The Babylonian, Egyptian, and Hebrew traditions recount the stories of people encountering and sometimes struggling with Gods and other supernatural forces. Some had pleasant interactions with Gods and were blessed, while others faced their wrath of them and were punished for any sins they committed. Throughout the process of learning more about these traditions, it’s been discovered that the mythopoeic worldview was followed. The mythopoeic worldview is where people would write their history based on myths and their imagination, and with that, there are various functions of myth in helping humans make sense of the world around them. This acronym is known as M.E.C. 3; Moral, Etiological, Communal, Contemplative, and Cosmological. With that being said, the Babylonians, Egyptians, and ancient Hebrews made sense of the moral aspect of the mythopoeic worldview, or what their duties and obligations are, by following a higher power for the beneficial outcome of those who were involved in the situation and by realizing that the Gods and Goddesses give people what they think they deserve, based on what the higher powers received first.
The Babylonians, Egyptians, and ancient Hebrews made sense of the moral aspect of the mythopoeic worldview by following a higher power for the beneficial outcome of those who were involved in the situation. Particularly, the Babylonians and the Egyptians had their similarities and differences when it came to this topic in their respective societies. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh traveled to Uta-napishti, son of Ubar-tutu, after learning he can live an eternal life. Because Enkidu has just died, Gilgamesh is now “afraid of death” (The Epic of Gilgamesh, 70). When Gilgamesh reached Uta-napishti, he asked how he was able to gain immortality. Uta-napishti replied saying he “survived the Deluge and was given immortality by the Gods as a result” (The Epic of Gilgamesh, 88). As a result of this, Uta-napishti asked Gilgamesh to go without sleep for a week, but when he failed, Gilgamesh become more afraid of the idea of death because he learned that sleep could not conquer death. This shows us that Gilgamesh is willing to do anything he can to make sure that he does not die and that he can live an immortal life, like Uta-napishti, as well. Gilgamesh sees Uta-napishti to be like God, or a powerful force, so he is obliging to every and any suggestion that is being given to him. Alas, Uta-napishti told Gilgamesh about a plant that has the “property of rejuvenation” (The Epic of Gilgamesh, 88) and that it can be found deep in the sea. Because of how desperate Gilgamesh is for having an immortal life, he went to retrieve the plant, but when he stopped to wash, a snake stole it. After this, he realized that all of his hard work had gone to waste and that death would be inevitable for him.
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On the other hand, in the Book of Exodus, it is clear that God wanted all humans to fear Him and obey everything He would say. If someone wants to be considered a “good person”, they must only pray to The Lord, they “shall have no other Gods” (Exodus 20:3), they cannot commit any sins, and they must follow the Ten Commandments. Essentially, The Lord wanted everyone to follow the Ten Commandments, so there would be more order. Because of this, Moses had to follow any order that The Lord would tell him. If The Lord’s orders were not followed, the Egyptians would have to face His wrath. However, the Ten Commandments were quite contradictory. According to the text, Moses told the sons of Levi “Thus says the Lord… ‘Put your sword on your side, each of you! Go back and forth from gate to gate throughout the camp, and each of you kills your brother, your friend, and your neighbor” (Exodus 32:27). This is showing us that The Lord wanted the sons of Levi to kill all of the people in their camp and make them think that they would not face any consequences. However, the next day, Moses said to the sons that they have “sinned a great sin” (Exodus 32:30) and punished all of them for following The Lord’s words, which Moses was ordered to tell them.
With that being said, Gilgamesh and Moses were similar to each other in a way. Both men are following the requests of a higher power so that there would be a beneficial outcome for whoever was involved in the situation. However, the difference was that Moses wanted to help the Egyptians who were suffering from the plague, while Gilgamesh was only listening to Uta-napishti so he would avoid losing his life. Moses could see how much the Egyptians were struggling and was trying to do everything in his power to make sure nothing happened to them and that no innocent person would lose their life. He could not afford to make The Lord angry, because he did not know what the outcome would be for the Egyptians. In contrast, Gilgamesh was listening to Uta-napishti because he was “immortal” (The Epic of Gilgamesh, 70). He saw that Uta-napishti has the power to live forever and after Enkidu’s death, that was Gilgamesh’s only goal. Being that Moses is a prophet, following The Lord showed the Egyptians that behaving a certain way sometimes helps prevent any punishment from the higher authorities and keeps away the chances of developing a bad atmosphere.
