Gilgamesh Tablet 10 Reading Response

     There were multiple topics I noticed in this tablet of Gilgamesh. The first was that Utnapishtim's story of becoming immortal was very similar to Noah's Arch. In the story of Noah's Arch, it is said that god was angry with the world because the people in it were being greedy and corrupt and untrustworthy. He decided to send down a flood to get rid of all of the bad people. But he told one man, a good man, to make a giant boat and fill it with 2 of every animal. So when the flood was over, 2 of every animal and Noah had survived. 
     The story of Utnapishtim was written: "...abandon your house, abandon what you posses, abandon your house and build a boat instead. Seek life instead of riches, save yourself. Take with you, on the boat, an instance of each living thing so that they may be safe from obliteration in the flood. Perform the construction of the boat in care." With the help of his town Utnapishtim build a humongous boat. This is what was written about the flood: "In the early hours of the next morning dawning there was the noise of Adad in the clouds that rose and filled the morning sky with balckness." "From time to time Annunaki blazed terrible light. Then the rain came down in floods." After the horrible flood Utnapishtim released birds to see if one of them could find a place to settle itself. When a raven finally found such a place, he released all the birds. 
     Don't these stories sounds similar? And it seems like the bible stories may not all be original, because the Epics of Gilgamesh were written before the bible. It also seems like the number seven is a very popular number. The epic says:  "Six days and nights the storm went on this way, the South Wind flooding over the mountains and valleys until the seventh day when the storm birth labor subsided at last, the storm subsided at last." Also: "...and then on the seventh day I freed a dove." And: "The first wafer is dry as dust, the second is only less so than the first, the third is soggy and rotten, the fourth wafer is white in the crust, there are spots and mold on the fifth, the sixth wafer looks almost as if it is fresh; and the seventh-but it is then that you awoke." 

     I think what I found out from this tablet is that the bible got its ideas not only from Jesus and God but also looked at other literature and adapted it to fit into the Christian religion.  

My Answer to Gilgamesh's Question: What Happens to Us When We Die?

     I believe that when we die we go to heaven. This picture shows the "stairway to heaven." My religion teaches me that if we are good people in our lifetime we will reach the pearly gates. For me being a good person is thinking of others, giving to others, helping those less fortunate than us, always being kind wether it is difficult or not, and spreading good messages. (world peace, go green, etc.) I don't know what Gilgamesh believes or wants to believe, but if he asked me: "What happens to us when we die?" This is the response I'd give him.  
     I'm guessing that during his quests throughout this book that at some point, he will find the answer he is looking for.

Gilgamesh Tablets 6-7 Reading Response

     In these 2 tablets, the goddess Ishtar sent a bull down to Earth because she was angry with Gilgamesh. Together Gilgamesh and Enkidu defeated the bull. The gods decided that one of the 2 had to die, so they chose Enkidu. 
     I still don't understand why they chose Enkidu. I think maybe because Gilgamesh was more powerful, or because they wanted to punish Gilgamesh so they decided to kill his friend. Or, if these stories do have some historical content, and there was a Gilgamesh and an Enkidu, the person or people who wrote this story wanted to explain why Enkidu died. To explain why he died they wrote down that the gods had decided to kill him. 

Gilgamesh Tablets 4-5 Reading Response

     Before I said that Gilgamesh reminded me of the Greek myth's. But these tablets reminded me of the bible. There was a lot of repetition, as there can be in the bible.  For example: "On the next day they traveled fifty leagues, and fifty leagues a day for two days more. Then Enkidu found water. They dug a well to quench their thirst and offer to the god, and Gilgamesh offered his offering of flour: 'May Shamash grant of fortune dream tonight.'" 
     This part of the story was repeated a couple of times, and each time Gilgamesh was granted a dream. 
     In bible stories people often also pray to god for help when they are going through a difficult task. An example of this in Gilgamesh is when he cries out: "Protect us as we pass through fearfulness." And the story says: "Then Shamash heard the prayer of Gilgamesh and raised up thirteen storms agaisnt Huwawa." 

These similarities of repetition and prayer reminded me of the bible while I was reading tablets 4-5.    

Gilgamesh Tablets 1-3 Reading Response

     So far, I would describe the Epics of Gilgamesh as "interesting." There was a wild man named Enkidu who was big and strong and lived with the animals. When Shamhat told him of Gilgamesh, the greatest of them all,  Enkidu decided to go to the city of Uruk and challenge Gilgamesh. When he got to Uruk he and Gilgamesh wrestled and in the end Gilgamesh won. Enkidu admitted Gilgamesh was the greatest and they became friends. Now they are off to try and defeat Huwawa the monster. 
     I find this story some what like the Greek myth's, because there is talk of defeating horrifying monsters and there is battles between men to see who is the greatest. For example, when Gilgamesh says: "It is Gilgamesh who will venture out into the Forest and cut the Cedar down and win the glory. The fame will be secure to all my sons." In the Greek myth's there were always people going off to fight monsters and trying to prove they were the most powerful. 
     I think there were similar stories in these early times because everyone was trying to explain things such as the gods, and there were tales that may have had some truth, but became exaggerated as people retold them.