Gilgamesh

Gilgameš (Akkadian: Gilgamesh; Sumerian: Bilgames) was a legendary king of Uruk and the hero of the Epic of Gilgamesh, one of the oldest surviving works of literature (c. 2100 BCE). In Zecharia Sitchin's reading, Gilgamesh was a historical figure — a semi-divine human who sought the secret of immortality from the Anunnaki.

The Epic of Gilgamesh

The epic poem, inscribed on twelve tablets, tells the story of:

1. The Tyrant King — Gilgamesh, two-thirds god and one-third human, oppresses the people of Uruk
2. Enkidu — The gods create Enkidu, a wild man, to challenge Gilgamesh
3. The Friendship — Gilgamesh and Enkidu become close friends after wrestling
4. The Cedar Forest — They journey to kill the monster Humbaba
5. Ishtar's Rejection — Gilgamesh rejects the goddess Ishtar (Inanna), enraging her
6. The Bull of Heaven — Ishtar sends the Bull of Heaven, which they kill
7. Enkidu's Death — The gods decree Enkidu's death as punishment
8. The Quest for Immortality — Grieving, Gilgamesh journeys to find Utnapishtim, the survivor of the Great Flood
9. The Plant of Youth — Utnapishtim's wife gives Gilgamesh a plant that restores youth
10. The Serpent Steals the Plant — A snake steals the plant while Gilgamesh bathes
11. The Return — Gilgamesh returns to Uruk, accepting his mortality

Sitchin's Interpretation

Sitchin devoted significant attention to Gilgamesh in The Stairway to Heaven:

"The Epic of Gilgamesh is not a myth. It is a historical account of a Sumerian king's failed attempt to obtain the technology of the gods — the secret of immortality — from the Anunnaki."

Key points of Sitchin's reading:

1. Gilgamesh as Historical King — Gilgamesh is listed in the Sumerian King List and appears in other contemporary texts
2. The Cedar Forest — The journey to the Cedar Forest was a journey to the Sinai spaceport
3. Utnapishtim the Astronaut — Utnapishtim was a survivor of the flood who had been granted immortality by the Anunnaki and resided in Tilmun, the land of the rocketships
4. The Plant of Youth — The "plant" was not botanical but technological — possibly a medical treatment or genetic therapy
5. The Serpent — The snake that steals the plant was a symbol of Enki (the serpent god) or an Anunnaki agent preventing Gilgamesh from stealing immortality

The Quest for Tilmun

Gilgamesh's journey to find Utnapishtim involved: - Traveling to the "Mashu Mountain" (a twin-peaked mountain, possibly Ararat) - Passing through a tunnel guarded by "scorpion-men" (Anunnaki guards) - Crossing the "waters of death" (a restricted area) - Arriving at the island of the blessed Tilmun

Cuneiform Evidence

The name Gilgameš (Sumerian: Bilgames) is attested in Sumerian and Akkadian cuneiform texts from the third millennium BCE. The Epic of Gilgamesh is one of the oldest surviving works of world literature.

• CDLI Corpus: Gilgamesh — Browse tablets mentioning Gilgamesh
• Key tablet: The Standard Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh (CDLI P354853) — A twelve-tablet version from the library of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh (7^th century BCE). The epic includes the flood narrative and Gilgamesh's quest for immortality. Older Sumerian tales about Bilgames also survive on tablets from Nippur and Ur.
• Neo-Assyrian tablet of the Epic of Gilgamesh from the Library of Ashurbanipal. (CDLI P354853)

See Also

• Uruk — Gilgamesh's city
• Enki — The god who could grant immortality
• Utu — The god who guided Gilgamesh
• Etana — Another king who flew to heaven
• Adapa — Another human who sought immortality
• Flood — The flood narrative
• Sumer — Sumerian civilization
• Baalbek Landing Place — Baalbek's connection to Gilgamesh's journey
• Gilgamesh Landing Place — Gilgamesh's journey to the landing place
• Giant Nephilim — The giants and the hybrid offspring

Sources

• Sitchin, Z. (1980). The Stairway to Heaven. Chapters 8-9.
• George, A. R. (2003). The Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic. Oxford University Press.
• Gardner, J. & Maier, J. (1984). Gilgamesh: Translated from the Sin-leqi-unninni Version.