THE EPIC OF Gilgamesh Single-left-click to advance through the presentation.

Over seven thousand years ago, before it was called Iraq, before it was called Persia, before the writing of the Old Testament, before the age of the Pharaohs, Assyria was that land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers; home to King Gilgamesh. For thousands of years, GILGAMESH has endured as the oldest and most revolutionary work of literature known to mankind. This first-ever epic follows the warrior-king from his divine rise to power to his victories and struggles with the Gods; risking life and love on his tumultuous quest to find the answers to happiness and immortality. What he found was much less mysterious than he ever expected.. and it was always there, right at his finger tips.

Gilgamesh He ruled circa 2600 BC. He is the central character in the Epic of Gilgamesh, one of the best known works of early literature, which says that his mother was Ninsun (whom some call Rimat Ninsun), a goddess. Gilgamesh is described as two-thirds god and one-third human.

Mesopotamian mythology In Mesopotamian mythology, Gilgamesh is credited with having been a Demigod of superhuman strength who built a great city wall to defend his people from external threats.

The Epic of Gilgamesh Perhaps the oldest written story on Earth

It is the majestic tale of a man haunted by gods, tormented by his passion for a woman who was his greatest rival, and driven by a thirst for immortality.

Gilgamesh Tablet This is part of a tablet on which the Epic of Gilgamesh, a Babylonian version of the Flood, is recorded. (2000 BC).

The Epic of Gilgamesh The Epic of Gilgamesh is an epic poem from Ancient Mesopotamia and is among the earliest known works of literary fiction. Scholars surmise that a series of Sumerian legends and poems about the mythological hero-king Gilgamesh, who might have been a real ruler in the late Early Dynastic II period (ca. 27th century BC), were gathered into a longer Akkadian poem long afterward, with the most complete version existing today preserved on twelve clay tablets in the library collection of the 7th century BC Assyrian king Ashurbanipal.

a great flood The poem tells of a great flood that covers the earth many years earlier, making it similar to the story of Noah in the Old Testament of the Jewish and Christian holy books. Modern science has discovered that there was a marked increase in the sea levels about 6,000 years ago as the last ice age ended. The melting ice drained to the oceans causing the sea level to rise more than ten feet in one century.

Enkidu The essential story revolves around the relationship between Gilgamesh, a king who has become distracted and disheartened by his rule, and a friend, Enkidu, who is half-wild and who undertakes dangerous quests with Gilgamesh. Much of the epic focuses on Gilgamesh's thoughts of loss following Enkidu's death. It is about their becoming human together, and has a high emphasis on immortality. A large portion of the book shows Gilgamesh's search for immortality after Enkidu's death. It is often credited by historians as being one of the first literary works.

Enkidu to Uruk According to the epic, Gilgamesh, was one-third God and two-thirds man. He was in his city Uruk when he heard of a strange man, Enkidu, living with the wild beasts. He persuaded a prostitute to lure Enkidu to Uruk, where Gilgamesh wrestled with him to test his strength. They became friends and went on many adventures together which included killing the monster Humbaba in Cedar Forest in the West. When Enkidu died, Gilgamesh was stricken with grief, and he set out to find the secret of immortality from the one man who had survived the ancient flood, Ut-napishtim. After hearing the story of the deluge, Gilgamesh sought, found, but then tragically lost the plant of life.

Gilgamesh was buried Gilgamesh was buried under the waters of a river at the end of his life. The people of Uruk diverted the flow of the Euphrates River crossing Uruk for the purpose of burying the dead king within the riverbed. In April 2003, a German expedition discovered what is thought to be the entire city of Uruk - including, the former bed of the Euphrates, the last resting place of its King Gilgamesh.

Gilgamesh as a historical figure Despite the lack of direct evidence, most scholars do not object to consideration of Gilgamesh as a historical figure, particularly after inscriptions were found confirming the historical existence of other figures associated with him: kings Enmebaragesi and Aga of Kish. If Gilgamesh was a historical king, he probably reigned in about the 26th century BC. Some of the earliest Sumerian texts spell his name as Bilgames. Initial difficulties in reading cuneiform resulted in Gilgamesh making his re-entrance into world culture in 1891 as "Izdubar"

In most texts, Gilgamesh is written with the determinative for divine beings (DINGIR, but there is no evidence for a contemporary cult, and the Sumerian Gilgamesh myths suggest the deification was a later development (unlike the case of the Akkadian god kings). With this deification, however, would have come an accretion of stories about him, some potentially derived from the real lives of other historical figures, in particular Gudea, the Second Dynasty ruler of Lagash (2144–2124 BC). Whether based on a historical prototype or not, Gilgamesh became a legendary protagonist in the Epic of Gilgamesh. The name Gilgamesh appears once in Greek, as "Gilgamos" (Γιλγαμος). The story is a variant of the Perseus myth: The King of Babylon determines by oracle that his grandson Gilgamos will kill him, and throws him out of a high tower. An eagle breaks his fall, and the infant is found and raised by a gardener.

MORE AT http://www.bible-history.com/ www.wsu.edu/gened/orpheus/orpheus_gilgamesh.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilgamesh http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epic_of_Gilgamesh http://www.ancienttexts.org/library/mesopotamian/gilgamesh/ www.livius.org/.../flood/flood3-t-gilgamesh.html www.margaretwolfson.com/?p=theater&sb=gilgamesh www.youtube.com/watch?v=gopr-PrgMfw www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHInCYIGq3E http://www.bible-history.com/

Reminders 1. You have both a movie assignment (Write a short paper summarizing and reflecting) and an oral report! The topics can be the same or different (You decide)! Please notify your instructor if you want Gilgamesh to be your topic(s). 2. Document your STUDY JOURNAL for all you do inside and out of this class!

Thanks for your scholarship! Please pray for a teachable And humble spirit!