Many people refer to Gilgamesh for its parallels to the story of Noach, but there is far more there. Here is one such gem, from tablet 11 of the Gilgamesh epic. Gilgamesh is seeking eternal life, and asked Utanpishtim how he attained his eternal life. Utanpishtim tells him the flood story, and how he and his wife survived the flood.At the end of this episode, after surviving the flood, Enlil, the deity primarily responsible for the flood deals with them.
Enlil went up inside the boatThis blessing of Utanpishtim and his wife accords with what happens to Noach, in Bereishit 9:
and, grasping my hand, made me go up.
He had my wife go up and kneel by my side.
He touched our forehead and, standing between us, he
blessed us:
'Previously Utanapishtim was a human being.
But now let Utanapishtim and his wife become like us,
the gods!
Let Utanapishtim reside far away, at the Mouth of the Rivers.'
They took us far away and settled us at the Mouth of the Rivers."
"Now then, who will convene the gods on your behalf,
that you may find the life that you are seeking!
Bereishit 1:
The opposite happens to Utanpishtim. They used to be like humans but now they are to be like gods:
'Previously Utanapishtim was a human being.Compare to Adam and Chava. In Bereishit 3, Hashem tried to prevent them from becoming like the gods.
But now let Utanapishtim and his wife become like us,
the gods!
And another way Hashem tries to prevent this is by subsequently ensuring they do not get eternal life. In the same perek:
There is this dynamic though, in that while Hashem does not intend for man, or mankind to be like a god, He does wish to make man God-like, in His own image, and with aspects of rulership:
In Bereishit 1:
More along the lines of contrast between Utanpishtim and Adam, the way Enlil accomplishes granting Utanpishtim eternal life is by sending Utanpishtim into Gan Eden, rather than casting him out of it. Thus,
Let Utanapishtim reside far away, at the Mouth of the Rivers.'The Mouth of the Rivers, of course, is Gan Eden. We see this explicitly in Bereishit 2, where Gan Eden is the mouth of the four rivers:
They took us far away and settled us at the Mouth of the Rivers."
In fact, midrash later follows this partial apotheosis, granting various Biblical characters and post-Biblical characters eternal life by having them enter Gan Eden alive. For example, Serach bat Asher.
The contrast is of course that Utanpishtim and his wife are just two people, while Adam and Eve are prototypes for all humanity, which is intended to be mortal.
In the epic of Gilgamesh, we also have a parallel to the snake and to the tree of Life. To cite the same tablet:
Gilgamesh spoke to Urshanabi, the ferryman, saying:
"Urshanabi, this plant is a plant against decay(!)
by which a man can attain his survival(!).
I will bring it to Uruk-Haven,
and have an old man eat the plant to test it.
The plant's name is 'The Old Man Becomes a Young Man.'"
Then I will eat it and return to the condition of my youth."
At twenty leagues they broke for some food,
at thirty leagues they stopped for the night.
Seeing a spring and how cool its waters were,
Gilgamesh went down and was bathing in the water.
A snake smelled the fragrance of the plant,
silently came up and carried off the plant.
While going back it sloughed off its casing.'Thus, the plant is a plant of eternal life, because it returns the old to young. By continuously eating of this plant, one can live forever. He gets the plant but a snake takes it away from him. Just as in Bereishit the snake brings death to mankind. And as the snake is associated with a plant, though a different plant.Note also the physical fulfillment of eternal life, in the snake in Gilgamesh. "While going back it sloughed off its casing." That it, a snake shedding its skin is a fulfillment of returning old to new. In Bereishit, we also have physical repercussions for the snake.
We also have a parallel to the sleep that overtakes Adam, and a mention of a wife in this regard. From the same tablet:
Utanapishtim said to his wife:
"Mankind is deceptive, and will deceive you.
Come, bake leaves for him and keep setting them by his head
and draw on the wall each day that he lay down."
She baked his leaves and placed them by his head
and marked on the wall the day that he lay down.
The first loaf was dessicated,
the second stale, the third moist(?), the fourth turned white,
its ...,
the fifth sprouted gray (mold), the sixth is still fresh.
the seventh--suddenly he touched him and the man awoke.
Gilgamesh said to Utanapishtim:
"The very moment sleep was pouring over me
you touched me and alerted me!"
Utanapishtim spoke to Gilgamesh, saying:
"Look over here, Gilgamesh, count your loaves!
You should be aware of what is marked on the wall!
Your first loaf is dessicated,
the second stale, the third moist, your fourth turned white,
its ...
the fifth sprouted gray (mold), the sixth is still fresh.
The seventh--suddenly he touched him and the man awoke.
