Tuesday 27 May 2008

Reflections on Gilgamesh

A short post - reflecting on Gilgamesh. It occurred to me to wonder why Sin-Leqe-Unninni edited and compiled the existing myths of Gilgamesh into the story we know today. We know he was Babylonian, so maybe it was a way to suggest that the Babylonians were the cultural heirs of the Sumerians? Was he comparing in some way Hammurabi to Gilgamesh, suggesting that both were giants among men (literally, in the case of Gilgamesh)?

Another question related to this, who was he writing for? I mean, I'm assuming that your average Babylonian wasn't literate. So he must have been writing for some kind of elite - the king, or the court, or the priesthood - or possibly in some way for posterity, if that concept even existed.

I would be interested to know if anyone has read anything about this.

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