Life After Death In 'Epic Of Gilgamesh'

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1. The Mesopotamian believed that life after death was full of misery. Enkidu describes a dream he had in which he visited that house of the Queen of Darkness, or the ruler of the ‘Underworld’ (afterlife). There, people ate dust and clay. There was nothing pleasant about the afterlife according to Mesopotamian beliefs, which explained why Gilgamesh was so desperate to become immortal. 2. Siduri’s advice to Gilgamesh had a clear message. It was simply that death is unavoidable, so there is no reason to spend endless amounts of time searching for a way to avoid death. Instead, attempt to make the most of one’s days if at all possible. For example, she said, “… fill your belly with good things; day and night, night and day, dance and be merry,…show more content…
According to the Mesopotamians, the meaning of life was to live in the moment, essentially. Life is difficult, so if there is any way to enjoy it at any given moment, one should seize that opportunity. Both Siduri and Utnapishtim advise Gilgamesh to enjoy what time he does have as opposed to waiting impatiently and fearfully for the moment of his death. 1. YHWH destroys all humanity except Noah and his family because he believed that Noah was the only human who was pure. Noah was apparently the only person who was without sin, thus he and his family was spared. The “he must be worthy” reasoning is similar to how the Mesopotamian gods viewed the humans. Once the humans became too much of a nuisance to the Mesopotamian gods, they attempted to exterminate them. This is not entirely like how YWHW acted, however they both decided to destroy the human race due to their misconduct while saving one family and a few animals. 2. After the flood, YHWH treats Noah and his family very well. YHWH creates a covenant with Noah, and promises to never flood the Earth again. Noah is not granted immortality exactly, but does live for over three hundred years after the flood. In comparison, after Utnapishtim and his family survives the Mesopotamian gods’ flood, the gods treat him and his family with almost reverence. Enlil, the god who created the flood, even grants Utnapishtim and his wife immortality, and allows him to live with the…show more content…
The god of the Israelites is YHWH. This god is similar to the Mesopotamian gods in that all entities demand piety from their worshippers and can act wrathful against the humans when this is not delivered. However, there are some key differences between the Israelites’ god and the Mesopotamian gods. For instance, YHWH demands that the followers acknowledge that there is only one god (YHWH). However, the Mesopotamian gods allow the humans to worship all the gods. Also, YHWH’s reasons for flooding the Earth is that humans were being wicked and the god wished to erase the evil form the Earth (so Noah, who was not evil, was allowed to live). In contrast, the Mesopotamian gods flooded the Earth because there were too many humans, and the loudness woke up a god,

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