My Project on Gilgamesh.
October 14, 2011
For my Mesopotamian project I chose to learn more about Gilgamesh. I didn’t know who he was or anything about him, but in an activity my class did there was a picture of Gilgamesh and Super Man. The first thing that came to my mind was that Gilgamesh must be a super hero. I really like to read stories because it is so interesting how millions of authors come up with really different ideas. Stories can go from Harry Potter to things like The Thirty Nine Clues. They have very different scenarios which makes each book exiting in it’s own way. This made me think it would be really cool to hear a story from Mesopotamia. I was very curious to see how different it would be.The main question that I had about my topic was why was the story of Gilgamesh important to the Mesopotamians?
Before I did anything I thought it would be best to actually read the story. I read the first book and was really confused about what I read. The book started off describing Gilgamesh as a cruel king. He worked his people way too hard. I had thought Gilgamesh was hero, but I just kept reading. Gilgamesh’s people prayed to the gods to send someone just as strong as Gilgamesh to fight for their rights. When the gods heard the people’s prayer’s they sent Enkidu. Enkidu was part human and part animal. He came to the town and challenged Gilgamesh to fight on top of a tower. They fought for hours when Gilgamesh stepped on loose rocks. He fell over the edge of the tower. Just in time Enkidu grabbed Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh was now a changed man and had learned how great friendship was. Enkidu and Gilgamesh then became great friends. Gilgamesh did his best to make the people happy and he wanted everything to be good. This all happened because of friendship. I finished the first book and was eager to read the next book. I still didn’t understand how Gilgamesh was a hero. I got out the second book and began reading. Bad luck struck Gilgamesh and his people. A tower crashed and one of the pillars crushed Enkidu’s love. Gilgamesh told Enkidu that it was the mountain monster, Humbaba’s fault. Together, they journeyed far away to find Humbaba and kill him. Gilgamesh would do anything to protect his people. The journey would be hard and Gilgamesh knew it. Although it would be challenging Gilgamesh still went. Gilgamesh has a lot of bravery. Sometimes the right thing to do is always the hardest. Gilgamesh uses his bravery to help him succeed and save his people from Humbaba. Gilgamesh and Enkidu kill Humbaba and the goddess Ishtar comes and asks Gilgamesh to marry her. He tells her that her powers do not tempt him. He is happy with what he has. Ishtar leaves and is so furious that she must make Gilgamesh sorry. She tries many times to make Gilgamesh surrender, but he won’t. She made Enkidu very ill and one day he never woke up. Gilgamesh was angry. He knew that Ishtar couldn’t make him surrender so she would probably just kill him. He had to find immortality so he could stay with his people. The books were so exiting! I immedietly started on the third book. He went on a dangerous journey and he made it to the waters of death. He was told by the goddess of wine that he would never make it. Every oar that touches the water will be destroyed. Gilgamesh still had hope. He wouldn’t except that it was impossible. Hope is very important because if you have it in the darkest times you can make it out. Gilgamesh made it across the waters of death. Even though he did not find immortality he still learned some valuable lessons.
After I finished the books I understood why Gilgamesh was a hero. He wasn’t the same kind of hero as Super Man. He is similar to Super Man because he fights bad things. He is different because he is like normal person. As the story of Gilgamesh progresses he learns more and more life lessons. The story kind of reminds me of The Boy Who Cried Wolf. The story doesn’t involve wolves or lying, but at the end of each story you have learned life lessons.This is what answered my question. The reason the story of Gilgamesh is important to the Mesopotamians is because he proves three important things in life; Bravery, Hope, and Friendship. These are some of the most important things in life.
Gilgamesh The King retold and illustrated by Ludmila Zeman 1992
The Revenge Of Ishtar retold and illustrated by Ludmila Zeman 1993
The Last Quest Of Gilgamesh retold and illustrated by Ludmila Zeman 1995
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18 Comments Add your own
I am impressed of how much you wrote. I read everything, and I didn’t know half the things that were on there, almost everything was new to me. I even did a project on Gilgamesh and I had never found that Gilgamesh had worked his people to much. We must have been reading a different book. I like that you chose this topic because you didn’t know anything about it. I picked my topic because I wanted to know more about Sargon. I also like the way you compared Gilgamesh to Superman and all of their differences. I am glad to know that you learned knew things about Gilgamesh. I would love to discuss what you and I learned about Gilgamesh that we didn’t know about him. Give me a comment.
Eva P.
I like your explanation of why you picked this subject and the simile you used for it, and instead of stating facts you wrote it from the point of view that I would have heard if I where actually walking through your thoughts.I also liked how you bolded the important adjectives that Gilgamesh learned and then said why they where important. So it was like these three different books talking about three different things that he learned. Then you would add them all up and he became this great hero at the end. then the end you rounded it off very nicely by explaining he became this great hero because he learned the three most important things in life.
