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The Epic of Gilgamesh and the Sumerians

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The Epic of Gilgamesh is an extremely old story that had been passed down for generations orally before it was ever written down. It is important that the reader understands that the story may have slightly different versions depending on who is telling the story and the author of the book. As with any story that is told it always seems to change slightly each new time it is being told. Some people may remember things being said one way, while another person remembers something different. Also the reader has to keep in mind that Gilgamesh has been translated many times from many different languages. A lot of times when things get translated minor details may be left out or altered slightly. Even the author himself admits in the introduction that this is not a direct translation because that would be difficult to understand and things would be missing from the story. As a reader you have to be cautiously aware that a good part of the book is myth, but when looked at closely I do believe that there is a lot of historical facts that we can take away from Gilgamesh. I believe that it is very possible that Enkidu could have went on journeys with Gilgamesh and that he very well could have been like his brother. I think that Enkidu could have been a great warrior and fought many battles alongside Gilgamesh like they say in the story. When they were on the forest journey and Enkidu says to Gilgamesh "follow me, for I know the place where Humbaba lives and the path where he walks. (p.74) I believe that these types of warrior like journeys that they could have went on together and fought together. I do think however that some of the details of the journey's and battles are probably a little over dramatic and the truth has been exaggerated over time. When they say "in three days they had walked as much as a journey of a month and two weeks  (p.74) I believe that is a little much to believe and that might be part of the myth to create more of a suspenseful, exciting story. The story of how Enkidu running with the animals and living with them at first is also something that I believe to be a myth that helps cr

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