nb to shin”. In that case the phrase Kina gen. would literally
‘ean ‘whose gleaming ike qe. the wal gleams ree copper. An argument aginsthis that
before a possessive sufix one would expect a inate in tiptotc declension (GAG $65),
Wether the form is parsed as the infinitive (nei) or asa previously unatested noun “nb
(nti). Asis well nov, the construct state of nouns ofthe type pars pis and “pus diving
Som finally weak root can bemonosylabic (gb mr) as wells bsyabic (eg, BE, mr), Hove
tera search of such nouns reveals almest no casesof possessive sufi atachedtoa monosabic
tse. Inthe dictionary ares on nouns fom ally weak oot tha display monosyabe stems
(Gta, 1, lm, I, ta, BT Bp, dA, gu, sa,
gu rata na rT te] lt, ii i, mp pie,
ie, ps Eg a br, bu, 1s, sp sa, ec, iu i,
85x i pre TV and ak, the only such eases Tan find among the dozens of regular tip
‘oti forms that hold othe paradigm mara, mint, mar are three: (a) ld, the reading
mula ucud-ba in the Tullt-Ninurta Epic iv b 19 (CAD H,p, 224) (b) sn the LB PN
‘Tibbs (WASV 49,24 asaralysed by CADN(2,pp. 205 and 248) and () sx soa onespeling
CRITICAL AND PIILOLOGICAL NOTES: TABLET T
781
_zvervin OB Susa (MDPXXIL 7,1), However, these ar al eacherous witnesses, fr diferent
reasons, Case (a) is now discredited (ead mul-arJu-u-a), Incase (Q) the deviation of the
second clementof he nameis not nib bu ip Sweets the (newborns) sme (or reat) (with
“Ais, p. 792) The essing case (2) the apse of a single foreign scribe; set aginst the many
srcesatons of nbp-f] viel tolerable sense which is constructed to be like a
cond), buts rather neural.
14, The fore sata Iterary for sant see farther Chapter 9, he setion on Language
and ste sub (0). These for in both Babylonian manuscripts contrasts with the Prev-
‘ousline bus herise uaremarkablein such ate copies.
15, Mos: wansatrs take "uns threshold or doors’. askuppasy, and it could bet, for
‘he determinative asno sgificance However ifthineistobetakenas coaveving theides of fee
Ing the wal’ ancient threshold the verb abd presents afc, foritmeans ake hold of rther
‘an simpy ‘touch’. Thee may have been paving slabs that one could grip inthe and, ofcourse,
bburTapre with Tournay an Shaterprends done scar) tha what ie meant snot he tne
al ofa cy gar bur tlrway onthe wall, whick the readers invited climb co hat he can go up
ln tt 16:tima). Tae idiom mma sabi, ake he sta (farina tha sab, i also
‘snow from an inscription of Esarhadon (Borge, Ese. 58,V 12): pean Br shat i=
fmomesdat Eien rages hose who ran fast and took to the slopes of cstan mountain’
“Though E-ancassiuated inthe middle of Uruk, the topography ofthe town such that here are
stretches of ery wal hat take one nearer tthe temple area (16: grub ana F-ann)
17, Thelineis shay log asitstands perhaps naa alate intrusion.
18-23, Theselines arerepeatdin SBX1323-8 addressed 0 Ur-fanabiat the end of Gilgamets
‘wanderings, where the second imperative is corey given a8 alla. Kor ther excess sce
(Chapter 10,00 Taber XL
21, By oder standards MS's i-8 isplas the wrong case, but is isunremarkabein & 1B
‘copy: inthe pall ine the two Kuyuni manuscripts have, as oe would expect, 2-8-8 (SB XL
326). The seven mona are presumably none other than the Seven Sages (gpl) who in
[Bubylonian mythology instructed mankind inthe arts of civzation (eee E. Reins, Ors 30782 ‘THE STANDARD BABYLONIAN EPIC
(1961), Pp. 1-115). A. van Dik, UVB 18, pp. 44 van Dik nd Mayer, RE-Helgta 10,89;
Berossus: BR. Foster, Orns 43 (1974) p 347) Here they aa byword for hoary aig
22-3. ASL Finks. thecopyistof MS hist noticed the new variant ia 22f0 pir the mum
‘ber 1800, demonstrat that pry here as nothing todo With the word fr uncut an bt is
‘imply theterm fr one half of ra (Ei = 360 of inthe sexageimal ester, 10,0).Accordingt
‘he metrological ble appended ro the F-sagi Table, a8 linea-based surface measie the Hvis
"080s eguialene 0 108korin he capacity-based system (TCLVI32, Sed. Genre, Tog Ti,
1-118) 1a Kesite and early NB metrology, which n measuring lind customary employed large
bi 1 it Was the equivalent of about O81 hectare, and the area of Uruk as roughly given hes,
35 Kru would convert 3,062 hectares, ora lite over thirty square lometes. Even sing the
smaller cuit standard, so that 1d was the equivalent of abou 0.36 hectare, 3.5 Kru conver
1,360 hectares. Neither Bguze remotely coe tothe aca cea encosed by the wal of Uruk,
whichis about ve square lometres (se. voa Haller, UVB, p. 4), The exaggeration not out
of place, of cours, ina tet such asthe Ggamet ep The question remain if | r= 1,080 (or
18,0) dis of what unit ist he 3600-fld mip? Te arte produces 30 mara (0,18 i),
‘bur such an area is notlnown as a unin self There may be another explanation: according 19
|M.A Powell he largest unitin the ines-hase system of surface measures the br (Sur, bl),
‘bot sy burs ale ara word normally meaning 67; 3600 burs Saga which normally rans
607 -Tis sugges that both he regler number words athe terms for Our andi mulls are
‘samed after counters (okens), pethaps ar, “ball” Sarg “bgall”* (RLAVII pp 480-1),
“The ay-pit esis what sie after peopl excavate material for brick-making, mud-plastering.
ooring and cher purposes hat require coarse clay (se, most famous the apecrypl uaon
of Sargon excavaon of earth fom thee of Babylon: Grayson, Chromic, p. 153,18). 1a 8
country where groundwater high such holes very natural fl with water ad this explains why
‘nkexial tet es i.n equation with Sumerian word for pon or citer (pt) sescited with
br, seta ptmore often than not full f wte (Gee CAD Up. 204; other words tht arerough=
Jy synonymous ae mw and Sp), in. 23 he Word tami new. Curios the verb mali,
“comessure’ isnot yet tested in the Ht stem, rom which sam hold takes meaning. The
Jacko syratcl ration inthis ine i noteworthy.
24, Onsupienmy,tablet-box' and the sina ofthis ine 1 theincpit ofthe lend of Naxim=
Sto, upsor-napi-te<-ma in both OB and SB versions, se C. B. F Walker, FCS 33 (1981), pp
192-3. The esoraton of ptdnain ou passages, however, more kly with ity the box’,
26.
25, Forthe fist word (MS g only) Wiseman offered "[ze-t0}¢ (rag 37 (1974), 163) but thie
«an be discounted a too unconvetonalaspeling The wace doesnot appear to allow the obvious
restoration [pul (Parpola, SAA Gi). As renoredherethe verb uses the sem because ofthe
plural object.
27, Thescrioe of MS, sia evident found Sass tongue twister,
28, Thephrase cal Aate maps sandard expression in Gilgamet see OBVA + BMS
‘SBVIL251;X 55-6) 132-3 232-3.
29. The phrase sow'udu Bt ga, erly “alors ford of body form’ has 2 implication of
lon satus but san example of bau with ference 0 one especialy wellendowed with pari
Jar atsibue in this case fine manly igre. Comparable phrases inthe are of physical excellence
are lbirk‘ronne’,and Beg. "txong maa’
31, The use of the present lk in thi and the flowing lie is @ mack ofthe habia past,
‘he fis of many such presen in che marae (note especialy I. 63-93, describing Gilame’s
CRITICAL AND PHILOLOGICAL NOTES: TABLET 1 783
‘yranys and I 110-12, descibing Enki behavior in she wld). On this nd ater nuances of
‘the present tense in Babylonian narrative poeuy see now M, P Szecks meticulous study, ai
itobh“weinend sete er sic": areas fr de Vergangenheit in der aadischen Epi, Orss 64
(1995), pp. 33-81, Steck oes many diferent means of wansation of such vesbs or example,
‘sets ing e fr aia the present couplet and immer veringsgt wurden fr Guaddarin the nar~
ative of Glgamesryranny (SB 167), He cites bth as examples of penerel-trative Sachverhalte
‘der Vergangenheit’ one of many divisions of usage he dsnguishes fo the AkKadian present (p.
tsp. 0). my ransaon Ihave often flit unnecessary 0 use such precise phasing. In poetic
‘contexts in English the present and imperfect tenses andthe parcples adequately convey many of
‘the avances Steck denies, On ther occasions, where theres repetion thee ae sound biteary
reasons for using preset forms in arsaton (ge the commensary on SBI 175).
32, The ence ma cannot here coordinte ab with he folowing clause fortis ine logically
ors couplet with the preceding, Ic insead an example ofthe saer usage in which itbrings the
nuance ‘kewiseto the verbal predicate (GAC? §12s'hichfall’). On nan-csorinative ma see
further below on SBI 117-18.
33. Thougha river bankisnot usualy symbolic protection in eraure, compare iiss in per
sonal names, -Rbri "My god s my bank and Kibe-Dagin, My bank is Daa’ (aselee-
ton of references seven in CAD K,p. 335; from OAKK to OA and OB, especialy Mar). There
ras bet rendered ‘refuge’ the imagery is drawn from riverine navigation, in which the bank
‘offers safe haven ina stem or other ificury‘The ustapstion ofthe protective ver bank inthis
Tine and he destructive lod avein the next makes for ahighl effective conta
35-6, Since there alo Word rimumneaning ‘ne beloved’ cere may be intessona ambiguity
inthe expression rim LuolBanda, The meaning ‘wild bul! kes obvious preference however, sine
the prevling imagery ofthe couples bovine, The goddest Ninsn's name, “Lady Wie-Cow'
ere veryeapicidy rendered in Altadian, The compound Rimat-Ninsu,standardin the SB epic,
goes back tothe Pensyvania able’ rimcum Sa upon) Ninos (OB Mt 236-7). The variant
“ni-sinvan-na (MS) for “ni-sion{na) sof the same oder a damian for Darina, which
‘common inte texts
37. The word order i Gilyimetmay bean example of inversion for emphasis se Chapter,
‘the secon on Language and ste ub
39. For Gilgamed and wel se Chapter 3, the sub-tecion on Digging well
40. Onayabba often Ocean ina mythological seas, see. Mala, Mar and th Bary Iaaie.
-Exgerince London, 1989), pp. 108-12. The phrase ayabba cimatu rapa so occurs inexorcisic
erature, where itis something fa ich eg. Surpu-VI190,VII 84, MagliVI 100; farther ef
erences in CAD Ai, 21). The word writen tam) is most probably agua, teary for
nia often in nine Forte exe vowel se above, oa 1,
42. The relentless sucoesion of uetive parties in I. 38-4 means Aad cannot ere be a
active ative. The resulting phrase is Aid danmass, in which a construct sates flowed excep
‘onal, ban adverbial accusative, Lexialy thi canbe compared wih Seanacherb's eport that
bis rire ‘caprared through their shee fore’ the ce ofthe king af Bam: de dams
1 Luckenbl, O1P2,p.75,96~P. As forthe grammar, noted common phrase ar pa adits
‘vara or maha, Hing of bygone times’ in which che construct states quaifed by an adverb.
‘more elaborate example ofthis syntactical pecliarisysdsplayedin an epithet of ASurasinpa I
asi l(a) ter-tanan “pal alo la ra-ns tti(aata) rabigal who conquered
‘rom the River Tigris to Mount Lebanon ad the Great Sea" Grayson, RIMA 2p 306, 4-6); see
GAG 18,188 ‘THE STANDARD BABYLONIAN EPIC
49, The LB manuserpc consis dhe reaing of MS g proposed ty W.G. Lamberg 1141,
RATS (1979),p.89,
45-6, Asthetextof Nimrud MS g stands, te vers ofboth lines ofthis couple are pra which
‘sungearmatia after mam or subjunctive, wih the relative pronoun omited by mistake (here
‘sno spaceto restore mu-nu i in MS. In the LBMSh there sno problem a 4S, where san-
‘an sinicative singular, but 46, unless one consirues KF subondinating conjunction, ib
{also plural or subjuncsive for no reason. The soluon is hat the text indeed defective, So
having dropped ouafter mann Thisis proved by an inscription of Esahaddon that adaptsl Sin
is correct form (Borger, Bar, p58, v 20-2): mare i eae Snan nama ona frat
‘vn is there tat can be compared with mein King stars” MS hs soma pecably arose from
aseribe's desire to adjust the grammar of 45 inthe absence of the relative pronoun, a cretion
‘ac as noc prosecuted into 46.
47. The new copy of MS confirms thatthe penultimate word is na-bu Ge. mo), not Bip
(Wie). On voeaic endings in NA manuscripts that are eroacous by earer standards, see
(Chapee 9, te seaton on spelling su (2)
48. Theline eeppearsin SB IX St, which hs nominative diy as MS does here.
52. Inthe passage which gives Gilgame's il stasis if reasonable to presume thatthe
. 441-2; ARMIV 8,23; Bleicher, Newal 32,
40), Six cits asthe measure of Gigume’ strides equalto the lng ale, which about ih.
‘The useof diferent wording o expres the same thing, 6 ammatas agains mii nnd ook Hea
slic device (elegant variation’ The measurement of Gilgame!’s sre, a east double the
‘conventional orm of Babylonia, where the pura ‘pace’ was unitof lng equivalent wo three
cubis. aman’s longest stride (See Powel, RLAVI,p 476;H, Hunger, Uruk 102, 1: 2 puer=
be ga-racs4 pred nindan, [2] sides = 1 reed, sides (trod),
58. The word alana is not previously known in reference to pat ofthe body. Tourmay and
‘Shaffer pus suggest shar vis the thumb, storing 5 (abana)
60, The stration fellows]. 07, where the same verse describes aki The image audesto
‘the‘hairy’ ear of ripe bare. Nssaba, the odes of gain had hairof ane is thik heaves,
785
according to Gusa, Cyl Aiv 24/21: gh karadin nak proving on her head sheases
were ranged. remains uncertain whether ince’ 2od description texts’ LKA TD rev 10: NIAC
in ma-suand KAR 307 cI] aca gnvmatey, one should restore )issaba(S.AGX) =
ical ginmass, ei of his heads haley’, or Snig(oaD NAGA) = Bina gimmasr, "he ha of
his ead is tamarisk’ (rieabu: B. Landsberge, YO 1 (1950), p. 363 fa. 18; CAD, p.273; Q,.
