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(Gilgamesh) The famous king of the Sumerian city of Uruk

Gilgamesh ruled the city of Uruk at the end of the 27th - beginning of the 26th centuries BC. And he was a representative of the first dynasty of Uruk. Gilgamesh's father was En Kulaba.

In the first years of his stay on the throne of the city of Uruk, Gilgamesh was subordinate to the powerful Agga - the lugal Kish. One day Agga sent his envoys to Uruk to convey Gilgamesh, that he should take part in the irrigation work that Agga had started. The elders gathered a council on this matter and asked the king of Uruk to carry out the order. But Gilgamesh did not listen, since this was contrary to the wishes of the people. At a public meeting, Gilgamesh was proclaimed lugal - military leader. In response to this, Agga and his warriors descended on boats along the Euphrates and began the siege of Uruk. But this attack ended unsuccessfully for Aggi, since the inhabitants stubbornly refused to surrender and crushed his army.

In 2675 BC. Gilgamesh finally managed to achieve independence for Uruk. Hegemony over Lower Mesopotamia passed to Gilgamesh.

After some time, Gilgamesh subjugated cities such as Adab, Lagash, Nippur, Umma and others. Gilgamesh is also mentioned as the builder of the Nippur sanctuary of Tummal. And in Lagash, the king of Uruk built a gate, which he named after himself.

Thanks to his deeds, Gilgamesh became a hero Sumerian myths, legends and epic songs. The songs tell about one of his most important feats - the construction of the wall of Uruk, which was 9 km long and about 5 m thick. In addition, he organized a mythical campaign to Lebanon for cedar forest. Poems about the glorious Gilgamesh were copied in many languages. He became a symbol of courage and an adventurer.

Epic texts consider Gilgamesh to be the son of the hero Lugalbanda and the goddess Ninsun. The “Royal List” from Nippur - a list of the dynasties of Mesopotamia - dates the reign of Gilgamesh to the era of the First Dynasty of Uruk (27–26 centuries BC). Gilgamesh is the fifth king of this dynasty, whose name follows those of Lugalbanda and Dumuzi, the consort of the goddess Inanna. Gilgamesh is also attributed divine origin: "Bilgames, whose father was the demon-lila, en (i.e., "high priest") of Kulaba." The duration of Gilgamesh's reign is determined by the "Royal List" to be 126 years.

The Sumerian tradition places Gilgamesh as if on the border between the legendary heroic time and the more recent historical past. Starting with the son of Gilgamesh, the duration of the years of reign of the kings in the "Royal List" becomes closer to the dates human life. The names of Gilgamesh and his son Ur-Nungal are mentioned in the inscription of the general Sumerian sanctuary of Tummal in Nippur among the rulers who built and rebuilt the temple.

During the First Dynasty, Uruk was surrounded by a 9 km long wall, the construction of which is associated with the name of King Gilgamesh. Five Sumerian heroic tales recount the deeds of Gilgamesh. One of them - “Gilgamesh and Agga” - reflects real events late 27th century BC e. and talks about the victory won by the king over the army of the city of Kish that besieged Uruk.

In the tale “Gilgamesh and the Mountain of the Immortal,” the hero leads the youths of Uruk into the mountains, where they cut down evergreen cedars and defeat the monster Humababu. The poorly preserved cuneiform text “Gilgamesh and the Bull of Heaven” tells of the hero’s struggle with the bull sent by the goddess Inanna to destroy Uruk. The text "The Death of Gilgamesh" is also presented only in fragments. The legend “Gilgamesh, Enkidu and the Underworld” reflects the cosmogonic ideas of the Sumerians. It has a complex composition and is divided into a number of separate episodes.

In the ancient days of the beginning of the world, a huluppu tree was planted in Inanna’s garden, from which the goddess wanted to make her throne. But the bird Anzud hatched a chick in its branches, the demon maiden Lilith settled in the trunk, and a snake began to live under the root. In response to Inanna's complaints, Gilgamesh defeated them, cut down the tree and made from it a throne, a bed for the goddess and magical objects “puku” and “mikku” - musical instruments, the loud sound of which made the young men of Uruk dance tirelessly. The curses of the women of the city, disturbed by the noise, led to the fact that the “pukku” and “mikku” fell underground and remained lying at the entrance to the underworld. Enkidu, Gilgamesh's servant, volunteered to get them, but violated magical prohibitions and was left in the kingdom of the dead. Heeding Gilgamesh's pleas, the gods opened the entrance to the underworld and Enkidu's spirit came out. In the last surviving episode, Enkidu answers Gilgamesh's questions about the laws of the kingdom of the dead. The Sumerian tales of Gilgamesh are part of an ancient tradition closely associated with oral creativity and having parallels with fairy tales of other peoples.

