Gilgamesh: A Verse Narrative By Herbert Mason

Mesopotamia is one of the oldest civilizations known to have been existed, formed in 3500 B.C.E. at the start of the Neolithic age of human history. The location of Mesopotamia, is what we now call modern day Iraq. The development of civilization in Mesopotamia was helped by the location of the Tigris and Euphrates river, a waterway the Mesopotamians greatly relied on. It is fitting to state that Mesopotamia one of the earliest civilizations, was the birthplace of the world’s oldest known piece of literature. Gilgamesh: A verse Narrative by Herbert Mason is a recount of this ancient story. It is about a King called Gilgamesh who ruled in the land of Uruk, and his quest to revive his beloved friend Enkidu from death. Gilgamesh is believed to
Many components of Mesopotamia’s polytheistic beliefs are shown. They believed in many Gods and Goddesses. “I will lead you to Uruk where you belong, to the temple of Anu” (G, p.20). The people of Mesopotamia built temples in dedication to their Gods. “May Shamash, bring you victory” pg31. After Gilgamesh rejected the proposal of the goddess Ishtar she became enraged, an asked her father to send down the bull of heaven to cause havoc on the earth and take the life of Gilgamesh. Pg45 But Enkidu protected Gilgamesh and killed the bull of heaven after it had killed 300 men, an action which enraged the goddess Ishtar, and she mourned her loss pg45. The goddess Ishtar showed both anger and lamentation because these travails. This is accurate of the beliefs of Mesopotamians as they believed the gods were like people in “form and conduct. They thought the gods had bodies and senses sought nourishment from sacrifice, enjoyed the worship and obedience of humans and were driven by lust love hate anger and envypg.34. The Mesopotamians believed the gods also influenced acts in nature also as shown in Gilgamesh. The gods conspired when they created a great flood by means of much rain, causing many people to die in the process. When Uthnapishtim mentioned that within his city of Shurrupak which contained many Gods within it. This is also a Mesopotamian belief than God’s took residence within
Gilgamesh would strictly force his people to build walls, and then let the walls decay which would lead to the people dreaming of the past. The building of walls was important in Mesopotamia as they provided a great means for defense. City-states could earn great fame for their walls. Gilgamesh also mentioned when stating one of his reason for wanting to fight Humbaba that he taught the youth of Uruk were becoming soft. This shows that Mesopotamia had wars or conflicts in which they would need strong fighters. In ancient Mesopotamia, neighboring city-states would often get into altercations for resources, or attacks from