Mesopotamia: Who's Gilgamesh?

In the ancient Mesopotamia, libraries were extant in temples and villages during the Babylonian Empire. There's an old Sumerian proverb that says: he who would excel in the school of the scribes must rise with the dawn". Who's who? Men and women had to learn to read and write. This involves knowledge of the extinct Sumerian language with a complicated and extensive syllabary. Many Babylonian literary works are still studied today. I'd like to study it myself!

One of the most famous Babylonian works is the Epic of Gilgamesh. Who's this guy? He has twelve books on his own. Each division contains the story of a single adventure in the career of Gilgamesh. The whole story is a composite product, although some stories have too much fiction to be accepted as historical facts.

What is known about Gilgamesh is that he was a historical king of the Sumerian city - Uruk, a major hero in the ancient mythology and an Akkadian writer. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, he writes about heroes, gods and goddesses and, most important, the beginning of the world. Believers will believe. Skeptics will doubt.

In later Babylonian times, these stories began to be woven into a connected narrative. The standard Akkadian Epic of Gilgamesh was composed by a scribe, not Gilgamesh himself. In the epic, Gilgamesh acts like a demigod of superhuman strength who befriends the Enkidu. Together, they go on adventures defeating creatures and monsters. After Enkidu dies of a disease sent as punishment from the higher gods, Gilgamesh becomes afraid of his own death. He repeatedly fails the trials set before him to return home to Uruk, realizing that immortality is beyond his reach.

Most historians generally agree that Gilgamesh was a historical king of the Sumerian city who probably ruled during a time and invented this stories from dreams or imaginations to immortalize his figure in history.

An adventurous, brave, but tragic figure symbolizes a man's vain but endless drive for fame, glory, and immortality. The truth is that he got what he wanted. Everyone who studies history, archaeology from this era, will hear about him, for sure.

I believe that Gilgamesh was someone. He could have been only a god or a myth but something is certain, we will never know the reality of things. Although, we can still imagine it.



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