ACTIVITY FOR MESOPOTAMIAN AND EGYPTIAN LITERATURES

1. Activity # 1. Read, Summarize and React on the Mesopotamian epic entitled,

“THE EPIC OF GILGAMESH”

Please follow this format:

1. Title
2. Characters and their role (brief description of their character role)
3. Summary
4. Conclusion
5. Personal Reactions/ Literary Critic
( PDF , essay type narrative, 1.5 spacing, Arial, 11 font size, )

2. Activity # 2. In the Sumerian poem “The Debate between Grain and Sheep,” the earth first appeared
barren, without grain, sheep, or goats. People went naked. They ate grass for nourishment and drank
water from ditches. Later, the gods created sheep and grain and gave them to humankind as
sustenance. According to “The Debate between Bird and Fish,” water for human consumption did not
exist until Enki, lord of wisdom, created the Tigris and Euphrates and caused water to flow into them
from the mountains. He also created the smaller streams and watercourses, established sheepfolds,
marshes, and reedbeds, and filled them with fish and birds. He founded cities and established kingship
and rule over foreign countries. In “The Debate between Winter and Summer,” an unknown Sumerian
author explains that summer and winter, abundance, spring floods, and fertility are the result of Enlil’s
copulation with the hills of the earth.

Activity for 2: Choose a poem from the Sumerian poems mentioned above and interpret the meaning of
this poem according to your own personal critic. You may search from the google net the lyrics of the
poem, copy and paste and please react on it. (Choose only one (1) poem for you to interpret.

A. The Debate between Grain and Sheep

B. The Debate between Bird and Fist

C. The Debate between Winter and Summer