 The oldest settled area of the ancient Near East is Mesopotamia.
"Mesopotamia" is a word coined from two Greek words that mean
"between the rivers." The two rivers that form this area are the Tigris
River and the Euphrates River. Today, this area forms modern Iraq.
 From about 10,000 B.C.E., farming was taking place in this area.
 From about 8,000 B.C.E., settled villages were founded in this area.
 From about 3,000 B.C.E., writing on clay tablets was well established in
Mesopotamia.
 The first group to settle this area was the Sumerians.
 The historian Bottero traces a line of decent from the Sumerians and
Babylonians of Mesopotamia to the Hebrews and Arabs of Palestine to
the Greek and Romans of the Mediterranean to the rise of
Christianity. Bottero, in tracing the influence of Mesopotamian ideas
and thought, says that "we . . . are remote dependents of the Sumerians
and Babylonians. [They] are our oldest recognizable ancestors in a
direct line of descent" (23) .
SOURCE: http://vc.ws.edu/engl2410/2002/unit1/01AncientMiddleEast.htm
 4000-3000 B.C.E. Sumeria
 2000 B.C.E. Assyria, to the north -- Ninevah,
chief city
 Ninevah was the foundation of the pre-historic
world, much like Rome was to Greece.
 2000 B.C.E. Babylonia, to the south --
Babylon, chief city (presently, Baghdad,
Iraq)
 Nebuchadnezzar was the last ruler of New
Babylonia
 Archeologists have found many clay tablets in
Mesopotamia that date from 5,000 years ago
(that is, 3000 B.C.E.). The clay tablets contain
writing in the form of cuneiform ("wedgeshaped") impressions made on wet clay and
then baked in the sun to preserve the
impressions.
 The oldest cuneiform writing consists of lists
of how many sheep a farmer brings to be sold
and how many of them are to be given to the
king for tax. Lists, tax rolls, king names, and
so on account for the earliest cuneiform
writing. However, later Mesopotamian writing
consists of stories, psalms (hymns),
proverbs (wise sayings and parables), and
a wide array of literary forms.
 Archeologists have also found many examples
on the clay tablets of school boys learning how
to write cuneiform by pressing a triangular
reed into the wet clay.
 One of the first stories that school boys in
Mesopotamia learned to copy was the story of
Gilgamesh. In this story, the central character,
an early Mesopotamian king, finds a
companion. When he and his companion first
meet, they fight one another. After Gilgamesh
wins the fight, the two become instant friends
and bosom buddies. Gilgamesh befriends
Enkidu.
 Together, they go in search of adventures to win
fortune and fame for themselves by slaying a
monster. Later, Gilgamesh's friend dies after
being struck down by God for killing the
monster, and Gilgamesh morns the death of his
friend.
 As a result of losing his friend, Gilgamesh goes
in search of immortality so that he will not
suffer the same fate at Enkidu.
 Gilgamesh is believed to have
actually lived and is listed in
Sumerian records as the king of
Uruk and builder of its great city
wall. He may be largely legendary,
but his city is real enough as an
early center of civilization. The wall,
dating from a little after 3000 B.C.E.,
is about six miles long. And it is
from Uruk that the earliest written
tablets survive.
 Uruk is soon eclipsed by a
neighboring city state - that of Ur.
The discovery of the royal cemetery
at Ur has revealed an astonishing
level of sophistication in objects
created in around 2500 B.C.E. for
the local ruling family. But Ur and
Uruk soon fall to other conquerors.
 Gilgamesh, originally a Sumerian legend passed
down through oral tradition. It is believed that the
first written copy of Gilgamesh was written down
around 2100 B.C.E. It was later copied by the
Assyrians. Assurbanipal, the last great king of
Assyria, sent messengers out to search the archives
of the ancient seats of learning in Babylon, Uruk,
and Nippur, and to copy and translate into the
contemporary Akkadian Semitic those texts which
were in the older Sumerian language of
Mesopotamia. Amongst these texts, was the poem
which we call the Epic of Gilgamesh.
 Paul Emile Botta, physician to a rich Arab and who later became a
French consul in 1841, discovered the first Assyrian palace. This was
the first finding of the places of the Old Testament. He discovered the
out-skirts of Ninevah.
