In the second of these archaeological insights for Kontakt Apologetics, we focus on archaeological artifacts that have some bearing on the biblical book of Genesis. Three artifacts of note, the literary Epic of Gilgamesh, the architectural artifact known as the Ziggurat, and the ruins of Abraham’s hometown of Ur will each be highlighted to give the reader a better grasp of the book of Genesis.
The Epic of Gilgamesh
The Epic of Gilgamesh is considered by some to be the oldest fictional piece of literature in existence with copies of this work (the Old Babylonian version) being found as early as 1900 BC. The first elements of the Epic are five Sumerian poems that might date into the third millennium BC. There are copies of the Epic of Gilgamesh that are also found from the 13th-10th centuries in which a longer 12-tablet edition was becoming more standard. It apparently became something of a scribal work, a work that scribes used to practice their skill and so several copies of the Epic are extant. The most famous and most complete copies come from the library of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh (7th century BC) which was discovered in 1849 by Sir Austen Henry Layard. The discovery of these 30,000 tablets greatly heightened our understanding of the Ancient Near East. It included not only the Epic of Gilgamesh but other notable works such as the Enuma Elish (a creation account) and the story of Adapa (about the 1st man). The excitement concerning the Epic of Gilgamesh, at least for its connection to the Bible, is in tablet XI which has a flood account with some notable parallels with the Genesis flood account.
The story of Gilgamesh focuses on Gilgamesh, the 5th king of Uruk, who seems to have been a historical figure who likely reigned in the early part of the 3rd millennium BC (about 2900-2700 BC). Gilgamesh is listed as a ruler of southern Mesopotamia in the Sumerian King List as a ruler after the flood. The Epic records that Gilgamesh was a tyrant to his people and so the gods decided to create a companion to Gilgamesh to hopefully humanize him more. This companion, Enkidu, was originally a wild man but became civilized after a sexual encounter with a woman. Originally, Gilgamesh and Enkidu fought with Gilgamesh being victorious, though the two become friends. They go on a variety of adventures, but eventually run afoul of the gods by killing the Bull of Heaven and Gilgamesh spurns the sexual invitation of the goddess Ishtar. The gods decree the death of Enkidu to teach Gilgamesh a lesson. Enkidu’s death disturbs Gilgamesh who fears his own mortality. He seeks immortality by journeying to Utnapishtim with his wife, legendary survivors of the Great Flood who were once human but were now immortals. Utnapishtim relates to Gilgamesh his story on how humanity was created by the gods, but the noise of the humans was keeping the gods up at night so the gods decided to decrease the human population through a variety of disasters. However, the god Enki (Akkadian Ea) continually tells Utnapishtim how to ward off the disasters by telling him which god to offer sacrifices to. Eventually, the gods decide to destroy humanity and Enki warns Utnapishtim to build an ark (in his case a floating box) and bring mating pairs of animals on board to save them. The gods, however, miscalculated as human sacrifices fed them and they were starved. Fortunately for them, Utnapishtim and his wife and kids survived and offered sacrifices to appease the gods who granted Utnapishtim and his wife immortality.
Upon hearing Utnapishtim’s story, Gilgamesh realizes that the gods would never grant him immortality. However, Utnapishtim tells him of a magic flower that would grant Gilgamesh immortality. Gilgamesh acquires the flower, but takes a nap and a snake devours the flower. Gilgamesh mourns his lost immortality, but he decides to live out his days being a better king than he was before.
The Gilgamesh flood account has several parallels with the Genesis flood account. First of all, the most obvious of them is the flood itself. Second, the salvation of the animals and a few people. Third, the use of some sort of ark. While Gilgamesh is perhaps the most famous nonbiblical flood account, there are more than 200 other flood accounts from around the world. There is a distinct possibility that all these flood accounts, Gilgamesh included, have a memory of an event that is recorded accurately in Genesis.
Ziggurats
The Ziggurat (which means “built high” in Akkadian) is an architectural structure found at many of the most ancient sites in southern Mesopotamia. It consisted of multiple layers with each succeeding level smaller than the one before it. In appearance, it might have looked like a tiered wedding cake. It often had a ramp leading to the very top and the base of the structures could be square, oval, or circular. These structures are quite old with some of them (like the Sialuk ziggurat in Iran and the earlier levels of the ziggurat at Eridu) dating close to 3000 BC (which would make them older than the pyramids). There were also notable ziggurats at Eridu (the oldest city of Mesopotamia, pre 5400 BC), Ur which was Abram’s hometown, and of course, Babylon (whose ziggurat, Etemenanki, was restored by Nebuchadnezzar II). Ziggurats were structures built all over Mesopotamia and for different cultures including the Sumerian and Akkadian and the later Assyrian and Babylonians.
While there is some debate about the purposes of these ziggurats, most agree that they served some sort of religious function. Herodotus, the Greek historian, suggested that the top was often a shrine to the city's patron deity. It is suggested that these ziggurats were limited access structures, unlike common temples for corporate worship. Only the priestly class seems to have been allowed on the structure. It is thought that these structures were built as homes for the gods, or at least meeting places between the realm of mortals and the divine. The name of the most famous ziggurat, Etemenanki, means “house of the foundation of heaven and earth.”
This religious function may help illustrate more of the problem with the Tower of Babel. While the issues of pride and disobedience of the command to “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth”, are certainly reasons why God was not pleased with the tower, the additional idolatrous element should also be considered. Certainly, the location of the event, the plain of Shinar in southern Mesopotamia, and the name of the place “Babel” (for Babylon), could make one look at the ziggurats as reflections of the Tower of Babel.
The city of Ur
The final archaeological insight is the city of Ur. Ur is an ancient city dating to the prehistoric Ubaid period in southern Mesopotamia somewhere near 4000 BC. It had been occupied relatively consistently till about 300 BC. It is mentioned only four times in the Bible. While there is debate whether or not Abraham came from this southern city or a smaller Ur in the north, it seems more likely that the southern city was Abraham’s hometown. The city is located about ten miles west of the Euphrates River and was once located nearer to the Persian Gulf.
Ur has been excavated since 1854, but in this early period of archaeology systematic excavation had not been set up. It wouldn’t be until Charles Wooley excavated the site in the 20s and 30s. Wooley discovered most of the significant finds at Ur including the royal tombs of the Ur III, the period of which Abram probably lived.
There are a couple of interesting finds from Ur. Of course, the great ziggurat of Ur is probably the best-preserved ziggurat in Mesopotamia.
It was devoted to the moon god Nannar. It was constructed by Ur-Nammu the greatest king of Ur around 2200 BC and restored to its former glory by the last Chaldean king of Babylon, Nabonidus in about 550 BC. Ironically, at Haran, the city where Abram’s father, Terah, stopped was also famous for the worship of Nanna. This might explain why Terah didn’t finish going to the Promised Land because he ran into something that seemed closer to home. Perhaps Woolley’s most famous discovery was an interruption of the occupation in the early Ubaid period (5500-3700 BC) due to a large flood deposit. Of course, some have suggested this is evidence for the biblical flood, and other flood deposits have been found in a variety of other cities of Mesopotamia, but they do not seem to be from the same period. Most likely, it was a flood deposit from the Euphrates River which was once much closer to the city.
But Ur’s significance might be that we better understand what Abram was called to leave. When Abram left, Ur was likely one of the most significant cities in the ancient world. It was ruling a small empire in Mesopotamia at the time. Abram went from a major cosmopolitan city to a backwater life of a pastoralist. God called Abram to a completely different life. As irony would have it, Ur was sacked by Elamites not long after Abram left.