Epic Of Gilgamesh: First Bigfoot In Literature

Enkidu, The World's First Wildman In The History Of Literature

   

The hunter found his pits for animals filled in with dirt and his snares pulled up. He knew who was doing this as he had seen him at the water hole, coming in with the herd of gazelles he lived with and drinking the water. His livelihood was being destroyed by a huge, hairy Wildman. His footprints were all around the water hole, and the hunter was afraid to go there. He returned home to talk with his father, telling him that the Wildman was "the mightiest in the land" and that his strength was "as mighty as a rock from the sky."
    This is from the Epic Of Gilgamesh, a heroic poem originating from Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) and dates back to 2,100 B.C. It is considered the first great work in literature. It does not have a sole author and was written on tablets.

 Shamhat,The Temple Prostitute

                                        
    His father advised him that this was not a job for a man but for a woman, a woman so beautiful and sensual that she was a match for the mighty. He told his son to go to Uruk and get the harlot Shamhat, a temple prostitute. The hunter journeyed to Uruk and approached King Gilgamesh for permission to take the harlot Shamhat back with him. He described the Wildman as the mightiest in the land and told how he was destroying his pits and snares. Gilgamesh, who thought he was the mightiest in the land and constantly fought other men to prove it, was interested in this request. He told the hunter to take Shamhat with him to the water hole, and when the herd of gazelles and the Wildman came in, the hunter lying in wait with Shamhat "should strip off her rainments to reveal her charms."
    The hunter took the incomparable temple prostitute with him, and they came to the water hole after a three day walk. They quietly waited for the gazelles and the Bigfoot-type to appear. On the second day the gazelles and the Wildman finally appeared. The hunter told Shamhat, "Uncradle your bosom, bare your sex, let him take in your charms. He instructed her to ignore the Wildman's smell and to"spread your clothing as he may lie on you. Do for the man the work of a woman."
    Shamhat did as she was told and "for six days and seven nights, Enkidu was erect, as he coupled with Shamhat." When he finally had enough, his head was dazed, and his legs were weak. He looked at his gazelles, but he smelled differently and the gazelles shied away from him and ran off. "But now he had reason and wide understanding" because of sexual intercourse with Shamhat, a common misconception in those times about Wildmen who had sex with civilized women.
                                                                                                                  

Gilgamesh, The King Of Uruk

                                                  
     Enkidu is persuaded by Shamhat to travel to Uruk and meet King Gilgamesh. She bathes him and trims the hair he is coated in. They journey to the city-state of Uruk where Enkidu is displeased by Gilgamesh's brutality toward others. Little does he know that he has been created because the people of Uruk have asked two goddesses, Anu and Aruru, the creator of mankind, for protection from Gilgamesh. Aruru washes her hands, takes a pinch of clay and throws it into the wilderness, creating Enkidu, the Wildman. He is their means to tame King Gilgamesh's arrogance. Enkidu and Gilgamesh fight, but Gilgamesh, though stronger and able to kill Enkidu,admires the strength and honorable behavior of the Wildman, and like many men who fight each other, they become fast friends. For years, they travel about making heroic conquests subduing amazing monsters. Enkidu eventually dies, and Gilgamesh first becomes deeply depressed and then terrified of death. He wants immortality yet he is only two-thirds a god. Finally, he reconciles himself to the humble realization that if he leaves a legend of good deeds after his death, he will live forever in them. Fortuitously this was something he had already begun with the hairy Wildman, Enkidu, and now his path is clear and bright. Arrogance has been bridled.
    The Epic Of Gilgamesh is a heroic poem originating from Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) and dates back to 2,100 B.C. It is considered the first great work of literature and was written on tablets.
    Nick's Analysis: In the Bigfoot literature, I have read, there is only one mention of following the precedent of using a voluptuous woman as bait for the Wildman. In the 1970s and 1980s, a group of Russians was making summer expeditions into the Gisar Mountains. The Gisars are in Tadzhiskistan in the western Pamirs, and the expeditions were to find the Almas, probably the most advanced of the world's Bigfoot-types. They were widely known to barter with humans, and some stories claimed they ate with humans inside the peasants' homes. The 1980 summer expedition had great success using a heroically built and sensual young woman of only eighteen as a lure. Her name was Nina Grinyova, and she was placed, willingly it is claimed, in a hollow near a river to attract an Almas who were locally known as Gosha. He appeared, began walking toward her, and she reciprocated by walking toward him. I have read of one person walking toward a stationary Bigfoot and others going after departing Bigfoot, but never one walking toward an approaching Bigfoot. Nina had been given a toy to squeak to attract Gosha so she squeaked it several times, probably out of nervousness. One would think that she had no nerves. Gosha responded to the alien sound by veering off and walking away. He stopped, gazed at her once and then went on. Nina went to the river to call to her friends there, went into shock, and fell to the ground. She recovered quickly and went on subsequent expeditions. She remarked that the Almas moved with the grace of a panther, never stumbling as he walked smoothly through extremely rocky ground. Nina Grinoyova is now a Russian journalist. The expedition leader was duly criticized for using the beautiful young woman as bait for the Bigfoot-type. But like Shamhat, she was successful in bringing a Wildman in. However, leaving a woman out in the woods unarmed to meet a Bigfoot-type is immoral and legally actionable- at least in the United States. Letting an eye-catching woman or man walk around the campsite in the buff, well guarded by men who are experienced hunters, with bear and buffalo guns hidden but instantly available is another thing. I suspect this is being done, but not widely reported. It is such an obvious play as all species have an overwhelming urge to reproduce and will do almost anything to do so, especially the male. Peter Nickerson, 352-359-0850

