The Assyrian Gilgamesh Epic

The Crude Antediluvian World

by Idel Suarez, Jr., Ph.D.

“And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Genesis 6:5. One of the most fascinating archeological discoveries in the 1800’s was the discovery of eleven clay tablets of the Gilgamesh Epic. Of particular interest to Jews and Christians is tablet XI, which gives an account of Noah’s ark and the deluge. Originally written in cuneiform, an ancient script, the tablets have been translated into English. Although the actual clay tablets unearthed date to the year 700 B.C., they are believed to be a copy of an older document dating back to the twentieth or eighteenth century B.C. which antedates the book of Genesis by several centuries (1). It stands as another written testimony validating the existence of an ancient Oral Bible known among the ancients yet concisely summarized in Genesis by Moses around 1500 B.C.

Its Origin

The Gilgamesh Epic clay tablets were originally housed in the palace library of King Assurbanipal, the last great king of the Assyrian Empire and the brother of Nabopolassar, Nebuchadnezzar’s father. King Assurbanipal was a formidable general and a collector of notable literary and historical records. He gave strict orders to his servants and scribes “to search the archives of the ancient seats of learning in Babylon, Uruk, and Nippur, and to copy and translate” “those texts which were in older Sumerian language of Mesopotamia” “into the contemporary Akkadian Semitic” language (2).

In 609 B.C., the united forces of the Babylonians and Medes under Nabopolassar attacked, conquered, and destroyed Nineveh (3). As foretold by the prophets Isaiah (10:12,16), Nahum (3:7), and Zephaniah (2:13), the allied Babylonian forces devastated the city by fire. The palace library perished with its keepers and deteriorated under its broken walls. Hence, the new Babylonian empire was born.

Its Discovery

Our story on the discovery of the Gilgamesh Epic starts in 1839, when a young Englishman named Sir Austen Henry Layard was enroute to Ceylon but stopped in Mesopotamia upon admiring the Assyrian Mounds. His delay of days became weeks, and eventually turned into years, as he and his subsequent colleagues unearthed the ancient cities of Nineveh and Nimrud. Among his remarkable finds was the ancient palace library of King Assurbanipal at Nineveh. A great part of his significant excavations make up the present day Assyrian collection at the British Museum. Over 25,000 broken clay tablets were unearthed and brought back to the British Museum. In the subsequent excavation of 1853, Rassam, Layard’s collaborator and successor at Nineveh, unearthed part of the palace library and discovered the tablets of the Gilgamesh Epic (2).

The Gilgamesh Epic was later rediscovered at the British Museum by George Smith in 1872. He was able to decipher the cuneiform text, or wedge-shaped characters, into English. He later returned to Nineveh and found the missing clay fragments of the text and thus, composed the most complete version published of the whole Gilgamesh Epic. Regretfully, George Smith contracted a disease and died of mulnutrition at the young age of 36 years old (2)

The “mutilated condition” of the Gilgamesh Epic “makes us wonder that they could ever have been deciphered, but as duplicate copies of some portions exist, the work has been rendered possible” (3).

Its Present Location and Content

The Gilgamesh Epic consists of eleven clay tablets. I saw the original eleventh clay tablet in April of 1995 while touring the British Museum in London, England. Its composition is written in Akkadian cuneiform on baked clay. The height of the tablet XI which contains the flood episode is 15.5 centimeters or approximately 6 inches. It was labeled “the Flood Tablet.”

The following caption appeared next to the Assyrian version of the Flood:
“This is perhaps the most famous of all cuneiform tablets. It is the eleventh tablet of the Gilgamesh Epic, and describes how the gods send a flood to destroy the world. Like Noah, Ut-Napishtim was forewarned and built an ark to house and preserve living things. After the flood he sent out birds to look for dry land (4).”

