Epic of Gilgamesh

Written 1500 years before the Homeric sagas, the Epic of Gilgamesh is one of the great classics of literature.  Discovered in the late nineteenth century among the Nievah Library -- “Written down according to the original and collated in the palace of Assurbanipal, King of the World, King of Assyria�?-- the Epic was the first clue to a Sumerian version of the Great Deluge/Flood, whose hero was King Zi-u-sudra (aka Noah, Uta-napishtim).

From a literary poem of view, the Epic of Gilgamesh is as secular as the Odyssey, and as contemporary as any heroic tale of an exciting life.  Gilgamesh is in mature manhood when the Epic begins, but being semi-divine (2/3rd human and 1/3rd god) and vastly superior to other men, he can find no worthy match in love or war.  Accordingly, as the fifth king of Uruk following the Great Flood, he lords it over his people to the point where they pray for relief.  They receive it in the form of a “natural man�? Enkidu, who has been reared by the animals and is enormously strong and swift as a gazelle. 

Enkidu is sought out and seduced by a female (either priestess or harlot, depending upon the predilections of the translator), and with his subsequent loss of innocence, he takes the first step toward becoming civilized (I.e. The animals reject him).  This quickly brings him into direct conflict with Gilgamesh.  After a knock-down-drag-out fight, the two become the greatest of friends (it’s a guy thing), and ultimately set out on great quests.  The most notable is going into the forest where Humbaba dwells.  “Because of the evil that is in the land, we will go to the forest and destroy the evil.�?SPAN>  Unfortunately, the evil Humbaba is the protégé of Enlil (of Enki and Enlil fame), and the forest episode is a cruel trap set by Enlil in order to destroy Gilgamesh and Enkidu. 

Gilgamesh survives, but Enkidu doesn’t.  Because it was Enkidu’s hubris in refusing the prayer of Humbaba for mercy, Enlil brings the case before the Anunnaki, the council of the gods, and retribution is accordingly doled out.  In an independent poem, Enkidu and the Underworld, Enkidu goes down alive into the underworld to bring back a mysterious drum and drumstick that Gilgamesh has let fall into it.  In spite of warnings, Enkidu breaks all the taboos and finds himself ultimately held by the underworld.

The loss of Enkidu is devastating to Gilgamesh.  The lost of the great friendship and the knowledge that death is inevitable sets Gilgamesh out on a bold undertaking to find ever- lasting life.  His first clue is the legend of the day which insisted that King Zi-u-sudra (aka Noah) had not only survived the Flood, but had entered the company of the gods and been taken faraway “to live at the mouth of the rivers�?  Gilgamesh’s trek, akin to Odysseus’s journey, constitutes the last half of the Epic, where he encounters a variety of obstacles -- including one god’s advise that his quest is certain to fail.

Gilgamesh also encounters a woman named Siduri, an enigmatic figure living in a place “where east and west were confused�? and who dispenses the philosophy of eat, drink and be merry, “for this too is the lot of man�?  Siduri, nevertheless provides Gilgamesh with the instructions on how to cross the waters of death, using the boatman Urshanabi to ferry him across in much the same manner as that of the sun’s journey into the west each day. 

An important and notable event occurs during the meeting between Gilgamesh and the ferryman, involving the “Things of Stone�? which Gilgamesh rashly smashes, making it then necessary for the ferryman to use “punting poles�?-- the latter which are somehow connected with “wings�?or “winged beings or figures�?  

(This fascinating aside is suggestive of the idea that the “Things of Stone�?were akin in some manner to “The Philosopher’s Stone�?or the ORME, whereby Levitation would have been a foregone conclusion as a means of transportation.  Without the “Things of Stone�? other means of flying, e.g. Wings, apparently would be necessary.)

Gilgamesh’s meeting with Zi-u-sudra (Noah) begins with more “wisdom�?of the type that man should be content with his lot in life (however short it might be).  [This is typical advice from immortal or very long-lived beings.  But from the Anunnaki, who apparently depend upon Star Fire or ORME for their longevity -- and humans carrying some of their DNA -- this advice is considerably more suspect as being bad advice.] 

Zi-u-sudra then does an accounting of his experience in the Flood.  According to Zi-u-sudra, the Flood came about after a meeting of the council of the gods -- any such meeting typically implying really bad news for mankind -- in which Enlil again took the part of the advocate for destroying mankind, while Enki apparently was silent, and spoke his mind by aiding Zi-u-sudra in surviving the Flood. 

It is noteworthy that the dreadful havoc of the Deluge and Flood appalled even the gods.  Enlil had, apparently, spared no effort to use the horrors of storm, lightning, hailstones, and coals of fire raining down in order to exterminate mankind.  And unlike the Biblical story, the Sumerian version is based on a group of factious, flustered, and fallible deities.  Importantly, there is no Covenant that the gods will not do as much again, but Inanna’s exclamation that she will not “forget these days�? and the immortality and semi-divine status which Zi-u-sudra obtains from the gods, might be indicative of some respite from anxiety.  As a matter of face, “Noah�?means “respite�?

Gilgamesh eventually obtains the plant of Youth Regained from the bottom of the sea, but inexplicably does not immediately eat it at once.  He eventually loses it, when a snake eats it and thereby becomes the symbol for self-renewal.  In the end, Gilgamesh has no choice but to return without the secret of eternal life, and even as the King of Uruk, even he must accept the human lot of limited longevity. 

The Epic -- with this moral basic to it -- might thus be a form of propaganda.  But there is also the hint that mankind might have an ace after all!  Perhaps, the human life span, while enormously brief as compared to the Anunnaki Gods and Goddesses, might also possess the ability to achieve a great deal in a relatively short time.  The creativity of a shortened, and thus highly motivated, life span might be enormously greater than that of a god or semi-god resting on their laurels.

One final curiosity is the fact Gilgamesh was one-third god!  The ability to achieve a 1/3 and 2/3 mix is mathematically extremely difficult.  If only two -- a male and a female -- are involved, then the 1/3 god goal would be difficult to even approximate.  But, if there were three involved, the combination of thirds is entirely plausible!  This is, in fact, extremely important!  Assume, for example, the combination of a human female’s egg and a human male’s sperm, with the fertilized egg then being inserted into a Goddess for the nine-month process of going from a fetus through childbirth.  In this way, the Goddess connection is the one-third god status (with the two humans being the remaining two thirds).  

The key is that the Goddess would be means by which the human embryo is fed -- and potentially, the human being after birth continuing to receive nourishment from the Goddess.  This is, in effect, the blood connection of the Star Fire!  Gilgamesh was thus receiving the ORME equivalent in his status as King, and the one-third god portion gave him extraordinary powers (such that he had no equal with any human).

There are also stories of Inanna and Gilgamesh, in which Gilgamesh apparently refuses her sexual overtures.  Her subsequent wrath is understandable (no woman likes to be turned down!), but her initial approach should be considered as noteworthy.  After all, if Gilgamesh was running on 1/3 of his god-like cylinders, he would be more attractive to a Goddess who tended to have her way in all things.