3 1. THE EPIC OF GILGAMESH 5 every side was the waste of water. I looked for land in vain, but fourteen leagues distant there appeared a mountain, and there the boat grounded; on the mountain of Nisir the boat held fast, she held fast and did not budge. One day she held, and a second day on the mountain of Nisir she held fast and did not budge. A third day, and a fourth day she held fast on the mountain and did not budge; a fifth day and a sixth day she held fast on the mountain. When the seventh day dawned I loosed a dove and let her go. She flew away, but finding no resting-place she returned. Then I loosed a swallow, and she flew away but finding no resting-place she returned. I loosed a raven, she saw that the water had retreated, she ate, she flew around, she cawed, and she did not come back. Then I threw everything open to the four winds, I made a sacrifice and poured out a libation on the mountain top. Seven and again seven cauldrons I set up on their stands, I heaped up wood and cane and cedar and myrtle. When the gods smelled the sweet savour, they gathered like flies over the sacrifice. Then, at last, Ishtar also came, she lifted her necklace with the jewels of heaven that once Anu had made to please her. "0 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. Let all the gods gather round the sacrifice, except Enlil. He shall not approach this offering, for without reflection he brought the flood; he consigned my people to destruction." QUESTIONS 1. Why was there a great flood, according to the epic? Who or what caused it? 2. Compare the account of the flood in the Epic of Gilgamesh with that described in Genesis. How are they similar? How different? 3. What does the story of the flood reveal about Mesopotamian gods and people's attitudes toward them? 4. What do you think the epic tells us about the Mesopotamian view of life?

4 THE BOOK OF GENESIS (ca. 10th-6th century B.C.) Genesis is the first book of the Old Testament, as well as the first book of the Hebrew Torah. Its subject is the creation of the world, the origins of humanity, and the early history of the Hebrew people. Most scholars believe that the book is the result of combining three different versions with roots in the distant past. They seem to have been written down between about 950 and 400 B.C., but the book contains much older traditions. Genesis contains echoes of other ancient texts and myths, such as The t.pic of Gilgamesh and the Babylonian Creation EPic. This selection relates the story of the creation, the expulsion from the Garden of Eden, and the Flood.

5 6 When men began to multiply on the face of the ground, and daughters were born to 2 them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were fair; and they took to wife such of them as they chose. jthen the LORD said, "My spirit shall not abide in man for ever, for he is flesh, but his days shall be a hundred and twenty years." "The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men that were of old, the men of renown. The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continual- G ly. And the LORD was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. 7S0 the LORD said, "I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the ground, man and beast and creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry that 1 have made them." SBut Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD... "Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with violence. 12And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth. 13And God said to Noah, "I have determined to make an end of all flesh; for the earth is filled with violence through them; behold, I will destroy them 14 with the earth. Make yourself an ark of gopher wood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. For behold, 1 will bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall die. I. But 1 will establish my covenant with you; and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you. 19And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark, to keep them alive with 20 you; they shall be male and female. Of the birds

6 3. THE BOOK OF GENESIS 15 according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground according to its kind, two of every sort shah come in to you, to keep them alive. 21 Also take with you every sort of food that is eaten, and store it up; and it shall serve as food for you and for them." 22Noah did this; he did all 7that God commanded him. Then the LORD said to Noah, "Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation. 2Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and his mate; and a pair of the animals that are not clean. the male and 3 his mate; and seven pairs of the birds of the air also, male and female, to keep their kind alive upon the face of all the earth. 'For in seven days I will send rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living thing that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground." 'And Noah did all that the LORD had commanded him. 6Noah was six hundred years old when the 7 flood of waters came upon the earth. And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him went into the ark, to escape the waters of the flood. 80f clean animals. and of animals that are not clean. and of birds. and of q everything that creeps. on the ground. two and two, male and female. went into the ark with Noah, as God had commanded Noah. IOAnd after seven days the waters of the flood came upon the earth And rain fell upon t.he earth forty days and forty nights. " On the very same day Noah and his sons, Shem and Ham and Japheth, and Noah's wife and the three wives of his sons with 14 them entered the ark, they and every beast according to its kind, and all the cattle according to their kinds, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth according to its kind, and every bird according to its kind, every bird of I; every sort. They went into the ark with Noah, two and two of all flesh in which there was the 16 breath of life. And they that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him; and the LORD shut him in. "The flood continued forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bore up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. IBThe waters prevailed and increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark floated on the face of the waters. 19And the waters prevailed so mightily upon the earth that all the high mountains 20 under the whole heaven were covered; the waters prevailed above the mountains, covering them fifteen cubits deep. 21And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, birds, cattle, beasts, all swarming creatures that swarm upon the earth, and every man; 22everything on the dry land in whose nostrils was the breath of life died. 23He blotted out every living thing that was upon the face of the ground, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the air; they were blotted out from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those that were with him in the ark. "IAnd the waters prevailed upon the earth a hundred and fifty days f;at the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made, 'and sent forth a raven; and it went to and fro until the. 8 waters were dned up from the earth. Then he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters 9 had subsided from the face of the ground; but the dove found no place to set her foot, and she returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put forth his hand and took her and brought her into the ark with him. IOHe waited another seven days. and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark; Iland the dove came back to him in the evening. and 10, in her mouth a freshly plucked olive leaf; so Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth. 12Then he waited another seven days, and sent forth the dove; and she did not return to him any more...

