Mythology

myth undoubtedly rests upon the tradition of a flood of unusual severity, although, as its setting in the Gilgamesh Epic suggests, it has been linked up with funerary ritual and with the search for immortality. There is not, however, sufficient evidence to show that the Flood myth, like the Creation myth, became a ritual myth. We shall now describe the other Assyro- Babylonian myths which have been preserved in the various collections which the labours of archaeologists have made available in recent years. The Epic of Gilgamesh This very remarkable literary production in which, as we have already seen, the Flood myth is embedded, is partly myth and partly saga. It relates the adventures of a semi-mythical king of Erech who is named in the Sumerian king-lists as the fifth king of the first dynasty of Erech, and is said to have reigned 120 years. The work was extremely popular and widely distributed in the ancient Near East. Fragments of a Hittite translation have been found in the archives of Boghazkoy; also a fragment of a Hittite version. A fragment of the Akkadian version was found in the course of the American excavation of Megiddo. Professor Speiser’s words about the Epic are worth quoting. ‘For the first time in the history of the world a profound experience on such a heroic scale has found expression in a noble style. The scope and sweep of the epic, and its sheer poetic power, give it a timeless appeal. In antiquity, the influence of the poem spread to various tongues and cultures.’ [14] The Akkadian version consisted of twelve tablets, of which most of the fragments come from the library of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh. The longest and best preserved fragment is tablet eleven containing the account of the Flood, which we have already discussed. The Epic opens with a description of the strength and heroic qualities of Gilgamesh. The gods have created him of superhuman size and valour; he is said to be two-thirds god and one-third man. But the nobles of Erech complain to the gods that Gilgamesh, who should be the shepherd of his people, is behaving in an arrogant and tyrannical manner. They beg the gods to create a being like Gilgamesh, against whom he may measure his strength, so that they may have peace. Accordingly the goddess Aruru fashions from clay the figure of Enkidu, a wild human creature of the steppes, of surpassing strength. He feeds on grass, is friendly to the wild beasts and drinks with them at their watering-places. He destroys the hunter’s snares and delivers the wild animals taken in them. When one of Gilgamesh’s hunters brings the report to him of the nature and strange behaviour of this wild man of the steppes, Gilgamesh tells the hunter to take a temple-prostitute to the watering-place where Enkidu is wont to drink with the wild animals that she may exercise her wiles upon him. The hunter does as he was commanded, and the woman lies in wait for Enkidu until he comes to drink with the wild beasts at the watering place. When he comes she displays her charms before him, and he is seized with desire for her. After seven days of amorous delight Enkidu awakes from his trance and finds that a change has taken place in him. The wild beasts now flee from him in terror, and the woman says to him, ‘You are wise, Enkidu, you have become like a god.’ She then tells him of the glories and delights of Erech, and of the strength and fame of Gilgamesh; she induces him to discard his clothing of skins, to shave and anoint himself, and leads him to Erech into the presence of Gilgamesh. Enkidu and Gilgamesh then engage in a

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