Civilization is defined as “a state that binds people together to transcendtides of family, clan, tribe, and village. ” (Woolf, H. B.
, 1974, p. 141) Byusing this definition, one can compare and contrast the many different traitsthat the Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations had. Both The Epic of Gilgameshand the three Egyptian funerary documents are very good examples of writtendocuments that show these two differences in civilization. The Epic of Gilgameshis a long narrative poem which shows the many trials set before a young hero. (Andrea, A.
; Overfield, J. H. , 1998, p. 8) This epic was discovered on twelve claytablets in the remains of a library dated back to the seventeenth century beforeChrist.
(Andrea, A. ; Overfield, J. H. , 1998, p. 8) Within this epic, the readerwill get an idea of how the Sumerians lived and communicated within theircommunity.
Similarly, the Egyptian traits of civilization can be explained whenthe Coffin Texts are analyzed. The three funerary documents, which will bediscussed later, were found written inside wooden coffins of people could whoafford expensive funerals. (Andrea, A. ; Overfield, J.
H. , 1998, p. 18) Many ofthese writing concentrated on death and disaster, and the miseries and fearsthat are associated with it. These three writings are also very helpful bygiving the reader a very descriptive overview of how the Egyptian civilizationworked.
Although these four documents were written in different locations, theyshow many similarities and differences in traits of civilization, and thoughtson the afterlife. The Epic of Gilgamesh is known as one of the greatest works ofliterature from the time of the Mesopotamian Era. (Andrea, A. ; Overfield, J. H.
,1998, p. 8) The hero, Gilgamesh, was the ruler of the city-state Uruk from 2700to 2500 B. C. He was also very well known for his building of massive walls andtemples.
(Andrea, A. ; Overfield, J. H. , 1998, p.
8) His epic follows the basictheme of the humans struggle with immortality. Although Gligamesh is known asbeing “two-thirds a god and one-third human”, he must face death someday. (Andrea, A. ; Overfield, J. H.
, 1998, p. 8) As the epic begins, it is clear thatthe people of Uruk are distressed at the fact that Gilgamesh is not yet aware ofhis duties as king. Enkidu is sent down from the heavens in response to thepeoples cries for help. When Enkidu and Gilgamesh fight in a contest ofstrength and fighting skill, Gilgamesh wins, and the two heroes unite and setout on a series of adventures.
In the midst of their adventures, Ishtar statesthat a life is owed because of an insult said towards him. Enkidu is chosen todie, and he is going to be brought to his fate. Within his time of waiting, hetells Gilgamesh of a vision he had of “the land on no return”. Within thisstory, the reader is presented with many different facts of how the Sumeriansviewed the afterlife. It will become quite evident that the Egyptians view ofthe afterlife was fairly similar, but in some way was considerably different. The Coffin Texts were the Egyptians equivalence to the Sumerians epics, becausethey also give a very distinctive explanation of how their people viewed theafterlife.
These Coffin Texts were modeled from the earlier Pyramid Texts, whichincluded many details about the many dangers of earth. (Andrea, A. ; Overfield,J. H.
, 1998, p. 18) This writing also included the many feelings that theEgyptians had on the topic of the terrors of death. The Coffin Text is yetanother short piece of work that is written in a two-part speech. In thiswriting, the sun god and the deceased speak upon the topics of good deeds andeternal life.
Similarly, “Negative Confession” is taken from The Book of theDead, and contains writing upon the topic of death. (Andrea, A. ; Overfield, J. H. ,1998, p.
19) In this story, the deceased proclaims his purity to forty-two minordeities, who are set to judge the deceaseds fittingness to become aneternally blessed spirit. (Andrea, A. ; Overfield, J. H. , 1998, p. 19) These threeexamples of writings from the Egyptians are very descriptive, and serve as abasis of explanation of death.
When comparing the similarities of these fourwritings, the first thing that becomes evident is the fact that sacrifices areoften given to the gods. In the story of Gilgamesh, Utnapishtim reveals thesecret of the gods. He explains how he had attained eternal life by building aboat when it was announced to him that there would be a great flood. When theflood resides, and the gods appear, Utnapishtim pours out wine and otherbeverages as an offering to the gods. This is very similar to the Pyramid Text,whereas the writing states to the reader to “Take your head, Collect yourlimbs, Shake the earth from you flesh! Take you bread that rots not, Your beerthat sours not, Stand at the gates that bar the common people!” (Andrea, A.
;Overfield, J. H. , 1998, p. 20) Both the Mesopotamians and the Egyptians believedthat it was beneficial to offer sacrifices to the gods in order to gain eternallife. Within the Coffin Text, Re, the sun god, tells the reader of his four gooddeeds to humanity. He created the winds, inundation, and the equity of man.
Inaddition to these, he made sure that people would always remember “The Land ofthe Resurrected Dead”. (Andrea, A. ; Overfield, J. H.
, 1998, p. 20) It is quiteevident that the people believed that death was fate knowing that many of theEgyptians spent much of their time searching for eternal life. They realizedthat fate would make them face death, and they wanted to be fully prepared whenthe time came. Finally, within “The Negative Confession”, it becomes evidentto the reader what traits are important to have upon approaching death. TheEgyptians believed that they had to be free of sin in order to enter theafterlife, and to live eternally.
Within the text, it states that “. . . I havenot caused pain, I have not caused tears, I have not killed, I have not madeanyone suffer. . .
” (Andrea, A. ; Overfield, J. H. , 1998, p. 21) These are just afew examples of some of the beliefs that the Egyptians had. This differsslightly from the examples given within The Epic of Gilgamesh.
When Gilgameshapproaches Utnapishtim, he asks how he can be a god and attain immortality. Heis presented a chance of immortality by completing two tasks while on earth, andfails. The Sumerians believed they could defeat death if they proved themselveswhile living, rather than being faithful throughout their life. This is a verydescriptive example of the differences between the Sumerian and Egyptiansbeliefs of the afterlife. Even though the ancient civilization of Egypt andSumer occurred almost at the same time, their views on how a person should livetheir life and how they got to the afterlife differed greatly. This had a lot todo with the geographic area where the cultures were based in.
Egyptians, beingrelatively protected from attacks, had lives that looked toward the future andplanned extensively for death and burial, while Sumerians were constantly underattack and had to live life as if this was their last day on earth. (Bulliet,R. ; Crossley, P. ; Headrick, D. ; Hirsch, S.
; Johnson, L. ; Northrup, D. , 1997,p. 32, 45) Their burials were relatively uncomplicated and the passage onto theafterlife depended on the deeds completed during life.