7 16 PART I THE ORlGINS OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION AND THE CLASSICAL WORLD And God blessed Noah and his sons, and 9 said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and 2 fill the earth. The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every bird of the air, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea; into your hand they are delivered. " Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you; and as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. QUESTIONS 1. How is Eve created? What do you think the story of the Garden of Eden reveals about gender relations in ancient times? 2. What does Genesis have in common with other creation myths? How does it differ? 3. According to Genesis, what is man's place in the natural world? What does humanity's relationship with nature reveal about ancient attitudes toward the environment? 4. God seems to expect a great deal of his human creations-do they live up to his high standards? What does he want from them? 5. Why do you think this book was written? What purpose might it have served?

8 126 Part II Classical Civilizations, 800 B.C.B.-800 C.B. Sc""~e~I~~(.~'1>-e, ~ o{-(.,.. i-cs., c; r 0 ~"L \ p~ ~<;=-%-c..s J VotV\"t'-'e 1-. (bo S\-cr"(): JVt~fl;Yl) \-\()t..> ~h~ ~oct.l-. Two Views of Moab (mid-ninth century B.C.E.) King Mesha of Moab Inscribes His Accomplishments. on the Moabite Stone The Hebrews Describe the Moabite War, 2 Kings 3:4-27 Moab was the name of an ancient state in eastern Palestine that lay east of the Jordan River and the Dead Sea. Its people were Semites, as were their neighbors, the Hebrews, who had separated into two nations, Israel and Judah, after the death of King Solomon in 931. This split made it difficult for either state to do much more than retain control of its own territories. Judah, south of Israel, was particularly interested in maintaining its precarious hold on Edom (which lay immediately south of Moab), and Israel struggled to retain domination of parts of Moab, especially Medeba. All four states were culturally similar. They spoke and wrote different dialects of the same language (Hebrew and Moabite, for example, are nearly indistinguishable), engaged in nearly identical economic and agricultural pursuits, and shared similar religious rituals and beliefs-although apparently only the Judeans worshipped a single god, Yahweh. Relati~ely minor religious and territorial differences led to frequent conflicts-as well as occasional peaceful interaction-among the four groups. For instance, the Hebrew kings Saul and David fought against Moabite armies, and Hebrew prophets often spoke against the dangers of Moabite and Edomite religious beliefs. It is also important to remember that the Edomites claimed descent from Jacob's brother Esau, that the Moabites claimed descent from Abraham's nephew Lot, and that Ruth, the great-grandmother of King David, was a Moabite who married a Hebrew. The following two selections offer different perspectives of a ninth-century conflict over the territory of Medeba, possession of which was disputed between kings Mesha of Moab and Jehoram of Israel. J ehoram received aid from his ally, J ehoshaphat of Judah, and consequently, from Edom as well. The first selection comes from the Moabite Stone, a black basalt stele found in 1868 on the east side of the Jordan River in the ruins of Dibon (Dhibon, a city in modern Jordan). Shortly afterward, it was broken into pieces and sold to antiquities collectors, but approximately two-thirds of the fragments have been relocated and used to reconstruct the monument to much of its original appearance. Many such ancient stelae have been found in the Middle East. Nearly all were erected by kings and attest to their great deeds (especially in war) and accomplishments (especially the building of cities). The Moabite Stone, however, is unique because it is one of the oldest examples of ancient Hebrew writing. Not only is the text important linguistically, it i", one of the few sources for the history of Moab that was not authored by its (memies, the Hebrews. The second selection, from the second book of Kings, provides additional information-as well as several direct contradictions- le> the Moabite story.

