Ancient near Eastern Religions

One of the deepest roots of global culture lies in the ancient Near East, which has had as profound an influence on Western civilization as the later cultures of Greece and Rome. Momentous themes emerged from Near Eastern literature, such as lost innocence, undying love, leaders as good shepherds, sanctified justice, and sanctified war. Such themes continue to resonate in the Western imagination.

Part of the geographical region of West Asia, the ancient Near East extends from Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) in the east to the Mediterranean coasts of Anatolia (Turkey) and the Levant (Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Gaza) in the west. Some historians include ancient Egypt, Iran, and Afghanistan. It is from this vast region that we get core notions and stories that, some 3,000 years ago, biblical and Greek authors made their own. The Mesopotamian kernels may be traced back four, even five, millennia. There is a great variety of literature preserved in Sumerian, Akkadian, Old Babylonian, Hittite, Ugaritic, Egyptian, and other languages. Since the 19th century, scholars have studied these literatures not only for their intrinsic merits but also for their influences on Western thinking.

Perhaps the most poignant Near Eastern theme to penetrate Western imagination is that of primal innocence. Adam and Eve were not the first to lose it. Nor was the Greek Epimetheus, who unwittingly welcomed Pandora and her box of ills. The tragic prototype is Enkidu, companion to King Gilgamesh in the Mesopotamian epic named after him. A hairy subhuman born in the steppes, nursed by gazelles and happy among animals, Enkidu is seduced by a prostitute, who awakens him to his humanity. She sends him to Gilgamesh, a godlike ruler whose arrogance knows no bounds and whom Enkidu was created to humble. Together, Enkidu and Gilgamesh find love and adventure. Eventually, Enkidu is stricken by the gods, realizes his imminent death, and curses the prostitute who tempted and initiated him. The Sun God scolds him for this curse because the joys that Enkidu has gained are profound. Enkidu reverses his curse to a blessing and then dies, leaving Gilgamesh in despair. As do the biblical and Greek stories, this epic ponders the virtues of ignorant bliss.

This depiction of wildness probably reverberates from a more ancient tale of the grain goddess Ashnan. A Sumerian hymn to her refers to a distant time before people knew clothing and the eating of bread. Instead, they grazed like sheep and [Page 33]drank water from ditches. Unlike the pessimistic biblical and Greek tales, Ashnan's story makes civilization, particularly agriculture, a blessing because it helps define human life and because grain is a gift for both gods and humans.

Undying love is another theme traded across written and bardic traditions. Not only Gilgamesh and Enkidu but also the Homeric Achilles and Patroklos, the Hittite Tudhaliya IV and Kurunta, and the biblical David and Jonathan profess a lifelong commitment to each other. In all these pairs, one member is adopted as the other's brother, and the two pledge enduring loyalty, which is sealed by documents or by ritualized acts. All of these friendships but for the Hittite one are known to end in tragedy. An echo of this theme may be heard in the biblical story of Ruth and Naomi, wherein Ruth pledges undying love to her mother-in-law, Naomi, and risks everything to be with her: “Where you die, I will die.” In Ruth's case, adversities are overcome, and the two live happily thereafter.

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