The parallels between the stories of Enkidu/Shamhat and Adam/Eve have been long recognized by scholars.[64][65] In both, a man is created from the soil by a god, and lives in a natural setting amongst the animals. He is introduced to a woman who tempts him. In both stories the man accepts food from the woman, covers his nakedness, and must leave his former realm, unable to return. The presence of a snake that steals a plant of immortality from the hero later in the epic is another point of similarity. However, a major difference between the two stories is that while Enkidu experiences regret regarding his seduction away from nature, this is only temporary: After being confronted by the god Shamash for being ungrateful, Enkidu recants and decides to give the woman who seduced him his final blessing before he dies. This is in contrast to Adam, whose fall from grace is largely portrayed as a punishment for disobeying God and the inevitable consequence of the loss of innocence regarding good and evil.
Symbolism Of Snake In The Epic Of Gilgamesh
In Ancient Egypt, where the earliest written cultural records exist, the serpent appears from the beginning to the end of their mythology. Ra and Atum ("he who completes or perfects") became the same god, Atum, the "counter-Ra," was associated with earth animals, including the serpent: Nehebkau ("he who harnesses the souls") was the two headed serpent deity who guarded the entrance to the underworld. He is often seen as the son of the snake goddess Renenutet. She often was confused with (and later was absorbed by) their primal snake goddess Wadjet, the Egyptian cobra, who from the earliest of records was the patron and protector of the country, all other deities, and the pharaohs. Hers is the first known oracle. She was depicted as the crown of Egypt, entwined around the staff of papyrus and the pole that indicated the status of all other deities, as well as having the all-seeing eye of wisdom and vengeance. She never lost her position in the Egyptian pantheon.
Göbekli Tepe, the ancient Neolithic site in eastern Turkey, features many animals among its motifs. One of the most prominent of the creatures depicted there is the snake. It is interesting therefore that the snake features across Anatolia in the folklore of Turks, Kurds, Yezidis and Iranians in a couple of prominent incarnations. One incarnation is as a symbol of fertility, but another incarnation is as a symbol of immortality and this particular symbology is important in the Epic of Gilgamesh, in which the hero is given the secret of immortality but it is stolen from him while he sleeps, by a snake. The immortality of the snake is demonstrated by the shedding of their skin. The snake is a ubiquitous component of proverbs, legends and folklore across Anatolia, especially in the south eastern region. But nowhere does it figure in ancient art the way we see it at Göbekli Tepe. When you visit Göbekli Tepe and you see the profusion of snakes depicted there, ponder the story of Shahmaran and her human lover.
Like the snake, the Christ brings healing when we observe his sacrifice. The symbolism is clear, when we recognize that our propensity for persecution is based in our resistance of wisdom,
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