Documents: Considering the Evidence: Life and Afterlife in Mesopotamia and Egypt
In Search of Eternal Life
- Epic of Gilgamesh best known writing from the First Civilizations
- How would you define the Mesopotamian ideal of kingship? What is the basis of the monarch's legitimacy?
- The Mesopotamian ideal of kingship is that a king is supposed to be a shepherd to his people. He is supposed to treat all his people justly, including the servants.
- What understanding of afterlife does the epic suggest?
- The epic suggests that no matter how you were when living, it is how you acted and treated others that matters. There is no difference between a master and a servant.
- What philosophy of life comes across in the Gilgamesh story?
- How does the Epic of Gilgamesh portray the Gods and their relationship to humankind?
The Epic of Gilgamesh
On Kingship
- Two-thirds God and one-third Man
- A king should be a shepherd to his people
- Everlasting life is not your destiny
- Deal justly with servants in the palace, deal justly before the sun
On the Search for Immortality
- They who stood in the place of the Gods like Anu and Enlil, stood now life servants.
- The house of Dust - everyone is in darkness
- What difference is there between master and servant when both have fulfilled their doom
On the Gods
- The Gods agreed to exterminate mankind
- Flood - A man could not see his brother nor could the people be seen from heaven
- The Gods were even terrific doc the flood that they fled up to the heavens
- The Gods of heaven and hell wept for they covered their mouths
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