9 Chapter 5 'fhe Ancient Near East, 800 B.C.B C.B. 127 THE MOABITE STONE I, Mesha, son of Chemosh{yatJ, king of Moab, the Dibonite (my father reigned over Moab for thirty years and I reigned after my father)--i made this high place for Chemosh' in Karhoh [... 1 because he saved me from all the kings and caused me to triumph over all who opposed me. Omri,t king of Israel, oppressed Moab for many years, because Chemosh was angry with his land. When his son succeeded him, he too said, "I shall oppress Moab." In my days he spoke this way, but I triumphed over him and his house, and Israel was utterly destroyed forever. Omri took possession of the entire land of Medeba*, and [Israel} lived there during his days and half the days of his son-forty years; but Chemosh restored it in my days. I built Baal-meon, making a cistern in it, and I built Kiryathaim. The men of Gad had lived in the land of Ataroth since ancient times, and the king of Israel had built Atarothll for them; but I fought against the city and captured it, slaying all the people of the city for the satisfaction of Chemoshand Moab. I brought back from there the altar-hearth of its beloved {god], dragging it before Chemosh in Kerioth, and I settled men of Sharon and men of Maharith# there. Then Chemosh said to me, "Go capture Nebo*' from Israel!" So I went by night and fought against it from. the break of dawn until noon. I captured it and slew them all-seven thousand men, boys, women, girls, and maidservants-for I had devoted it to Ashtar-Chemosh. tt I took from there the utensils of Yahweh, dragging them before Chemosh. The king of Israel had built ]ahaz, and he lived there while he was fighting against me. But Chemosh drove him out before me. I took from Moab two hundred men, all its poor citizens, and exalted them in ]ahaz; I took possession of it in order to annex it to Dibon. It was I who built Karhoh, both the forest wall and the summit wall; it was I who built its gates and I who built its towers; it was I who built the palace and I who made both the reservoirs for water inside the town. There were no cisterns inside the town at Karhoh, so I said to the people, "Each of you make a cistern for himself and his house!" Also it was I who cut beams for Karhoh using Israelite captives. It was I who built Aroer; it was I who made the highway in the Arnon; and it was I who built the high-place temple, for it had been torn down. It was I who built Bezer-for it was in tuins. [... } the men of Dibon armed for battle, for all Dibon is (my) bodyguard. I made one hundred [... } reign as kings in the towns that I annexed to the land. It was I who built [... } Medeba, Beth-diblathaim, and Beth-baal-meon, where I exalted the herdsmen [... } the sheep of the land. As for Horonaim,** {... } was living there {... ] [... }. Then Chemosh said to me, "Go down and fight against Horonaim!" So I went down and [fought against it. I captured it, and} Chemosh restored it in my days {... } {... J. 'The chief god of Moab. tomri was actually the dynastic name of the Israelite royal family, to which Ahab and his successor, Jehoram, belonged. t A city built by the tribe of Reuben, just south of Mount Nebo. One of the twelve tribes of Israel. IIA name for three different towns in ancient Palestine. This particular Ataroth was probably located east of the Jordan River and belonged to the tribe of Gad. 'Sharon is a coastal plain between Jaffa and Mount Carmel, occupied through much of Hebrew history by either the Phoenicians or the Philistines. The location of Maharith is not known.., An alternate name for Mount Pisgah, famous as the burial place of Moses. tt Ashtar was probably a variant of Astarte (Ishtar), a goddess worshipped by the Phoenicians, Mesopotamians, and many other peoples in the ancient Near East. The combination of the two names most likely indicates that in Moab Ashtar was the conson of Chemosh. Moreover, Mesha carefully explained that he had slain the entire population of Nebo (and earlier, Ataroth) because he had "devoted" it to Ashtar-Chemosh. This slaughter was herem, the "ban," an instrument of religious warfare. In exchange for victory, Chemosh required this ritual massacre; thus, Mesha was religiously bound to obey. The Hebrews also believed in herem; examples can be found in Joshua 6:17-21 and 1 Samuel 15:1-23. **An Edomite city.