The motifs of the heroic tales of Gilgamesh and Enkidu were reinterpreted in the literary monument of the Ancient East - the Akkkadian “Epic of Gilgamesh”. The epic survives in three main versions. This is a Nineveh version from the library of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal, dating back to the second half of 2 thousand BC. e.; the contemporary so-called peripheral version, represented by the Hittite-Hurrian poem about Gilgamesh, and the most ancient of all, the Old Babylonian version.

The Nineveh version, according to tradition, was written down “from the mouth” of the Uruk spellcaster Sin-leke-uninni; its fragments were also found in Ashur, Uruk and Sultan-tepe. When reconstructing the epic, all published fragments are taken into account; unpreserved lines of one text can be filled in from other versions of the poem. The Epic of Gilgamesh is written on 12 clay tablets; the last of them is compositionally unrelated to the main text and is a literal translation into Akkadian of the last part of the tale of Gilgamesh and the Huluppu tree.

Table I tells about the king of Uruk, Gilgamesh, whose unbridled prowess caused a lot of grief to the inhabitants of the city. Having decided to create a worthy rival and friend for him, the gods molded Enkidu from clay and settled him among wild animals. Table II is devoted to the martial arts of the heroes and their decision to use their powers for good, cutting down a precious cedar in the mountains. Tables III, IV and V are devoted to their preparations for the road, travel and victory over Humbaba. Table VI is close in content to the Sumerian text about Gilgamesh and the celestial bull. Gilgamesh rejects Inanna's love and reproaches her for her treachery. Insulted, Inanna asks the gods to create a monstrous bull to destroy Uruk. Gilgamesh and Enkidu kill a bull; Unable to take revenge on Gilgamesh, Inanna transfers her anger to Enkidu, who weakens and dies.

The story of his farewell to life (VII table) and Gilgamesh’s cry for Enkidu (VIII table) become the turning point of the epic tale. Shocked by the death of his friend, the hero sets out in search of immortality. His wanderings are described in Tables IX and X. Gilgamesh wanders in the desert and reaches the Mashu Mountains, where scorpion men guard the passage through which the sun rises and sets. “Mistress of the Gods” Siduri helps Gilgamesh find the shipbuilder Urshanabi, who ferried him across the “waters of death” that are fatal to humans. On the opposite shore of the sea, Gilgamesh meets Utnapishtim and his wife, to whom in time immemorial the gods gave eternal life.

Table XI contains the famous story about the Flood and the construction of the ark, on which Utnapishtim saved the human race from extermination. Utnapishtim proves to Gilgamesh that his search for immortality is futile, since man is unable to defeat even the semblance of death - sleep. In parting, he reveals to the hero the secret of the “grass of immortality” growing at the bottom of the sea. Gilgamesh obtains the herb and decides to bring it to Uruk to give immortality to all people. On way back the hero falls asleep at the source; a snake rising from its depths eats the grass, sheds its skin and, as it were, receives a second life. The text of the XI table known to us ends with a description of how Gilgamesh shows Urshanabi the walls of Uruk he erected, hoping that his deeds will be preserved in the memory of his descendants.

As the plot of the epic develops, the image of Gilgamesh changes. The fairy-tale hero-hero, boasting of his strength, turns into a man who has learned the tragic brevity of life. The powerful spirit of Gilgamesh rebels against the recognition of the inevitability of death; only at the end of his wanderings does the hero begin to understand that immortality can bring him eternal glory to his name.

[𒂆 ) - ensi of the Sumerian city of Uruk, ruled at the end of the 27th - beginning of the 26th centuries BC. e. He became a character in Sumerian legends and the Akkadian epic - one of the greatest works of literature of the Ancient East.

The name Gilgamesh is mentioned not only in Mesopotamian texts, but also in the Qumran manuscripts: fragment 13 Q450 of the Book of Giants contains the name Gilgamesh next to a passage translated as “...everything is against his soul...”. These same texts were used by the Middle Eastern Manichaean sects. Claudius Aelianus around 200 AD. e. tells about Gilgamesh (Γίλγαμος) a modified legend about Sargon of Akkad: the oracle predicted the death of the Babylonian king at the hands of his own grandson, he got scared and threw the child from the tower, but the prince was saved by an eagle and raised by a gardener. Assyrian theologian of the Church of the East Theodore Bar Konai around 600 AD. e. names Gilgamesh (Gligmos) in the list of 12 kings who were contemporaries of the patriarchs from Peleg to Abraham.

