Epic of Gilgamesh

During the time period of the Epic of Gilgamesh, humans constructed an understanding of the proper relationship between the divine and human beings through interactions with the gods and reactions from the gods. This is clearly illustrated in the Epic of Gilgamesh, the story of Gilgamesh, the king of Uruk and his quest for immortality. It dates back to the second millennium BCE, and takes place in what is likely modern day Iraq, the center of Mesopotamian culture at the time. In the story, much of the humans’ lives were devoted to pleasing the gods, in hopes that the gods would in turn bless them. The gods relied on offerings from humans in order for sustenance, but still treated them poorly and often acted violently and irrationally toward them. While gods acted impulsively and did what they wanted, the humans were careful to appease them so as not to be destroyed. Various human interactions with gods, the gods’ reliance on humans for survival, and the gods’ ultimate power over humans are the cornerstones for the construction of the proper relationship between the divine and human beings.

In the Epic of Gilgamesh, in order for the gods of the people of Gilgamesh to live, they, like every other living being, require some form of sustenance. In order for the gods to get sustenance, which was in their case food and drink, they needed sacrifices from the humans. Many times throughout the Epic of Gilgamesh different characters make sacrifices to the gods. In Tablet XI when Utnapishtim recounts the story of the great flood he survived, the gods go hungry and thirsty because there are no humans left that can make sacrifices to them. When they saw the humans of the earth being destroyed, “the gods humbly sat weeping, sobbing with grief, their lips burning, parched with thirst.” In the absence of the humans and their sacrifices, the gods were needy and when Utnapishtim emerged from his boat and prepared a sacrifice, “the gods smelled the sweet savor, and...