253; mc: Ta, pp. 31 and 47; Livingstone, Mtl Works, p. 94 i, Cur Poetry, pp. 98-9).
“Livingstone states a preference for ims on grounds ofthe space avaablefor restoration in LKA 72
(Gee Monta! Wonks, pp. 98-9), bur there ise wo choose bewween (ENJaca (or N]AcA) and
[abla Norealso,inasynretistichymn which equates parts of Ninur'sbody with ather gods
(AR 102,10): gin-mar-a't..]j the air of your head isthe goddess) [Nissaba)]
61. The sign before at on MS ¢, can hardly be anything bt a but reading [in] pal ai,
“inthe presence of his bre’ js mos unlikely. Bven i eewhere on this MS nais writen zt
‘sdicutto escape na ia Touray and Shaffer prefered to avoid nay restoring fit }ha-
‘-, bu lther way the infinitive appear to he an excepional, pete form, taken over from an
(OB ersionofteepicandnot brought up 0 date Attheendoftheline there may beroom formore
shan sta
(64, The wave after ras well as the gender of fap rles out dal li. Animage very close to
the one sen in his ine ist be found in the Gula Hymn of Bulss-rabi, wre Ningire is
Aeseribed as rei mu gu r--,n w ul ving chase, head held hh’ (WG. Lam=
‘ert, Ors 3 (1967),p.116,29)
65 82. The line car be taken to read the onslaught of his weapons has no equa’ and most
rranltors ae content to render cus. I this makes awiowardsense—can an infinitive have a
rival>—shen ek canbe understood a a eatve with Gigamet the subject of fi Ln SB Gilgsmet
‘his sa desperate measure, however.The option preferred here 1o spi theline nto two separate
clauses. For 2 Kab, "his weapons are athe ready of. Bera 45: amu ex-su eb Bake
‘athe wereina fry ands her weapons were ready fer action ;andSargon fa a-naium-
(qunavkir na haba), whose weaponsare made ready w bring down the enemy"
(Fuchs, Sago, p62, 11-12)-The encltic-mahereanached othe object the vere probably
‘otcoordinatve bu serves instead wo stress the campleteabsence of ral compare malo
in 108, which epors acer negative sae
166. Comparison with 83, alongside MS Fs puab-Au Charly pu-uh-h-(), suggests tht pu
loki dunn the LB manuscript very likely derives from amiseading (or mishearingin asto-
Aiton) of pub eure (ef. von Soden, ZA 53, p, 221; Tay angus for the opposite)
‘Analisis of publi ths pasuge has not ielded consensus. Some modern commenti tke it
2s the infinitive pug, "Yo stand wait on (folowing B.Landsberger, WZZKM 6 (1960),p 125,
fn 49), whl ocers derive it fom She pubtu which spate with mekAd in the Sumerian tle of|
Bilgames andthe Nesherwod adits wanslson, SB XI (for these plyshings ee the commentary
‘below, on SB XI 1) Tiny goes so far aso stare categorically thatthe wordin SB Tis nthe noun
‘ubbt the ver pau and that the" Abkadian epic preserved the motif abletic competion ia
‘his episode, ur roically,misundersood the woul which siodat the center ofthat pisode
‘nthe original [Sumerian tex (Evolution pp. 190-1). Theres no proof whatsoever thatelther con
‘ention iso. Indesd the word i the Kune manuscript is wren pur, which inthe con
‘ventional orthograpyof the period would be most unusual for ugg though nt ene without
paral.
re words pba nor pues the question then how does ein with the arousal, abi
‘ion or excitation (alae possibly wih sb and Bub) of Games companions? Tae vo transl786 ‘THE STANDARD BABYLONIAN EPIC
torewho uke publ hl diferon this point Jacobsen ender thine ‘the young men aecalled
up, sway from th puck of thee game)’ commenting the effet tha they ae calle wy from
thei play in order co perform eorvée wrk (Sauder Moray, p. 234, f. 7)-J. Klein translates “on
sccouat of his ball game his companions are (constant) aroused’ andater‘his companions ae
aroused by his pub (Jacoben om. 18h pp. 196-9), Ksin sees to me o be nearer he mari The
subject ofthe verb, ru to specific to refer tothe considerable body of men who would be
Called up fr publ service thse are «zt Tse are nt is the menfok of Urukin geneva but
Gilgamess close companions (cf. B. Foster, Enays Popp. 24). The eubhu which keeps them in &
state of perpeul activi is pars prota symbol of engagement in athe nd sporting contest.
67 88, ‘The present form etsad-da (for ited 67 looks superior 0 the ne variant
bund (fo wr 184) or tense agrees with the other vers in his passage Copa,
soma, adn. The ening hires assured from MS hab fet read by W. R. Mayer (VAS
‘XIV. 13)The word uit rare and obscure, occuring outside this ine nly in lexical and
‘omen texts In omens it appears inthe epodosisa a nepadve comment (¢gLebuVI6: ack sa-
xrod-da(adj tsk, you must wei’. pu off an plans at later, and inthe potas the
designation of what mustbeaninauspiciouspartof the ext. Commentaries on hee text calect-
‘inthe diedonares 2, equate ir with dsagreement (5 mgr lack of prudence (1 miata)
nd behaviour inappropriate te one position (1552)
169/185. Theadverb ri whichis atest here fo the fstime, perfectly describes the violence
‘which atends Gipame’s behavior
70, ‘Thebrokensign begins ike lz peshaps i Since thiss probably the sameness. 88 4).
Tuga can be proposed as appropriate The hero i alko Gin frrin SB 1X53 130.
71. Thisline appears tobe the amet | 87, but thera on MS d, before Sinoduces an le
‘ent of doubt. tis nota well-writen ma, nor good spac looks more edi
734, Thiscoupletemains ery potly preserved Itappearsto be narrative, deseibing how he
‘women begin complaining othe gos Their compari arcuate in, 75-6, inesthat devel-
op the dieme of Gitgame!s misconduct narrated in. 67-72. Towards the endo. 74 perhaps eed
‘er heir complain?) has become unruly
"7, The races that fll mada MS x eppearto be the remains of signs that have been pally
craic
78, ‘Therehasbeen some cscusionaboutthesgnifcanc of thew here ofthe) stem of ee
FForvon Soden the stem conveys careful attention on behalf ofthe listens (fe. 1212,gen8
‘aha’, For Oppeneim it denoted the eventual eazation ofthe acon (Ors 17 (1948) p22,
{n.9). For Foster itis‘ device to epresens speaking oe perception vera res cstance, xpesaly
‘bemeen heaven and eat (says Popp. 26, wih reference ago to SB 4248 and VU 133). The
fansner may le inthe use in this episode ofthe presen tease fr recurring action (eee MP Steck,
(Orws 64 (1995) p41). Hach time the women complained, the goddestes listened to what they had
to say The complaint being regular and repeated, the erate stem ie sable forthe divine
response. When, ental the narrate maves from clcumstance to acon, the preterit is
sed (94, ii) flloed bya succession of perfec. However, chis explanation does na expltin
the use of dhel/3 sem in danas (SB IV 195 VU 13), where repetition of Suna interven
insists ual,
“The ver require a plural subject bur there not enough space to accommodate plural deer-
minasve on “15. The lack oft may not bean orersigh The same phenomenon occurs in & LB
ranoscript of Mis pl ME: i (dingi)™ "15 (EN, H.Al-Rawi and George, Ir 57(1985).p.225,
9. These are many other occasions when eppareny singular spelings of sans ‘goddes’, are
CRITICAL AND PHILOLOGICAL NOTES: TABLET 1 787
paired with plural ‘gods’ and ths seem alo to stand for puraiy. The folowing passages
tsoplyilusoace this convention: digi u ‘zr (Borger, Ear, p. 23,9, with var. “ar,
S08); nad par dngie™ w sar (id, 4S, 6)s [DNF] boomed ding) mul sar
(4. Livingstone, Court Poetry 20.1, 16-ABurbanipls Hymn to ABu:)sma-ha- [iu dngi.dngie.
‘eetar (FH Weisbach, Wa Bria, B vii 4-2; PBS XLV 79 65; NBN) sn Balen) ding
‘ear (CT 34 27,42; NOB); ama Gingi™ 0 sn] gino esarap-puc (V R 63 16; No).
Plural zs lio sometimes writen wi ut ding asin Lda SS (aru Fr the king eth of
the gods’, spelled variously digi, ding and dings ding). Tae reverse can also occus, ie
ingle" forthe singular (e below on SB 1136-)
(Other writings indicat that a formally mascoline pra ar ens alongside Sarit: polah
ingle a*-s0-i(TCLIIL Sea W. Mayer, MDOG 115 (1983),p. 78:Sargon Th Borger, Ez.
1.97, 35) Pai 600 dingo wor (E, Bosing, Ors 17 (1948), pL.26 (lows p. 272), 9,
‘4. BPongrat-Leiten, Jn Sub Trap. 244, ce. 9 Exataon of Nabi} “--1600 angio
“nr (Livingstone, Caurt Poy 20.2, 30:ABubanipasAcrssc Hymn to Marduk iar
fn}, 36). Note aso the existence ofa plural frm ard pare with ini (ST 45,9: tani.
(On tis evidence would appear thatthe spelings “or and Sur are, in eet, lgographic,
standing for Starvand (by homophons?) fara if moto for Shady and Stan Ina nor on the
second passage cited inthe previous paragraph, Borger offered lhl diferent solution, repeat-
fing the od view of FDeiose arts) kann auch alee “Ginnen”bedeuten’ (Eth p45).
Inhiestedyon the ‘Assyrian’ Tee of Lif’ S.Parpoahes inferred the contrary rom these splines,
‘tat tere was nf, only one, not sever Teale” desl the oddest being subsumed in
[bars person (NES 52 (1993),p. 187, {2.97}. Whichever isthe corretiterpetation there seems
‘oreason why the speling"1S should notalso be usedin the same manner as -arand iui for
a plural of godess
79. The expression 6 itr seems unavoldaie in the igh f the new source, MS xThe word
hse iso be compares wth te te in 96 and 100, where signifies anien or initiative The
pitts probly tobe understood asareerence othe fact that he gods of heaven, his
‘evi he lig ae thoe that can exeriseinitaivein the divine assembis une the dees con
fined inthe Netherworld, As such, they are perhaps wader an obligation, once the complain of se
fatkof Uruk has been renertd to them, todo somethin to relieve the probe. Accordingly They
‘bring the complaint to he attention of thehighest powers.
‘80, Thislinoughtto marae the action taken by the gods ofthe previous ine Since 81-91 are
speech, addressed oa singe perso, in all roby to Anu (see below on 98), some conven
‘onal expression of adress is expect: The last word mightius readin eu they the pods)
calle uo him (Anu but for the moment theextant aces hee and at the bepnning of thei
(vhere‘jn-lifis one posibiliy) defy eran deipherment
81, Forthesuessed encltic main quessions se GAG" 5123.
84 The spelingut-a-dris ambiguous Itakeit as peeect subject Giga, bu given the
‘variant adderi in, 67,femay ao be parsed at I? preterit, subject et (then renders
‘bisyiabl). Nether tense goes wel ina passage replete sith esi the psent.
88, Probab a repetition of. 70. The restoration of mi raps encourage bythe feminine
plural potessve inthe nexe line (or np, umerous, teeming’ ee below the commentary 08 SB
‘VIN9-10) Such restoration makes aparcplesuchas matt, muSlin or marty in the
missing mide ofthe ne unless we ead barely a i rapt.
93. Thesubject ofthis line must be singular The speck made to te moter godess in. 95-8
ae ceranly the words of Amu, since they are describe in 1003 kr a Ani The facta there78
‘so ine introducing Anus the speaker of.95-8makesit very dificult avoid restoring him here
‘asthe one who ste (em 13,35 nL. 78) othe preceding speech.
94, With this ine, whichals occusin MB ippus; (1 5),compare OB Atram-asls192b4a-
«am ied iio, they summoned the goddess and asked head SB Anza [172s ma
bee IP™ achat it aba], ney summoned BELA, the sister of (he great gods) both nee
follow a spech of Ba. Theline of Gilgamed may bes conscious imitation of Atra-hasi forthe con-
‘teat there smart the present passage: the mother ges is summoned sole by an act of
‘reaton inthat case of mankind genera acriis marked by the mutiny of thelowe onder inst
‘their king, in that cese the Ig revolt agunst Ell (fora deuaes comparison been thereapec-
sive passage of he so tex abe Tiga, Beolcion pp. 194~7). The background of Arun's epithet
“great one’isthat she sas ancient asthe univers ise ee the note on MB Nippur 1
95, Therestortion folios MB Nippur, 7-The nes lmosidesicaloonein a SB account of
the creation of mankind and the king: at--ma a.s-ma l!a-me-l, yout that created man,
(aow fashion the ing)” CW. R. Mayer, FNS 56 (1987), p. $6,321,
96. ‘The word siti his and ote lines of the SB text (SBT 100,212) staken by many
(otowing Oppenheim, Ors 17,p.23; CAD 7, p. 116), to mean image, counterpart replica’ and
‘he sli to refer to Gieumes‘eeate his image” Though this makes god sens, ac provides
sai (or mar with an explcc subject, its not widhour problems, The phrase sila Band inthe
‘other passages of Ggames cited and eshere 0 (CT 15 46 ee. 1: Deseent of lar), simply
‘means to make the word flesh, i.e. o convert an dea or spoken naive into reat. the phrase
instr isunderstoo inthis wat should be rarlaed‘makehisiden. realty!” But whose idea?
1.100 the stra is ented as Ann's, and von Soden and others have tensa the phrase
sccordingly (Recar’etwas er belch, Wilcke: ‘was er (= Anu) sag’ Botto:‘ce qu(Anu) te
‘ctr They implicy ascribe the speech of 95-8, in which direct nstractions ae given to
Anumi, tthe unspecified pura subject of din @. 94), Lethe gods in general, However, ME
[Nippar, reveals ht one god only sues the command to Aru (6: e2aggar). Accordingly itis
robeble that An mses speaking in thisline and therefore the did person referent ofthe pos-
sessve pronoun on zi canno be him but must instead be whatever god twas who made the
pial suggestion, [suspect that this igure as a. is one of Eas characteristic functions solve
crises by susgesting the creation of new life-forms, she doesn Atcahase and related texts, orby
‘reatng them himsel 2s inthe Descent of ar He lone amoag the gods has he imagination to
‘conceive ingenious ides of tiki. As set then, na divine assembly consenedto debate the
criss Ea made his customary inervetion i suggesting ow the problem cou best be solved,
‘Acura yas brought on and Anu (in MS m El) sue her wih istration ‘comet Ease int
‘eal! The question x waste line sll so understood when al reference othe god who had the
Intl dea had been edited out ofthe text?
