Ishtar

No man of such great strength and qualities should drink and live with animals. Although his time was short lived, Enkidu was better off as a civilized man than when he was in an animal state. Enkidu possessed a great strength of a God, which would not have been used to its great capacity if he has stayed as he were. The transition from animal to man was new, exciting and an out of body experience for Enkidu, that he would have never felt if he had continued to drink water with gazelles. Not…

One of the greatest stories ever told, the Epic of Gilgamesh narrates the story of a king who did not treat his people right but matured into a shepherd to his people and learned about the great love of friendship. Because of its greatness it has been passed down through the centuries and withstood the test of time. At the beginning of the epic Gilgamesh’s “arrogance has no bounds by day or night” (1). His people do not hold respect for their king because he does not act as a shepherd to his…

The backlash of war in any time period leaves scars for any soldier that is a part of it, but there are some soldiers who naturally lead their men into battle regardless of the scars they carry. There are two men in history that have similar characteristics to leading their people or soldiers. One man that fits this category comes from the time period of 2150-1400 BCE and his name is Gilgamesh. The second man is named Albert C. Wedemeyer and he was a general in World War Two that created most of…

A story told in the Hebrew scriptures offers a dramatic interplay of manipulation and honor, kings and kingdoms, power and powerlessness. It is the story more commonly known as “Daniel and the Lion’s Den.” But this title, accurate though it is in terms of the dramatic climax, actually misses the main actors entirely. Ultimately, the story is a depiction of power and weakness at play in two very different kingdoms and communities. On one side stands Darius, the mighty king and ruler of the people…

The Tel Dan Stele was discovered in Northern Israel. It was found in three different fragments in 1993 and 1994. The pieces were found by Avraham Biran. The pieces were found apart because they were being used as building stones rather than their original purpose. The inscription is in Aramaic. It was most likely written in the late ninth century BCE and then used for its secondary purpose as building materials. The text is a description of an Aramaic King’s victories. These triumphs are…

The greatest factor that lead to the progression and development of Mesopotamian civilization was writing. Some may disagree and say metals were more influential during this time period. Metals had some influence due to the fact it created the ability to make blades, necklaces and collars. Although this writing lead to the ability to tell stories, inspired the creation of a postal system and a set of laws to maintain order within the empire. Writing gave the Mesopotamian culture another avenue…

Is the Idea of God Fundamentally Sexist? Westerner Religions, also called Abrahamic religions, have the greatest influence in Western countries. Approximately 1.4 Billion people belong to these three religions in Europe and the American continent. As explained by Robert Solomon, Kathleen Higgins, and Clancy Martin in “Introducing Philosophy” another reason for these three religions to be closely associated is the heavy influence of Greek philosophy from Plato and Aristotle (128). The Greek…

The Epic of Gilgamesh was written over 4100 years ago and is an epic that is still relevant to life in the 21st Century. There are multiple reasons for this, such as the characters, the topics, and the themes addressed in the story. The main theme at this point of the story was: your worst enemies can one day be your best friends. This is very true because, in real life, many of our best friends were once our worst enemies, and the hate that once tied us together slowly morphs into mutual…

I think the major theme of this epic is Man vs. the Natural World. In the epic Gilgamesh is represented as civilization (man) and Enkidu is represented by Nature (natural world). In the beginning of the story Gilgamesh is a mean young man that is just running around doing whatever he wants to do. No rules, no empathy on people, just him doing whatever pleases him. One day before he is about to go in and have his way with a bride an animal like man stops him, his name was Enkidu. Now Enkidu was…

The Epic of Gilgamesh has been of interest to many scholarly groups since it’s discovery in the mid-nineteenth century, particularly scholars of the Christian faith. Christians find the account of a flood in The Epic of Gilgamesh interesting, as it directly parallel’s the same flood recorded in Genesis. The epic follows the deeds of Gilgamesh, a ruler of great knowledge. He is considered an “oppressive ruler,” which causes his subjects to cry out to the gods to create a nemesis that will cause…