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Literature

• History of the Ancient East. The origins of the most ancient class societies and the first centers of slave-owning civilization. Part 1. Mesopotamia / Edited by I. M. Dyakonov. - M.: Main editorial office oriental literature Publishing house "Science", 1983. - 534 p. - 25,050 copies.
• Kramer Samuel. Sumerians. The first civilization on Earth / Trans. from English A. V. Miloserdova. - M.: ZAO Tsentrpoligraf, 2002. - 384 p. - (Mysteries of ancient civilizations). - 7,000 copies. - ISBN 5-9524-0160-0.
• Bertman Stephen. Mesopotamia: Encyclopedic reference book / Trans. from English A. A. Pomogaibo; comment V. I. Gulyaev. - M.: Veche, 2007. - 414 p. - (Library of World History). - ISBN 5-9533191-6-4.
• Belitsky Marian./ Per. from Polish. - M.: Veche, 2000. - 432 p. - (Secrets of ancient civilizations). - 10,000 copies. - ISBN 5-7838-0774-5.
• . // / Author-compiler V. V. Erlikhman. - T. 1.
• Emelyanov V.V. Gilgamesh. Biography of a legend. - M.: Young Guard, 2015. - 358 p. - (Small series ZhZL). - ISBN 978-5-235-03800-4.

Links

• Emelyanov V.. PostScience. Retrieved March 14, 2015.

Fiction

• The Epic of Gilgamesh - the original epic
• Robert Silverberg. "King Gilgamesh." (In Silverberg, Gilgamesh is the son of Lugalbanda.
• Roman Svetlov. "Gilgamesh"
• Markov Alexander - "Apsu"

Excerpt describing Gilgamesh

At the guardhouse where Pierre was taken, the officer and soldiers who took him treated him with hostility, but at the same time with respect. There was also a sense of doubt in their attitude towards him about who he was (isn’t it very important person), and hostility due to their still fresh personal struggle with him.
But when, on the morning of another day, the shift came, Pierre felt that for the new guard - for the officers and soldiers - it no longer had the meaning that it had for those who took him. And indeed, in this big, fat man in a peasant’s caftan, the guards of the next day no longer saw that living man who so desperately fought with the marauder and with the escort soldiers and said a solemn phrase about saving the child, but saw only the seventeenth of those being held for some reason, by by order of the highest authorities, the captured Russians. If there was anything special about Pierre, it was only his timid, intently thoughtful appearance and French, in which, surprisingly for the French, he spoke well. Despite the fact that on the same day Pierre was connected with other suspected suspects, since the separate room he occupied was needed by an officer.
All the Russians kept with Pierre were people of the lowest rank. And all of them, recognizing Pierre as a master, shunned him, especially since he spoke French. Pierre heard with sadness the ridicule of himself.
The next evening, Pierre learned that all of these prisoners (and probably himself included) were to be tried for arson. On the third day, Pierre was taken with others to a house where a French general with a white mustache, two colonels and other Frenchmen with scarves on their hands were sitting. Pierre, along with others, was asked questions about who he was with the precision and certainty with which defendants are usually treated, supposedly exceeding human weaknesses. where was he? for what purpose? etc.
These questions, leaving aside the essence of the life matter and excluding the possibility of revealing this essence, like all questions asked in courts, had the goal only of setting up the groove along which the judges wanted the defendant’s answers to flow and lead him to the desired goal, that is to the accusation. As soon as he began to say something that did not satisfy the purpose of the accusation, they took a groove, and the water could flow wherever it wanted. In addition, Pierre experienced the same thing that a defendant experiences in all courts: bewilderment as to why all these questions were asked of him. He felt that this trick of inserting a groove was used only out of condescension or, as it were, out of politeness. He knew that he was in the power of these people, that only power had brought him here, that only power gave them the right to demand answers to questions, that the only purpose of this meeting was to accuse him. And therefore, since there was power and there was a desire to accuse, there was no need for the trick of questions and trial. It was obvious that all answers had to lead to guilt. When asked what he was doing when they took him, Pierre answered with some tragedy that he was carrying a child to his parents, qu"il avait sauve des flammes [whom he saved from the flames]. - Why did he fight with the marauder? Pierre answered, that he was defending a woman, that protecting an insulted woman is the duty of every person, that... He was stopped: this did not go to the point. Why was he in the yard of the house on fire, where witnesses saw him? He answered that he was going to see what was happening in the building? Moscow. They stopped him again: they didn’t ask him where he was going, and why he was near the fire? They repeated the first question to him, to which he said he didn’t want to answer. Again he answered that he couldn’t say that. .
- Write it down, this is not good. “It’s very bad,” the general with a white mustache and a red, ruddy face told him sternly.
On the fourth day, fires started on Zubovsky Val.
Pierre and thirteen others were taken to Krymsky Brod, to the carriage house of a merchant's house. Walking through the streets, Pierre was choking from the smoke, which seemed to be standing over the entire city. WITH different sides fires were visible. Pierre did not yet understand the significance of the burning of Moscow and looked at these fires with horror.
Pierre stayed in the carriage house of a house near the Crimean Brod for four more days, and during these days he learned from the conversation of the French soldiers that everyone kept here expected the marshal's decision every day. Which marshal, Pierre could not find out from the soldiers. For the soldier, obviously, the marshal seemed to be the highest and somewhat mysterious link in power.
These first days, until September 8th, the day on which the prisoners were taken for secondary interrogation, were the most difficult for Pierre.