‘That Ea was instrumentalinthe creation of Enkiduhas aleady been proposed on other grounds
by Boro apd, p69. 1, who sees reference to such anidea nthe iting fis ane inthe
‘SB ext as Eni: “Eaki a cxté" (6 alo 5, Parpoa, SAA IX, p xcs, CRRA 43, p 318).
Daley hes drawn aentonto an improbable pay on zl andi), man, tale’ (Myth 126,
9%,
97, As Bketing nods aswell as maf one may lo read mail (4f08,p. 226).
100, Cf. bore, on |. 96,There sa parle ine in Anz 157: ina waa dtni na BEG
‘where wana stems to correspond to this ine's sca fashioned a clever idea) in his heat
‘Kovacs proposes a play on sir Sa nm and ap Sa Anim, the phrase that frees Enkid’s
‘coming I. 248 and 262, Dale's suggestion that sauder ao osm, among eat personnel
CRITICAL AND PHILOLOGICAL NOTES: TABLET I 789
of uncerttin sexu affinities’ (Myr p. 126, 10),makes assumptions abou theater word which
seem tobe unfounded, The feminine adjective soba, ‘losed of, refers to women who Ive in
sechision, whether as devotees of «deity or royal concubines inthe harem, The masculine oly
occur in logographicspelings of sere (isk. et) and may have exited aa lexical
atsvacton only. Babylonian men didnot find themselves cloistered ofr ge Ino and even if
‘word see was recognizable a5 a counterpart of sekeaitsdoubifl that could seal ave
conveyed the idea ofa male concubine
102-3. These wo line are one of only two quotations from Gilgamet known fom commen-
‘ares (the others SBV1 69) They are quoted ina commentary on the prognastic and diagnostic
text Saliba, state received wisdom that man tmade from lay (George, RASS (1991),
146,245 sbi sishar pice dhtma riled): ma psriledin) Momkid beef ger
‘For the phrase ira hard sce. R. Mayer, Ors 56 (1987), p82
104. Most commentatars fellow von Sode’s emphasis of gas the quiet of night (ZA 33,
222:'(Nacht)- Stile’. Ebling, 4/0 8, p. 27). Odhers have avoided this reading by emening to
aL, with CAD K,p.506 Cosfpring of poesia’). [prefer not oemend, but L donot see
‘ahy Enki shouldbe the offspring of the quiet oF night ak aaint ay other parof the day Forme
‘he referenceis instead to Enkidu’s superatua bir, He was no: delivered ino the wodd through
‘he uaa ouman mother sence, not screams, atendedhisarivalon he earth The apparent
‘slants death’ for elvis arnechaical err based onthe misreading of quand need fu
ther exegesis The phrase ise Ninarza makes several allusions. Fit, vas a description of per=
son evoesin comparison personal names such 2s Kisr-DN,D-ugtrtu-ngranni nd DNs.
‘The dictionaries interpret his we of ia, "kno, bonding’ and ass, to kno, together as
refering othe support or szengthening ofthe individual by a godchis frm i bonded andconsol-
‘date into a something steong and lasting, ike a wal ofbrick As the champion ofthe god and the
‘epitome ofthe young hea, Nnurais. god associated with succes ets farms, parila
Single combat witha mighty iva eg Ani, Asabhu). Fkidu whose physical being hasbeen given
cohesion by Ninur, wil be the champion ofthe people of Uruk and wil eet with Gigames in
Single combat. Ia AVI Ninurt is lo for some reason especialy aeocatd with gai silence?
(CT 2441, 65:Sinsusnak=nn-uria gua) reference which place the phe ili gah and
‘sr Nien a neal synonymous relation Thelar expression also anticipate th hi anim
hatsymbolies Enkidin Gilgameds dreams.
106, The variant for uppsin MS h (hardy muppu) is mystifying. The form pret trary for
pl oecuts inte tats rectus only here and in SB IL 176; ee farther Chapter 9, the section on
Language and syle ub
107. This tine has ateady been used to describe Gilgarné (SB 10)
108, Adhough Isetain the conventional acerpretatin that the use of Ein a main clase repee-
sents emphatic negation (Uberhauptsich GAG?§1224) this line where itmight havethe force
‘not yet as suggested by M Sto, OB Hiss. 53, f. 30 teeing «9 OBIL93),
‘The words nit people fms’ and miu, "nation’, denote the smaller and greater socal groups
‘hom which de Snviual takes his demi. The variant "god or ‘gc’ forthe former ries the
‘question of whether they were held ia any was t0 be synonymoxs In some peripheral areas of|
‘Mesopotamia, notably Emar and Nual inthe second milesnium, the ww concepts ae coslycan-
ected in the context ofthe ancestor cls, fr the household gods (dy) are mentioned slongside
family ancestors refered "dead persons (wt) and ghosts (tama), Some equate the zee
term (se K van der Toor, ‘Gods and ancestors in Emat and Nua, 74 84 (1998), p, 38-59);
‘thers donot (See WT Ptard, Care ofthe dead at Ear’ and B.B Schmit, "The gods andthe dead730 ‘THE STANDARD BABYLONIAN EPIC
ofthe domestic cult at Emr a reasessmen’ both in M.W Chavales (4), Bar pp. 123-40,
141-63). In Babylonia proper the evidence for defied ancestors is patch AC leas wo deseased
enccpriestessesofUr were included by thos in change ofthe offerings among the aoe gods of the
‘oon go's suncruary (see P Weadock, rag 37 (1975), . 104), This stineson was no doubt
seconded them not because they were dead but because they had been in some sense, the brides of
‘Nanna-Suen (theuse ofthe divin detezminativeby bngs who had besn husband’ of iano, from
Solg to Rin-Sin and he presence of much the sume kings in Stee of ead goes in ater clic
laments such as Bdimawsaga are exactly analogous). Many dead Mesopotamian Kings were the
‘objet of special funerary cuts, and thovgh they di not usally aac he term i tei statues
‘were offen venerated, bathed and provisioned in tha context much at gods stacues were (for a
résumé see W.W. Hallo Royal ancestor worship inthe biblical word, Stade Tamon pp. 387-59)
‘An example of tv used in reference to deceased royal ancestors canbe found ina insertion of
Asbrbanipal which reports he kings estoraon of fonerary offerings tothe pots of his pede-
cexssors ana ding) we-meduson ana mis)" alia) baa pe) ed
#8 Zavourto go and man, othe dead and he ving’ (TG. Paches Tx inthe Babylonian Wide
Writing . 17, rev. 3, ef. Sueck, As, p. 250), Ordinary Eabylonians made funerary offerings
(es) to hr immedite ancestors but here ia yet evidence that these col be called gods
‘they may have been in Nuzi an Emar (6s M, Baylis, "The cul of dead kin in Aria an Baby
lena’ ag 35 (1973), pp. 115-25;, Tsukimoto, Unusuchurgo eur Tense ipu im ale
‘Meopotanien) Mowever, some have suggested that vin personal names snes refers tothe
spirit ofa deceased fay member (Stamm, Naxos, pp 245, 2845 CAD Up. 102; Bayliss,
‘ray 35,p. 117, a 19) This and the question of te relationship of dead ancestorso personal gods
and protective dies such asthe Sd are topics that eed futher investigation For this reason tis
‘est forthe momento allow thatthe varianss gods and Yay in this ine may be arbitrary and
sweated
108. For the reading of “oi a Sabkan see W. G, Lamber, “The reading of the divine mame
Sabian’, Ors 55 (1986), pp. 152-8.Ciad ina garment ike Sabian’? means simply wearing only
‘he iy coat that Nature ad given him, asi all he creates of Sakkan, thelor ofthe animals.
110,117. Themenson of Satan in the preceding line paves the way or gzelles inthis, or
‘hse animals are the typical bass of akan (ef, C2946, 13:"*ingir ™* dh Saban =the
od of guzel.
1111176. The verb of thislne used to be ead dap, supposedly te I! intransitive tem of
appara wich in egal documents from Blam means ‘10 satis" (CAD D,p. 10; M 388) oF
‘iapper (AP. 1380, Deurung unsicher). More receny W. L. Moran has suggested a verb
dbp (fo psn, become aggresive" (FCS 3 (1981p. 4, 0.3) However the speling =
‘opi wed inthe Late Babylonian sources ia the parallel passages (SB 176, MS 35281,MS 8)
sugges instead given that a present tense is expected verb repr Wl or epru 12 (ef aleady
YER Mayer, ”ASXAIV p. 13). In MB Ur 28 the precatve Spr ight be the same ver with
‘vooe rst radial Whateveris desivaon the meanings determinedby suse describe animals
‘thronging aa waterhoe, as here, and a crowd gathering to stare at Enis (SB 1253 1281
105), Elsewhere MS P replies tppir with sah dens’ (I 176 and, probes, 172), which
‘suggests an unimaginative editorial change made inthe face ofan obscure word,
112)/177, The verb oft nei aio an objet of doubt Theol reading sb was emended to
‘ah, presen co match the other vers ofthe passage, by won Soden, ZA 53, p 222. This revision
failed to take account of MS Fs --bv in SB1 173, paral to thie line This paling of preterit fb
fan be explained as an example of CV-CV for CVC; others in Kvyunik manuscript of SB
CRITICAL AND PHILOLOGICAL NOTES: TARLED 1 mm
GGilgumes are Ist in Chaper 9, the section on Spang sub (@). A present ventive sib i
theoreti ossble—forvensves spelled with see Chapter 9, the section on Spel sub (8) —
bot know of no other example of bu inthe vente, The derivation ofthe forms speed band
du from etuie now challenged the Late Babylonian source's pr pin the paral! passage
177,MSx). Mayer, MASXOV, p13, suggests a parsing from she own ver dZpyo bow’ but
inssene argues agains thie The spelings of MSS Fandxsuggesta mile weak ver, or wisyab-
ic orthographics exhibiting fal, overhanging” vowels often spel forms of middie weak vers in
[NAL NB and later ontogeaphya alo other words that in eater grammar would end witha y=
[that was bothlong an cored, Apa from :ibthere ae the verbs dp and pu hich havea
do wih weaving an are pail als ou of contention; pu and yu are unatested. This being
so,the principal obstcieto the adkionl parsing isthe sign pin MS ,foriteannot usually express
‘he consonant bh. Confusion besten and ararisen LB speling, however-noteinhis book,
‘SBV 294 naf-i (MS dd) foe nakpa Consequently itis unwise to place too muchweighton oneLB.
‘manuscript, For the moment MS xs -D1-pi shoud be considered, lke MS P's rs, 10 bea
sling of
114, Preposional phrases involving p+ water have often proved award fortanlators
BR Foner, ANES 14(1982),p.33:(ithes edge) A calecdon ofthe extant atesatons sue
‘hat such phases mean no more thun“onto the bank(shore of, beside a rive, seaetesseeeg. SB
‘AaisisV71 (ed. Geonge and AL-Rawi, ag 5S (1986), p. 182): anz pu-ut mii) ia-b, e
sat down beside (no facing) the rive’ replacing older pute navi (OB Atcam-hasls i 265k
[Assyrian recension S32)in OAKK inscriptions of Sargon (Frayne, RIME2,p, 28,8 /8-10)sa--
‘a put sha-amti Fras the Sea shor |/zag ab ba ka. tothe edgeo these, and Nac
Sin Gi. p91, 12-13): a-na put Burana ‘othe bank of the Bupha’ (Bid p. 133, it
9-1) eumema petbaranand, rom thebank ofthe Euphrates’ an, correctly transcribed in
‘Assyrian oy iserpons of Takul-Ninurta It (Grayeon, RIMA 2, p. 175,83): a Sadie) tx
piesa) “pwn the mountains beside the Euphrates ASureaipal H(i, p. 286, 29):2-
ea ping) “paca a-as-a, marched 1 the bank of the Bupha’ (bid, p.215, 40-1) "i=
ser a plea) pusrae ips *he ook 1 Mr Bisur, which s beste the Euphrates and
‘Salaneser (Greyson, RIMA3,p. $6,210: ping - ailara al) a-or mcsa-
12 ml anh went to the ede of the source ofthe Tavis the slace where the waters low
ea
In the Anyrian inserpons there is noticeable contrast between pt and Sd ee eg. in
“ASsaraysal I (Grayson, IMA 2p. 198, 7): 5-dfa-bur aa-bat, Tmatched along the Rivet
Habu (bid ,p.218, 84) fa ™lab navn ab, Tmarched along the Lebanon range’ (bid.
219, 96) 5-4 pu raots ana eles! gbar(dab)™, T marched upstream along the Euphrates’
‘agreement withthe espctive meanings of pi short side’ an Rs, "og ie’ ems that pt
‘ured whenthe subject encounters the river or sea asa shor seth, ida when he subject ravels
Alongside itforalong stretch.
117, Some appear to ake tl nero describe he wapper going home with his hau! of games
‘others leave ambi. However, he pronoun 5 (no ater restoration seems obvious) probably
‘marks change of subject, ae else in SB Gilgames (eg 1272, 18]sef in SBI LAS 168)
"The transation in CAD Bp. 29, ne (Enki) and his animals baditradedint his ihe hunter)
gon’ grees, buts oo contzved to convince. Enid and his herd leave she water-ole and head
ar home; leaving he stonished wapperfozeain treo (60 already Schot, 24 42 (1934) p97)
‘The om bit eit thus @simple metaphor.
