An Old Babylonian Version of the Gilgamesh EpicJastrow, Morris
General
An Old Babylonian Version of the Gilgamesh Epic
Jastrow, Morris
Epic poetry, Assyro-Babylonian
Lines 49-59 run parallel to the Assyrian version I, 4, 33-38,
with slight variations which have been discussed above, p. 58, and
from which we may conclude that the Assyrian version represents an
independent redaction. Since in our tablet we have presumably the
repetition of what may have been in part at least set forth in the
first tablet of the old Babylonian version, we must not press the
parallelism with the first tablet of the Assyrian version too far;
but it is noticeable nevertheless (1) that our tablet contains lines
57-58 which are not represented in the Assyrian version, and (2) that
the second speech of the "woman" beginning, line 62, with _al-ka_,
"come" (just as the first speech, line 54), is likewise not found
in the first tablet of the Assyrian version; which on the other
hand contains a line (39) not in the Babylonian version, besides
the detailed answer of Enkidu (I 4, 42-5, 5). Line 6, which reads
"Enkidu and the woman went (_il-li-ku_) to walled Erech," is also
not found in the second tablet of the old Babylonian version.
Line 63. For _magrû_, "accursed," see the frequent use in Astrological
texts (Jastrow, _Religion Babyloniens und Assyriens_ II, page 450, note
2). Langdon, by his strange error in separating _ma-a-ag-ri-im_ into
two words _ma-a-ak_ and _ri-i-im_, with a still stranger rendering:
"unto the place yonder of the shepherds!!", naturally misses the
point of this important speech.
Line 64 corresponds to I, 4, 40, of the Assyrian version, which has
an additional line, leading to the answer of Enkidu. From here on,
our tablet furnishes material not represented in the Assyrian version,
but which was no doubt included in the second tablet of that version
of which we have only a few fragments.
Line 70 must be interpreted as indicating that the woman kept one
garment for herself. _Ittalbas_ would accordingly mean, "she kept
on." The female dress appears to have consisted of an upper and a
lower garment.
Line 72. The restoration "like a god" is favored by line 51, where
Enkidu is likened to a god, and is further confirmed by l. 190.
Line 73. _gupru_ is identical with _gu-up-ri_ (Thompson, _Reports of
the Magicians and Astrologers_, etc., 223 rev. 2 and 223a rev. 8), and
must be correlated to _gipâru_ (Muss-Arnolt, _Assyrian Dictionary_,
p. 229a), "planted field," "meadow," and the like. Thompson's
translation "men" (as though a synonym of _gabru_) is to be corrected
accordingly.
Line 74. There is nothing missing between _a-sar_ and _tar-ba-si-im_.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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