Another way the Babylonians, Egyptians, and ancient Hebrews made sense of the moral aspect of the mythopoeic worldview was by realizing that the Gods and Goddesses give people what they think they deserve, based on what the higher powers received first. Specifically, the Babylonians and the ancient Hebrews had more of a contrast when it came to this topic, rather than any similarities. In the text, Enkidu and Gilgamesh both had an encounter with the Goddess, Lady Ishtar. She proposed to him, but Gilgamesh rejected her proposal and as a result of this, Lady Ishtar releases “the Bull of Heaven [and] causes havoc in Uruk” (The Epic of Gilgamesh, 47). Because Gilgamesh, a mortal, rejected the Goddess, She felt very disrespected by it and it hurt Her ego. In turn, She decided that She would do whatever it takes to bring chaos onto the Earth because a mortal made Her angry. This is clearly indicating that by Lady Ishtar bringing the Bull of Heaven down to Earth to bring major chaos, the Babylonians think that Gods and Goddesses bring destruction to the human world, rather than blessings and prosperity.
However, in the Book of Genesis, Abram meets with The Lord through a vision, and with that, he is told that The Lord will “make [him] into a great nation and will bless [him]” (Genesis 11:2). Since Abram was moving to a new land, The Lord found him and was providing him and his family with protection, guidance, and blessings. This is showing us that in the Book of Genesis, the ancient Hebrews thought of God as a respected and powerful force. God did not involve themselves in the lives of the mortals and they did not interfere in their desires either. Even though The Lord is almighty and they have the power to insert themselves into the lives of His followers, The Lord did not do so. He would only go to them in their visions to make sure the people were headed in the right direction.
With that being said, there was more of a difference between the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Book of Genesis when it came to how the Babylonians and the ancient Hebrews understood the moral aspect of the mythopoeic worldview. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, it was clear that Enkidu and Gilgamesh had many encounters with Gods and Goddesses. Before Enkidu and Gilgamesh became friends, the Gods sent Enkidu down to him in order to neutralize him and make Gilgamesh act “like a man”, rather than a rampant tyrant. The Gods didn’t think about disguising Enkidu as a human before sending him down to Earth. The same thing goes for Lady Ishtar; when she came down to Earth and proposed to Gilgamesh, she was there in her true form. She did not disguise herself to make it seem like she was a mortal on Earth. After her proposal was rejected, she let her power get to her head and made sure to bring destruction to the world without thinking twice about it. This is clearly showing us that whenever Babylonians were having encounters with the Gods, they always presented themselves in their divine form. However, in the Book of Genesis, when The Lord came to Abram in his vision, He was disguised as a human so he could provide the proper guidance to Abram and his family. As a result of this, Abram gladly took help from The Lord, as his entire family was moving to a new and unfamiliar land. This goes to show that because the ancient Hebrews’ God took a different form in order to interact with the humans, they were more compliant with Him.
On a final note, the Babylonians, Egyptians, and ancient Hebrews made sense of the moral aspect of the mythopoeic worldview, or what their duties and obligations are, by following a higher power for the beneficial outcome of those who were involved in the situation. While both men did look up to higher powers and follow their orders, they both did it for different reasons. Moses followed orders from The Lord because he did not want any troubles to fall upon the Egyptians and he did not want more damage to be done because of the plagues. Conversely, Gilgamesh followed the orders that Uta-napishti for himself; he was afraid of death and was willing to go to any length to gain immortality. They also realized that the Gods and Goddesses give people what they think they deserve, based on what the higher powers received first. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, he rejected Lady Ishtar’s proposal and as a result of that, she released major havoc onto the people of Uruk. She made sure to make everyone suffer because of the decision that Gilgamesh made. However, in The Book of Genesis, when The Lord came to Abram in his vision, He saw him and his family struggling. In His disguise, He offered to help Abram and his family get to the new land with guidance, protection, and blessings. This went to show that because The Lord took a different form to interact with him, Abram was more compliant to Him and took His help.
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