 Later excavation by Layard uncovered Ninevah and Nimrud. Rassam,
for the British Museum, discovered the Gilgamesh tables. (25,000
brought back to London)
 Assurbanipal, the last great Assyrian king in the seventh century
B.C.E. had older versions, versions in the Sumerian language,
translated into the more modern Akkadian and housed in a great
library. It is this translation, albeit from Akkadian to English, that we
are reading today.
 George Smith, at the British Museum, translated the first Gilgamesh
tablets and returned to Mesopotamia to find the missing tablets; he
found tablets relating the account of the flood. Smith died of hunger
and exposure in Mesopotamia at the age of 36.
 Universal Themes:
 The Problem of Kingship: A king should be a
responsible leader for his people, but the text opens with
Gilgamesh behaving badly. How does one become a
great leader?
 Fear of Death: Why is the fear of death so great? Why
are the characters not comforted by their deities?
 The Search for Immortality/Fame: What are
Gilgamesh's ideas of immortality? What does he learn?
 Connections to Other Works of Literature:
 Story of a great flood
 Story of immortal man surviving the flood in a boat
– Utnapishtim
 Story of the serpent
Mesopotamia and History:
•Internet Source Book on Mesopotamia www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/asbook03.html
•The Assyro-Babylonian Mythology FAQ http://members.bellatlantic.net/~vze33gpz/assyrbabylfaq.html
•The Library of Congress’ Near East Collection –
http://www.loc.gov/rr/amed/guide/nes-arabworld.html
The Epic of Gilgamesh:
•The Epic of Gilgamesh Online www.wsu.edu/~dee/MESO/GILG.HTM
•The Interactive Gilgamesh web.archive.org/web/20030606215449/gilgamesh.psnc.pl/i
ndex.html
•Gilgamesh Study Guide http://novaonline.nv.cc.va.us/eli/eng251/gilgameshstudy.h
tm
•Flood Stories from Around the World www.talkorigins.org/faqs/flood-myths.html
•The Basics of Gilgamesh http://novaonline.nv.cc.va.us/eli/eng251/gilgameshstudy.h
tm
 How have the literary traditions of the Middle East’s
past influenced its contemporary writers?
 Much like writers from any culture, many Middle
Eastern writers root their texts in…
 the geography of the Middle East (exploring issues of land,
agriculture, terrain),
 the socio-economic structures (divisions between ethnic
groups, classes, gender roles, wealth),
 political concerns (power and control, borders, conflict)
 religious concerns (in addition to religious conflict, the
values/beliefs of Islam)
 And these concerns are found in both ancient and
contemporary texts, connecting traditional writers to
their contemporary counterparts.
 Israeli Perspective:
Poets played a major role voicing the hardships and joys during
Israel's founding. Today the poetry scene is more fractured, much
like the land itself. Prominent Israeli poets Agi Mishol, Eliaz
Cohen and Aharon Shabtai reflect on the situation
(http://www.pbs.org/newshour/video/module.html?mod=0&pkg=21032007&seg=1)
 Palestinian Perspective:
Poets in the Arab world have historically been important
cultural figures, and this tradition continues among
Palestinians. Jeffrey Brown talks to three leading poets, Taha
Muhammad Ali, Samih al-Qasim and Ghassan Zaqtan, about
the role of poetry in Arab society.
(http://www.pbs.org/newshour/video/module.html?mod=0&pkg=22032007&seg=1)
 Token (n.) - an outward sign or expression; a
symbol, emblem, or keepsake
 Emblem (n.) - an object or the figure of an
object symbolizing and suggesting another
object or an idea
 Assurance (n.) - something that inspires or
tends to inspire confidence
 Rend (v.) - to split or tear apart or in pieces
by violence
 Supplicate (v.) - to ask humbly and earnestly
of
 Entrench (v.) - to establish solidly
 Encroach (v.) - to enter by gradual steps or by
stealth into the possessions or rights of
another
 Usurp (v.) - to take or make use of without
right
 Cordon (n.) - a line of persons or objects
around a person or place