Ancient Texts Today

Even though Ancient Near Eastern literature was written by people of the past, their experiences still reflect upon modern times as well. They help us understand many things, such as culture. To gain a clearer understanding behind the bible one has to know why it was written and for whom it was written for. Studying such texts can help us do just that. Studying issues such as corruption in ruler ship, friendship, mortality and much more help us understand ourselves better. Even though these issues trouble us today, they were more than present back then. For example issues with friendship and power were evident and extremely important because they serve as themes in the text and they are important issues today. Friends can influence you for better or worse. Gilgamesh was influenced for the better as he became a better ruler after meeting Enkidu. It can be negative as well because we see Gilgamesh grieve when Enkidu dies. Studying ancient texts is very important as it influences us still to this day.