The gate of the year

Great stone relief from the palace of Sargon II at Dur-Sharrukin, modern Khorsabad (Iraq), dating to the VIII century B.C., and exhibited in the Louvre Museum, Paris. It represents a bearded hero who holds a lion in his left hand, while the other hand holds a kind of curved stick. This image has been frequently associated with Gilgamesh, the hero protagonist of the most renowned Mesopotamian mythological epic. The Gilgamesh Epic was the product of a lengthy compilation effort, whose first Sumerian versions dates back to 2500-2400 B.C., while the most complete and final version was discovered in the library of Assurbanipal, the last of great Assyrian rulers, and conceived during the end of the Kassite power in Babylon (XIII-XII centuries B.C.) (Pettinato 2005c). In this poem, one can find the first description of a character having the traits of the “Wild Man”: he is Enkidu, a being created by the goddess Aruru, upon request from the other gods, to oppose the boldness and impetuosity of Gilgamesh, the king of Uruk. After having built the city walls, turning it into a powerful and fearful capital, the latter had become a tyrant for his own people, raising up the disdain of the gods.
Enkidu is thus described in the text:

“All his body is matted with hair,
he bears long tresses like those of a woman:
the hair of his head grows thickly as barley,
he knows not a people, nor even a country.
Coated in hair like the god of the animals,
with the gazelles he grazes on grasses,
joining the throng with the game at the water-hole,
his heart delighting with the beasts in the water”
(Tablet I, 105-112, trans. A. George).

He is met by a hunter, who is frozen by fear at his view:
“'Over the hills he [roams all day,]
[always] with the herd [he grazes on grasses,]
[always] his tracks [are found] by the water-hole,
[I am afraid and] I dare not approach him.
'[He fills in the] pits that I [myself] dig,
[he pulls Up] the snares that I lay.
[He sets free from my grasp] all the beasts of the field,
[he stops] me doing the work of the wild.'”
(Tablet I, 126-133).

Enkidu and Gilgamesh fight one with the other and Gilgamesh wins, but he befriends his former enemy, who becomes his partner in the numerous adventures he undertakes. When Enkidu dies, Gilgamesh, discouraged, sets about in his quest for immortality, which he will not be able to conquer.

[Image: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hero_lion_Dur-Sharrukin_Louvre_AO19862.jpg]




Wild Men

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Great stone relief from the palace of Sargon II at Dur-Sharrukin, modern Khorsabad (Iraq), dating to the VIII century B.C., and exhibited in the Louvre Museum, Paris. It represents a bearded hero who holds a lion in his left hand, while the other hand holds a kind of curved stick. This image has been frequently associated with Gilgamesh, the hero protagonist of the most renowned Mesopotamian mythological epic. The Gilgamesh Epic was the product of a lengthy compilation effort, whose first Sumerian versions dates back to 2500-2400 B.C., while the most complete and final version was discovered in the library of Assurbanipal, the last of great Assyrian rulers, and conceived during the end of the Kassite power in Babylon (XIII-XII centuries B.C.) (Pettinato 2005c). In this poem, one can find the first description of a character having the traits of the “Wild Man”: he is Enkidu, a being created by the goddess Aruru, upon request from the other gods, to oppose the boldness and impetuosity of Gilgamesh, the king of Uruk. After having built the city walls, turning it into a powerful and fearful capital, the latter had become a tyrant for his own people, raising up the disdain of the gods. Enkidu is thus described in the text: “All his body is matted with hair, he bears long tresses like those of a woman: the hair of his head grows thickly as barley, he knows not a people, nor even a country. Coated in hair like the god of the animals, with the gazelles he grazes on grasses, joining the throng with the game at the water-hole, his heart delighting with the beasts in the water” (Tablet I, 105-112, trans. A. George). He is met by a hunter, who is frozen by fear at his view: “'Over the hills he [roams all day,] [always] with the herd [he grazes on grasses,] [always] his tracks [are found] by the water-hole, [I am afraid and] I dare not approach him. '[He fills in the] pits that I [myself] dig, [he pulls Up] the snares that I lay. [He sets free from my grasp] all the beasts of the field, [he stops] me doing the work of the wild.'” (Tablet I, 126-133). Enkidu and Gilgamesh fight one with the other and Gilgamesh wins, but he befriends his former enemy, who becomes his partner in the numerous adventures he undertakes. When Enkidu dies, Gilgamesh, discouraged, sets about in his quest for immortality, which he will not be able to conquer. [Image: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hero_lion_Dur-Sharrukin_Louvre_AO19862.jpg]