An Old Babylonian Version of the Gilgamesh EpicJastrow, Morris
General
An Old Babylonian Version of the Gilgamesh Epic
Jastrow, Morris
Epic poetry, Assyro-Babylonian
Some of these names, as Galumum, Arpi and Etana, are so Amoritic
in appearance, that one may hazard the conjecture of their western
origin. May Gilgamesh likewise belong to the Amurru [65] region, or
does he represent a foreigner from the East in contrast to Enkidu,
whose name, we have seen, may have been Baal-Tôb in the West, with
which region he is according to the Epic so familiar? It must be
confessed that the second element _ga-mesh_ would fit in well with
a Semitic origin for the name, for the element impresses one as
the participial form of a Semitic stem G-M-S, just as in the second
element of Meskin-gaser we have such a form. Gil might then be the
name of a West-Semitic deity. Such conjectures, however, can for the
present not be substantiated, and we must content ourselves with the
conclusion that Gilgamesh as the real name of the hero, or at least
the form which comes closest to the real name, points to a foreign
origin for the hero, and that such forms as dGish-bil-ga-mesh and
dGish-bíl-gi-mesh and other variants are "Sumerianized" forms for which
an artificial etymology was brought forward to convey the idea of the
"original hero" or the hero _par excellence_. By means of this "play"
on the name, which reverts to the compilers of the Sumerian version
of the Epic, Gilgamesh was converted into a Sumerian figure, just as
the name Enkidu may have been introduced as a Sumerian translation
of his Amoritic name. dGish at all events is an abbreviated form of
the "Sumerianized" name, introduced by the compilers of the earliest
Akkadian version, which was produced naturally under the influence
of the Sumerian version. Later, as the Epic continued to grow, a
phonetic writing was introduced, dGish-gi-mash, which is in a measure
a compromise between the genuine name and the "Sumerianized" form,
but at the same time an _approach_ to the real pronunciation.
VI.
Next to the new light thrown upon the names and original character
of the two main figures of the Epic, one of the chief points of
interest in the Pennsylvania fragment is the proof that it furnishes
for a striking resemblance of the two heroes, Gish and Enkidu, to one
another. In interpreting the dream of Gish, his mother. Ninsun, lays
stress upon the fact that the dream portends the coming of someone
who is like Gish, "born in the field and reared in the mountain"
(lines 18-19). Both, therefore, are shown by this description to
have come to Babylonia from a mountainous region, i.e., they are
foreigners; and in the case of Enkidu we have seen that the mountain
in all probability refers to a region in the West, while the same may
also be the case with Gish. The resemblance of the two heroes to one
another extends to their personal appearance. When Enkidu appears on
the streets of Erech, the people are struck by this resemblance. They
remark that he is "like Gish," though "shorter in stature" (lines
179-180). Enkidu is described as a rival or counterpart. [66]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
An Old Babylonian Version of the Gilgamesh Epic — John Shaqi
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