X
On September 8, a very important officer entered the barn to see the prisoners, judging by the respect with which the guards treated him. This officer, probably a staff officer, with a list in his hands, made a roll call of all the Russians, calling Pierre: celui qui n "avoue pas son nom [the one who does not say his name]. And, indifferently and lazily looking at all the prisoners, he ordered the guard the officer should properly dress and clean them up before leading them to the marshal. An hour later, a company of soldiers arrived, and Pierre and the other thirteen were taken to the Maiden's Field. The day was clear, sunny after the rain, and the air was unusually clear. that day when Pierre was taken out of the guardhouse at Zubovsky Val; smoke rose in pillars in the clear air. The fires were nowhere to be seen, but columns of smoke rose from all sides, and all of Moscow, everything that Pierre could see, was one conflagration. On all sides one could see vacant lots with stoves and chimneys and occasionally the burnt walls of stone houses. Pierre looked closely at the fires and did not recognize the familiar quarters of the city. In some places the Kremlin could be seen, undestroyed, white from afar with its towers and Ivan the Great. Nearby, the dome of the Novodevichy Convent glittered merrily, and the bell of the Gospel was especially loudly heard from there. This announcement reminded Pierre that it was Sunday and the feast of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary. But it seemed that there was no one to celebrate this holiday: everywhere there was devastation from the fire, and among the Russian people there were only occasionally ragged, frightened people who hid at the sight of the French.

Gilgamesh Gilgamesh

semi-legendary ruler of the city of Uruk in Sumer (XXVII-XXVI centuries BC). In the Sumerian epic songs of the 3rd millennium BC. e. and a large poem from the end of the 3rd - beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. e. describes, in particular, the wanderings of Gilgamesh in search of the secret of immortality. The legend of Gilgamesh also spread among the Hittites, Hurrians, and others.