17-18. Theserwo ines ervetobighlight the frequent sin poetry fence aoa verbsthat72 THE STANDARD BABYLONIAN EPIC
have no obviows ued of coordination. Ate end ofa couple (a fam-na) ence -ma canst nor=
mally serv fr coordination fora sentence very rarely extends over che boundary between oU-
lets, Artheend of line containing verb (as igi-ma} ts also questionable whether coordination
isintende, formainclasesin diferent ines usualy exhibit symacel dependence Ther are
‘exceptions, for example SB X1207-8: niente Ks manna if pabharaton-ma| bala Sa
i td ec, where there i a consecutive raonship (0 that). However, most line, and
specially couplets, display syntactical autonomy: There re many other instances of -ma where no
cwordinason i probable: OBI 6 sini?) -ma, 64 alldi-ms, 162 gab-ma, 177 rub, 179
fssisanma, 197 mations, 212 idem, 227 dem, OB IL 106 Edema, 172 H-ma), 188
uswoms, 201 nema, OB Schayen 11 arms 13. e2ayganinema, 27m, SB Taba,
OB Nippur i eppason-mo, OB Harmal 1 lem, OB Ihchal 1 nlabhan-ms, 26" nies, OB
VABM i 12" autlomem, 4° ema 21 aime, ik 22 errioma, i 26 lems, MB
[Nippun 2 (mo, MB Ur 42 audtom-ma, MB Eman i 2428 32 trani-mayi 32 ation,
[MB Boga vi 11 dina, B11 sahara 32 ahem 140 162 urea 167 rena] 178
uriuoma, 1 185 ep ma 192 Tpsucma, 281 srdmvoma, I 247 sini, 1268) 291,
‘aahm-m,1 295 limgutn-ma, L297 lama, 161 [inin-ma, I 100 itaxie-noy 113
‘gabe Cf 1 19 gab, probebly coordinated with ia 223 et, deme, 267
irbam-ma 1287 tba, 1300 mse, T32 Hina, TV 26 aidan IV 40 Hm, LV 3
19881171 Fputatin-ma, probably TV 90 173 wide IV 107 falda ma), EV 194 me
‘maV 137 iettiomoma,V 175 aati 190,230,246) nema 295 Fm, IS pram
smaV18 gilanema V1 48, 51, 53, 58, 64 tarima,VL7S tami-mVI 77 ema, VI 98
nama, L113 nema, \T119f 12 123 ppetema.VI LA Gidamma,V1 142 sbasema, VL
31 sk ma,VI 154 nema, V1 160 sma va. palin ma, VI 180 ual-ma (MS QV 140 end
141 uSha-ma, VI 148 ina, VIL 183 is-ma VT 189 obi-ma, VIE S9 hs VIL 84-5
wla-ma, VIL 215 uyionma, EX 161 144 . namdnia-ma,X 10 inatiem-ma, X70 187
1287 anelan-ma, X75 dima} 152 Sdnamea X 172 uaa, X 189 iam, X 320
‘Bln XT 2 anaalahn-ma, XS mama, X119 tama, X122 fines X127 fale XL39
‘strani-ma, XI Sepagi-ma, XI $7 Zuramema, X195Hmma, XI 9 itamam-my XU 119
erm, X1122 aphnm, XE149 152 p-o-am-ma, XT 195 Sarma, XI 180 dem, XE 199 lam
‘ma, X1205 i ab-m XT210 arma, XI 253 bili-ma 262 ila, XL 303 mura X1315
nama X1321 iad ma, XU 87 58 iguana, XIL1SI alilma (MS). Alar verbe
of clauses where the end ofthe clase coincides withthe endoftheline oa coupletand where co0t
ination withthe folowing line sts either unlikely or unnecessary. Other explanitions mast be
‘souphtfor example, (a imitng vero to subject Ea alone knows (XI 180 dem), (6) tempor
“hen fly” (V1.5 teprarem, X 172 idudam-ma),(¢) modal ewse’ (132 dak ma, probably
slsoV1 48 ec. nfm) When none ofthese explanations is adespate one admits defeat with won
‘Soden who surrendered with he terse observation ‘cb 2 unk” (len 570). Thisis an inad-
‘uate esponse but fics ce current staeof knowiedge Serious research s needed to elucidate
the fl role of ain poetry.
119. Restore pechaps (muro [im
120-1, Thiscoupletis standard in SB GiigameS appearing ako in SB X (9-10, 42-3, [49-50],
115-16, 122-3, 215-16, 222-3), For urba rjarigetaalduapd on its own Se also above, on
‘SBI9.Innone ofthese passagesis wu construed a masculine consequent the speling re-
stands for fem, sing it (or the use of a CV:sign to express VC in Kuyunik manuscripts of
GGigames see Chaps 8, he section on Spelng sub 2)-"The mpeling nga-tV observed in other
peste tslags hex owedfor erry fle ae Chapter, he xecionon Language and
mien
"2. Tish recon SB Giga of henge of te connon ery Formule or
tnuocing diet prc Forth sae se hope thenoteon OB S-2
123-33, Retoratonsnt mated queorabieert resoed fom repent is peck
int 150-4
1245 151-2. Tiina stock ole recuring ain 1209-70, 2923 and 1162-3.The
second ne ed on omnia SB 197 ad I, The side need Se concee of be
“Sum ofA’ eso mater othe sy wi fro endowet wh spetaman
sent SBT, wee ero Gane a Gages ean tng Aa
Gent meters andaybotc of nds (eSB 124), Meteor of ors wee impor
tant source god-quty ionin the one Age, Teel erin f hae mel epic
the Suman poem of Lunn, whet ew igh me deed inte ling
passage:
‘wt siinnanihibiannafuimmaan ti
sirdrsakanianbarsi.imimmadari
Lugsbenda Epic 358-9, text after LJ
Vanstphoutin|-Prseck nelical Lif the
Anson Near Bast (CRRA 83; Prague, 1995), ~.411
“He tookupin his hand his xe—its metal was‘of heaven’
be grasped his dagger (worn a the tight was of ton.
‘Te erm sn. nahere canary be, whichis useless fran axeshead eather, ban na isa
‘rary creumloction fr the nex fin’ ion (Towing Vanstphout, CRRA 43,p.399).The equa-
tion of the Slump” of Anu with meteoric ion, so much stronger than bronze explains is usin
Gagamet SB Las synbol sinihing great strength.
For hr denoting a crade limp of unviovked meal now koh parci'alump of ron in
broken context the Fable of the Fox (Lamber, BIL p. 206,85), which may welleferto mete-
cron in its condition for iru with other motlssee CADK, p.441snotethat the sie Mra
edprithere ted wih reference a metorin an astrological reports now read Bima dpa: see
‘SAAYIIE 305 rev. 2). The urage Kir nit reminiscent othe coinage Kf for he bedrock of
‘mounting and may be witness to the bel vat de furthest heavens were made in part of ard,
stony materia (forthe sony heaves se further Livingstone, Mrz rks, p. 86; Horowiz,
(Gasmie Geography, 263). Bewhere Bear isthe hr of the heavens (BAM 237i 20 i gbu Sa
ani! sither becuse et planet as envisaged as alump ofcelestial solid mamcro less pertinent,
ocause she was sired by Ano
17. The restoration s suggested by W110 175
1291/16. beng affad do not go near hime hunter’ fear may ether be circumstantial,
‘ois inaiity wo approach Enkidu ort may lead rit. On these aleratve renderings of sie +
‘ma flowed bythe presen see Lambert, BL p.309, the further eferences cited in GAG? 61598
and, on thisline, Strede Orn 68 (1995),p.72.
131//158. Theceisnotenovsh room for Thompson's uF{ari-ry). For fund, Yolay oust
(raps cf. sa-pord Sucparrucr ana on-b Semel er nets spread out ad ready forthe704 ‘THE STANDARD BABYLONIAN BPIC
enemy’ (R, C. Thompson, 44420 (1933),p1 9, Ssh); ft donigtin® ar s-at para. ks
Suri the tacky net is etched ou, the sare are set for you” (STT 215 18] CAD
NJ, p.206; Hubs incantation). The word adel wing is uniquely used in thine an ins
‘epesion (158); presumably it describes amet shaped Ske a wig (see further the discussion of.
‘on der Osen-Sacken, MDOG 123 (1991), pp. 140-1),
136, For ail sr see below on. 165.
138, Thetineis esored afer 148, which eas the old man's advice se narra,
140-5. Restorations are taken ftom the parallel passage, 162-6, where there is Rowever, no
epetion of at
145,/ 168. ‘The cali -ma atached tothe final word ofa clause ether esses that word (cL
65 above) or coordinates the ro causes. In this case Thave assumed the later. Clear examples a
the ARlaian GigameS of coordinative -maatached the lst word af the classe where that word is
ota veh are OB If 104 ba ma pi iar, 29th evalua nase, OBI 72 |
75 ain basa mar?) Sdn MB Ena i27 ane ina [gi] a Aap SB 143
16 its iabatama ied hucuba, 60 ap iharbr-ma ab whale, VL 15S ii
alana ana pat N17 (abhi mata Laima rapper) (contrast VO9|aliabi-
‘ma maiokMabbi(m-ma) erappud sn), VII 8 pu ibauoma wl nab mda, 43 raat
Pads iras om i, IX 7 iba nb ma igrub maharSum IX3 140. opel
malian X 18 wag sugasm eak{an() piu), X 160 166 evi ri ana gii=
‘ma pari. sa kia), XL 25 mur mar ea nap (paralel XI 26 maa sma
apa bli), X189 ena anal cloppin-ma pe ib ru ana BB leppin-ma ape BE,
X1137 apie mppatan-ma image dr api XI 185 karim arin am rn,
X1173 mar ppm eis EL X3 200 hat gsiyo-ma ln, X0.291 Se kammanma
fsa jX1298 al tama kamoma lak, XI 304 Sri ea ibin-ma naa Whether
such location ofthe ence pateleis determined by sie, mene or some other considerations a
question that has yet tobe sted
145! 166/187. As the line convensionalytansated itis the herd thats the subject,
‘ot Enki. Ifthe conventional rendering i flowed, hs selave clause seem inconsesuentil and
‘ut of place: the point ofthe story is that awd man grew up with the beasts, ot the other Way
sound. The animals inthe herd were Enki’ father and mother, nd hrosght him ip pac oft
(abba: SBVINS).
‘have translated te relative cause as a concessve as eewhere inthe SB epic 200, VI 4).
Conceive se of he rea pronouns especialy visible in royal inscriptions, where Lacan inuo-
duce an advecbial dependent cause (it's wo the fiche.) thaighlghts the contastbermeen
‘he achievements of aking’ predecessors and his oom: a tum da-ar St is arin kr max
‘sama arma-nam? i eblé ls winapi, ough fom time immemorial, the creation of
‘mankind, fal the Kings no king whatsoever had deszoyed Aron and Fa (Nergal gave them
‘to Narim-Sin'(UIET1275; I-10, ed, Frayne, RIME2, pp. 132); scxor oat a-lan mari
‘ho ie Saran ma- mavens Sib ma-ri* one t-om aif, though fons days of yore,
‘wen the god built Mai, no king at all who resided in Mari had reached the Mesterancan,
(Yabdun-Lim went tothe seashore) (Frayne, RIME 4.605, 34-7); au cum anti eu
“iii babar shan ki male arr aaa laa a orw-ma di ippaP a=
uci am-ma ‘though fom days of yore, ine the brickwork of E-babbar was fis created, of a
‘he Kings of old no king at all had done Samat bidding and bul for him the wall of Sipps,
‘Samsu-iuna, moulded its brickwork" Gi,» 377, 55-62). In OB letersi can ineroduce clauses
‘hich in moder languages would be prefaced by a vuiety of conjunctions, concessve (hove
CRITICAL AND PHILOLOGICAL NOTES: TABLET 1 75
*)and conoesive conditional eve if.) among them (ez, 488X190, 27; 106, 325160, 23).
[Notealgo ina NB ewer seat home by «man waveling abroad the reassurance na-bu-o-0lata-e-
1H" maa la tama “Even though You hear no news of me, 9ou must not stat WORYiNg
aboutme! (CT226,7-8).No doubt thorough search would yield many more examples
“The expression 2 cfenrenderedon his steppe’ or paraphrased awit himin the wi’,
‘tals ‘sous saute’ (Labat). follow a privat suggestion ofA. Shae, thal iin Game
simply means int) the precence of (seg. SBTI36, XTC already Jacobsen, ta Or8 (1930),
67a. 2s Botro: ‘avec hu)
148, Theprepsion ina should perhaps be emended to ana.
161, This ete fr instanceof theless common formula wed a SB Gilgames to introduce
rect speech which employs only abla; onthe use ofthe present tense in such formule see
‘Chapter 5, the note oa OB I
163, The spelingbu-Lam forthe nominasive ina Kuyunii ble (MSP) sa notably aberrant
“orthography bythe standards of eater grammar. For comparable spelings see Ch 9, the section
‘on Spelling sb O.
169, Thewordadann usualy sigs tn appointed or prearrangeiene (deadline) Heretic
evident used with reference wo an arranged point in space rather dan time The same usage may
‘ccurinthe Ani poem when th mother godess enjoins her son Nngirsutosetoutforbatle with
‘the enemy: Her instructions more obviously refer to locaton than tie (SB Anz IL 1): 6m wrx
Juk-nac-dan-n,Yashiona path (othe mountain determine a place to meet (Anzt incombat’ Gin
(OB Anzt 152 humana davai an obwows eto fo Sul adorn).
170-1, ‘The word wh remains a hapa legomenon, The suggestion that this means ‘hiding-
place’ (Aff p. 144, Verse) fe dhe contest wel enough xt since the preposition i az act
‘nana opted fora les concrete meaning, tral for thee waiting”‘Thevesiveox alll is very
rae a8 both MSS in 170, one MS in. 171) may for hatreason be corrupted by ditograe
‘hy fom adi 168.
172, In} 176 MS P replaces mal eppir ofthe paral ine (111) with map ot and the
‘verb may thas once have been pin this ine lo.
173, Note the orchography nam-ma-4)-«(Kuyuniik MS P), parently genitive o plural but
‘expressing the nominative singular, On the ver ee above, on XI 112/177
174, Lit ‘hs orgin asthe ery upland’ fori meaning not so muchfepringor‘birth as
the stock from which one comes, 6, ih referenceto the Seber, Era 2: bitin arate
ma, heir origin vas strange’ The plas of te preseatlinesasousedof Enki in SBU42, where
itis replace in some manuscript with whatisefecsvely an ease paraphrase, ald na adhe was
‘orn in she hil
175-7. ‘These lines repeat. 110-12, MP Sueck analyse the repetion as circumstantial
clause, the original occurrence as'genetell-iterai’ clauses and adjusts is tansations according
(Oras 64 (1995) p62 fm. 119), Repetition ia Merary device. The arrival of Eakidu here auto
matically invokes the description that accompanied his fst appearance in the poem, asa Kind of
‘ashback Sochrepetiion isa featur of tadtonslnerstivepoety and, inmy vests best keep
‘he ansatin denial to highigh
178. ‘The word uit rpicaly ured of man in the cones of his creation (86 Tigay, Eeakaon,
202), la SB X 318 the emphasis is on the mortality of man, eppeopestly enough, for in
Babylonian theslogy it was essential the mortality ofthe new being har disguised it from is
vine creators Here, however, the emphasis onthe newly created as something untouched by
‘vilzaton (¢, CAD )1,p. 7: "he uncivlined man Botéroehauche homme’) A.D. Kilmer’s786 ‘THE STANDARD BABYLONIAN EPIC
suggestion that he word alles to Enid’ forare role as sexual parmner of Giga (Krew AV,
130. ultu(-anéd: pun on liuli”) seems over contrived
180, The hirinmis usally the flded arm which pica cradles a nursing baby. a1. 188 kir-
fois replaced with iz usually wansatd Toincot but perhaps an under garment that cov
‘ered more than jst the lower runk The switch of word implies that neu may also refer toa
‘arment (c£ GADD, p.136).The undoing ofthe rin would then mean the release othe over
‘arment behind which babe in arms might beheld for shelter and nursing. As wel as releasing her
{vip on her garment, lowing it ofl, she prostates gesture opens her arms to prepare (or
embrace.
1811/89. The phrase dea pais teal" open the vulva ands taken erally by some, but it
slso means bare the genital area (fhaha ptn|. 164). Similanly Busha ly may mean 0 pos
‘essa woman sual bulgo means to take inher charms. become physical aracedt her
(see cobsen, ANES5(1973),pp.207-8)-Notein MSF the variant drka ford. 181) unne-
markabeina LB soures tur noteworthy ina Kuyunie MS.
182/190. ‘The postin’ next act f sedseson i described a nap laterally to take in
bis breath (orsmell. Somehave understood his face value or as indicating embrace, but Enid
oes nor come tha near Sambar until the nextine. Others propose that spi parallel with
‘tha fg and tha np ‘euphemism for viy’ (CAD NM. 305:ef, Speer, eecome his
ardout, and sinialy others. Acconding 1 B Landsberge’ editorial footnote in Schott, ZA 42
(1934),p 100, fn.2,the phrase can mean ganz abe an ha heranrece’ With his in ind follow
suggestion made privately by the late Thor Jacobsen, who very plausibly suggested that this is
‘rapper’ language, 0 take his scent (cf slready Dally: take wind of him). This would mean
‘moving dose enough oone’stargetto obtain goodshot Sambar approaches Enid wth aunts
‘man’s cation, s0a¢ noo frighten bm of.
183, Having sdverised her wares the poate let Enid approach Note that il com-
‘monly has the nuance of secking seal favours the lnguage isladed, Cuioualythisline never
explicitly realized as narrative.
184 (191. The phrase ba mut ecals an idiom common in rsa where pubia mus
‘fers the spending out of a piece of cloth as an adorament of theritual are or objec if ots a
‘precaution against dit (ypicl is LKA 141 obv. 9: husdgu.2) sonada(ub)*pub(ig)™
agua) inc ma agit) ina mb eB), "you setup a spreads ie
cloth over it and st the god of the house ani’ ef.JS. Coops, ZA 62 (1972),p. 72,14; Mayer,
Gebettbtcasrange, p 523,17; 1V R54 no. 2, 40). in the Descent of ie 42-60, mugs
-mcanst removean item of clothing but elsewhere lo tly tout The poi here ot ony tat
the prose takes of her garment but that she spreads ton the ground ike «blanket andes on
ga gesture which nes Enki tin her.
185/192, Neatly all moder tansatrs tke Bill here ‘man, and lll atu as jut been
‘sed o describe Enid in 178, Heide hed acliferet view translating inca in eo Ubidinem(),
opus fina’ (cf Grayson, Papyras and Tab, p. 142: “how him st, woman's at). This ide is
active, fo in sex the tadional work of a womas, expecially prot is o excite a man's
esc. Peshaps the Engage isinteninally ambiguous: Eid the lll batalso the prostate is
doing something ue.
186, Here,anprobably lo in|. 193,the Babylonian sources the postu’ dads the sub-
Feo of hab. Given the nae of hakaby as examined belo thereis no determining whether the
‘more criginal tet is presented in the Kuyuiik sources or inthe Babylonian manuscript ie
whether the line reports the instinctive reaction of Enki or the practised ats of the prose
‘When not rendered ad hoc Aabibis usualy translated cates’ or the like CAD, x, distinguishes
CRITICAL AND PHILOLOGICAL NOTES! TABLET 1 1
berween haa A, of noise babbling of running water, chipingof birds, buzzing of fies, lowing of
‘oxen, (0 which must be added the noise() of lighming, SIT 23, 12" Anza) and hah B, of
‘maton involving sensuous physical contact in lovemaking and ofa sake sing over someone)
‘Als taes them 88 one, meaning in he context of lovemaking, to whisper (Reclame fae
‘therB, Groneberg, R480 (1986), pp. 189-80). Likewise see no reason to separate habbo 18
‘vas: rotement as wells sound characteristic oflovemaking The ancien view is expressed by
line ofthe synonym ist Malkin which hara-bu= no-go is LL 8) Tis equation need
‘ot guages exact synonymy, of course, butt conims what is know from te pretent line and
‘othe passages, that hahabu can accompany sexual intercourse aot especially the Sequence f-b-
Ubon. ribka-banon (Bitgs, Seip, p 31, 46-7),"h. me, copulate with me in « potency
incantation. Indeed, some have sugested that can be a cuphemism for coasts (TJeeabsea,
4214078 (1930), p. 69-70, fn. 2;}S. Cooper, Finklasir Mem, p. 43,6, 20st). However,
the content indicates that dials inthis passage, the last stage of lovemaking before actual
xpulation (ein 19,
should be noted thatthe construction with dads unique. sewhere in Gizame’ che verb
‘aha appearsas Gigame’s response in his dreams tothe meteoit and axe that ae symbolic of
Enka (SB 256, 267, 284,280; f OB 13. The construction uted there ls, rth a personal
subject, occurs in similar costext inthe godess Amnanlrum’soracalr promise to Zim- Lim, =
naka eo-ha a-hoab-u-sb (ARM X 8, 10-11), ‘Iwill make love ro you. In these passages the
xpresion habe means acting endl like slover In he presen in, where de naked Sambst
{slying down wit the wid Enid ontop other, something more passionate femeatthe question
|s, what excl is meant by dt This word seems to mean generally ov’, but ialso denotes the
object of lore (dating and the physical realization of ove (lovemaking It comes alo to be &
‘euphemism for the lower adomen, ie. the geital region ia both Female and male physiology
(Alfie sx. 25 CAD sx, di B 2) Use ofthe word therefore may convey the suggestive ambiguity
‘hats characteristic ofthe language of firtion and sex The ncipicofthe love tong b--paa- Aa
‘na da-di-ha (KAR 158 rev it 1) means ‘Lam amorous at the though of your lov’ but tals sug
fs Tam amorous at he thoveht of your manhood!” (or At see W. G. Lambert, Or 8636
(1961),p.132) Inde same way the phrase used here, ii habab might refer both o general da-
Tance che whispering of sweet things) snd to he physica entwinng ofa relning couple thacis
‘he prelude to coits. Given Sambar’ profession and Eakidu' animal narue we mabe ceriain that
inthis ne the ltrs meat.
186-7, All the Kuy manuscripts have transposed she lines of his couple into an ilogeal
sequence as now proved by Late Babslonian MS x (CCW. R. Mayer, VASXXIV, p13)
188, Foster speculates thar Krein the parle. 180) replaced hereby did't paeparefor
aplayon did (Bisays Popp. 2).
194. This line almost epeats a couplet of the Pennsyvania tablet, where however, the period is
probably seven days and seven nighs' (OB 1 48-S0: Sn] web matin id bina
‘Salmtacajm ih). Tice elsewhere in she epic when the Old Babylonian text offers ‘seven days and
seven nigh’ we find ‘sx days and seven nights inthe late version: the delving of Enki
‘ural (OBVA-+ BM i sbr imi seb matin SB 58 f 135) 735: 6 wr [wT mae),
and in the duration ofthe Deluge (OB Atram-bass I iv 24:7 em? meetin] (SB XL 128
(M187: 6 woot w!7! muta). Six days and seven night alo the period of sleeplessness eet
Gagame by Ct-napsin SB X1209, fr which theresa yet no OB countespart.The numerical
sequence m+ 1 isa well-known patter in ancient Nea Easter poe. Foe another example in
Gigame see SBVI 18: ncaa oA laa ut Hd, where, exceptional, he sequences
in reverse Cuiples...rvine). Ehewhere in Babglonian poetry and prose more coaventional798 TE STANDARD DABYLONIAN EPIC
‘examples occur forexample in an OB snake incanttion: a haa pease tera
(TINTE65, 91 66,17-19),"e bameviper mouths ares, seven are ts tonguee. Farther exam-
plesin Mesopotamian and other ancient Near Eastern itratures have been collected by W. MW.
Roth, “The numerical sequence wic+ 1 in the Old Testament, Visu Texanowson 12 (1962), 90.
300-11 (ce also M. 1. West, Te Eat Face of Helton, pp. 259-61). In Babylonia beanie the
sequencesic + seven was by some way the mort popula of there numerical sequences In Game
‘he change from OB ‘seven and seven’ 0 SI's and seven begins to lok as if ae a conscious
policy pechaps electing itera fashion.
Note he present of coninsng action, in MSS Pa, which sat odds with he preterit kt
offered by the Pennsylvania betas wells by MSB,
197. Most wansitoes ignore the present tense ofrappud M.P Steck translates ‘een pfs
‘counting it among few eter verbsin the evar corpus where he understands this ens con
‘vey an teraive-phral funcon, with the especial nuance that ‘er Sachvesal eeu in ver~
schiedene Richtungen’ (Or 64 (1955), pp 48-8)-This nuance is not proven, forthe examples
Sure uiducescanall be explained as presntsofczeumstance, as imperfets denoting ason that
‘continued fora time, orin other conventional ways. less radical interpretation of apr is that
the tense denotes the result of trum hey saw... and asa result they ran’. However Ihave
understood it also to denote action that consinuss during he flowing nes, by analogy wih he
present in vers that inode direct speech (se Chapter 5, the note on OBI, and bow on SB
1205),
199. Fors hstory ofthe teatment of his fica ine see D.O. Bdzad, Ors 38 (1985), pp.
50-2. The verb Suid (50 MSS Fa) has since been disused at eng by WR. Mayer, O78 57
(1988),pp. 155-8 (ee aso A Westenlzand U Koc Westenholr, Studies Lame. 449,69 9).
‘ery appropriately forthe presentcontext signifies deflement cough licisexualeongrest The
‘variant aliakl(MSB) doesnot produce nobly bene sense ands presumed comrption, With
‘Mayer and Westenol Take alla asthe adecive, noting the semantic oppostion which contrasts
Bali's erstwhile innocence with his basement. The rel reversed aeetival phase, with
the adjective anrating special emphasis accordingly; for other examples of such reversal in
Gigame see Chapter 9, the ston on Language ara tye sub (ie). Others have taken uli
aI state from ay to mean ‘his body was bound. unable to move as freely a before, but
{his tems too contrived and dsallows the paral in vocabulary noted by Westenhol ia which
‘hesequenceulabhulda~uncatin te nareave (SBI 199-201) ftsthe unambiguous Sb SB,
‘ar. ot)-ell-aanontn En's reminiscence oft (MB Ur 36-40 and SBVL 129-30).
200. ‘The word brs tezally ene’ bu often signifies the leg as an instrument of motion (ee
(Chapter5,OB Scheye, 7andnot)-Foracomparableinsancs of zuzzuin thesenseTo stand sl
see SBIV 250: (ugammcrid amdiunu Suna ise and the description of impossible marching
condiions in Sitt-Marduk’s Aud ni--gu i vabiigal)™ sisanse bury" ioxaSvie-ou
(BBSt 6 120; NeKD, ‘he bes of even the largest horses came toa hal.‘The ventive on laa is
slmost lvays to be rendered come, can’ as general the casein ABkadan sn demonsated
for thistextin the recent study of H. Hirsch, ‘Di Heimkehr des Glgamesch’ Arcieum Anatalisan
3 (Bilge Mem, Vol;Ankars, 1997), pp. 173-90, Homeves lk (ila nthe presetfinelooks
ea rare exception to the rule, forthe animal’ moson cleariy pus space between them and
Enid. Thealteatve so pars the verbas feminine phiral-Though clewhere inthe SB eic Bs
‘construed as singular, note the apparent use of at eas one feminine pra ver ia 2 Marlene:
ura (.)) a ib n-ne bi [Aa bi nab (ARMAS
ev, 9119, eth rd [move tomy fathers pastures they can graze wit my father’s hend’-The
CRITICAL AND PRILOLOGICAL NOTES: TABLET 1 798
usage i pechaps bor of anaogy wih comparable colecve nouns that are genuine feminine pl
ra Fe Roc sup, “ate
201, Nos: the regular orthography of wat even in & Kuyunje MS (F).The verb mud
(ai) can meant be diminished in speed aswel asin strength For the former nuance seeaNA.
scopic eporcnoting the slowing of Mate ina aii dee (Hunger, SAAVIL312,
3) twa lowed init cours’ For the late see the famous lene of Uead-Gula to ASurbaipa,
desenbing an unfruiul consultation with a prophet: malal-hurd diets wncnars (Paxpoly,
‘Srades Rens, p. 264= SAA X 294 rev. 32), he was contrary and weak of vision’ Hoth nuances
ppl to Enki
202. Thompson's restoration of si endorsed by von Soden (Z53,p.222) steerer,
since the space given overt the sig on the table: (MS F) indicates that dhe sgn that follows it
starts anew word WeholdcoSchow’s [éma(Z4 2, p. 101), though with some ecratoe since
‘hetlcally OA-MA value srarely used by NA scribes. Note that ver se can bemsing inthe
Jacuna i iit would certainly be t00 lng. Bbeling’s sim-me (90 8p. 226) is unsts-
factory forthe same reason a Thompson's reading and, tomy mind, ao becaueitanciptes what
da not yet happenee,
203. "The signs iu-ro-ram-m were already clear Haups Thompsoa's arama ero-
nest, However, do not See how ranma ean be a sassfactory form of raat 60 Papa) ans)
‘ake al five signs as one word. The enclitic mais here writen sm asin SB X 81, also a Kunis
[MS (ef. Af p.669). This developments nothing ro do with vowel harmony buts analogous with
‘edisplacement of abl in the aecusative singular ofthe noun Asia tend canbe observed
Sn LB pronominal sixes (he for oka, “for +) and, es well documented, in verbal endings,
‘including the verve (on this See Chapter 9, the Seton on Speling conventions)
204. The disagreement ofthe two Kuyunik manuscripts ovr the gender of the pronominal
sul permis the alternative ranslasons feed ere. Both make sense. As he leaves the real of
‘he animals for good, Enki begs to rca Sambur ina les anil manner: he regards her ce
(pds) senses andlstens ther speech with new understanding (similarly Oppenheim, Ors
17,3. 26) Alteratiey one might comment that Sambit’s observation in |. 207 mig logically
follow a prolonged gaze ath face (pan). Ii ntimposibl, however, thatthe masculine vat
ant is an early atesation of LB orthographic practice noted inthe commentary on the preceding
ne Ia his analysis nly the former interpretation s admissible
205, ‘Thereading ofthe befianing fhe ln follows von Soden, Z4 3 (1959),p.222.Te ver
‘Soni presen forthe same reatonigabbi is: Uhe acon coninaes during the following direc.
spesch (gee Chapter 5, the noteon OB,
207. Therestoratio of damgdias made fom the parallel from Bojazkbs, MBB Fragment,
|The variant in MS Pie not, 10 my ees, tbo (eo Thompson). Tai ine and te felling
‘eukibicin slightly ferent form a couplet of the Pennsylvania tablet: natal Enki Kia ie
tata amin it nama tanallaksram (OBIS3-5)
208, Theline recurs SBI129
208-10. There is mo room on MS P for ff irucka(e4 CAD Al2p. 314) the broken signs
muck shorter. Ofthealtematives aa rashaandb-(Jarsathe lteris abstr fit The change
{hom OB nda (OR TI 56) 1o SB dutarrk is unexciting and the ennerson of Uruk tune 0
Uruk suparas routine bur the expansion of main) Sa Ani (OB ISB) 9 mia Ani u aris
Jmresing; see Chapter Ste induction othe Pennsylvania ble.