Gilgamesh said to Utanapishtim:
"The very moment sleep was pouring over me
you touched me and alerted me!"
Utanapishtim spoke to Gilgamesh, saying:
"Look over here, Gilgamesh, count your leaves!
You should be aware of what is marked on the wall!
Your first loaf is dessicated,
the second stale, the third moist, your fourth turned white,
its ...
the fifth sprouted gray (mold), the sixth is still fresh.
The seventh--at that instant you awoke!"Thus, he slept, and lost out of eternal life that would possibly had been granted had he stayed awake and convened with the gods.The idea of old rotting bread as evidence of passage of time, by the way, is also found in sefer Yehoshua, perek 9, in interactions with the Gibeonites.
Some translations have nikudim to mean moldy rather than crumbs.
One final point in terms of parshat Bereishit, but it is somewhat rated. As such, you might wish to skip the end of this post.
One reading of the sin of the eating the forbidden fruit was that they engaged in sexual intercourse. I think this is all likelihood an incorrect reading. For example, the fact that they were naked is to show that they were simple, without cunning, as opposed to the cunning snake. Thus the ערום/ערום play on words. But some do read it that way.
We might find support for this reading from the epic of Gilgamesh is that primitive man was originally a brute, and only became an intelligent being as a result of repeated sexual intercourse with Shamhat:
Then he, Enkidu, offspring of the mountains,Thus his body was utterly depleted, but his understanding had broadened.
who eats grasses with the gazelles,
came to drink at the watering hole with the animals,
with the wild beasts he slaked his thirst with water.
Then Shamhat saw him--a primitive,
a savage fellow from the depths of the wilderness!
"That is he, Shamhat! Release your clenched arms,
expose your sex so he can take in your voluptuousness.
Do not be restrained--take his energy!
When he sees you he will draw near to you.
Spread out your robe so he can lie upon you,
and perform for this primitive the task of womankind!
His animals, who grew up in his wilderness, will become alien to him,
and his lust will groan over you."
Shamhat unclutched her bosom, exposed her sex, and he took in her voluptuousness.
She was not restrained, but took his energy.
She spread out her robe and he lay upon her,
she performed for the primitive the task of womankind.
His lust groaned over her;
for six days and seven nights Enkidu stayed aroused,
and had intercourse with the harlot
until he was sated with her charms.
But when he turned his attention to his animals,
the gazelles saw Enkidu and darted off,
the wild animals distanced themselves from his body.
Enkidu ... his utterly depleted(?) body,
his knees that wanted to go off with his animals went rigid;
Enkidu was diminished, his running was not as before.
But then he drew himself up, for his understanding had broadened.
This increased knowledge made him God-like, just as in the beginning of Bereishit:
The harlot said to Enkidu:There is so much more, but this will have to suffice for now.
"You are beautiful," Enkidu, you are become like a god.
Why do you gallop around the wilderness with the wild beasts?
Come, let me bring you into Uruk-Haven,
to the Holy Temple, the residence of Anu and Ishtar,
the place of Gilgamesh, who is wise to perfection,
but who struts his power over the people like a wild bull."
3 comments:
I have already referred you to my post on Eden (see: http://shmuzings.blogspot.com/2006/06/eden-revisited.html )
Once you read it, it will be evident why having relations with Shamhat would suddenly make the animals adverse to Enkidu. Certainly animals have relations and have witnessed other species doing the same, so why would their witnessing Enkidu having relations suddenly make him person non grata in their world? In short, the attainment of sexual knowledge represents a concurrent advancement in the level of human cognitive development that raises humans above their baser more animalistic instincts. Enkidu has grown up.
Check out my post on Rabbi Slifkin’s ideas regarding the mythology in Genesis at http://shmuzings.blogspot.com/2006/09/zoo-torah.html
I find your post very much in line with the idea that Genesis serves the purpose of combating the non-Jewish myths. I enjoyed how you contrasted Gilgamesh with Torah, their similarities and more importantly their divergences.
great post... i remember learning Gilgamesh in college.
although my favorite similarity/contrast between our premordial narratives and the narratives of our neighbors is between the creation of humanity in the Torah vs the Enuma Elish.
In the Torah, God says נעשה אדם "let US make humanity", in an unexpected plural that everyone scrambles to explain.
In the Enuma Elish, after kicking Tiamat's butt and becoming the leader of the gods, Marduk says "*I* will now make humanity".
So in the monotheistic story, we have The One God saying speaking in plural, but in the polytheistic story, they have one of many gods speaking in singular.
I have no idea if "mouth of the rivers" has been translated accurately, but if so it's the opposite of Eden. The Garden was placed at the point where the Ur-river split, near the head of the river; the "mouth" of a river is the end of it, where it enters the sea.
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