The British Museum guide book elaborates further, saying:
“He [Ut-Napishtim] does this and so escapes a prodigious storm leading to a flood which destroys all the rest of mankind. The storm ends on the seventh day, and on the twelfth day land emerges from the waters. In due course the boat comes to rest on Mount Nisir (in Kurdistan) and Ut-Napishtim sends out in turn a dove, a swallow and a raven, only the raven not returning. Finally, Ut-Napishtim emerges from the boat, and offers a sacrifice to the gods” (1).

With the exception of the eleventh tablet of the Gilgamesh Epic, the real protagonist is Gilgamesh. The entire story deals with Gilgamesh’s search for immortality. The tablets I through X describe Gilgamesh living in an age of city-states, superhuman giants, priest-kings, polytheism, hunting, strong drinks, meat-based diets, harlots, wars, and a culture of violence.

Although many have already attempted to draw parallels between the Gilgamesh epic and Genesis, a vast majority of the parallelisms cited concentrate mostly on clay tablet XI which deals with the actual episode of the flood and Noah’s ark. Such reviews ignore the content in the earlier 10 tablets. They are simply dismissed as having no similarity with the Holy Scriptures or as being merely another pagan novel.

Herein, an in-depth overview and parallelism will be drawn between those overlooked ten clay tablets and the account of the antediluvian world in Genesis. The key phrase which sets the background and tone of the first ten clay tablets of the Gilgamesh Epic appears on line six of the first clay tablet. It says, “He brought [a] report of before the Flood” (5). Those same three last words, “before the Flood”, were cited by Jesus as validating the story of the antediluvian world which appears in Genesis.

Jesus said, “for as in the days that were before the flood.” Matthew 24:38. What was it like before the flood?

An Era of City-States

The Gilgamesh Epic speaks not of countries nor provinces as much as of city states. Tablet I of the Gilgamesh Epic describes the city of Uruk, which existed “before the Flood.” The city had walls, “outer” and “inner” walls. The city also had a “pure sanctuary.” “Go up and walk on the walls of Uruk, Inspect the base terrace, examine the brickwork: Is not its brickwork of burnt brick?” (5).

The description of Uruk agrees with the brief narrative of city-states in the antediluvian world. Men like Cain founded evil city-states. “And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch.” Genesis 4:17.
Many city-states sprang up after the flood and the dispersion from the Tower of Babel. City-states were also common during Greek affluent era and were known as “polis.” The middle ages had its own city-states like Venice, Geneva, Geneva, Hamburg, etc. Among all city-states known none have been so powerful as Babel, Babylon, and Rome.

An Era of Giants

The epic then introduces a giant named Gilgamesh. Tablet I of the Gilgamesh Epic states, “Two-thirds of him is god, [one-third of him is human]. The form of his body… like a wild ox” (5).

Gilgamesh, like the Genesis antediluvians, was probably an offspring of the “sons of God” and the “daughters of men.”

The Bible says, “that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose…. There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.” Genesis 6:2.

The sons of God were the male descendants of Seth, the noble and faithful race of Adam. The daughters of men were the female descendants of Cain, Seth’s older evil brother. These were godless, mundane, and sensual women. Their offspring became proud, violent, and corrupt like the world described in the Gilgamesh Epic before the flood. Thus, Gilgamesh is described as being “two-thirds… god” and one-third human. He was the product of godly forefathers who lost their devotion by uniting with ungodly and evil Cainites.

The same occurs today when godly young people unite their interests, life, and posterity with ungodly spouses. The believer grows cold and eventually gives up his or her faith. Their children follow the path of least resistance in the company of unrepentant sinners. They lose all fear of God and become ruthless, mockers of religion, and sensual.

Gilgamesh was known as being “mighty” and renown in the epic. Tablet I states, “In Uruk [there lives] Gilgamesh. [No one is there more mighty] than he… [mi]ghty is his strength!” (5). Genesis also speaks of the antediluvians as “mighty men which were of old, men of renown” just like Gilgamesh. Genesis 6:4

An Era of Violence and Manslaughter

Tablet I of the Gilgamesh Epic then describes the reigning violence, “The onslaught of his weapons verily has no equal…. Gilgamesh leaves not the son to [his] father… Gilgamesh leaves not a maid to [her mother] “(5).

