Transcript The Epic of Gilgamesh: Setting

The Epic of
Gilgamesh
Sumerian Literature
from 2500 B.C.
The Epic of Gilgamesh: Setting
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Story takes place in
ancient Sumer, one of
the first settled parts of
the Fertile Crescent
The Tigris and
Euphrates rivers
allowed for the
development of water
canals and agriculture
This is part of modernday Iraq
Historic Map of Mesopotamia
Epic of Gilgamesh: Art
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Gilgamesh was the
actual king of ancient
Uruk about 2700 B.C.
This statue depicts
Gilgamesh as a powerful
ruler and lion-killer
What can we learn about
Sumerian civilization and
kingship by looking at
this statue?
Epic of Gilgamesh: Legacy
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Later classical and
medieval kings also used
lions as their personal
symbol
Examples include Henry
“the lion” of Saxony and
Richard “the lionhearted” who led the
first crusade c. 1100
(right)
Epic of Gilgamesh: Language
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Gilgamesh was written down
on clay cuneiform tablets; it
is the oldest written work
found thus far.
Scholars were able to
translate Sumerian cuneiform
by comparing it to later
Akkadian tablets with
similar stories
This cuneiform writing
consists of wedge shapes
read right to left
Epic of Gilgamesh: Religion
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Sumerian shrine or Ziggurat,
c. 2100 B.C. in Ur
The ziggurat is a religious
temple “rising like a
mountain in the desert”
where Sumerians worshiped
local gods
In Gilgamesh’s city of Uruk,
the popular gods were Anu
(father of the gods), Ishtar
(goddess of love), and
Lugulbanda (Gilgamesh’s
personal god)
Epic of Gilgamesh: Themes
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Civilization vs. Nature
Kingship (how should a king rule?)
Religion: How do people and gods interact?
How do Sumerians appease the gods through
ritual?
Mortality: What is the meaning of life?
Epic literature (slaying the “dragon”)
Flood story