The First Civilizations - Baby's First Year

CHAPTER 1
Name Date Class
ACTIVITY FOR DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION 1
The Epic of Gilgamesh
The Epic of Gilgamesh is a Sumerian poem dating from about
2000 B.C. It is one of the world’s oldest known stories. The hero, Gilgamesh,
is a king who traveled the world performing great deeds.
In one of the most famous parts of the epic, Gilgamesh tries to
learn the secret of eternal life from an immortal wise man. This
man tells Gilgamesh about a great flood that destroyed the world.
Warned by the god of wisdom, the man had saved himself and his
family by building an ark. The gods eventually gave the man eternal
life. Here is part of the man’s story:
Six days and six nights
Blows the flood wind, as the south-storm
sweeps the land.
When the seventh day arrived,
The flood (-carrying) south-storm subsided
in the battle,
Which it had fought like an army.
The sea-grew quiet, the tempest was still,
the flood ceased.
I looked at the weather. Stillness had set in,
And all of mankind had returned to clay.
The landscape was as level as a flat roof.
I opened a hatch, and light fell on my face.
Bowing low, I sat and wept,
Tears running down my face.
I looked about for coast lines in the expanse
of the sea:
In each of fourteen (regions)
There emerged a region (-mountain).
6
On Mount Nisir the ship came to a halt.
Mount Nisir held the ship fast,
Allowing -no motion.
[For six days the ship rests atop Mount Nisir.]
When the seventh day arrived,
I sent forth and set free a dove.
The dove went forth, but came back;
There was no resting-place for it and she
turned round.
Then I sent forth and set free a swallow.
The swallow went forth, but came back,
There was no resting-place for it and she
turned round.
Then I sent forth and set free a raven.
The raven went forth and, seeing that the
waters had diminished,
He eats, circles, caws, and turns not round.
Source: Translated by E.A. Speiser, in Ancient Near Eastern Texts (Princeton, 1950), as reprinted in Isaac Mendelsohn (ed.), Religions
of the Ancient Near East (New York, 1955).
Directions: Use the information in the passage to answer the following
questions on a separate sheet of paper.
1. Making Connections Review the information in your textbook
about the geography of Sumeria. How do you think the
Sumerians’ physical environment might have inspired the
Gilgamesh flood story?
2. Analyze What does this story tell us about the relationship
Sumerians might have had with their gods? Explain your
answer.
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