GILGAMESH (Sumerian. Bilga-mes - this name can be interpreted as “hero ancestor”), semi-legendary ruler of Uruk (cm. URUK), hero of the epic tradition of Sumer (cm. SUMER) and Akkad (cm. AKKAD (state)). Epic texts consider Gilgamesh to be the son of the hero Lugalbanda (cm. LUGALBANDA) and the goddess Ninsun. "Royal List" from Nippur (cm. NIPPUR)- list of dynasties of Mesopotamia - dates the reign of Gilgamesh to the era of the First Dynasty of Uruk (27–26 centuries BC). Gilgamesh is the fifth king of this dynasty, whose name follows those of Lugalbanda and Dumuzi (cm. DUMUZI), wife of the goddess Inanna (cm. INANNA). Gilgamesh is also attributed divine origin: "Bilgames, whose father was the demon-lila, en (i.e., "high priest") of Kulaba." The duration of Gilgamesh's reign is determined by the "Royal List" to be 126 years.
The Sumerian tradition places Gilgamesh as if on the border between the legendary heroic time and the more recent historical past. Starting with the son of Gilgamesh, the length of the years of reign of the kings in the “Royal List” becomes closer to the terms of human life. The names of Gilgamesh and his son Ur-Nungal are mentioned in the inscription of the general Sumerian sanctuary of Tummal in Nippur among the rulers who built and rebuilt the temple.
During the First Dynasty, Uruk was surrounded by a 9 km long wall, the construction of which is associated with the name of King Gilgamesh. Five Sumerian heroic tales recount the deeds of Gilgamesh. One of them - “Gilgamesh and Agga” - reflects real events of the late 27th century. BC e. and talks about the victory won by the king over the army of the city of Kish that besieged Uruk (cm. KISH (Mesopotamia)).
In the tale “Gilgamesh and the Mountain of the Immortal,” the hero leads the youths of Uruk into the mountains, where they cut down evergreen cedars and defeat the monster Humababu. The poorly preserved cuneiform text “Gilgamesh and the Bull of Heaven” tells of the hero’s struggle with the bull sent by the goddess Inanna to destroy Uruk. The text "The Death of Gilgamesh" is also presented only in fragments. The legend “Gilgamesh, Enkidu and the Underworld” reflects the cosmogonic ideas of the Sumerians. It has a complex composition and is divided into a number of separate episodes.
In the ancient days of the beginning of the world, a huluppu tree was planted in Inanna’s garden, from which the goddess wanted to make her throne. But in its branches the bird Anzud hatched a chick (cm. ANZUD), the demon maiden Lilith settled in the trunk, and a snake began to live under the root. In response to Inanna's complaints, Gilgamesh defeated them, cut down a tree and made from it a throne, a bed for the goddess and magical objects “pucca” and “mikku” - musical instruments, the loud sound of which made the young men of Uruk dance tirelessly. The curses of the women of the city, disturbed by the noise, led to the fact that the “pukku” and “mikku” fell underground and remained lying at the entrance to the underworld. Enkidu, Gilgamesh's servant, volunteered to get them, but violated magical prohibitions and was left in the kingdom of the dead. Heeding Gilgamesh's pleas, the gods opened the entrance to the underworld and Enkidu's spirit came out. In the last surviving episode, Enkidu answers Gilgamesh's questions about the laws of the kingdom of the dead. The Sumerian tales of Gilgamesh are part of an ancient tradition that is closely related to oral tradition and has parallels with fairy tales of other peoples.
The motifs of the heroic tales of Gilgamesh and Enkidu were reinterpreted in the literary monument of the Ancient East - the Akkkadian “Epic of Gilgamesh”. The epic survives in three main versions. This is the Nineveh version from the library of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal (cm. ASSHURBANIPAL), dating back to the second half of 2 thousand BC. e.; the contemporary so-called peripheral version, represented by the Hittite-Hurrian poem about Gilgamesh, and the most ancient of all, the Old Babylonian version.
The Nineveh version, according to tradition, was written down “from the mouth” of the Uruk spellcaster Sin-leke-uninni; its fragments were also found in Ashur, Uruk and Sultan-tepe. When reconstructing the epic, all published fragments are taken into account; unpreserved lines of one text can be filled in from other versions of the poem. The Epic of Gilgamesh is written on 12 clay tablets; the last of them is compositionally unrelated to the main text and is a literal translation into Akkadian of the last part of the tale of Gilgamesh and the Huluppu tree.
Table I tells about the king of Uruk, Gilgamesh, whose unbridled prowess caused a lot of grief to the inhabitants of the city. Having decided to create a worthy rival and friend for him, the gods molded Enkidu from clay and settled him among wild animals. Table II is devoted to the martial arts of the heroes and their decision to use their powers for good, cutting down a precious cedar in the mountains. Tables III, IV and V are devoted to their preparations for the road, travel and victory over Humbaba. Table VI is close in content to the Sumerian text about Gilgamesh and the celestial bull. Gilgamesh rejects Inanna's love and reproaches her for her treachery. Insulted, Inanna asks the gods to create a monstrous bull to destroy Uruk. Gilgamesh and Enkidu kill a bull; Unable to take revenge on Gilgamesh, Inanna transfers her anger to Enkidu, who weakens and dies.
The story of his farewell to life (VII table) and Gilgamesh’s cry for Enkidu (VIII table) become the turning point of the epic tale. Shocked by the death of his friend, the hero sets out in search of immortality. His wanderings are described in Tables IX and X. Gilgamesh wanders in the desert and reaches the Mashu Mountains, where scorpion men guard the passage through which the sun rises and sets. “Mistress of the Gods” Siduri helps Gilgamesh find the shipbuilder Urshanabi, who ferried him across the “waters of death” that are fatal to humans. On the opposite shore of the sea, Gilgamesh meets Utnapishtim and his wife, to whom in time immemorial the gods gave eternal life.
Table XI contains the famous story about the Flood and the construction of the ark, on which Utnapishtim saved the human race from extermination. Utnapishtim proves to Gilgamesh that his search for immortality is futile, since man is unable to defeat even the semblance of death - sleep. In parting, he reveals to the hero the secret of the “grass of immortality” growing at the bottom of the sea. Gilgamesh obtains the herb and decides to bring it to Uruk to give immortality to all people. On the way back, the hero falls asleep at the source; a snake rising from its depths eats the grass, sheds its skin and, as it were, receives a second life. The text of the XI table known to us ends with a description of how Gilgamesh shows Urshanabi the walls of Uruk he erected, hoping that his deeds will be preserved in the memory of his descendants.
As the plot of the epic develops, the image of Gilgamesh changes. The fairy-tale hero-hero, boasting of his strength, turns into a man who has learned the tragic brevity of life. The powerful spirit of Gilgamesh rebels against the recognition of the inevitability of death; only at the end of his wanderings does the hero begin to understand that immortality can bring him eternal glory to his name.
The history of the opening of the epic in the 1870s is associated with the name of George Smith (cm. SMITH George), an employee of the British Museum, who, among the extensive archaeological materials sent to London from Mesopotamia, discovered cuneiform fragments of the legend of the Flood. A report on this discovery, made at the end of 1872 by the Biblical Archaeological Society, created a sensation; In an effort to prove the authenticity of his find, Smith went to the excavation site in Nineveh in 1873 and found new fragments of cuneiform tablets. J. Smith died in 1876 in the midst of work on cuneiform texts during his third trip to Mesopotamia, bequeathing in his diaries to subsequent generations of researchers to continue the study of the epic he had begun. The Epic of Gilgamesh was translated into Russian at the beginning of the 20th century. V. K. Shileiko and N. S. Gumilyov (cm. GUMILEV Nikolay Stepanovich). Scientific translation text, accompanied by detailed comments, was published in 1961 by I. M. Dyakonov (cm. DYAKONOV Igor Mikhailovich).

