Customer Reviews

The Last Quest of Gilgamesh (The Gilgamesh Trilogy)

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My children and I are beginning a study of ancient civilizations and I bought the three Gilgamesh books to expand our coverage of ancient Sumer. These books are just amazing! The story itself is powerful but I wondered how the author was going to tone down some of the violence; not to mention the fact that Shamat was a prostitute in other versions. Ludmilla Zeman has brought this story to children with intensity and grace that comes as a complete surprise. I especially liked her painting of the chaste kiss between Shamat and Enkidu with the explanation that Shamat taught Enkidu to speak and together they explored the ways of love. Very tender.

In her illustrations, Ludmilla Zeman has made an attempt to incorporate actual historical artifacts. These are all high-quality books in every sense and I cannot recommend them highly enough.

We really appreciate the beauty of this series of books as it covers "The Epic of Gilgamesh" in an appropriate and accessible way for our children. We love to use actual historic documents in our study if possible, but the actual epic is too uncomfortably graphic even for our older children, so we use these for everyone as we study Mesopotamia, Sumer and Babylon. There are not many books that cover these Near East cultures, which makes this set especially valuable. Along with "Our Young Folks' Josephus" as our history spine, "Science in Ancient Mesopotamia" and "Ancient Egyptians and their Neighbors: An Activity Guide (covering Hittites, Nubians, Mesopopotamians and Egyptians) this series helps considerably to round out our ancient history studies and to teach our children about one of the most ancient tales in the world in a beautifully engaging way.

Gilgamesh the King

The Revenge of Ishtar

The Last Quest of Gilgamesh:

"At the mouth of a river at the end of the earth a man lies, near death. Could this be Gilgamesh...? What has brought him to this desperate state...?

It was the fear of Death." Yet, with Shamhat's encouragement, Gilgamesh is able to reach inside himself and endure incredible hardships. Besides physical challenges, he will be tempted by pleasure and have to use his wits to reach his goal. And Ishtar isn't through with him yet.

Can Gilgamesh's strength and will overcome the challenges he faces? Will despair win out over determination? Can immortality be obtained by men?

This picture book is the third and last in a series that retells the ancient story for eight to twelve year olds. The beautiful pictures are done Mesopotamian style. The author includes a note at the back of the book concerning the story, the flood legend, hell, and her opinion of Gilgamesh.

This is a review of all THREE of Lumila Zeman's extraordinary trilogy that is certain to become a classic rendering, as well as a visual classic! Order all three in the series.

Gilgamesh The King
The Gilgamesh epic, humankind's first written story, inscribed on tablets over 5,000 years ago, permeates our religious traditions, our myths and our fairy tales. Here retold and magnificently illustrated in this oversize work (12" x 16"), human civilization's first written story still delights with adventure and romance, and provides insight into the human values we cherish most.

The Revenge of Ishtar
The second book in a three-part retelling of the Gilgamesh epic. Here, the two friends, Gilgamesh and Enkidu battle the monster Humbaba and then the Bull of Heaven sent by the goddess Ishtar out of anger and revenge for Gilgamesh's rejection of her. But her final revenge is to be a terrible illness upon Enkindu, sending a bereft Gilgamesh on a quest for the secret of immortality.

The Last Quest of Gilgamesh
Mourning for his beloved friend, Gilgamesh sets out to overcome death. In his quest he meets Utnapishtim (Noah) who recounts for him the story of the flood. These oversized, lavishly illustrated works are as much for adults as they are for our students! You want all three volumes.

Teachers/Librarians: A MUST HAVE for 5th grade to adult, Social Studies/Humanities. AND be certain to check our Luglabanda!

Lugalbanda: The Boy Who Got Caught Up in a War. An Epic Tale From Ancient Iraq

Told by Kathy Henderson, illustrated by Jane Ray - Candlewick Press, 2006

Both timely and timeless, Lugalbanda is the oldest-known written story, predating even the epic of Gilgamesh. This is the story of Gilgamesh's father, Lugalbanda! The cuneiform tablets on which this Sumerian legend was inscribed were discovered in the 19th century, but not deciphered until the 1970's.

In this retelling of the ancient Sumerian tale, young prince Lugalbanda is determined to join his brother in battle, but he collapses during the arduous journey. From generous gods and goddesses, he acquires the strength and magical powers that allow him to help bring a peaceful resolution to war. In fascinating notes, Henderson introduces the tale as one of the oldest stories known to humankind, and she describes how she pieced together her retelling from translations of clay tablets recovered from present-day Iraq. She notes that "just before the 2003 invasion of Iraq, I came across the story of Lugalbanda, and it hit me like a thump in the chest. This was much too important to be left to the world of adults. And so the project began."

The adventure story and the luminous, beautifully detailed watercolors of young men and gods will easily capture today's children. The background facts about the Sumerians, who are credited with the invention of written language, also make this title a valuable nonfiction resource.

The book will partner very well with Ludmilla Zeman's 3-book set, Gilgamesh (1992).

Teachers/Librarians: This one works for 3rd grade - adult - Social Studies / Humanities

At first I wasn't big on this series. It was highly recommended, but to be honest I'm just not into the whole fantasy/ancient world stories: the monsters and bulls from heaven, the Ishtar goddess who turns into a serpent, the whole mythical thing. Sorry, I know that's really anti-educational of me to say. I think my biggest concern with this series, however, was that it would be too dark. Mesopotamia is. I was a little afraid that the tragedy would be too weighty for the kids, and the whole color scheme, descending into hell, being smited by the gods for the purpose of revenge, etc, would just be too much for my lower elementary kids.

And yet I caved into the pressure. To be honest, there's not very much in this genre of Mesopotamia for kids--at least not in literature. And my kids are too young for the other popular Epic of G resources out there. So we dove in.

And I changed my mind. It is dark and tragedic, but it is tastefully done and ends on a happy enough note/good moral lesson. There are some fantastical elements that I'm not sure my kids know what to do with (i.e. the souls of the dead people come back as birds and sometimes can be seen by those who are alive, and sometimes cannot)... but even my five year old really liked the whole series. You can't argue with that. They have asked for it over and over again.

So I still wish the author had a more conservative view of the subject, but she is an expert who did well in replicating the story for kids. She didn't tamper with the details or ideology, which I really appreciated. And the part about Utnapishtam and the Flood controversy was handled well. I think I would have cut out the part about Shamhat and Enkidu "exploring the ways of love together" and maybe a couple other phrases, but it's hard to quibble on a larger level.