The influence of Mesopotamian mythology on the art of fantastic illustration and a re-illustrative interpretation of the legend of Gilgamesh

Illustration; Art that illustrates an idea, text, word, situation or concept with traditional, experimental or digital techniques. The first striped and colored narrative examples are seen in cave paintings. We can say that these primitive striped quotations tell a kind of tale drawn on the wall to the families under protection living in the cave, about the daily hunting adventures outside the cave, scenes of conflict with other tribes, travel adventures. Both the events outside are told and the dangers are pointed out. These primitive examples, which fit the definition of illustration, took their place as the first illustration examples in history. The discovery of Egyptian hieroglyphs, which has survived to the present day in a more comprehensive and advanced manner, fused communication with the art of illustration. In Mesopotamia, despite all kinds of communication, a narrative culture called cuneiform developed and clay tablets were used. Assyrian, Babylonian, Sumerian and Hittite civilizations have brought their cultures to the present day within these possibilities. The legend of Gilgamesh has survived to the present day as a product of this culture. Further west, the Greek and Roman civilizations went further and discovered the first alphabet, adding a completely different dimension to communication. Mythological epics and stories circulating from language to language have been written down and have formed important literary sources that have survived to the present day. Homer's Iliad is one such example. The cultural accumulation of this wide geography has led to very colorful and rich mythological sources. Various legends, fairy tales and heroisms have fused with each other, and they have trained artists who create magnificent works of fantastic art. Illustration literally went through a conservative and oppressive period in book illustrations in the Middle Ages. With the Renaissance, the art of illustration opened the doors of freedom to its artists, with the accumulation of all the past, and art reached its peak in all its dimensions. All text works written and lived up to that time were visualized with the art of illustration, and fantastic illustration began to produce its first works with the encouragement of these texts. It is a great honor and a loan for me to have the chance to re-illustrate the epic of Gilgamesh, which is only one of these fantastic cultural accumulations, and to succeed.