Encyclopedic Dictionary . 2009 .

See what "Gilgamesh" is in other dictionaries:

Gilgamesh ... Wikipedia

Sumerian and Akkadian mythoepic hero (G. Akkadian name; the Sumerian version apparently goes back to the form Bilha mes, which possibly means “ancestor hero”). A number of texts published in last decades, allows us to consider G. real... ... Encyclopedia of Mythology

Gilgamesh- Gilgamesh. 8th century BC Louvre. Gilgamesh. 8th century BC Louvre. Gilgamesh is the semi-legendary ruler of the 1st dynasty of the city of Uruk in Sumer (BC), the hero of Sumerian myths. He is credited with reigning for 126 years; was distinguished by his masculinity, enormous... Encyclopedic Dictionary of World History

Semi-legendary ruler of the city of Uruk in Sumer (27-26 centuries BC). In the Sumerian epic songs of the 3rd millennium BC. e. and the great poem con. 3rd beginning 2nd millennium BC e. describes Gilgamesh's friendship with the wild man Enkidu, Gilgamesh's wanderings in... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

Noun, number of synonyms: 1 heroine (17) ASIS Dictionary of Synonyms. V.N. Trishin. 2013… Dictionary of synonyms

Gilgamesh- (Gilgamesh), the legendary ruler of the Sumerian city of the state of Uruk in the South. Mesopotamia ca. 1st half of 3 thousand BC and the hero of the epic of the same name, one of the most famous lit. works of Dr. East. The epic tells about G.’s attempts to achieve... ... World history

GILGAMESH- Sumerian and Akkadian mythological hero. G. Akkad. name, Sumerian the variant seems to go back to the form Bil ha mes, which may have meant "ancestor hero". Research conducted in recent decades allows us to consider G. a real historical... ... Orthodox Encyclopedia

Semi-legendary ruler of the city of Uruk in Sumer (28th century BC). In the 3rd millennium BC. e. Sumerian epic songs about God that have come down to us arose. At the end of the 3rd beginning of the 2nd millennium, a large ... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

All nations have their heroes. IN ancient Mesopotamia such a famous hero was King Gilgamesh - warlike and wise, seeking immortality. The found tablets with writings telling about him are perhaps the very first monument of literary skill.

Who is Gilgamesh?

The legend of Gilgamesh is also invaluable about the beliefs of the Sumerians. In ancient Mesopotamia, the king of Uruk (a strong and developed populated city-kingdom at that time) was Gilgamesh, who was cruel in his youth. He was strong, stubborn, and had no respect for the gods. His strength was so superior to that of an earthly man that he could overcome a bull or a lion with just his hands, as did the biblical hero Samson. He could go to the other side of the world to perpetuate his name; and cross the Sea of ​​Death to give people hope for immortal life on earth.

Most likely, after his death, the people exalted their king so highly in their legends that they called him two-thirds a god, and only one-third a man. He achieved such veneration thanks to an insatiable thirst to find the gods and claim eternal life for himself. It is this plot that describes the Babylonian legend of Gilgamesh.

This tale of a hero who experienced many misfortunes on his travels is analyzed by philosophers and theologians, in the hope of finding answers to eternal questions about life and death that the Sumerians may have known.

Gilgemesh's friend - Enkidu

Another main one is the strong Enkidu, who came from the gods to kill Gilgamesh. The king of Uruk treated the people so cruelly that people prayed to the supreme goddess to create an enemy for their king, so that the young warrior would have something to do with his youthful enthusiasm and warlike strength.

And the Sumerian goddess created, at the request of the suffering, a half-beast and half-man. And he received the name Enkidu - the son of Enki. He came to fight and defeat Gilgamesh. But when he failed to defeat his opponent in a duel, Enkidu and Gilgamesh came to terms with the fact that their mighty forces were the same. Subsequently, Gilgemesh became Enkidu best friend. And Gilgamesh even brought him to his mother, the goddess Ninsun, so that she would bless the half-beast as a brother for her son.

Together with Enkidu, the hero went to the land of cedars. Apparently, modern Lebanon was called the land of cedars. There they killed the guardian of the cedar forest - Humbaba, for which Enki's son suffered.

