1A – The Discovery of Gilgamesh
The History of Literature
00:00
The Great Flood
The story of Noah and the ark was recorded later, and then re-told in the Stephen Mitchell introduction to the text we have. When Smith saw the lines that he believed independently corroborated the story,. he said, "I am the first man to read that after more than 2000 years of oblivion" His colleagues were shocked, but I think Gilgamesh and the author of Gilgamesh would have approved. And so do I. Reminds me of one of my favorite pieces of literature, the great Japanese haiku. Naked on a naked horse in pouring rain. Sometimes when extreme excitement hits, you just got to take your clothes off.
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