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Gilgamesh, the Cedar Forest and Mesopotamian History

1983; American Oriental Society; Volume: 103; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.2307/601887

2169-2289

Aaron Shaffer,

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SAMUEL NOAH KRAMER WAS A PIONEER IN THE STUDY OF SUMERIAN EPICS concerning Gilgamesh and it is due to his work that the first inkling of what took place in the cedar forest became known.' I propose to discuss here some aspects of the denouement of Gilgamesh and the Cedar Forest. It is a pleasure to dedicate this effort to him. Gilgamesh and the Cedar Forest, like its noble successor the Akkadian Epic of Gilgamesh, is an expression of man's struggle against the oblivion of death. Gilgamesh, a king of Uruk, seeks to surmount human mortality by establishing a name for himself in the cedar forest and by setting up his monument there.2 It later transpires that this will involve overcoming and then murdering the divinely appointed guardian of the cedars. Thus will Gilgamesh, like later Mesopotamian kings who boast of it, cut cedars in the holy grove; he will be a king of the woods.3 The sun god Utu whose domain is the cedar forest agrees and appoints seven genies to help him on his 4 journey. Reaching the forest, Gilgamesh is over-