According to legend, he died of illness after 12 difficult days instead of Gilgamesh himself. The king bitterly mourned his close friend. But Gilgamesh himself was destined to continue his journey on earth. A summary of the Epic of Gilgamesh gives an idea of ​​how much friendship with this creature changed the irreverent Gilgamesh. And after the death of this hero, the king was again radically transformed.

Tablets with legends

Scientists from all countries are interested in the question of where the Epic of Gilgamesh was created. The epic was written on clay tablets. There is an assumption that the legend was written somewhere in the 22nd century. BC 12 tablets with cuneiform texts were discovered at the end of the 19th century. The very first of them (the one that tells about the flood) was found during excavations of the library of the ancient Assyrian king Shurbanipalla. At that time, the city of Nineveh was located on this site. And now this is the territory of what is now Iraq.

And then researcher George Smith went in search of other tables in the territory of Ancient Sumer. There are a total of 12 songs in the epic, each of which contains 3000 poetic lines of text. Now all these clay tablets are kept in the English Museum of World History.

Later, after the death of D. Smith, other tablets were found and deciphered. The Sumerian "Epic of Gilgamesh" was found in Syriac, Akkadian and 2 other ancient languages.

Who recorded the epic: versions

Assyriologists do not know who wrote the poem. The tale of a hero capable of enduring the most terrible hardships for the sake of highest goal- Sumer's most valuable book. Some legends say that Gilgamesh himself, after his arrival from unknown lands, began to write on clay with a chisel about his adventures, so that his ancestors would not forget about them. But this is an unlikely version. The poem could be written by a person with the thinking of an artist and an artistic style, one who believed in the power of words, not weapons.

Someone among the people, who had obvious literary talent, combined all the disparate legends into a single story and wrote it in the form of a poem. This poem about Gilgamesh, which has survived to this day, is considered the first literary work.

The Epic of Gilgamesh begins with a description of how the young and eccentric king conquered Uruk and refused to obey the king of the city of Kish Agga. Together with young warriors, he defends his kingdom and orders the construction of a stone wall around the city. This is the first mention of Gilgamesh. Further, the myth tells about Gilgamesh and the huluppu tree (a willow planted on the banks of the Euphrates River by the gods), in the trunk of which the demoness Lilith hid. And a huge snake burrowed into the root of a tree planted by the gods. Gilgamesh is shown here as a brave defender who did not allow the mighty tree, beloved by the Assyrian goddess of love Inanna, to be defeated.

When the fertility goddess Ishtar (Isis among the Greeks) appreciated the courage of the young king, she ordered him to become her husband. But Gilgamesh refused, for which the gods sent a formidable and huge bull to earth, eager to destroy the hero. Gilgamesh, together with his faithful and resilient friend, defeats the bull, as well as the giant Humbaba.

And the king’s mother, when he planned the campaign, was extremely alarmed and asked not to go into battle against Humbaba. But still, Gilgamesh did not listen to anyone, but decided everything himself. Together with a friend, they defeat the giant guarding the cedar forest. They cut down all the trees, uprooting huge roots. The friends did not use these trees for construction or anything else. Cedars have only some kind of sacred meaning in the epic.

Then, for killing the giant and cutting down the sacred forest, the gods kill Enkidu. He died from an unknown illness. Despite all the pleas, the gods did not have mercy on the half-beast. This is what the Sumerian epic of Gilgamesh tells.

Gilgamesh puts on rags and sets off on an unknown journey in order to find and beg eternal life from higher powers. He crossed the waters of death and was not afraid to come to its other shore, where Utnapishtim lived. He told Gilgamesh about a flower that grows at the bottom of the Sea of ​​Death. Only the one who picks a wondrous flower can prolong his life, but still not forever. Gilgamesh ties heavy stones to his strong legs and throws himself into the sea.

He managed to find the flower. However, on the way home, he plunges into a cool pond and leaves the flower on the shore unattended. And at this time the snake steals the flower, becoming younger before the hero’s eyes. And Gilgamesh returned home, defeated by his defeat. After all, he never allowed himself to lose. Here it is summary the epic of Gilgamesh.

The biblical flood in the legend of Ancient Sumer

The first ruler undoubtedly existed. The myth of Gilgamesh is not entirely fiction. However, over thousands of years, the image of a real person and fiction have merged in such a way that it is not possible to separate these images today.

The Epic of Gilgamesh contains an extended story about Flood. Walking along the path that is open only to one Sun, Gilgamesh comes to the kingdom of Utnapishtim, the only immortal among people, for answers to his questions. The great-ancestor Utnapishtim, who knew all the secrets, told him about the terrible flood in ancient times and the construction of the ship of salvation. The prototype of the great-ancestor Utnapishtim is the Old Testament Noah. How the Sumerians knew this story about the biblical flood is unclear. But according to biblical legends, Noah really lived for more than 600 years, and could be considered immortal for representatives of other nations.

