Saturday, September 26, 2015

A new fragment of the Epic of Gilgamesh

CUNEIFORM SURPRISE: The Newly Discovered Tablet V of the Epic of Gilgamesh (Osama S. M. Amin, Ancient History et cetera). The fragment, which was recovered from the antiquities market in 2011 and published in The Journal of Cuneiform Studies in 2014, contains new material from the Cedar Forest episode. You can read the JCS article at the link in Mr. Amin's post. Somehow I missed the story last year, so I am happy to catch up with it here.

Mr. Amin tells the story of the identification of the tablet and summarizes its contents:
  • The revised reconstruction of Tablet V yields text that is nearly twenty lines longer than previously known.
  • The obverse (columns i-ii) duplicates the Neo-Assyrian fragments which means the Epic tablet can be placed in order and used to fill in the gaps between them. It also shows the recension on Tablet V was in Babylonia, as well as Assyria and that “izzizūma inappatū qišta” is the same phrase that other tablets being with.
  • The reverse (columns v-vi) duplicates parts of the reverse (columns iv-vi) of the late Babylonian tablet excavated at Uruk that begins with the inscription “Humbāba pâšu īpušma iqabbi izakkara ana Gilgāmeš”.
  • The most interesting piece of information provided by this new source is the continuation of the description of the Cedar Forest:
  • Gilgamesh and Enkidu saw ‘monkeys’ as part of the exotic and noisy fauna of the Cedar Forest; this was not mentioned in other versions of the Epic.
  • Humbaba emerges, not as a barbarian ogre, and but as a foreign ruler entertained with exotic music at court in the manner of Babylonian kings. The chatter of monkeys, chorus of cicada, and squawking of many kinds of birds formed a symphony (or cacophony) that daily entertained the forest’s guardian, Humbaba.
  • The aftermath of Gilgamesh and Enkidu’s slaying of Humbaba is now better preserved.
  • The passages are consistent with other versions and confirm what was already known. For example, Enkidu had spent some time with Humbaba in his youth.
The Second Temple Jewish Aramaic Book of Giants (also adopted as scripture by the Manicheans [Manichaeans]) remembers both Gilgamesh and Humbaba (Huwawa), and perhaps also the Flood hero Utnapishtim, as antediluvian giants.

Bit by bit, a letter at at time, whatever it takes. Until we're done.