An Old Babylonian Version of the Gilgamesh EpicJastrow, Morris
General
An Old Babylonian Version of the Gilgamesh Epic
Jastrow, Morris
Epic poetry, Assyro-Babylonian
Before passing on, we have merely to note the very large part taken
in both the old Babylonian and the Assyrian version by the struggle
against Huwawa. The entire Yale tablet--forming, as we have seen,
the third of the series--is taken up with the preparation for the
struggle, and with the repeated warnings given to Gilgamesh against
the dangerous undertaking. The fourth tablet must have recounted the
struggle itself, and it is not improbable that this episode extended
into the fifth tablet, since in the Assyrian version this is the
case. The elaboration of the story is in itself an argument in favor
of assuming some historical background for it--the recollection of
the conquest of Amurru by some powerful warrior; and we have seen
that this conquest must be ascribed to Enkidu and not to Gilgamesh.
VIII.
If, now, Enkidu is not only the older figure but the one who is the
real hero of the most notable episode in the Gilgamesh Epic; if,
furthermore, Enkidu is the Hercules who kills lions and dispatches
the bull sent by an enraged goddess, what becomes of Gilgamesh? What
is left for him?
In the first place, he is definitely the conqueror of Erech. He builds
the wall of Erech, [114] and we may assume that the designation of
the city as _Uruk supûri_, "the walled Erech," [115] rests upon this
tradition. He is also associated with the great temple Eanna, "the
heavenly house," in Erech. To Gilgamesh belongs also the unenviable
tradition of having exercised his rule in Erech so harshly that the
people are impelled to implore Aruru to create a rival who may rid
the district of the cruel tyrant, who is described as snatching sons
and daughters from their families, and in other ways terrifying the
population--an early example of "Schrecklichkeit." Tablets II to
V inclusive of the Assyrian version being taken up with the Huwawa
episode, modified with a view of bringing the two heroes together,
we come at once to the sixth tablet, which tells the story of how
the goddess Ishtar wooed Gilgamesh, and of the latter's rejection
of her advances. This tale is distinctly a nature myth. The attempt
of Gressmann [116] to find some historical background to the episode
is a failure. The goddess Ishtar symbolizes the earth which woos the
sun in the spring, but whose love is fatal, for after a few months
the sun's power begins to wane. Gilgamesh, who in incantation hymns
is invoked in terms which show that he was conceived as a sun-god,
[117] recalls to the goddess how she changed her lovers into animals,
like Circe of Greek mythology, and brought them to grief. Enraged at
Gilgamesh's insult to her vanity, she flies to her father Anu and cries
for revenge. At this point the episode of the creation of the bull is
introduced, but if the analysis above given is correct it is Enkidu
who is the hero in dispatching the bull, and we must assume that the
sickness with which Gilgamesh is smitten is the punishment sent by Anu
to avenge the insult to his daughter.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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