2a-b. Tais couplet, present only inthe manuscript from LB Uruk, pethape represents an
expansion ofthe text own a Kuyus with material taken fom L217 (Le. qu as wel a300 [THE STANDARD BABYLONIAN EPIC
CRITICAL AND PHILOLoGICAL NoTES: TABLET t 801
209-10. Tshould be noted, however, thatthe OB epic aso spentewo couples on tis theme (OB I
‘56-60; thes are grounds for adopting an aerate poston, that dhe Kuyunie manuscrps pre-
serveatthi point a telescoped version of he test.
212, This line develop the image, st found in L 64 ofthe bull dominating the herd by seer
physi presence and bre frce.
213, (ithe Pennsylvania able: ine axes imtgar gaia (OB 166)
214, Baki mb recurs in SB UL 32, echaps II 59, and wit a diferenealtsion,
200.
216. The orhography lm-hara foe Samharis unusual na Kuyuaik manuscript (MS P) but
not unaccepuble-see Chapter 9, the section on Speling canvetions sub (2). Am aerate read-
ng fan-hata-g-re-r-i (command ‘you mest iit me), js posible but ess coining.
217. Thin repeats 210 but wit the addition ofa second adjective. Since double adjectives
ae very rare [assume quai qualifies midobu not au.
220, The speling fi-g-isam-ma diplas an ostensibly dative pronoun where an accusative is
expected. There are alterative solution: a) orthographic: sylable written closed can express an
open syllabi with long ot stressed vowel, hrii-ma (see further Chapter 9, the section on
Speling conventions sub b); an (2) grammatical: the use of dave independent pronouns for
scousatve isa sti feature of $B that could taster to sufiaed pronouns by analogy. Other
examples of am for accusative in the lat epic ae: SB 1 265 xa tani-+ am) fom-ma 283
4um-ma (both LB MSk) XI 197 wir-Ron-ma (MSS C). Probably theres oo much space
on MS, between davanand the trace to read daa wit Thompson, and such a eading isin
ny cas uly on orthographic grounds. The aces atthe end oftheline (MS P) do act appear
‘wallow hu gab-b (von Soden, Z4 53, p.222)
221. There doesnot seem tobe oom here for [-ur-r (ef GAD, p38),andspaceis
short eve or lay -r-i but no beter slution presensitselé Tournay and Shafer offer ii}-
shou trie? (Capon, p. SS, fo. 62), but aver he fist person required, Parpol' (=
.ar]-r?-d)mens that seed but employs an usexpecied st,
22. restoration fra -n-ma, ‘wl ener (von Soden, op ci), is posible ba bland ana-
fu)-um-ma empha, is more plausible akerative (For andhu-ma spelled so at Kuyuniksee SB
X1123).Thespeling -a-tyi correc ead taken as an example of iterary singular, Fate,
ssalsoin SBVI 1025 cf. Chapter 9, the secon on Language and stye sub (), An teroatve pars-
ing woud be oak it as intending the plural accusative Sind a sribal apse easly paralleled.
224. Therestorationof nil provides a good antecedent for nur though tpredcesa ine thst
‘spethap something of «nr sepinThe speing of teverbmay nothavetobetaken a face valve
ut, without the beginning of te next line als, the sgiicance of the entire couplet remains to be
iscovere,
225, Foster's uckalineka “Gilgamel anor... Ensays Pope, p. 28), unaorped by square
‘brackets relics onthe paral inl. 234, but the aces do not support
227, The word nfs th conventional reading of "Bb, but it does noc provide the wochaic
lin ening required bythe metre: pethaps ead asa?
228, The race afer wois mote ke rs than Mf
229, Theline is restored after A, p. 959. More wordy restorations have been made (eg avar
lietons-sfama-re pil- a-hed CAD Alt, p. 378), but the wide spacing of MS P especialy,
makes a short line more probable
232, Theinterpreationofthisinehas caused dificalry Sere ignore the gender ofthe verb and
‘ae the gis as subjecs: “they drive the great ones fom their couches’ (Speier). Von Soden
video restores diferent suis Nachuager sind gebreites die groDen Deck’. mwupsu
lr (Reclam’scEKovacs)-The space avaableon MS B wil not admit this reading Petar
also has ancther verb in mind Grandi giacciono (co lor)" the vr istaken av face value the
subjects masculine, however, either rabiny i. he great ones escape’ using the rare meaning of
igi found in Enda (CAD A\2, p 383), or impersonal for passive. Foe Foster ‘te reference is
to. wel-nown topos in Mesopotamian poetry where the “Great Ones” resring fee ght is
sed a5 an image for th sence and lonsiness of the deep night (Esays Pope p.29)The implca-
tion woul be shat night becomes day butte image snot so common tat it need be ass here
‘Another posibiyisthat rab here means ‘oli’ as inthe phrase slr rab ab may abso bave tis
meaning in OB 117, SB 1 287, 300. However that may be, the ine certainly means thatthe
smerrymaking goes on alight
7233, The vein a reative clause ofthe third person with reference tothe second is common in
‘erature, pardeurly prayers,
234, Theconveatona way take thefinal phrase oftheinciss"thehappy-woe-man’ cf. CAD
p24) and mos: recent ranslators follw (not, however, Petnato' un voma leno igi’),
“The ierpretaion “hada amas ymacically suspect and semantically unbalanced coupling
anit does an apparent tative (Kad) and an exclamason (22) asa makeshift noun. Ives only on
the orthography of MS P;B does not necessary supportic Ihave thought it wie to bandon itin
{ayou ofthe word had (badd), which has the vrweat east of being akzown word and one that
Isattested elsewhere inthe epic, in SB X 265. Tere seificandy enough, Glames ses bad of
himself while reminiscing aboot the ‘good old day’ when lie was fn, that is the vey ine
described here (28th commentary ad loe).MS P's Aad --a must therefore be explained 352
spelling which preserves as varianss two alternative accusative case endings, respectively NB and
MB,
“The discovery of had'uin two lines of Gigamef forces one wo lock again ate supposed ates-
‘axons ofthe word fay This ia erm which physiognomic omens use to denote someone whose
temperament predisposes them to bad fortune or other uoubles (Bek, Morphoshopie pp. 265,21
saps araits be isa he wil nc thrv' 266,24: har faa*hak™ hes, he wil
dehy the sword Kraus, 2443 (1936), . 83, 3:01 ba ha-a--ua-i fin emperamenthe
isa, ewillsufleref. Bick, Morphoshopap. 140, 52:5umma haz-iaSr{u.. Jytheisah),
his wife .1)-Since the spelings are ambiguous some ofthese atestations may infact, belong to
adie carefree seeker afer pleasure rae than Aa.
239, Nothing appears tobe losin the sender break between sv and Sethe ater atoduces
sn unusual expresio, but compare. it errifmast
240, Sense insists that MS B's Severus an inferior variant bom of lack of understanding To
chalenge Gilgamed is to disate the wil of the gods, special his pariular paron, Sams (L
241), and the ruling wad of Anu, En and Ea (L242). Wid the couplet, 241-2 compare SB VIL
“78-81, which probaly its thesame godsin the sme order.
244, MS P's inate is probably venue; se further Chapter 9, the section on Spebing
conventions sub (0).
245, The form Sunatum is aeady found in the Penasvanis tablet (OB IL 1), OB Schoyen, 1
(whersitis here Sura) andin MB Bog, ¥-Intbe SB texte word ecurs asa isyabein SB
1273a (MS honly), VI 181-2 and X1197, bat as Sutin SB 1276, 1V pin, VL passin (fuente
{nVIL 165 for ia) and IK 13.A comparable example ofthis era affection inthe SB epic
's raga for rg for this and other examples of such syle in SB Gigames see Chapter 9, the
section on Language and ste sub).THE STANDARD BABYLONIAN EPIC
246, Similar lnes are SBVII 165: snob Suma(a) axa mya nd Lad 223s
Suvari) atid macS-{) In the second ofthese axle maceiais certainly a relative
iausenthe former proba and consequensIpreferto analyse the resent line inthe same wy,
‘the verb writen etd (MS B) and aru (MS P) stake instead as indicative it exhibits 2 ven-
the (es lead in 244), In all dee lines musta is waive and one mast presume an iiomatie
lis of nx For mult and other expressions of time wth pronominal sufices see now ML Stal,
‘Susne bei Zeitangaben im ASkadische’, WZKM86 (1996), pp. 413-26
247. The word bina isthe rater neual counterpart ofthe Fennsyirani ble probable
ipsirninns (OBWS)
248, SB hiya replaces the uncertain phase ofthe Pennslvais abet (OB II 7), andthe
‘ve snow iterative (though the signiicance ofthe V3 stem ere uncertain). Their fa Anim
‘here cleanly a meteorite as entered in CAD K, p. 4; se further JK, Bjorkman, Manors and
‘Meteorites nth Ancint Near East (Tempe, At 1973), pp. 15-17."The era refers the very
‘arc of dhe sky. matecal of proverbial sength (G2 above, on SBI 124-5).
249-50. This couplet isthe same asthe Pennsylvania blet (OB 118-9), but with OB iit
‘making way for SB dor, and wnisma replaced bs the iterasve wltablakirs, In this passage and
its pares note the conmst berweea the plain aitina and rma, used when the acto is
uusocesfu (249,263) and the venives ata an tia, whicheppear whenthe action
leads to the sucessful delivery af the object 19 Ninsun (287,265,283).
251-5. These five lines expand the couplet OB I 0-11: Urata pai oi | etm
snasap pi The restorations are made from the parle (SB 1279-82, 11 103-7) For eppir
see above, oo | 111. From the point of view of grammar, these ‘ike litle baby’ can refer
objec or subject (eg, CADILp. 114: they were srl eile), However, any parent knows
‘at infans are no natura kisers of feet leads commonly in babies’ feet ieresinuble, The
hrase obviously refers the meteosteas the centre ofa gest fs
256, The restoracons inthis and the following lines are taken from Ninsun's reply and the
second dream, though the actions are there given in a ferent order. Fo hab see above om
186. This in has no place in the ist dream a recounted inthe Penneyvania tablet, but appears
inthe second dream (OB 133: aria Am aati ahaltub ey). Kemnay be thst hee
1.256 and 257 have been inadvertently transposed, fr they appear in reverse order in I. 283-4,
‘and on thee other occasion in hele text the ine ard hima at es aac acd ts
‘vatans are pared withthe line 1 ane namin ith and its variants (I. 266-7, 284-5,
289-80). The verbs ofthe couplet dhs formed vary in tense from manuscript to manip. 1
Inve given precedence w the mest logical tense on each octson,reoring the variants i the
oorotes,
257, ThePennsylvania able’ atbalatu ana sr (OBI 14) has urn in asada na api
258, As with 256 thi ine found inthe Penasyvania abe onl inthe second dream (OB TL
43; abu wamahara ina) The making equal of Enki achieved on his adoption by Ninsun
25a brother for Gigamesin SBI 127-8 se ale Cooper, Finkle Mem, Vol. 40). For
this reason Tree he translation of iaamuruinthispasage aso compete (eg, CAD MIL. 70)s
noting also that the contest between Gigumel and Enki was not arranged by Nis bu by Ano
(88 198),probably ar Eas suggestion (MB Nippur 4).
259, Where MS hhas mis (100 MSS B and H inthe paralleling 286), MS Preade is.
[Neither 0, het lor’ nor Bn, "ber en-piest makes sense in the contet. Instead, MS P's
spellings an eroe arising fom a confusion of AbBadin mar eon’ wth Aramaic mar’ or
“This and the opposite confusion, the use ofthe logogram forson'ta signify ord in-a NA iter
CRITICAL AND PRILOLOGICAL NOTES: TARLET 1 803
(SAA 1220, 3 a-neSa{oumu)~ia), have been noted by Simo Parpola, “Acstins afer Assi’,
Journal of Assrian Academic Society 12 (2000), p.12.This line and the following represent an
‘expansion of the ennsyrania tablets shorter couplet om ilesma mda ala iagaram
‘ana Gigemet (OBI 15-16). The sme epithets are applied to Glgaets mother ia SBI 17 and
Ww.
260, Ido mot agree with CAD R. p59, dat imate mans Ninwun is wld cow”. The
‘ndings rinatis an example ofa name deveoping fom the absolute staein the vocstive, a8 with,
[Be and Sumas ase name of Ninsun the phase also occurs at SB 1287, 1167 1 35,1100, 1
116417,
269, Notee-muné-Stin the LBMSh, which may bea wimesstoadifeent wadon, ratherthan
snexample of casi ora mistake.
272. MSs wlsseha now confirms MS B's iterative (uks}nzzabha (von Soden, ZA 83,p.222,
suggested with reference (0B 4)
273, The restoration ofthe Kuyonik MS follows Landsberger, R482 (1968) p. 116, with ef
erence ro pra later in the epic (SB IV 28-9, 109, SBVII 72-4, MB Megidd oby. 1011,
‘Other suggestion forthe broken word ae manga and fa ar (von Soden), Tn view of te
‘Penneyleania table's lana tama ian (OB TE 28), one should perhaps give precedence
‘the LB manuscript. There the epeling -na-a-s ie evar even by LB standards. Closing the
second syllable in this way gives an iregular form bat provides the required penukimate stress
(Gdns tat ely what the sib intended?
274-5. This coupler develops the singe line OB 1125: te Hawedm ana ou The fst ne
reappenrsas SB 22.
276, The word puna simple variation on appu(n)nd.isnewTheLB MSW wm (instead
of sm) appears to represent an unusual intrusion ote dale The Bnei an expansion of the
Pennsylvania ables onmdzamar Satta (OB IL 26).
277. Thebeginning oftheline restore fom OB 127. Noe the prtence hereof Ura i,
favoured by the OB tes, agsnst the tock SB phrase Uruk spire
279-85, These lines ate repeated fom the fst dream, and spar from L284 (e OB 33-4),
dna no exact correspondence in the Pennsyivania ale.
286-7. MSh's ha-b-for alana isa spelng hat so befterpeted shal Forthelate shift
fimtervecalc jm to see GAG" S31.
