Page 123 - 국제학술문화제-천부경/국제 분과

The parallel studies on the mythological stories of Sumerian civilization
in relation with ancient Korean history in the holy book of Hwandangogi Mahdi Hajikhani

settled in the land between these two rivers. Figure 6 Thanks to the existence of these rivers,
agriculture was rapidly formed and developed in this area. Around 3300 BC, many cities
emerged in Mesopotamia including Sumer, in which the houses had a floored structure and

were ruled by a priest-king. These societies believed in the goddess of fertility. One of these
6)
cities, the town of Uruk , which had a population of tens of thousands, is the origin of the
myth of Gilgamesh.
At the same time, the city of Uruk is the origin of the first written script of human history.
This script was once engraved with a sharp tool on wet clay tablets. These tablets were then

dried under the burning sun or in kiln. So that these tablets became very strong and would
not break up easily. Writing allowed the wealthy owners of the city to keep track of their as-

sets on the tablets.
At the beginning, the writing signs were simple drawings and images showing assets such
as livestock, slaves, houses, tools, and so on. Over time, the people in charge of registering

assets simplified these signs and changed them to symbols so that they could write faster. At
the same time, they added phonetic symbols to the writing to expand its vocabulary.

2-1. The Flood Myth

The Sumerians divided their history into pre-Flood and post-Flood periods. The flood
myth in the Sumerian legend is very similar to the story mentioned in the books of

Abrahamic religions including Torah of Judaism, Bible of Christianity, and Quran of Islam

3. Description of Epic of Gilgamesh

7)
Gilgamesh, the famous hero of Uruk , a city in Sumerian land in Mesopotamia, who has a
semi-god-semi-human personality, spent his life searching for immortality and becoming a

god. He found a plant that made him immortal. At last he loses the plant and loses his life.
The legend of Gilgamesh is the oldest myth in the world, about four thousand years old.
The story of human evolution and suffering is what makes this myth one of the most fa-

mous in the world which people can easily relate to, based on their daily life and struggles.
The philosophical rhythm of the story is that it engages the human mind in a very deeper

spiritual aspect of his life, otherwise the appearance of the story has a simple texture and,

6) According to the Sumerian king list, Uruk was founded by the king Enmerkar.
7) Uruk played a leading role in the early urbanization of Sumer in the mid-4th millennium BC

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