The Epic of Gilgamesh arises from the earliest civilization, Mesopotamia. Mesopotamia provided the perfect intellectual breeding ground for the story of the epic hero, Gilgamesh, which has lasted through the ages. The history of the civilization is rich as well as varied. Throughout the centuries, Mesopotamia has been studied by historians in an effort to understand its development. The history of Mesopotamia was shaped by the geography of the region, the foundations of the government based on the religious beliefs and the importance placed on gods in daily life, Mesopotamia, the land between the rivers, is flanked by the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, in what is now known as Iraq. Out of this area, known as the Fertile Crescent, arose great …show more content…
Kramer describes the pantheon of gods as numerous, with each god placed hierarchically based on their importance. The Mesopotamian gods were seen as ill-tempered as well as capricious and since the Mesopotamians believed that the gods were the reason anything happened, it made sense that when the rivers flooded or the crops failed, which both happened rather frequently, the inhabitants of the civilization would believe it was because the gods were infuriated (Green). Throughout the Epic of Gilgamesh the gods played an important role in all the events which shaped the life of Gilgamesh. The gods created Enkidu in an effort to tame Gilgamesh and it was because of the gods that Enkidu was killed which set Gilgamesh off on his quest for immortality. In the book Ancient Civilizations: Mesopotamia by Colin Hynson, he explains that in the pantheon there were four major gods; An, the god of the heavens, Ki, the goddess of earth, Enlil, god of air, and Enki, the god of water, heaven, earth, and air. Beneath these gods there existed hundreds of other lesser gods and each city state in Mesopotamia had one patron god. The Mesopotamians also believed that the gods created demons. These demons were used for multiple purposes by the gods. One of the most prominent demons in the history of Mesopotamia was Humbaba, the demon who guarded the Cedar Forest for the god Enlil, who Enkidu and Gilgamesh kill on their first quest. The epic itself says that the Rift Valley of Lebanon was created because of the fight between Humbaba and the two friends. Whatever the position of the gods whether major or minor, they were all very important to the