Found in lands that were previously Assyrian, “The Legend of Gilgamesh, Who Has Seen Everything” is a find of unprecedented significance, as it gives food for thought. This legend is compared in meaning to the “Book of the Dead” of the Egyptian people and even to the Bible.

The main idea of ​​the poem

The idea of ​​the poem is not new. Transformation of the hero's character is inherent in many old legends. For such research, the found Epic of Gilgamesh is especially valuable. Analysis of the beliefs of the Sumerians, their ideas about life and gods, their concept of what life after death is like - all this continues to be explored to this day.

What is the main idea that can be seen in the legend? As a result of his wanderings, Gilgamesh does not receive what he was looking for. At the end of the tale, as the myth of Gilgamesh describes, the flower of immortality ends up in the hands of a cunning snake. But spiritual life is emerging in the hero of the epic. From now on he believes that immortality is possible.

The summary of the Epic of Gilgamesh is not subject to strict logical presentation. Therefore, there is no way to consistently trace how the hero developed, what his interests were. But the legend says that Gilgamesh strove for glory like no other. Therefore, he goes to a dangerous battle with the giant Humbaba, from which the hero is saved only by a request to the god Shamash from his mother-goddess. God Shamash raises the wind, obscuring the giant’s gaze, and thereby helps the heroes in their victory. But Gilgamesh needs glory again. He moves on. Goes into the waters of death.

Yet at the end of the poem, the king finds peace of mind when he sees the almost finished walls around the kingdom of Uruk. His heart rejoiced. The hero of the epic discovers the wisdom of existence, which speaks of the infinity of the soul, working for the sake of others. Gilgamesh is relieved that he was able to do something for future generations.

He listened to the advice of the gods that was given to him in the garden: man is mortal by nature, and he needs to value his short life, be able to rejoice in what is given.

Analysis of some philosophical problems raised in the epic

The heir to the throne and the hero in such an ancient source as the poem of Gilgamesh goes through various trials and is transformed. If at the beginning the king appears in the form of an unbridled, wayward and cruel young man, then after the death of Enkidu he is already capable of deep heartfelt grief for his friend.

For the first time realizing the fear of the death of the body, the hero of the poem turns to the gods to learn the secrets of life and death. From now on, Gilgamesh cannot simply rule his people, he wants to learn about the mystery of death. His soul comes to complete despair: how could the irrepressible strength and energy in Enkidu’s body die? This fire of the soul leads the hero further and further from his native land, giving him strength to overcome unprecedented difficulties. This is how the Epic of Gilgamesh is interpreted. Philosophical problems of existence and non-existence also shine through in these verses. Especially in the passage that talks about the lost flower, which supposedly bestows cherished immortality. This flower is clearly a philosophical symbol.

A deeper interpretation of this epic is a transformation of the spirit. Gilgamesh turns from a man of earth into a man of heaven. The image of Enkidu can be interpreted as the bestial instincts of the king himself. And fighting it means fighting yourself. Ultimately, the king of Uruk defeats his lower nature and acquires the knowledge and character qualities of a being two-thirds divine.

Comparison of the Epic of Gilgamesh with the Book of the Dead of the Egyptians

A striking allusion can be found in the story of Gilgamesh's passage through the waters of the dead with the help of Charon. Charon in Egyptian mythology is a deep, skinny old man who transports the deceased from the mortal world to another world and receives payment for this.

Also, the legend of Gilgamesh mentions what, according to the beliefs of the Assyrians, world of the dead. This is a depressing abode where water does not flow and not a single plant grows. And a person receives payment for all his deeds only during his lifetime. Moreover, his life is obviously short and meaningless: “Only the gods with the Sun will remain forever, and man—his years are numbered...”

The Egyptian “Book of the Dead” is papyrus, where various spells are written down. The second section of the book is devoted to how souls enter the underworld. But if Osiris decided that the soul had done more good, it was released and allowed to be happy.

Gilgamesh, after communicating with the gods, is sent back to his world. He undergoes ablution, puts on clean clothes, and although he loses the flower of life, he appears in his native Uruk as a renewed, sanctified blessing.

Epic translated by Dyakonov

Russian orientalist I.M. Dyakonov began translating the epic in 1961. In his work, the translator relied on a ready-made translation by V.K. Shileika. He turned out to be the most accurate Epic of Gilgamesh. He worked through a lot of ancient materials, and by this time it was already known scientific world that the prototype of the hero did exist.

This is a valuable literary and historical document - the Epic of Gilgamesh. Dyakonov's translation was republished in 1973 and again in 2006. His translation is the skill of a philological genius, multiplied by value ancient legend, a historical monument. Therefore, all those who have already read and appreciated the Babylonian legend, the legend of Gilgamesh, left wonderful reviews of the book.