The Epic of Gilgamesh

by Anonymous

The Gilgamesh Epic is the most notable literary product of Babylonia as yet discovered in the mounds of Mesopotamia.

“Why, O Gish, does thou run about? The life that thou seekest, thou wilt not find.

When the gods created mankind, Death they imposed on mankind; Life they kept in their power.

We now have further evidence both of the extreme antiquity of the literary form of the Gilgamesh Epic and also of the disposition to make the Epic the medium of illustrating aspects of life and the destiny of mankind.

108 Note that the name of Eve is not mentioned till after the fall (Genesis 3, 20). Before that she is merely ishsha, i.e., “woman,” just as in the Babylonian tale the woman who guides Enkidu is ḫarimtu, “woman.”