The Epic of Gilgamesh

People often refer to the Bible when they assert a historical context, but what they forget is to anchor the Bible, especially the Old Testament, in its proper mythological context. But what context is that? Well, unsurprisingly, it's immensely diverse. But if you really want to get to the root of it, you need to become acquainted with the ancient Sumerians and their religion. The central literary achievement of the Sumerian religious culture is without doubt the epic of Gilgamesh (read it online here)--a fragmented but largely recovered piece of literature that is humanity's oldest.

The story is divided into series of adventures in which we follow the Sumerian king Gilgamesh and his personal journey to self-enlightenment. He starts out as a ruthless and sexually frustrated ruler, upsetting the people of Uruk, where he reigns. Eventually the gods are forced to intervene and send down a creature named Enkidu. Enkidu is not yet a man, but thanks to some sexual activity with the local whore (children, go to bed!), he transforms into a human being.

The epic unfolds with great interest as Enkidu and Gilgamesh, after some macho fighting, team up to create fame for themselves. Disobeying the usual warnings from the elderly, they decide to kill the demon Humbaba. Of course, with some divine power, they succeed, but after having pissed off Ishtar, who's hot for Gilgamesh, the gods decide that the brave heroes must pay with Enkidu's death. Gilgamesh mourns his best friend and realizes he, too, will die.

Gilgamesh decides to seek immortality out of sheer desperation, which eventually leads him to the god Utnapishtim. During this encounter Utnapishtim spells out the classic Flood myth - which later became part of the creation myth of the Old Testament - and brutally informs us that death is real for every one of us, period. To say the least, Gilgamesh feels let down, but no less than twice is he offered immortality by Utnapishtim. Of course, Gilgamesh fails to live up the requirements to achieve this, and so he changes his perspective on life.

The existential conclusion echoes with Sumerian spiritual stoicism: don't worry about death, make sure you become a decent citizen, and protect your culture and civilization at all costs. Gilgamesh is finally free, despite death. The epic of Gilgamesh is a wonderful story and a deeply humanitarian remnant of a once great civilization, before it was occupied by foreign tribes. The language in the epic is surprisingly simple and modern, yet it's written in such a way that the adventures unfold like poetry.

If I had to pick my personal bible, this is it. It's condensed common sense in an entertaining and artistic form, so down to earth that it speaks truth undogmatically, but it’s so intriguing and at the same time so mystical that the best parts remain mysteriously inaccessible. The older I get, the more I find myself reading parts of this epic now and then, if nothing else to remind myself to make my life count as much as Gilgamesh did. When you fully understand this epic, you will begin to regard the Old Testament as merely a historical and mythological sequel.