something something SURROGATES

Is Gilgamesh too weird to make into a movie(s)?

For context, in the last-ish part of the Epic of Gilgamesh, he meets a character that's all like "Oh hello, I gained my immortality by having the entire story of Noah's Ark happen to me verbatim. Anyway humans are terrible."

There is a theory that just like circumcision was mandated to replace killing the first born male child, Jesus was sacrificed to replace replace circumcision AND animal sacrifices. God doesn't change what he needs, just the form it takes.

(it actually was a female wisdom goddess who demanded human sacrifice, and they got rid of her when they went to one god just before the Babylonian exile. Many, naturally, blamed tossing her out of the Temple for that disaster, so I'm sure there were some backsliders)

Just saw this. It's like somebody took The Road, Lord of the Rings, 2012 and Waterworld and smashed them together into this bizarre bible film that amazingly saw the light of day. Strong performances, a compelling story and absolutely stunning too. I was really surprised by this.

I freely admit, I'm a fan of scholar Margaret Barker, and her theories about exactly what was practiced in the First Temple. It could be complete bullshit and is about as far from mainstream Biblical criticism as those who say Abraham and Moses actually existed, but it's a fun idea. I'm getting her new book for my birthday next month, which with luck will give more details on her theory that Christianity was an attempt to return to First Temple beliefs (she thinks what we call Pagan influences are actually from early Hebrew practices). Her "The Mother of the Lord" is a great read, and available as an ebook.