Gilgamesh was known proverbially for his revengeful spirit and slaughter of men and their families.
Tablet I speaks of his “onslaught… weapons.” Weapons are used in war and crime. Such was the atmosphere of the antediluvian world as attested by both the Gilgamesh Epic and Genesis. The cruelty was such that even the sons and daughters of the opposers were murdered. The epic says that he left not a son to his father, nor a maid or daughter to her mother. The description seems to mirror a genocide culture.

The above setting is very similar to the one described in the book of Genesis. The scriptures state that the antediluvian world was an era of giants, corruption, and violence.

“And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually…. And the earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.” Genesis 6:5,11,12.

Men like Lamech, a descendent of Cain, sought unjust revenge, premeditated murder. Lamech was willing to pursue vengeance up to 70 times 7.
“And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice; ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech: for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt. If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold.” Genesis 4:23,24.

What a contrast between the prevalent viewpoint of Lamech and that of Jesus Christ! Jesus told Peter that he should forgive his brother or sister, neighbor or enemy, up to 70 times 7. Such is the spirit of the gospel and the power of a renovated Christian heart!

“Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.” Matthew 18:21,22.

An Era of Hunters

There seems to have been two major diets adopted by the antediluvian world: vegetarian and omnivorous. Tablet I speaks of both “a hunter” and “a trapping man”, and of those who “feed on grass.” Thus, the epic indirectly testifies that faulty eating is correlated with faulty behavior. Science has found evidence that eating habits and foods have the ability to influence human behavior for the better or for the worse. Violence begets violence. The hormones of the animals slaughtered and eaten reign in their new host. The temperament of one is passed on to the other. The diseases of one are passed on as a legacy to the other. The feeder inherits the qualities of the flesh of slain animals.

Today, much is reported by the mass media regarding the growing fear of Mad Cow disease. Cows, fed the flesh of dead cows, are at risk of developing an irreversible neurological disorder. Humans who consume infected meat can develop a human form of Mad Cow disease known as Creutzfeldt- Jakob Disease. “More than 80 people have died in Britain and two in France from this fatal human equivalent” of Mad Cow disease. “The incubation period is believed to be up to 25 years, and so health officials have warned that the disease’s toll may rise sharply in years to come” (6).

Men like Jabal, Lamech’s son, were cattle ranchers and glutton eaters of flesh. Although God had not given any permission to eat flesh before the flood, this Cainite generation adopted a meat-based diet contrary to God’s original menu for the human race.

“And Adah bare Jabal: he was the father of such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle.” Genesis 4:20. Although the text does not explicitly state that the Cainites ate flesh foods, ranchers do not keep cattle but for meat or dairy purposes.

Thus, the Genesis account correlates with the Gilgamesh Epic on the meat-based dietary habits of the generation before the flood. Genesis says they were cattle ranchers and the Gilgamesh epic says they were “hunters” and “trappers”. Tablet I of the Gilgamesh Epic also speaks about “Sumuqan” who was the god of cattle (5). The antediluvians or Cainites ate both the meat of game and domesticated animals.

The other major dietary pattern was vegetarian. The faithful descendants of Seth for nearly 1,500 years maintained a plant-based diet as originally prescribed by God during the week of Creation. “And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat [food].” Genesis 1:29.

The G?lgamesh Epic mentions in Tablet I “Nisaba” who was the Assyrian “goddess of grain” (5). It also makes numerous references to “Enkidu” who “like the gazelles he feeds on grass” (5). Such epic references parallel the Genesis plant-based diet of the descendants of Seth, the faithful sons and daughters of God.

An Era of Harlotry and Polygamy

The Gilgamesh Epic vividly describes scenes of prostitution. Women lived as harlots and allured savage men into their sensual traps. Tablet I says that Gilgamesh spoke to the hunter and advised him to hire a harlot at the city of Uruk.

