Enkidu A Wild Man

Enkidu A Wild Man

After reading the book “The Hidden History of the Human Race: Forbidden Archeology” by Michael A. Cremo and Richard L. Thompson, my understanding of what constitutes anatomically human has improved. It is widely accepted that humans are classified as an animal species, and it is evident that various anatomical types of humans coexisted throughout the course of human history.

Wild Man

A wild man is sometimes recognized as a special character in stories and legends. He is someone who lives in the wild, away from towns and cities, and likes to be close to nature. The wild man looks and acts differently from people who live in ‘houses’ and wears ‘clothes’. He may have long hair or wear animal skins. The wild man is very strong and knows how to survive in the wild.

Sometimes, the wild man is seen as a friend to humans, helping them or teaching them important things. Other times, he can be a bit scary because he is so different.

Enkidu

I have read the book, “The Epic of Gilgamesh: A New Translation” by Andrew George many times, and what is amazing is that it contains a description of an individual named Enkidu, who is considered a “wild man” in the Babylonian tradition. Enkidu is described as being hairy all over and having “tresses like those of a woman.”

Possible depiction of Enkidu as a bull-man, fighting a lion, Akkadian Empire seal, circa 2200 BC.

According to multiple sources, including the epic, Enkidu was created by the Anuna/Anunnaki gods and was initially uncivilized, living among the animals in the wilderness. Enkidu’s introduction to civilization and how people lived, started when he met Shamhat, a temple prostitute. Shamhat became his guide, showing him the ropes of city life and teaching him how things work. Hanging out with Shamhat, Enkidu began to act more ‘human-like’ and less like a wild man. This led to him and Gilgamesh becoming really good friends and forming a tight friendship.

Tablet 1. The Coming of Enkidu states

Prologue and paean: “King Gilgamesh tyrannizes the people of Uruk, who complain to the gods. To divert his superhuman energies, the gods create his counterpart, the wild man Enkidu, who is brought up by the animals of the wild. Enkidu is spotted by a trapper, who lures him away from the herd with a prostitute. The prostitute shows him her arts and proposes to take him to Uruk, where Gilgamesh has been seeing him in dreams. -Andrew George The Epic Of Gilgamesh.”

What you have just read are the written texts of Andrew George’s translations of the cuneiform tablets. However, what’s interesting and what should always be kept in the back of the mind is what Andrew George wrote in his introduction to The Epic Of Gilgamesh.

Though the story of Gilgamesh is certainly fiction, Moran’s diagnosis is also a warning not to read the epic as myth. There is little consensus as to what myth is and what it is not, and ancient Mesopotamian mythological texts show considerable variety. Some of them, particularly the older ones, contain just one myth. Others put together two or more myths. Two features are particularly characteristic of these mythological compositions: on the one hand, the story centres on the deeds of a god or gods, and, on the other, its purpose is to explain the origin of some feature of the natural or social world.”

Present-Day

The Patterson-Gimlin film has been a topic of debate since the footage was shot in 1967 in Northern California. Many people consider this footage to be an actual recording of what is known as ‘Bigfoot’. The belief in the existence of Bigfoot is subjective and varies from person to person, and because of that, there are many names for what is known as Bigfoot; here are just a few of them:

  1. Sasquatch
  2. Yeti
  3. Skunk Ape
  4. Yowie
  5. Alma
  6. Grassman
  7. Wildman
  8. Wood Booger
  9. Momo (Missouri Monster)
  10. Yeren

When we look at how Enkidu was described by the ancient Sumerians in Mesopotamia and compare it to how people describe Bigfoot today, we find some really surprising similarities. Even though a long time has gone by, we can still see certain traits or qualities associated with Enkidu in the old texts that are still mentioned or observed in the way people describe Bigfoot.

Until next time, Knowledge is Power

Knowledge is Power

3 Comments

  1. Angel Gordon

    Why say that Gilgamesh is certainly fiction???? Gilgamesh Epic and Sumerian King List mention Gilgamesh in correct name and also in correct time frames. (preflood/postflood). They also both name his father (Lugulbanda) at the same time period/cycle of kingship lending legitimacy to such cross referencing.
    Do I believe a large being exists that avoids people. Well..Any intelligent one would! The history of stories that go back way before European invasion of the “new world” western continents/ America’s. And even in other parts of the world. Some tribes did get along with these different type of hairy people’s. Some did not.
    In an interesting turn of recent events the US government now admits that unidentified fly objects are real. France and Mexico decades ago admitted they are real objects in sky. India has always known from thier ancient history about objects flying in the sky. So has other ancient texts and stories from around the world.
    The nature of our species is we are taught to view reality by beliefs that may not always be accurate. And anything that later threatens a belief is often met with fear, disbelief or anger. [Strong rejection]
    Example> a small dozen or so claimed to have seen Jesus alive after he had been crucified and entombed. And they might have. [remember his body was poked with a spear and blood trickled out. He did not respond and was taken down and entombed. A corpse doesn’t bleed, if the heart stopped pumping].
    Yet millions of people have claimed to have seen flying objects before invention of air balloons and planes. And same for large hairy people that live in seclusion. If you could total the sightings from anicent times til present it might be in the billions of sightings. Yet people don’t want to believe in UFOs or large hairy hominids.
    Here is something to think about> Uta-napishtim is the eighth of the antediluvian[pre-flood] kings in Mesopotamian legend, just as Noah is the eighth from Enosh in Genesis story. He would have lived around 2900 BC, corresponding to the flood deposit at Shuruppak between the Jemdet Nasr and Early Dynastic levels.
    In the Mesopotamian stories he is tasked by the god Enki (Akkadian: Ea, El was the proper name used for the chief god of the Canaanites) to create a giant ship to be called Preserver of Life in preparation of a giant flood that would wipe out all life. The character appears in the Epic of Gilgamesh.The story of Utnapishtim has drawn scholarly comparisons due to the similarities between it and the storylines about Noah in the Bible.

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