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Gilgamesh



Gilgamesh was a man, king, god and hero, a man who had an internal battle; a battle with death. Despite being ever so powerful and god-like Gilgamesh realised that he had no power over death as death is inevitable despite how accomplished and powerful you are. Gilgamesh, Assyrian King of Urak during the third millennium BC, is part God and part man. He set out on a quest to seek immortality. In the course of his quest, he finds compassion, friendship, courage, love and peace.

In the 19th century, Sir Austen Hengry Layard  found clay tablets recounting the epic of Gilgamesh in Ashourbanipal’s 8th century BC library at Ninevah. This epic, one of the oldest written stories is the basis of many myths legends and tales, including modern ones. The Epic of Gilgamesh is a story about the value of friendship, the greed for power, a sense of accomplishment and achievement, the emotional price of loss, and the reality of death (Abusch, 2001). Gilgamesh thought himself to be god, a proud and arrogant being who believed he was a powerful, assertively dominate man. Due to his dominant nature Gilgamesh was punished by the gods for thinking he was equal to them and so the gods sent him Enkidu in an attempt to make him humble. Following a battle, Enkidu and Gilgamesh become friends and embarked on journeys together. When Enkidu died abruptly, Gilgamesh was deeply affected by this sudden passing. His friend’s death made Gilgamesh realised that he is just as vulnerable to death as any other person and he started to doubt his views on life. With this, Gilgamesh decided to go on a journey to discover the meaning of life and immortality. On this journey, he realised the importance of being compassionate, caring and courageous, and that no matter how much power you have, immorality is impossible to achieve. The story concludes with Gilgamesh’s realisation of the fact that it is not immorality that keeps you alive but the legacy you leave behind after you pass away (Mark, 2010).

The bronze Statue of Gilgamesh, created by Lewis Batros, was a gift to the University of Sydney to celebrate its sesquicentennial or 150th anniversary. A number Assyrian dignitaries and government officials were invited to attend the function, which also included the official ceremony of the unveiling of the Statue of Gilgamesh. Chancellor of the University of Sydney, Dame Leonie Kramer, unveiled the statute on October 15th, 2000. This statue is presented as an important part of history, in the University of Sydney surrounded by a well-groomed bush. The size of Gilgamesh is what is firstly astonishing but also by the delicate, sophisticated detail of his braided beard and hair gives the sense that he sees himself as a hero and one to be looked up upon. As it is placed in a institution of education, it educated individuals of the character Gilgamesh and how he is two parts God and one part human. His placement is important as it demonstrates what kind of story he tells. Gilgamesh lived around 2700 BC and will forever be a piece of history in his time. Gilgamesh is described to be a demigod of superhuman strength who built the city walls of Uruk to defend his people. Gilgamesh was said to have fought the demon Humbaba (or Huwawa), along with wild man Enkidu and brought his head back to Uruk on a raft. The pair also defeated the Bull of Heaven sent by the furious goddess Ishtar. These conquered beasts can be linked to the creature in the statue as a representation of Gilgamesh’s strength and power. Gilgamesh is seen as a worldly-wise, cultured king and protector who is at the centre of human society, which can be translated into the statue as Gilgamesh stands strong with closed fists and a creature cowering in his embrace. The brilliant architecture of the statue has represented Gilgamesh in a God-like form. He seems to be overpowering the lion he is holding. Although a lion is usually seen to be a powerful, angry and dangerous animal, Gilgamesh makes it look weak and small and rather an innocent creature. The audience takes this power from him to see him as dangerous, scary, and to have dominance. The author has created the audience to feel this way in order for us to understand the character and history of Gilgamesh. The persuasive story he implies through his stature is confirmed by the words on the plaque beside him;

Through reading the plaque that accompanies the statue, it is to be understood that Gilgamesh was out to seek immortality and in his journey he finds many moral qualities on his way. The audience then is satisfied by this idea that he is a heroic character and deserves this representation. Although some may feel as though the credibility of the statue of Gilgamesh is certainly there, due to the length of time that has passed, current society is unable to know whether his story is a myth or fact. By viewing the actual structure of the Gilgamesh statue, it brings a rhetorical perspective amongst the audience and an understanding of history.