295, eis unclear whether [umoma, preserved only onthe LB manuscript (MS o), is wring
{or SB on, with inciferen final ve! ofa in 276, the late dialect fem wn As away it
fs uncertain whether the eplings mak and (madi-ki represent mali, ‘counselor’, or
‘mathuimalin, prince’ According 10 the dicionaries Ell can be either. The consecin with
Gilgame' insineve desir for counsel argues forthe former. Elis mde not so mich
‘because he gives advice but Because he deliberates on it and thus comes to a decision thats well
‘informed judisious and correct. In hi respect hei he divine prowrype ofthe perfect mortal
ng about whom the Takut-Ninata Epic asserts (W. G. Lambert, (0 18 (1957-8), p50, 18
10) es. aon en di) dar e-e-su 9 (0g)™ ms mdi, He himseisthe
teal image of Bil, who heats the people's voice the nation's opinionThe mortal King isin
fact malhu-anfl, "he counselor man’ the phrase coined for hr in a mythological ext which
eseibes the separate cretion of man and king (W. R. Mayer, Or 8856 (1987). 56,365
p. 64-5). The abit of he perfect kn to give eaeful thought wo advice goes hand in hand with
bis sbilay to exercte dominion, Both are characteristic of El as wears fom the syncreisic
godeist BM 47406 (CT 240) ob. 8 t= mara amar as) 3 bet u ub Ea808 ‘THE STANDARD BABYLONIAN EPIC
{sMardukcofeuership and deberatio’ (or hi ist see now S Parpoa, Fehr com Soden 1995,
Pp. 398-9)
300, Thine andthe ctehtine (SB M1) are an insersion of OB IL 45-6: Enki walt maar
ari wi "am al, whence the restorations arta,
TABLET IT
1. The end ofthe line might very plausibly be restored [isaf-u, they Ksed each other’, ot
‘nother pat of the same vero bu the question ms emu open for the time beng. The materi
sued tiie in Dalley’swansiation owes is presence heres a eastin part, 10 4 mistaken iden-
"cation of what is actually a standard eolophoa of ASSuybanipal (se Colophon ofthe mans
scripts, MSB)
28, VonWeiher ead {_} Sian nam [but itsemed to me thatthe line begins with noo naw.
‘The paral donot help A vat ramety) eno an obvious deridratm ere, ough the speing
‘seam-sbi is not without parel. A more plausible reading would be ins cud) aon this
6a, withthe last word wren 35 a Knd of pseudo-togopram an-nam, but the sgn ater ani i=
ferencfeom namin v1 ofthe same MS (247). For the moment itis best to reserve judgement.
29. Thelines restored irom SB1208 (the Pennsyvania tablet OF TI 54-5).
32, Thisline might bea repetition of SB 1214: ma Habu tra. However tat may best
‘may abo reeur ae SBILS9.
34-5. The couplet is a reworking of the Peonsyvania aber’ uy am ina alabis |
‘San tana alba (OB 169-72).
36-7. These lines are restored from the almost ideal couplet inthe Pennsyvani tablet
abt su Bima ili ire (ama gupr amar takin (OB 1173-6). The inwoduction of
ra fri may be simpy an orthographic feature, but aoe that he same thing hs happened
in 1 110 (MS W. The wating dingi™ forthe singular is ocetsionally attested in the fst
mien, Some examples are given in CAD Ip, 915note asin 49 ofthe Theodicy singular
‘it (pall #1 51) speed ding, ding ding ad (ding.
38. Cf the Pennsyvana tablet nasa iphurre'd (OBIT,
38, As itstands on the les this curious ine appears to comptise two prepositional phrases
‘ith verb of any kind, Heidel found one by ignoring 48 (which onthe manecrip at was sll
sie him spar obscured by an erasure) and reading the remaining haf ine as rama nina,
“the people whispered)’ (FNES 11 (1952},p. 140-1). This wae eect by von Soden, ZA 53,
223, and righ 30 forthe faitfuess ona ramdnttna othe radon snow conned by MB
Bo, 9:-nara-ma-an-DU-uf One should assume that he begining of thelinei corrupt.
40-1. An older version of this coupe is andi GizameS mal pada nam tpl eemtam
publ (OB I 80-2] 183-5}; 14 is probably repented ax SBII 164, The word +s save
‘ip witha typical LB redundant na vowel Go already Heidel) At the end Saf) is accordingly
fo Sara ayn) sao possible
42, Theline exis in v0 versions (hat of MSs estore rom SB 174), bu ukimately both
so ack to OB I [83-4] // 186-7: fade) al ina tad (ef. MBB Bog, Fragment a, 11).On
mind see Chapter 5th note on OB IL17
443, Thiss standard line much usedin SB1 (0 the commentary above,on $B 11245).
44-5. This couplet develops the Peansylvania able’ aAalam und mre (OB I 87) bythe
dition ofa paralleling.
CRITICAL AND PHILOLOGICAL NOTES: TARLET 11 Bos
146, The Penasyvana table has uma inal pls (OB U8). Here the spelngi-tegé
may signify tha his word was no longer understood a dy, for though the “overhanging vowel
‘would be unremarlabl, the value gis not typical of LB orthography ouside the achaizing royal
inscriptions The ransition nevertheless asumes in fp-eg a corrupson of fg for wast of an
slteraive. A verb pazt or ppt appears in lene texts (see Alf p. 809), but is meaning is
‘unknown, Nove or pis knows,
{47-8 Tai couples eal eestored inthe sprit of the Pennsylvania able lie nk able
ana ain arama xi 1 fammud (OB 90-2.
S0-L This couplet presumably represents 2 variation on th harlot’ encouraging words as
‘now from the Peassylvania tablet anda fragment from Bojakby (OB Il 96-8; MB Bos 15),
“Though sna daeand snr rat might have been expecta the ine ends as inthe Bogsrksy
piece (et sb th paralls SB VI 27-8, VIE 135-6), thay do not fi Instead the restorations are
gested by nein) in OB 1198.
52-3. Thelne of let ending in rs so closely writen that Thsve assumed ito conan two
lines of poe.
59, One may ako read narba--m, “his reatnes
60. The restorations ae taken from OB TI 115-16: app harbart bT wba The ecliie
marcould emphasize the objet but more probably functions sta enordinative (or coordinative
ma stached 19 nouns see above, on SB I 143, The need for s zochaic ending indicates
that MS ks ‘ovehanging” vowel is orthographic and without phonological or morphological
significance.
61-2. This couplet offers ony a slight varaon onthe Pennsylvania tbl: i aid rab
om | Ende masariuna alum Fam: (OB UW. 117-19). The stave [i] nina is restored on
grounds of space. The spelling nagade-c-mma for *ndgiduma exhib the occasional
Neo-Assyran preference for masculine plural pronouns with lssimite vowel as ateste inthe
possessive suffixes w/o} (GAG? $31a, €). Compare farther such
LB spelings 2s kala fr hal‘ < lama ($B 1286-7), t-i-re for uu or naar < tomra (SBV
106 and comm) ed or Bw o Sut ¢ Bum (several atesatons cite in GAD S)3,p. 284), and
so the evidence of te Grocco-Babslonian tables, where incervocdic Akin ms routinely
‘uanzcribed as Greek v (cf. MJ Geler, 2473 (1983),p.119;87 (1997), p.675].A. Blick and S.
‘Sherwin-White, ra 46 (1984), 9.136), Akertively, the speling 1-2 may possess an oder
pedigree: noce similar writings ofthe same vetbin OBeners: zai for Samu (TCLXVIL145, 12)
sind nian foe ntamu (YOST, 7)
291. correc read (inthe absence of examples of 1 and ot for comparisoe) the seling r=
_sno- for rgmatsin MS zis an example othe use of 3 CV sign express VC common in LB.
‘wting as aso in NA,
291-9. Seeateady SBIL221-9, bough thine are this time given naifferent order, pethaps
1 avoid monotony 1 cannot reconcile she traces surviving on MS evi 56 wth IL 294-5 or any
other lines of is pacsge
300-1, Theselins develop couplet ofthe ale table Gime sizr miki iam
‘i ana bras (OB IML 201-2). La fail tothe OB eat isthe intermedia version of MS:
(Gest ara ina ams su pana | maggara ana Enki yb. 16-17),
TABLET IL
1-12, This speech, smi o tat spoken by the elders of Uruk inthe Yale aber (OB 1249-71),
‘srepeated later onasil-215-27-The correct restoration of is ow clea for he st time Prev
‘ously t had been assumed rhea line of narrsve specifying the speakers and inreducing the
specch. Evidently tat line must naw sug at the end of SB UL810 THE STANDARD BABYLONIAN EPIC
2. ‘The phrase gimiremigra iceraly he totaly of your might’ reminiscent ofthe lon loved
by Bar, whois perm (SBVT 51)
4-5, Oneistempred 1 emend to (i-ppr, flowing 219 (MS « LB) and ato, but note
‘atthe forerunner ofthis couplet preserved an the Yale able lo wiee a combination of present
and prevrit: [a4 mara cpp sali aa hued pagar naga (OBU2SS-6), The
tse ofthe pat tense lends me to assume tha both sete of lines quote proverbial wisdom (ste the
‘commentary onthe OB couple.
10, Opinions divided as wo whether -r-atis the plural of his, itch’, o of fay "bide,
(first) wif’ orintenionaly ambiguous (Dalley, 127,26)Intryng0 make theline more meas
‘nfs translatons of tsa ‘pital (Spee), rave’ (Dalle), 'sepolexo (Perinat), "sausse-
‘wape’ Bostéero) obscure the fact dat the wsage of dhe word fit is mite in the exant
documentation to channels of water, expecially ipa ditches and cy most. For mein any
ase ona sr suggests motion rwards, a against medion ovr (se the commentary on SB 1145),
snd fr this eason to I favour she wives The fact that Giigames was envisaged in the Sumerian
‘sory of Bilge and Huvawa 25 unmarried nd without the responsibilities of family (D. 0.
‘Sidard, Z4 81 (1981), p. 184, A 3: ntasag.dl enegim ak, ‘single men Uke him’), ree not
‘mean that he holds the same stars in he Aksadian epic. The undeniable problem, however,
‘at an historical Babwlonian woud have one Hr only. Subsequent wives were not of the
same stars asthe ist. Gilae’ was an epic hero f fabled appetite: was he imagined to have hae
‘ries in large mumbers? The sentiment expressed, hat the King return safely home to his
ives afer # dangerous expedition, was no doubt a popular and tpial one at the Babylonian
1 The speling pu-eéinnma (MS BB) for pubnima esitits the convention of some
frsemillenium seibes that an open sllabe with a long ows canbe denoted in wring by cos-
{ngthe slab, Orher examples in SB Gigamet are listen Chapt 8 the section on Splingcon-
‘ventons sub (0). The elders aren the process of relinquishing temporary thee rexponsbly for
‘counseling the king, 0 nipidablais an example ofthe peformative’ preterit (on this ee furtber
(GAG? $790"), This usages best known inthe word alka hereby invoke you’ atthe begining
{FSB prayers (CAD S,2,p.157)InSB Gigamesicoccur son SBI 28 asap 125d IL
177 eas I93 [MB Ur 4 anart, XI33 angur
12, The spelingtopa-gid-do-na-i (MS M) exhibis 2 repeated consonant at the boundary
‘vereen tem anda for this pracce see Chapter 9, the section on Spelng sub ().
15. Unles the sribe has inadverteny lst a sgn, dhe form nt must be a NB cohorativ,
fr aie i ilik."Tae temple name @ gal mab, ‘Exalted Palace is given to sanctuaries of Gila
(@Ninsinna) mst fmoust i, bt also at Bayon, Ur,Urukand Aiur (see Georze Hour Most
‘High p.88)-Ninsun oocupies Gul’ templein Uruk by vite of te syncretism which equated the
divine couple Ninurta and Gula wih Lugalbans and Ninsun as mde exit inthe twomcoumn
‘Weidner god ist (E. Weidner, fK 2 (1924-5), p. 14, 17-18). This equation can be raced back to
‘theeaty second milenm,forinan Old Babylonian copy ofan ronma Gulaisesplicly invoked
85 (©T427 fi d,ed. Cohen, Eka, p. 102, 109) ida {xt sup rar) enbiyga.mes, the one
who gave bit tothe lord Bares
16, Whe preceding a noun the Prepesionsl phrase normally ana mahar in OB and terary
Babylonian The eran mar ofeedin his ine iar, Other examples of genitive construct mal
‘ibefore a noun begining with a consonant (.e. where cra is scounted) are rare, and more
often than noc comprise the second element of compounds: Buna 149 /1135//11 39 alkat
alr 97 maar) pa-ae ume-marn Cig, ABRTSS Se Livingstone, Gur Per n0. 4
CRITICAL AND PHILOLOGICAL NOTES: TABLET C11 Bn
6: hie maf feat w-bt aire (NA hymns Langdon, Rl 12 (1915),p.191,3: ash mah
on ibprage,NA copy; KAR 132412 (Rae, p101)=ina mali pani (LB ita) I ste
nilenniun sources the variant may be orthographis only but if genuinely morpbemic, can be
cxplained sean example ofthe survival erary ste of the OAR gensv construct (ee Chap
{er the section on Language and syle sub i) Fr oterspelings Uke Sarrar (MS BB) for ara
‘see also Chaper9, the setion on Speling conventions ub (©).
17, These epithet have nlready appeared in SB1289-60(]286-7.On tespeling mi-do-i(MS
‘BB for mit see Chapter 9, she section on Speling conventions sub)
19-20, ‘The sequence zai... lak cars abo in MB Bofs iS, where both vesbs are vere
tiv, [take te preven lA as an indication ofa finl clause; aeratvely it canbe citcumstan-
tal LP Steck, Orns 6 (1995), p. 61: "wlbrend sie ginger’). The word asa (ar. gus)
fsa varant of loctive gaz, comparable with such forms as karae-si-n in thet minds
(Bhima ef 111, hablacueny, with his weapon” (Anza 113) enle-cwma before their
supremelond (Anz 1 16), i-u2u, "to his mount’ (Anz 182/109! 127/148), and Sip-
‘reurst Yor her work (Bulssaahishyms to Gul: W. G. Lambert, Ors 36 (1967) p. 118,
42) ese variants, with instead off, perhaps arose by analogy with the ening -ssu(m)
‘ound inadesbsoftime especialy in the ate period (usally ars, meni’, OB Sanas~
um) > NB Saas‘),
22. The restoration follows SB 1274: ima Rarub ama maar ar ome TR ine i thos
eval as prt of the epic repertoire. twas not completely pseifid, however, for MS M clearly
fer inthe preposition that precedes the common abun an.
24-34, CE already SB 1262-71
25, Thetrylabicapeling of rigs r-qo ithe most common in SB Gilgames, bing aso
atest in SB HL 48, 2X 54,X 10,116,141 and 2415one also meets mugtjtan (SB19) and ri-
(et (SBI 121, fr, sing, se ade). The intrusion of normaly unwarranted epenthetc wows
iSamarkof erry sie. For oer examples in SB Glgamet sce Chapter 9, the setion on Lan
sage and syle sub
28, Note the adtonal word aspx, absent fom the parallel SB 1265. tense isthe ‘per
formative’ pretere (see above, on. 1).
