On Epics, Love and Ancient Yelp Reviews
and Immortality
To begin again, as they say. Who is this ‘they,’ you ask? Don’t know to be honest, as the beginning of language was lost in the rather spotty record-keeping of the oral. While rich and filled with oodles of culture, these oral traditions could do nothing but conjure the word ‘effervescent’. That was until some clever guy came around with a fire-blackened stick and put shapes to sounds. Then after some more dily and maybe some daly, some people got together and started scribbling down these things called stories. Then after even more time in which someone had to have discovered clay, the oldest stories were written down. All this is to say it took some time for humans to begin writing after the invention of language. The oldest known story, though not the first story, is a little ol’ piece called The Epic of Gilgamesh.
[A lot of the stone tablets the epic was written on have been worn down by time, so excuse the brackets and question marks.]
They also cried aloud to Aruru, the goddess, saying: "Aruru, who hast created him,
Create now a rival (?) to him, for the time when his heart shall be [* * *],
Let them fight together and Uruk [shall be the spectator?]!"
Upon hearing this Aruru created in her heart a man after the likeness of Anu.
Aruru washed her hands, took a bit of clay, and cast it on the ground.
Thus she created Enkidu, the hero, a lofty offspring, the possession (?) of Ninib.
His whole body was covered with hair; he had long hair on his head like a woman;
His flowing hair was luxuriant like that of the corn-god.
Contrary to [?] the custom of the people and of the land, he was clothed with garments, as god Ner;
He ate herbs with the gazelles.
He quenched his thirst with the beasts.
He sported about with the creatures of the water.
Sa-a-a-du, the hunter of men.
Lay in wait for him at the entrance to the well.
The first, the second, and the third day he lay in wait for
him at the entrance to the well.
But when he saw him the hunter's face looked troubled,
[beholding Enkidu and?] his cattle, and he returned to his home.
* * * he was sad, and moaned, and wailed;
his heart grew heavy], his face became clouded,
and sadness [entered] into his mind.
The context of this tablet is Gilgamesh liberated the city Uru from an enemy force and was rewarded with kingship. After that, he took every young man into his service and every maiden into his court, making the citizens kind of peeved, so they asked the gods to make a man.
Gilgamesh
Against him [Enkidu proceeded],
[His hair] luxuriant.
He started [to go]
Towards him.
They met in the plaza of the district.
Enkidu blocked the gate
With his foot,
Not permitting Gilgamesh to enter.
They seized (each other), like oxen,
They fought.
The threshold they demolished;
The wall they impaired.
Gilgamesh and Enkidu
Seized (each other).
Like oxen they fought.
The threshold they demolished;
The wall they impaired.
Gilgamesh bent
His foot to the ground,
His wrath was appeased,
His breast was quieted.
When his breast was quieted,
Enkidu to him
Spoke, to Gilgamesh:
“As a unique one, thy mother
bore thee.
The wild cow of the stall,
Ninsun,
Has exalted thy head above men.
Kingship over men
Enlil has decreed for thee.
What led up to this was a brief love affair between Enkidu and a mistress. She brought Enkidu into the city, and eventually, Gilgamesh and Enkidu fought. Of course, they become friends. And not to split hairs but this is some buddy cop cliché from before cliché was invented.
The rest of the epic is also a great read though much of it is missing. I won’t spoil it any further but urge you to read it.
Other Beginnings; or As Close to it As We Can Get an Addendum:
As long as humans have been around, we’ve wanted to get biblical, and for some, the use of poetry helped get it going.
In Samuel Noah Kramer’s work, History Begins at Sumer, the first love poem, The Love Song of Shu-Sin was translated. It is a love poem that was part of a ceremony where the king would symbolically marry the goddess Inanna to ensure fertility in the next year.
Bridegroom, dear to my heart,
Goodly is your beauty, honeysweet,
Lion, dear to my heart,
Goodly is your beauty, honeysweet.
You have captivated me, let me stand tremblingly before you.
Bridegroom, I would be taken by you to the bedchamber,
You have captivated me, let me stand tremblingly before you.
Lion, I would be taken by you to the bedchamber.
Bridegroom, let me caress you,
My precious caress is more savory than honey,
In the bedchamber, honey-filled,
Let me enjoy your goodly beauty,
Lion, let me caress you,
My precious caress is more savory than honey.
Bridegroom, you have taken your pleasure of me,
Tell my mother, she will give you delicacies,
My father, he will give you gifts.
Your spirit, I know where to cheer your spirit,
Bridegroom, sleep in our house until dawn,
Your heart, I know where to gladden your heart,
Lion, sleep in our house until dawn.
You, because you love me,
Give me pray of your caresses,
My lord god, my lord protector,
My Shu-Sin, who gladdens Enil’s heart,
Give my pray of your caresses.
Your place goodly as honey, pray lay your hand on it,
Bring your hand over like a gishban-garment,
Cup your hand over it like a gishban-sikin-garment
You might be wondering (if you haven’t jumped the bones of the closest willing partner after reading that) what other tidbit of human nature is as everlasting as love. In the dusty catacombs of the chair before my computer, I found the most lasting of these traits: complaint.
Now, when you had come, you spoke saying thus: 'I will give good ingots to Gimil-Sin'; this you said to me when you had come, but you have not done it. You have offered bad ingots to my messenger, saying 'If you will take it, take it; if you will not take it, go away.' Who am I that you are treating me in this manner -- treating me with such contempt? and that between gentlemen such as we are. I have written to you to receive my money, but you have neglected [to return] it. Repeatedly you have made them [messengers] return to me empty-handed through foreign country. Who is there amongst the Dilmun traders who has acted against me in this way? You have treated my messenger with contempt. And further with regard to the silver that you have taken with you from my house you make this discussion. And on your behalf I gave 18 talents of copper to the palace, and Sumi-abum also gave 18 talents of copper, apart from the fact that we issued the sealed document to the temple of Samas. With regard to that copper, as you have treated me, you have held back my money in a foreign territory, although you are obligated to hand it over to me intact. You will learn that here in Ur I will not accept from you copper that is not good. In my house, I will choose and take the ingots one by one. Because you have treated me with contempt, I shall exercise against you my right of selecting the copper.
- A complaint from Nanni to Ea-Nasir, a copper merchant of the city Ur, roughly 3,500 years ago.
Fearful Faithful reader, good reader, lovely reader, what is immortality? George Elliot once wrote, “Our dead are never dead to us until we have forgotten them,” by this rule, are these characters, gods, and people immortal? They have once lived in ancient days, in the memory of the living, and then were dead and buried, forgotten. Do they live again, or are they some Frankenstein's Monster of pieces and energies sewn back together in a seeming of life without the same spirit? What is more guaranteed to reach immortality: fame or infamy?