“Gilgamesh says to him, [to] the hunter: ‘Go, my hunter, take with thee a harlot-lass…. As soon as he sees her, he will draw near to her…'” (5).

The vegetarian Enkidu of the epic is allured by the harlot and loses his strength. In a way, the tale of Enkidu with the harlot corresponds to an antediluvian Samson and Delilah novel. The mighty man is overtaken by the weak but beautiful harlot. Samson has his long locks shorn and he loses his strength.
Similarly, Enkidu is said to be “endowed with head hair like a woman. The locks of his hair sprout like Nisaba” – the goddess of grain (5). But after uniting with the harlot, Enkidu’s “body became taut, His knees were motionless… Enkidu had to slacken his pace – it was not as before” (5),

The story of Enkidu and the harlot personifies how an entire generation of faithful vegetarians and descendants of Seth were overtaken by passion. In those ungodly unions, the faithful abandoned their faith and godly lifestyle. They lost their spiritual strength and moral might.

The Genesis account makes mention of harlotry before the flood. Women like Naamah, the daughter of Lamech, were pleasure seekers and harlots. Women like Adah and Zillah lived in polygamous relationships.

“And Zillah, she also bare Tubal-cain… and the sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.” Genesis 4:22.

Naamah [Strong’s no. 5279] comes from the Hebrew root word “naam” [Strong’s no. 5277] which means “pleasure.” The Hebrew pronunciation of “naamah” is very similar to the word “naalah” [Strong’s no. 5275] which had the connotation “to refuse to marry” (7). So Naamah may have lived a life of harlotry and pleasure-seeking like many women of Gilgamesh’s time.

Lamech, in Genesis, is the first to have taken multiple wives. He was the father of polygamy. “And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah.” Genesis 4:19.

Adah [Strong’s no. 5711] literally means in Hebrew “ornament” (7). With polygamy, women are reduced to mere ornaments valued only for their external beauty, used at will and discarded by sensual men. Their self-worth is degraded and individuality suppressed. Envy and jealousy and strife are a natural unavoidable outcome of polygamy.

The name Zillah [Strong’s no. 6741] is a feminine rendition of the Hebrew word “tsale” [Strong’s no. 6738] meaning “shadow” both literally and figuratively (7). Zillah apparently was merely a shadow of Adah. She may have felt the discrimination and inequality from Lamech’s favoritism of Adah – perhaps like Leah who was centuries later vershadowed by Rachel in their polygamous relationship with Jacob.

An Era of Drunkenness and Dancing

Tablet II of the Gilgamesh Epic tells of how the harlot introduces Enkidu to hunting, wild feasting, and strong drinks. He is taught the age-old cliche, “let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we shall die.” Isaiah 22:13.

The second clay tablet says, “Nothing does Enkidu know of eating food; to drink strong drink He has not been taught. Saying to Enkidu: ‘Eat the food Enkidu, As is life’s due; Drink the strong drink, as is the custom of the land.’ Enkidu ate the food, Until he was sated; Of strong drink he drank Seven goblets… He took his weapon to chase lions… He caught wolves, He captured lions” (5).

The chaste and vegetarian Enkidu first became a fornicator and then a drunker, hunter, and meateater. His life illustrates a grand implicit principle of Genesis, one sin leads to another. Sin has the characteristic of entangling its prey into a mud of immorality and degeneration – a quick sand of moral degradation. Solomon said, “His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.” Proverbs 5:22.

Although Genesis does not explicitly cite drunkenness as one of the sins of the antediluvian age, it does state that Noah became drunk after the flood. Noah had escaped the flood but one of the sins that brought the flood overtook him, namely drunkenness. In his drunkenness, he unclothed himself and behaved shamefully before his offspring. Thus, sensuality and drunkenness act as catalysts to each other. They coexist in Genesis as they coexisted in the Gilgamesh Epic.

