An Old Babylonian Version of the Gilgamesh Epic Part 4

Beginning with the Pennsylvania tablet, column I is covered in the a.s.syrian version by tablet I, 5, 25, to 6, 33, though, as pointed out above, in the a.s.syrian version we have the antic.i.p.ation of the dreams of Gilgamesh and their interpretation through their recital to Enkidu by his female companion, whereas in the old Babylonian version we have the dreams _directly_ given in a conversation between Gilgamesh and his mother. In the antic.i.p.ation, there would naturally be some omissions. So lines 4-5 and 12-13 of the Pennsylvania tablet do not appear in the a.s.syrian version, but in their place is a line (I, 5, 35), to be restored to

"[I saw him and like] a woman I fell in love with him."

which occurs in the old Babylonian version only in connection with the second dream. The point is of importance as showing that in the Babylonian version the first dream lays stress upon the omen of the falling meteor, as symbolizing the coming of Enkidu, whereas the second dream more specifically reveals Enkidu as a man, [131]

of whom Gilgamesh is instantly enamored. Strikingly variant lines, though conveying the same idea, are frequent. Thus line 14 of the Babylonian version reads

"I bore it and carried it to thee"

and appears in the a.s.syrian version (I, 5, 35_b_ supplied from 6, 26)

"I threw it (or him) at thy feet" [132]

with an additional line in elaboration

"Thou didst bring him into contact with me" [133]

which antic.i.p.ates the speech of the mother

(Line 41 = a.s.syrian version I, 6, 33).

Line 10 of the Pennsylvania tablet has _pa-hi-ir_ as against _iz-za-az_ I, 5, 31.

Line 8 has _ik-ta-bi-it_ as against _da-an_ in the a.s.syrian version I, 5, 29.

More significant is the variant to line 9

"I became weak and its weight I could not bear"

as against I, 5, 30.

"Its strength was overpowering, [134] and I could not endure its weight."

The important lines 31-36 are not found in the a.s.syrian 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 a.s.syrian version represents the antic.i.p.ation of the dreams which, as already suggested, might well omit some details. As against this we have in the a.s.syrian 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 a.s.syrian 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 a.s.syrian 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 a.s.syrian 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 nave details, as in the a.s.syrian version, of the s.e.xual intercourse between the two for six days and seven nights cannot of course be determined, though presumably the a.s.syrian version, with the tendency of epics to become more elaborate as they pa.s.s from age to age, added some realistic touches. a.s.suming that lines 44-63 of the Pennsylvania tablet--the cohabitation of Enkidu and the address of the woman--is a repet.i.tion of what was already described in the first tablet, the comparison with the a.s.syrian 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 a.s.syrian 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 a.s.syrian version Eanna is merely referred to as the "holy house" and described as "the dwelling of Anu and Ishtar," where Ishtar is clearly a later addition.

Leaving aside lines 60-61, which may be merely a variant (though independent) of line 39 of column 4 of the a.s.syrian version, we now have in the Pennsylvania tablet a second speech of the woman to Enkidu (not represented in the a.s.syrian version) beginning like the first one with _alka_, "Come" (lines 62-63), in which she asks Enkidu to leave the "accursed ground" in which he dwells. This speech, as the description which follows, extending into columns 3-4, and telling how the woman clothed Enkidu, how she brought him to the sheep folds, how she taught him to eat bread and to drink wine, and how she instructed him in the ways of civilization, must have been included in the second tablet of the a.s.syrian version which has come down to us in a very imperfect form. Nor is the scene in which Enkidu and Gilgamesh have their encounter found in the preserved portions of the second (or possibly the third) tablet of the a.s.syrian version, but only a brief reference to it in the fourth tablet, [138] in which in Epic style the story is repeated, leading up to the second exploit--the joint campaign of Enkidu and Gilgamesh against Huwawa. This reference, covering only seven lines, corresponds to lines 192-231 of the Pennsylvania tablet; but the former being the repet.i.tion and the latter the original recital, the comparison to be inst.i.tuted merely reveals again the independence of the a.s.syrian version, as shown in the use of _kibsu_, "tread" (IV, 2, 46), for _sepu_, "foot" (l. 216), _i-na-us_, "quake"

(line 5C), as against _ir-tu-tu_ (ll. 221 and 226).

Such variants as

_d_Gish eribam l iddin (l. 217)

against

_d_Gilgamesh ana surbi l namdin, (IV, 2, 47).

and again

_issabtma kima lim_ "they grappled at the gate of the family house" (IV, 2, 48),

against

_issabtma ina bab bit emuti_, "they grappled at the gate of the family house" (IV, 2, 48),

all point once more to the literary independence of the a.s.syrian version. The end of the conflict and the reconciliation of the two heroes is likewise missing in the a.s.syrian version. It may have been referred to at the beginning of column 3 [139] of Tablet IV.

Coming to the Yale tablet, the few pa.s.sages in which a comparison may be inst.i.tuted with the fourth tablet of the a.s.syrian version, to which in a general way it must correspond, are not sufficient to warrant any conclusions, beyond the confirmation of the literary independence of the a.s.syrian version. The section comprised within lines 72-89, where Enkidu's grief at his friend's decision to fight Huwawa is described [140], and he makes confession of his own physical exhaustion, _may_ correspond to Tablet IV, column 4, of the a.s.syrian version. This would fit in with the beginning of the reverse, the first two lines of which (136-137) correspond to column 5 of the fourth tablet of the a.s.syrian version, with a variation "seven-fold fear" [141] as against "fear of men" in the a.s.syrian version. If lines 138-139 (in column 4) of the Yale tablet correspond to line 7 of column 5 of Tablet IV of the a.s.syrian version, we would again have an ill.u.s.tration of the elaboration of the later version by the addition of lines 3-6. But beyond this we have merely the comparison of the description of Huwawa

"Whose roar is a flood, whose mouth is fire, and whose breath is death"

which occurs twice in the Yale tablet (lines 110-111 and 196-197), with the same phrase in the a.s.syrian version Tablet IV, 5, 3--but here, as just pointed out, with an elaboration.

Practically, therefore, the entire Yale tablet represents an addition to our knowledge of the Huwawa episode, and until we are fortunate enough to discover more fragments of the fourth tablet of the a.s.syrian version, we must content ourselves with the conclusions reached from a comparison of the Pennsylvania tablet with the parallels in the a.s.syrian version.

It may be noted as a general point of resemblance in the exterior form of the old Babylonian and a.s.syrian versions that both were inscribed on tablets containing six columns, three on the obverse and three on the reverse; and that the length of the tablets--an average of 40 to 50 lines--was about the same, thus revealing in the external form a conventiona1 size for the tablets in the older period, which was carried over into later times.

PENNSYLVANIA TABLET

The 240 lines of the six columns of the text are enumerated in succession, with an indication on the margin where a new column begins. This method, followed also in the case of the Yale tablet, seems preferable to Langdon's breaking up of the text into Obverse and Reverse, with a separate enumeration for each of the six columns. In order, however, to facilitate a comparison with Langdon's edition, a table is added: