The Death of Gilgameš

Author: Traditional Sumerian

Time Period: 2499 BCE–1000 BCE

Country or Culture: Mesopotamia

Genre: Myth

PLOT SUMMARY

The brave and powerful warrior Gilgameš (Gilgamesh), king of the city of Uruk (Erech), has accomplished much in his life. He has constructed great walls to protect his people, defeated mystical beasts in battle, and roamed the far edges of the world in search of immortality. Despite all these accomplishments, however, he lies down one day, weary and worn, and must at last face his inevitable death.

As Gilgameš starts to drift away, the gods gather in council to discuss him. They begin by listing his many accomplishments, which include retrieving rare cedar lumber from distant mountainsides in order to provide for his city. They also note that as a leader, he oversaw the construction of many temples that brought glory to the gods and likewise often obeyed the gods’ decrees. In fact, Gilgameš is even part god himself, his father being a mortal king and his mother an immortal goddess. Because of this, some gods argue that it would be fitting to grant Gilgameš eternal life rather than allow him to slip into the land of death.

Despite these pleas on behalf of Gilgameš, the god Enki (Ea in Akkadian) reminds all of the deities that many years before, a tremendous flood had overtaken the earth. After the devastation of the flood, all the gods agreed that no human would be allowed to live forever; rather, a natural order would be put in place, with mortals all dying and new mortals rising to replace them. With this in mind, the gods bid Gilgameš to go on to the land of the dead. There, great gods and devoted priests wrapped in linen preside. Gilgameš’s father, grandfather, and other ancestors wait for him there, as does his beloved and cherished companion, Enkidu. One day, the children of Gilgameš will meet their departed father there, and their descendents will follow.

When Gilgameš dies, the people of his city sound their loudest horns. They then open up their levies and, for days, divert the water of the mighty Euphrates River. When the bed of the river is dry, they build a large stone tomb and bury Gilgameš inside of it before allowing the water to return once more and flood over his final resting place. Although Gilgameš lamented his death and fought with all his power against his own mortality during his last days, his burial is completed with the greatest respect, his tomb both forever protected by the rushing waters and made a permanent part of the city itself. For all time, people will remember his deeds and honor the great accomplishments of the legendary king.

SIGNIFICANCE

The story of the death of Gilgameš is today considered a secondary tale to the main narrative of the Epic of Gilgameš. One of the oldest stories in world mythology, the tale of Gilgameš has survived for thousands of years, often retold and revised by new generations. Two existing sets of tablets, one written in the ancient language of Sumerian and the other in the somewhat later language of Akkadian, provide what is widely considered a comprehensive version of Gilgameš’s mythology; scholars generally consider the latter set of writings to be the canonical version of the epic. Alongside these, however, are a large number of additional fragments and shattered tablets, some connecting with the primary narrative and some seeming to contradict it. A number of these fragmentary sources refer to the final days of Gilgameš, a time when the hero must at last face the truth of his own mortality.

The quests that Gilgameš undertakes during his lifetime typically have one of two main objectives: to expand the glory and influence of the king’s city, Uruk, or to achieve immortality for Gilgameš the man. In many ways, the story of Gilgameš is the tale of his slow acceptance of his own death and his realization that his fame as a leader and his contributions to civilization provide the closest alternative to true immortality. The story of his death highlights this realization, with the gods themselves listing his great deeds and acknowledging that he has done much for his city but ultimately concluding that he must meet the same end as all other mortals. However, they acknowledge the glory that comes along with a righteous mortal death, recognizing that in the afterlife, Gilgameš will take his rightful place alongside other legendary leaders. The narrative also stresses that the people of Uruk perform the magnificent feat of rerouting the Euphrates River in order to make his tomb a permanent part of the city and of the life-giving landscape of Mesopotamia, fueled as it was by that river.

Gilgameš himself does not entirely accept the generous nature of his fate, moaning and resisting his death until the last moment. The myth remains instructive for other humans, however, suggesting that they are of the greatest worth when they aid one another and sacrifice all they can for the glory of their civilization. The city of Uruk was one of the first major urban centers of the ancient world, and a real King Gilgameš seems to have existed there around 2500 BCE, overseeing the growth and security of his people alongside the fertile lands of the Euphrates River. Originating in an era when civilization was first developing and cities first rising to power, the myth surrounding this ancient ruler shows that the questions of mortality and the meaning of life that preoccupy modern humans were no less relevant in ancient times. An accomplished leader of legendary strength, Gilgameš must die in the flesh, even as the shattered tablets praising his many deeds extend his legacy across the centuries.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Black, Jeremy A., et al., eds.”The Death of Gilgamesh.” Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature. Faculty of Oriental Studies, U of Oxford, 2001. Web. 25 June 2013.

George, A. R., ed. The Epic of Gilgamesh: The Babylonian Epic Poem and Other Texts in Akkadian. New York: Penguin, 1999. Print.

“The Gilgamesh Epic.” Recommended Reading: 500 Classics Reviewed. Pasadena: Salem, 1995. 80. Print.

Spar, Ira. “Gilgamesh.” Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. Metropolitan Museum of Art, Apr. 2009. Web. 25 June 2013.

Spatt, Hartley S. “The Gilgamesh Epic.” Masterplots. Ed. Laurence W. Mazzeno. 4th ed. Vol. 4. Pasadena: Salem, 2010. 2265–68. Print.

Whitlark, James. “The Gilgamesh Epic.” Cyclopedia of Literary Places. Ed. R. Kent Rasmussen. Vol. 1. Pasadena: Salem, 2003. 447–49. Print.