Gilgamesh

From The Book of THoTH (Leaves of Wisdom)

Gilgamesh, according to the Sumerian king list, was the fifth king of Uruk (Early Dynastic II, first dynasty of Uruk), the son of Lugalbanda. Legend has it that his mother was Ninsun, a goddess.

According to another document, known as the "History of Tummal", Gilgamesh, and eventually his son Urlugal, rebuilt the sanctuary of the goddess Ninlil, located in Tummal, a block of the Nippur city. In Mesopotamian mythology Gilgamesh is credited to have been a demi-god of superhuman strength, a mythological equivalent to Hercules, who built a great wall in Iraq to defend his people from outer harm.

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Cuneiform references

In the Epic of Gilgamesh it is said that Gilgamesh ordered the creation of the legendary walls of Uruk. In historical times, Sargon of Akkad claimed to have destroyed these walls to prove his military power. Many scholars feel that the Epic of Gilgamesh is related to the Biblical story of the flood mentioned in Genesis.

Fragments of an epic text found in Me-Turan (modern Tell Haddad) relate that Gilgamesh was buried under the waters of a river at the end of his life. The people of Uruk diverted the flow of the Euphrates River crossing Uruk for the purpose of burying the dead king within the riverbed. In April 2003, a German expedition discovered what is thought to be the entire city of Uruk - including, where the Euphrates once flowed, the last resting place of its King Gilgamesh.

Despite the lack of direct evidence, most scholars do not object to consideration of Gilgamesh as a historical figure, particularly after inscriptions were found confirming the historical existence of other figures associated with him: kings Enmebaragesi and Aga of Kish. If Gilgamesh was a historical king, he probably reigned in about the 26th century BC. Some of the earliest Sumerian texts spell his name as Bilgamesh.

In most texts, Gilgamesh is written with the determinative for divine beings (DINGIR) - but there is no evidence for a contemporary cult, and the Sumerian Gilgamesh myths suggest the deification was a later development (unlike the case of the Akkadian god-kings). Historical or not, Gilgamesh became a legendary protagonist in the Epic of Gilgamesh.

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See also

  • Chaldean mythology
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Bibliography

  • Cooper, Jerrold S. Buddies in Babylonia - Gilgamesh, Enkidu and Mesopotamian Homosexuality , in Abusch, Tz (ed.), Riches Hidden in Secret Places - Ancient Near Eastern Studies in Memory of Thorkild Jacobsen, Eisenbrauns 2002 pp.73-85.
  • George, Andrew The Epic of Gilgamesh: the Babylonian Epic Poem and Other Texts in Akkadian and Sumerian The Penguin Press, 1999 (published in Penguin Classics 2000, reprinted with minor revisions, 2003. ISBN 0140449191
  • George, Andrew, The Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic - Introduction, Critical Edition and Cuneiform Texts Oxford University Press 2 volumes 2003
  • Foster, Benjamin R., trans. & edit. The Epic of Gilgamesh W.W. Norton & Company 2001 ISBN 0-393-97516-9
  • Hammond, D. & Jablow, A. Gilgamesh and the Sundance Kid: the Myth of Male Friendship in Brod, H. (ed.), The Making of Masculinities: The New Men's Studies 1987 pp.241-258.
  • Kovacs, Maureen Gallery, transl. with intro. The Epic of Gilgamesh Stanford University Press 1985,1989 ISBN 0-8047-1711-7 Glossary, Appendices, Appendix (Chapter XII=Tablet XII). A line-by-line translation (Chapters I-XI).
  • Jackson, Danny The Epic of Gilgamesh Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers 1997 id=ISBN 0-86516-352-9
  • Mitchell, Stephen Gilgamesh: A New English Version Free Press 2004 ISBN 0-7432-6164-X
  • Parpola, Simo, with Mikko Luuko, and Kalle Fabritius The Standard Babylonian, Epic of Gilgamesh The Neo-Assyrian Text Corpus Project 1997 ISBN 951-45-7760-4 (Volume 1)
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External links

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Text translations

Translations for several legends of Gilgamesh in the Sumerian language have been written by:

  • Black, J.A.,
  • Cunningham, G.,
  • Fluckiger-Hawker, E,
  • Stephen Mitchell
    • Stripped Books: Stephen Mitchell on Gilgamesh - a comic-book adaptation of a talk by Stephen Mitchell about the epic poem.
    • Mitchell's translation was also adapted as a radio play for Radio 3 by Jeremy Howe, first broadcast on Sunday 11 June 2006 from 19:30-21:30 [3]
  • Robson, E.,
  • Zólyomi, G.,
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Other links

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