Page 125 - 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

Gilgamesh’s epic story is a collection of adventure, ethics and tragedy. Gilgamesh is the
first human hero and the first tragic hero recorded in world literature. After five thousand
years, this story is still capable of captivating its listener Originally found on the mud tablets

8)
of the Library of Ashurbanipal , which dates back to the 7th century BC. It was originally
believed to be an Assyrian story, but with the development of archaeological excavations

older versions were discovered that date back to the third millennium BC. The earliest dis-
covered version dates from 2150 BC to the Sumerian line. The most complete version that
retains the whole story is obtained from the Ashurbanipal Library. 9)

Figure 8- Gilgamesh and Enkidu are killing Humbaba

Gilgamesh story must have been very famous in the second millennium BC because cop-
10)
ies of it have been found in Palestine, Anatolia, and Bogazkoy .
It should be noted that the Sumerians are an ethnic group that, in the middle of the fourth

millennium BC, created the oldest and most basic known civilization in human history in
the land of Mesopotamia. [Figure 8]

In 1839 the English laird transported thousands of broken tablets to the Assyrian Library
11)
of Nineveh to England. Ravilson translated and deciphered the line. He continued in

8) Ashurbanipal was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire
9) Ahmad Shamlou -Gilgamesh- 1980
10) Boghazkeui, village, north-central Turkey
11) Nineveh was an ancient Assyrian city of Upper Mesopotamia

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