Gilgamesh: Pages 65-82

In this entry I have two quick things to say and two longer ones. The first is to wonder what did the city do to displease Enlil so he would drown it. What did the Mesopotamians detest? As it is not sex, (Tkaing into account the roles of the prostitute and Ishtar) I find it likely to be crime and deception, and as the city was fortunate, greed for all that could be found there. The other quick note is the brief explaination by the Mesopotamians of why the snake sheds its skin, living longer and stronger. Some snakes continue growing the course of their entire lives, something probably observed by the mesopotamians who also saw them shed. Ea said to Utnapishtim "As for the city...in the morning dawning, abundance will then rain down: a flood of bounty" (p. 67) Afterwards Utnapishtim begins to build his boat and he feeds those that help him as if it were New Year's and then when see the flood of bounty his generousity in his payment of them. Ea was wisest of the gods meaning he knew this and saw what was to come. Perhaps he even knew that Utnapishtim would be granted immortality and be forever singing his praises as wise and kind and the sensible opposite to angry Enlil. The last point is likely my favorite. We can all se the similarities between Utnapishtim and Noah. Last year there was another I believe hindu myth that is also very similar. Could it be possible that in that area a large flood did happena nd someone like Noah/Utnapishtim escape in an Ark with animal species of the region and set loose brids todetermine if the Earth was safe to return to. Perhaps all of these are slightly altered versions of the same story that was passed on and accepted by all as a divine act. Mesopotamia was acradle of civilizations and we find our roots there. The roots to our story may be there as well, corrupted by the ages and adopted by different people and changed, so we could no longer see but the one true version of what happened in the great flood.