“And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard: And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his brethren without.” Genesis 9:20-22.

An additional sad fact of alcohol abuse is that it always affects more than one person. Families are adversely affected by the irrational behavior of their loved ones under the influence of alcohol. Noah’s drunkenness and shameful nakedness set the stage for Ham and Canaan’s rebellion and parental disobedience from which the modern world has not been able to free itself.

Alcohol is a toxin which provides empty calories. It is a narcotic drug which slows the nervous system, clouds the mind, reduces reaction time, reddens the eyes, alters respiration, and unleashes all the natural immoral inhibitions of man. Of all drugs sold in the market place, collectively they do not account for more disease, divorce, accidents, abuse, violence, and ecological disasters as those due to the influence of alcohol. In the United States alone, half of all fatal automobile accidents are due to drunk driving.

Jesus also tells us that drunkenness was prevalent before the flood and undoubtably was one of the causes of the moral depravity of that era. He says, the antediluvians were “drinking” right up to the last day when the flood waters came and destroyed the old world. “They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and flood came, and destroyed them all.” Luke 17:27.

The End of An Era

Jesus declared that the antediluvian world was absorbed in gluttony, drunkenness, and sensuality. “For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away.” Matthew 24:38,39.

Human worth had reached an all time low. Fidelity seemed to be avoided at all cost. People sought revenge for the most minute wrong-doing. Entire families were slaughtered. Villages were wiped out. Humanity was given over to drunkenness, gluttony, feasting, orgies, dancing, and harlotry. It was an era which lost all fear and reverence for life, health, humanity, and God.

Ironically, the first ten tablets of the Gilgamesh Epic retell of the transgression of God’s ten moral commandments which appear in Exodus 20. The eleventh tablet outlines the supernatural consequence for transgressing the ten commandments.

In a way, our modern civilization is reliving that ancient past recounted in the Gilgamesh Epic and in Genesis. A simple review of the news or of TV programming will confirm the degeneration of the present age. What will become of the next generation?

Jesus said, “for as in the days that were before the flood,” so shall it be when the Son of Man shall return to earth. “But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be…. And [they] knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” Genesis 24:37-39.
Thus, the characteristics of the present age which mirror the antediluvian world are signs of the coming of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The alarming reality is that the past lost generation “knew not until the flood came, and took them all away.” They were living in willful ignorance and willful rebellion. When they awoke from their spiritual and moral slumber, it was too late.

Both the Gilgamesh Epic and Genesis attest that the ancient world was swallowed up by a flood. Saint Peter tells us that this time there will be an atomic flood of fire with the return of Jesus and His heavenly host.

“Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.” “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation [lifestyle] and godliness?” II Peter 3:6-7,10-11.

On which side will you find yourself when He returns? In the ark of salvation with the sons of God or in the waters of damnation with the mighty men of sin? The choice is yours.

References

1. T.C. Mitchell. (1988). The Gilgamesh Epic. Document 33. The Bible in the British Museum. Interpreting the Evidence. London: British Museum Press, page 70.
2. N.K. Sandars. (1972). The Epic of Gilgamesh. An English version with an introduction. Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England: Penguin Books, Ltd., pages 7-10.
3. Ada R. Habershon. (1925). The Nineveh Gallery. The Bible and the British Museum. London: Pickering & Inglis, pages 42-46.
4. Idel Suarez Jr. (1995). The Flood Tablet. Private Journal, volume XX. Notes entered on Wednesday, March 19, 1995, being at the British Museum in London, England.
5. James B. Pritchard. (1958). The Epic of Gilgamesh. The Ancient Near East, volume 1. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, pages 65-75.
6. Dave Plank. (January 2001). EU Enacts Toughest Mad Cow Controls Yet. Natural Foods Merchandiser, volume XXII, no. 1, pages 1, 16.
7. James Strong. (XIX century A.D.). The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers.

[Gilgames.I]