6. A Parallel to Ecclesiastes.
The following striking parallel to a passage in Ecclesiastes is taken from a tablet of the Gilgamesh Epic,[580] written in the script of the time of Hammurapi, about 2000 B. C.
Since the gods created man,[581]
Death they ordained for man,
Life in their hands they hold.
Thou, O Gilgamesh, fill indeed thy belly,
Day and night be thou joyful,
Daily ordain gladness,
Day and night rage and make merry,
Let thy garments be bright,
Thy head purify, wash with water,
Desire thy children which thy hand possesses,
A wife enjoy in thy bosom,
Peaceably thy work (?) ..........
This is not only in sentiment strikingly like Eccles. 9:6-9, but in part closely approaches its language.
CHAPTER XXIII
EGYPTIAN PARALLELS TO THE SONG OF SONGS
Nature of the Song of Songs. Translation of Some Egyptian Love-Poems. Comparison with Biblical Passages.
For many centuries the Song of Songs has been interpreted allegorically, but even those who give it an allegorical meaning must admit that its sentiments are couched in the terms of earthly love. Love poems, which sometimes express sentiments that remind us of the Song of Songs, have been discovered on some Egyptian papyri and ostraca. The documents in which they are written range in their dates from 2000 B. C. to about 1100 B. C. Selections from these follow:[582]