- Dec 2020
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www.gutenberg.org www.gutenberg.org
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Why with the animals 13wanderest thou on the plain?
When thinking of Gilgamesh, he himself is the king of Uruk. This rich and giving lifestyle is highlighted as part of humanity. To be civilized with shelter, colonies and living within cities is a normal created by societies around this time. and the people in Uruk have established themselves into this style of domesticated living. With Enkidu coming in the world from gods and automatically gravitating towards wild animals and roaming the plains eating grass and what the earth naturally grows, it is seen as weird or unnatural when in fact it is more natural than what the people of Uruk are doing. However with the people from this time, I am unsure if they knew about cave people and how they lived while on earth. Then sending in a priestess, who was called "Hierodule" (A slave or prostitute) to domesticate Enkidu by covering him with garments and introducing him to the way the people of Uruk live and the discovered feelings of people. These gestures and judgement of ones other lifestyle is one of the first ancient instances of "othering." This proves that humans have a natural instinct to not be accepting towards another persons way of life.
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I saw him and was astounded. 33I loved him as a woman, 34falling upon him in embrace. 35I took him and made him 36my brother.” 37The mother of Gilgamish she that knows all things 38[said unto Gilgamish:—] ................................... [213] COL. II 1that he may join with thee in endeavor.” 2(Thus) Gilgamish solves (his) dream. 3Enkidu sitting before the hierodule
In the time period the translation, you can tell that they had just begun to create labels on relationships, people etc to understand what they were feeling or to just recognize different people. In the text chosen, there are many different area's in the highlighted portion and throughout the text, where Gilgamesh uses labels which created for a clear story. It is however conflicting because of the translators and them maybe having included different sections so that the story makes sense. Nonetheless, when he said that he loved him like he would a woman, that shows how the language at the time was advanced, closer to the current 21st century, enough to realize that Gilgamesh had romantic feelings for Enkidu. Also with the piece when the translators described him as sitting near the hierodule. The slave, prostitute (both) was able to be identified no matter of the gender. Looking back at the time, it is still demeaning when thinking in our 21st century mindset and what we consider normal. However looking back, it is interesting to see how advanced the ancient Iraq civilization operated. It is also amazing seeing where the women of this country came from as in today's world the women now being able to be involved with the government, they are making it a mission so Iraqi women know their rights (Calabrese, John, et al).
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Calabrese, John, et al. “Constitutional and Legal Rights of Iraqi Women.” Middle East Institute, 8 Dec. 2020, mei.edu/publications/constitutional-and-legal-rights-iraqi-women.
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- May 2020