10 128 Part II Classical Civilizations, 800 B.C.E.-800 C.E. THE HEBREW BIBLE Mesha king of Moab was a sheep breeder and used to pay the king of Israel a hundred thon, sand lambs and the wool of a hundred thousand rams in tribute, But when Ahab died, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel. At once King Jehoram went out of Samaria and mustered all Israel. After this he sent word to the king of] udah, "The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you join with me fighting Moab?" "I will," he replied. "I am as ready as you, my men as your men, my horses as your horses," and added "which way are we to attack?" "Through the wilderness of Edom," the other answered. So they set out; the king of Israel, the king of Judah and the king of Edom. They followed a devious route for seven days, until there was no water left for the troops or for the beasts in their baggage train. "Alas!" the king of Israel exclaimed, "Yahweh has summoned us three kings, only to put us into the power of Moab." But the king of Judah said, "Is there no prophet of Yahweh here for us to consult Yahweh through him?" One of the king of Israel's servants answered, "Elisha son of Shaphat is here, who used to pour water on the hands of Elijah." "The word of Yahweh is with him," the king of Judah said. So they went to him, the king of Israel, the king of Judah and the king of Edom. But Elisha said to the king of Israel, "What business have you with me? Go to the prophets of your father and your mother." "No," the king of Israel an- 'Elijah was a famous prophet and outspoken critic of King Ahab, who had allowed the worship of Baal in Israel. In a contest with the priests of Baal on Mount Carmel, Elijah had won the Israelites back to the worship of Yahweh. The prophet had not died, as readers unfamiliar with his Story might infer from this story. Instead, the Hebrews believed that Elijah had been taken directly to heaven (nor an afrerlif-e for all, but the place where Yahweh and his angels resided) in a chariot of fire, His lieutenant, Elisha, had succeeded him as prophet. swered, "Yahweh has summoned us three kings, only to put us into the power of Moab." Elisha replied, "As Yahweh Sabaoth lives, whom I serve, if I did not respect J ehoshaphat king of] udah, I should not take any notice of you, or so much as look at you. Now bring me someone who can play the tyre.'" And as the musician played, the hand of Yahweh was laid on him and he said "Yahweh says this, 'Dig ditch on ditch in this wadi,' for Yahweh says, 'You shall see neither wind nor rain, but his wadi shall be filled with water, and you and your troops and your baggage animals shall drink.' But this is only a litde thing in the sight of Yahweh, for he will put Moab itself into your power. You shall storm every fortified town, fell every sound tree, block every water spring, ruin all the best fields with stones." Next morning at the time when the oblation was being offered, water came from the direction of Edom, and the country was filled with it. When the Moabites learned that the kings had come up to fight against them, all who were of age to bear arms were called up; they took up position on the frontier. In the morning when they got up, the sun was shining on the water; and in the distance the Moabites saw the water as red as blood. 2 "This is blood!" they said. "The kings must have fought among themselves and killed one another. So now for the booty, Moab!" But when they reached the Isra~lite camp, the Israelites launched their attack and the Moabites fled before them, and as they advanced they cut the Moabites to pieces. They laid the towns in ruins, and each man threw a stone into all the best fields to fill them up, and they blocked every water spring and felled every sound tree. In the end, there was only Kir-hareseth left, which the slingers surrounded and battered. When the king of Moab saw that the battle had turned against him, he mustered seven hundred swords- ITo stimulate a prophetic ecstasy. zperhaps owing to the red sand of Edom in the wadi el Hesa.

11 Chapter 5 The Ancient Near East, 800 B.C.B.-800 C.B. 129 men in the hope of breaking a way out and goingto the king of Aram, * but he failed. Then he *Aram was a state immediately north of Moab. took his eldest son who was to succeed him and offered him as a sacrifice on the city wall. There was bitter indignation against the Israelites, who then withdrew, retiring to their own country. REVIEW QUESTIONS 1. What role in this conflict was played by Chemosh, the god of Moab, and by Yahweh, the god of the Hebrews? What similarities and differences between the two gods do you observe? 2. Who won the conflict, Moab or Israel? Why do you think the circumstances of the victory are described so differently by the two sources? 3. How do the purpose and message of Mesha's inscription and the passage from 2 Kings compare? What are the most important similarities and differences? 4. Which version of this incident do you think is more accurate? Why?