An Old Babylonian Version of the Gilgamesh EpicJastrow, Morris
General
An Old Babylonian Version of the Gilgamesh Epic
Jastrow, Morris
Epic poetry, Assyro-Babylonian
The important lines 31-36 are not found in the Assyrian version,
with the exception of I, 6, 27, which corresponds to lines 33-34,
but this lack of correspondence is probably due to the fact that the
Assyrian version represents the anticipation of the dreams which,
as already suggested, might well omit some details. As against this
we have in the Assyrian version I, 6, 23-25, an elaboration of line
30 in the Pennsylvania tablet and taken over from the recital of
the first dream. Through the Assyrian version I, 6, 31-32, we can
restore the closing lines of column I of the Pennsylvania tablet,
while with line 33 = line 45 of the Pennsylvania tablet, the parallel
between the two versions comes to an end. Lines 34-43 of the Assyrian
version (bringing tablet I to a close) [135] represent an elaboration
of the speech of Ninsun, followed by a further address of Gilgamesh
to his mother, and by the determination of Gilgamesh to seek out
Enkidu. [136] Nothing of this sort appears to have been included in
the old Babylonian version.Our text proceeds with the scene between
Enkidu and the woman, in which the latter by her charms and her appeal
endeavors to lead Enkidu away from his life with the animals. From
the abrupt manner in which the scene is introduced in line 43 of the
Pennsylvania tablet, it is evident that this cannot be the _first_
mention of the woman. The meeting must have been recounted in the
first tablet, as is the case in the Assyrian version. [137] The second
tablet takes up the direct recital of the dreams of Gilgamesh and
then continues the narrative. Whether in the old Babylonian version
the scene between Enkidu and the woman was described with the same
naïve details, as in the Assyrian version, of the sexual intercourse
between the two for six days and seven nights cannot of course be
determined, though presumably the Assyrian version, with the tendency
of epics to become more elaborate as they pass from age to age, added
some realistic touches. Assuming that lines 44-63 of the Pennsylvania
tablet--the cohabitation of Enkidu and the address of the woman--is
a repetition of what was already described in the first tablet, the
comparison with the Assyrian version I, 4, 16-41, not only points to
the elaboration of the later version, but likewise to an independent
recension, even where parallel lines can be picked out. Only lines
46-48 of the Pennsylvania tablet form a complete parallel to line 21
of column 4 of the Assyrian version. The description in lines 22-32
of column 4 is missing, though it may, of course, have been included
in part in the recital in the first tablet of the old Babylonian
version. Lines 49-59 of the Pennsylvania tablet are covered by 33-39,
the only slight difference being the specific mention in line 58 of
the Pennsylvania tablet of Eanna, the temple in Erech, described as
"the dwelling of Anu," whereas in the Assyrian version Eanna is merely
referred to as the "holy house" and described as "the dwelling of
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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