    Books Used:

1. The Evidence For Bigfoot And Other Man-Beasts (1984), By Janet And Colin Bord

2. The Epic Of Gilgamesh: The Babylonian Epic Poem and Other Texts in Akkadian and Sumerian (1999), Translated By Andrew George

Bigfoot Twists Bear's Jaw Almost Off

Bigfoot Twists Bear's Jaw Almost Off: Story And Nick's Analysis. From Raincoast
Sasquatch by Robert Alley. Published in 2003.
    This event took place near the Porrand Canal on the mainland of South Alaska in 1968. Commercial fisherman Patty [sic] Kristovich, Jr. told the author, Robert Alley, that his father and he were hunting in the timbered flats three miles northwest of Hyper on the Salmon River. It was early morning, and they heard something louder than a bear or moose moving close by. In time, they realized it was circling them so they waited for it to show itself. It refused to and eventually went away. The two hunters looked around. There was no snow to help with tracking. They found no tracks. Patty's father said to him, " It was good at hiding its tracks."
    On another occasion near there, the father shot a brown bear whose jaw was almost torn off. Plus, it had a front paw smashed. There were no wounds on the bear's body or any bite marks as you would expect from a bear fight. Patty said, "It gave us a curious feeling."
    Nick's Analysis: Obviously, I'm going to say that the bear's jaw was probably almost torn off by a male Bigfoot. Below, see picture of two brown bears fighting. As far as is commonly known, no picture of a Bigfoot and a brown bear fighting exists, not even the typical blurry Bigfoot picture. You can see though how accessible the lower jaw of the brown bear on the right is to giant hands with immense strength. Both sides of the jaw could be held and twisted. He does not tuck his jaw in like a boxer but extends it, opening it up for manipulation. The injury was the work of a hand not a paw of a brown bear or a moose antler or a man's bullet. None of these could almost twist a bear's jaw off. Also, the bear's front paw was either smashed by the Bigfoot stomping on it like a Mixed Martial Arts fighter or hit by a large boulder or club wielded by the Bigfoot. An earlier post discussed a giant brown bear in Russia thoroughly whipped by a male Bigfoot protecting his partner and their cub. The Bigfoot used a limb he tore off during the fight. That shows thinking under extreme pressure which is more man-like than ape.
    www.blackfloridapanther.blogspot.com thanks you for your visit. It is generally published several times during the week, featuring a Bigfoot story with Nick's analysis. Peter Nickerson 352-359-0850 or peternickerson12@yahoo.com.