Hi Madeline,
I admired your Mesopotamia project! Your project was fascinating and it caught my eye. Your project was very neat, you could actually read the writing. I loved how you did 3 separate dioramas it was like three times the information in one! You also added content to the diorama. Keep up the good work!
– Madison
(P.S something that also helped was that you had your name on it so I could tell it was yours)
Madeline,
I loved how you were very in to your topic and read all of the books on Gilgamesh! Your blog was very descriptive and the post was easy to understand and read. I also liked how it was thought out and planed and organized.Your blog was really long but it wasn’t all over the place and I could read it and not get confused. Your blog was very unique and I could here your voice saying the words as I read them. Another thing is on your blog you used proper grammar and spelling. I’m really looking forward to your next post! Keep up the great work!
Sophie
I really enjoyed reading your project. I liked how you had a 3D layout. I also liked how you made a box for each idea. I thought that it was cool that you did some clay in it. I also enjoyed the facts you had. I thought it was very informational. I really learned a lot on Gilgamesh. From what I saw it looked like you put a lot of work into your project. I also think that your blog was very thought out. There was good spelling and grammar which made it outstanding. I liked the length of your blog and that it wasn’t just big but it was informative. I enjoyed how you italicized all of his traits so you could easily get them. I liked how you looked back to the very begging of the project to how you choose your topic and you told us your thoughts.
Hi Madeline,
My favorite part of your project was the creative shape.I also liked all of the bright colors that you used. I never knew about how important the story of Gilgamesh was until I looked at your project, and you made it fun to read. Please look at my blog.
-Zelle
(P.S how do you change the tittle of your blog?)
Wow Madeline I am so impressed. Your blog post was amazing. I really liked how much effort you put into it and I think you have a big talent for writing. I have read the books before but I dont think I got nearly as much information as you did. I love how you gave the three examples of why you thought they were important. Also, another thing I liked was how you bolded or italic a important word. You really had a long and amazing post. I really learned alot. You made me interested and I am very interested and I think I will look up some information about him.
Madeline,
I thought your blog entry was terrific. It talked about all the details about Gilgamesh even the story ” The Epic Of Gilgamesh”. I never knew that Gilgamesh started off as a bad person. If I was a student that was doing a project on Gilgamesh but didn’t know any info on him, I would choose your blog as a number 1 resource. Bill
Madeline, You are really a great writer. I wanted to comment on your blog because I knew it would be terrific . You really showed alot of effort and you did so much research. I learned alot about Gilgamesh. and I agree with you that it is all about friendship, hope and bravery.
Madeline your writing is great! I learned a lot from your post, like Enkidu is half human and half animal. I also liked how you made the important words in different font. I never knew Gilgamesh was a bad king at first, I thought he was always a good king. You are right Gilgamesh had a lot of bravery to go across the waters of death. I loved how you reflected and thought about other things that reminded you of other books in you conclusion. I liked reading your blog!
Wow, I think that you did a really good job on your blog. I learned so much about Gilgamesh that I didn’t know about before. I think you took your time making this post because it was terrific.
Wow Madeline I never new you could type that much in a blog post that is amazing. I didn’t know that Gilgamesh was that type of hero either. You are the most detailed writer and learned so much. I never ever new that Gilgamesh was that bad at first and that just one person can change his whole life.
Emipu1213
Wow Madeline your project is amazing. I love how on your physical project you made it like stairs. You had lots of information on Gilgamesh. You must have put a lot of effort into it. I never knew that you could write that much. You are a very talented writer. You did a super job.
Madeline you did a great job on your blog. I learned alot about Gilgamesh.
Madeline, I am so impressed with your blog post! You did such a great job researching and writing such a thoughtful post. Like Katherine, I really felt like I went through your researching process with you. Thank you for taking the time to write such a fascinating post! I also appreciate all of your classmate’s comments. Very nicely written!
Wow!!! That is one of the best blog posts I’ve ever read.
I really liked what you wrote about and the life lessons it told. I can’t wait to read more of your posts.I might even read those stories about Gilgamesh. That was amazing!!! 
Thanks for commenting on my blog Harper! That is a huge complement and I am really glad you liked my post. I think you should read about Gilgamesh because it is a really interesting topic.
If you have a blog I would love to read it! Once again, thanks for reading my blog!
-Madeline
I am so glad that you learned some new facts! I would like to talk about Gilgamesh with you because it would be really cool to find out more things that I didn’t know. When I first found that Gilgamesh was mean I was shocked! Thanks for commenting and let me know if you have any advice!
-Madeline
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