38-6. This couple offers very rare examplein the Babylonian ilgamef of what maybe called
njambement ine continuation ofa dause beyond then ofthe verse—witthe boundary ofthe
poece lines pling the paired object Gigs maw Eni
37. silane occursin Nergal ni Ere: (x) Sea (En) nara ircum-ma (STP
28145 59" fv 5 fv 34 Hunger, Ur Liv 1).
38. Another examplecf the wei combination ofthe wo puriians tamarisk and ella ier-
sy "You-Make- Pure plan) occursina situa of the divine: (Ging iba aha oe pui-
fies hse with marsh and Soap Wor? (BBR no. 11 re. 16).
40. Theadorament of Niasu's breast was perhaps an orsamentl tag (im) Svch a thing,
weighing 25 shekels listed inan OB dowry (¥OSXII 157, 9.
42, The eb :praeniremains obscure eve thoughitssubjectisnow recovered Wheheritcan
bethe same verb a the enigmatic -ra-am-ma of SB XI 149152 remains to be sen
145, Thelin is overlong and may have once been two, peshaps divide 0: ammdni tatu aa
riya Gilet | dba sla emis (otherwise CAD Sp. 72, where de division is place afer
‘nd, In doing without te second verb, MSS BB and aa lave the ine with an unsatsactry
stepentimat stress, ila
4. The phate vubnna loon. “something eis often trnsated a ‘everyting evi butB12 THE STANDAED BABYLONIAN EPIC
theres no suggestion inte epic hat Humbaba fs what sch a rendering mpi the source of
cl inthe land In exorcist and medical Ireratare sina loa refers 0 a general abscract
fda but toa very real being, though one that hast remain unspecified because fs rare and
other parsculars are unknown A good ilusrason ofthis comes from an apotopsic ital which
‘oundsoffa long Ist of identifiable malig powers with the catch-all phrases mine eel)
mada bti(gu” mina I sung gs) 8 Suma(emu) Lb nabi(ea) “oe any Evil Thing
‘whoever that may exis, or any Bad Thing that has ao name” CWiggermna, Proesice Spr,
1.6, 9-10). Laer on inthe same text the unidentified malign infuence is adjured to depare:
imma lene mimema Ui eibudogga) Hr Ber(danna) Hedia-e ma-hartucun, ‘he Evi
‘Thing, the Bad Thing shal depart a myriad leagues from your presence! (bid, p. 20, 306-7)
‘This understanding of minma ma fits Hummbaba well, for hee by reputation an Ei Thing of
‘nature hose to man but otherwise unknown becsuse remote and uated. Since Humbab is
‘sssumed oe ei, Sumas the god of juste, is nauraly seen to oppose him. Foe the spelling
‘aby (MS BB), lacking the sobjuncsive~ see Chapter 9, the section on Speling contentions
sub (9.
55, Hollow Tournay and Shafer, Lop. 102, 17s assuming that thie refers tothe
daytime journey ofthe sun across the sk, crossing the cosmic boundaries of heaven and earth,
Instead ofthe restore de very rare word is crcumrence' es mites del Other read
ings ate posible.
56, For Aya abide’ se the references collected in CAD K,p. 81. On the speling haat for
‘alu see Chapter 9, the ston cr Spelling comventios sub (©
66, Lassume ruth is an example ofan adjective sed as & noun. A derivation from the infini-
tive, yourmaking re, seems es ies
73. Therestontion flows couple fing incantation othe Sun God
inigarzu. dug, ga ak dingirzalgalene
arma meriska paging) mabe al)
“emuncake,enegibarrasag 23 musuni du
aonor-nai gi miso inal poonka
WR 19100.2,37-40
“The great gods wat intent on your ight,
allthe Aruneak gaze on your face,
74-5. Restored from 56-7.
80-4, These five lines recur ss SB II 130-4. The vocabulary of. $2 132s reminiscent of
‘satements in EAE XIV and ™Apn I ofthe seasanal changes inthe lengths of day and ight.
‘anv stir (ee EN HL Ab-Rawi and A. R. George, 40 38-9 (1991-2). 60-1) Line
'83isrestored ine ightof the common expression for traveling on foo purd pe, to open one's
Stride’ se especially Ld 41, where peta pueréduisa metonym foal who go on 0 lp.
85, Init ist and last words tis line recalls the naratvestsemenc OB Schayea, 82: reba
‘shpat, though te races do noralow the expected pias isp
88-92, The ealioaion of this wishis SBV 137—41.The verb fin 92 /V 141 mayhave been
‘a vaan fd tey beat (umbaba’ face) forthe Hine paraphrase ender the narrative line
8 muchas (vt “Htuwava) ToL. A-ue sotpe malhislanci, ‘und dem Hlowasa schlagen sie
ammmer wieder die Augen zurdk’ (G, Wiel, 24 78 (1988),p.113),The Bs winds in hi pas
sage almost idemical otha preserved on lel fragment rom Em:
CRITICAL AND PHILOLOGICAL NOTES: TABLET 11 813
mug Sea)
msisaieeana]
imkur stole]
Sim mardi amr
qu
shipsbge
Ge-pirsige
[dlanab aman
Fishermen
D.Amaod, BmarV2,p.423;c£ Vip. 172,00.576
(Comparison suggest that im.ful canbe ead dallamun., but without further evidence T have
‘uanscibedit conventionally MS y's -cik-raia 90s larly meant wo be soma,
‘Te use othe windsin bales mirhologica device bestknown from the Creation Epc, where
‘Marduk mobilizes eleven in his combat with Tina
puma. pa-ra ul ma genb amet
erbent tear ubteepbiva laa mines
imu ims im kurraim marc
Fe 50a bg ba gibt bila
sb fim mana Sa
imlimmuba iminin biimsihimshanusia
tikeyacamema Aim) Hime sere
ers dl -b ankigi) 8
Enda TV 41-8
Hemadea netto enclose the isi of Ti'tmat,
he posted dhe four winds so that 0 part of er would escape
South Wind, North Wind, Fast Wind and West Wind,
‘thegiftof Anu, his father, he placed hard by the net.
Hecrested Tempest, Huricane,Tomado,
‘the Four Winds the Seven Winds, Chace Wind and Indomitable Win!
helet loose the seven winds head created,
to tirup the inside of Tima they drew up behind him,
ss where the contexts of
A comparable is of winds occurs inthe Assyrian recension of Ara
Aad marshaling his forces forthe coming storm:
‘eshte nie) mfr
ea (a2) sis mee rds to] =aga6)
fla ad ma ha bu iin
‘W.G.Lambertand A.R. Mila Ata-hal pp 122-4,n00 6-8;
c£-Lambert, J885 (1960), p.121
Compare further the eight winds dat are loosed against Humbaba inthe Hite Giga
is oaL Mexaraans (2. ] Panga ge Senseo a SaMebeTU] “ANYRLLD (
Friedich, 24 39 (1930), p12, 14-16;H. Oen, Inanbuler Mincibnge 8 (1958).p. 116,402).sia THE STANDARD BARYLONEAN ePIC
Given te eablished sequence Siar tx-amurnsouth-north-east-nestoneis minded 0
conser. ct inthis ists standing fort, “south’ and toresorethe sing two winds accord
ingly (ther. cat is corruption of he standard "ih GAL)" = Sta rite to Evid
(6; dugal= essa). Many ofthe rare word for storm winds tht occurin these passages a also
collected inthe synonym tists, fr example Mafhu Il 173-80: 2b mam ref fe
1 malar preg snip. qi = anny,
93, Take “ula .. isinduasan uncemarlable LB sping for hab... tus ateratvely
one may read ita pra AaB. kad
94, ‘The verb aap, bow, rekindle, is commonly used to describe the ring of celestial
bodies, especialy he sun. The notion isthe Sama’ fie are eekndled each morning before he
comes forth fom the doors of hesven see W Heimpel, FCS 3 (1986) p, 142). bilingual ican
‘on from Birnie the metaphor further, deserting the sun god's ing much site were
a householder staring the day
te Sumandesabiiaibe
amas) ina aden) tppurkovarcma
sigur an.na ke nam 1. gl
Bega amé(an’ elt) ™ apt
Sigan.nakeslimsmiinsag,
dolar landtny'topioa
IV 20.2, -6 and duplicates, cf Langdon, OECT Vip. 52
Incantation, © Sama, you rekindled (your Ste} atthe horizon,
you undid he pure bat orheaven (AKE. the boleaf he pur heavens),
you opened the door of heave.
96. ‘The reference ro mulesis othe stds that pl the sun's chariot through the sky.They are
also known from aline ofan incantation in Be rim aa) -a-anda po-reka (at) & Sh mee
uaa] (var. c-lrtam), "you (Sama) ave itehed up your mules which are ardent for fu
ning (ef Lacs, Bi Ri p57, 63)
97, ‘Thecld break shold pethups be restored mexyl mi.
102-6, ‘The force of lin fs positon, remote from is ver seems to be emphatic a tis in SB
2% 303-6: mama mt mar manok me mar pe | ul mao a mitre
(oon. While those clauses are emphatic sutemenss, another oecason on which such ymca,
sppears in SB Gilgas is a shetrical quion (SB IV 213: al mie inal) Te problem of
whether the present lines ate statements or question is resolved by D. 105-6. These can hardly be
interpreted as emphati denials of Gigamet's eventual funtion a8 a rule of the shades in the
[Netherworld they must be rhetorical questions.
102. Alteradvly one might read (i) iam? inva, wll Giga ot stand with you ing) the
‘heavens?"Whicheverdetiphermentis prefered, the pint sums to be that Giga wil share the
lest rol ofthe sun god. is association with Samat is wel known forthe Netherwoxd where
after death he wl judge te dead in partnership wih Samat. The wo appear togeer or with the
Anunnaiin colectio ofncantaons against ghosts (KAR227 and duplicates see Chapter3 the
sub-section on Gilgmet in execisic tual) The prayer to Gigames from the sume colecton
ord hat Sama himself made this erangerent: eamamy) Spa u purus) gavtubha
‘p-yiSamal delegated to you verdict and decison” (quoted in ulin Chapter 3) However, there
So uae evnein spor of cles putes anh nian ens
pute
CRITICAL AND PHILOLOGICAL NOTES: TABLET 111 ais
103. By vir of his api, ‘crown, the moon god is one ofthe tadional custodians ofthe
symbols of kingship, as best ariculted inthe curses of lamanrap's avs (Codes Hamamurapires
soo 41-8): in(@20) ... agdaga) Mhacam(g.za) fa rutin Bey ‘May Sin ake
feom him the crown and throne of kingshin* Compare ako the names of city gts in Babylon
(Tinie 72:41n(30) makina ag) belt, "Sins the Establsher of his Lodly Crown) and
Seanscheris’s Nineveh (C726 32,91 jC. Thompson, ray 7 (1940) p. 90, 28:*nanna-r ior
omen aaa) bete-i,“The Moon is the Estabsher (var. Prsecor) of my Lory Crown’.
“Thelackof agreement st the en of theline between the extant manuscripts can perhapsbesesived
‘byposiing an orginal ening Aaa pal, septe and royal symbol These rao items of egaa go
together a «pur in an incanacon to Enmelara (Craig, ABRTIL 13,8): non “hog
pal(vala), How exacy Gilgamesto share the moos’ regal snot clear om.
104, Perhapeone should emendto ska apt As deciphered, hisline provides the frst attestation
‘ota verb onipe (i), tobe deep, profound, wise’ The meaning is evident from the wellknown
adjective ne
105-6, Ini or Imina is best know as an aspect ofthe warke Faas in Agave A (WAS
214 v2) ane a god ist (CT 25 17H 11 44, Sm 1588, 5) The name i translated "Victory" by
“T Jacobsen, Tard the Image of Tamm, p. 34 Eoewbere in Giigares Ini i accredited with
ownership ofthe Cedar Mowntsin, though Hee the name appears to refer to goddesses in general
(SBV 6). Inter lise there ta deity Inna fchibonc character (C25 8 obv. 12 KAV'65 ii 8;
E Weidner, AK 2 (1924-5), p.73, 26) and thats certainly the point her, frin the next ine i
[ingida For his oles the ‘chamberlain’ (guzsa) ofthe Neterword andthe mythology is
‘which he figures see now W. G, Lambert, Stulz Moran, pp. 295-300,
197. Restored after. 17.2.
119. Toy eyes the broken signs nt [a ($0Thomyson).
120, ‘Thisline offers nether example of a problem note carl: we cannot determine whether
‘akhana is present tense 10 expres a Snal ase ot inuoduce direct speech (or both} see
(Chapter 5,on OBIT
122, The word writen atm dificult Ie wualy understood asthe preterit or present of|
the ver ad though one would expect atam(n) ka or the preterit oft, ough one Would
expect ara, Tere i mashed lack of consensus ao what these parsings would mean in the
Cones (ami: Oppenheim pronounce you's Heide’ Thavesdopsed() you simlry Speisers
‘yon Soden 'sprach chu di’ icy Kovacs and Hecker; Laat ete dlr (mien; Foster:T
have bespoken you Lambert reflect upon you's clam: Bonér,e tadjure indy Touraay
and Shafer; note also improbable aon): Schots unclear: Petinao, ‘ho esaminsto € tho
tnnoverato). "These difcaes of form and meaning lead me to elec both verbs, and fo read
‘ami as a ear frm, fom the noun aoms (already Dalle, your offspring’). The use i
this nominal one
“The word am ‘hatchling, chic is ocherwise used of human young only by Shaimaneser
(Grayson, RIM 1, p. 183, 42).Te word is chosen carey for x vvdly conveys the helpless
plight of orphaned cikren wien fis takes into a temple's car and service Pets itl high-
lights the parents state fr elsewhere inthe epic when Humbaba addresses nkiduas someone
‘who knew no father’ o mothe’ he calls him an amu (SBV87-S).
123, Forthe plural of upbob see OB Auam-basi I wi 6 sug boat,
124, The eet aur of indie esposition’, hati placed on Eakidu's neck mark his new
stasis not clea. In Oppeniin'siscusson of his episode he translated ist efeting to an
bjectin the Bris Museum (Ors 17 (1948),p.34 fo tjlso CAD Isp 110) Thee are several
such tgs extant They are piered ovoid of clay each bearing te ames of an inva the per~816 ‘THE STANDARD BABYLONIAN Erie
fon responsible for them and a date in the reign of Merodach-baladan I (ealogued by J.
Brinkzan, Sts Oppo, p. 43, 442.12-14) They may have been have been Slave ag woen
around the neck (80 M.A. Dandraer, Slavery x Babli, p. 234), bat his funtion is cispated
(see Brinkman, Sues Oppentin, pp. 37-8). The word ind fits nowhere inthe knoon technical
terminology fr slave macking Welmow from legal documents thatthe markofa rk cblate of at
(as Beier) in Neo-Babylonian Uruk was a sar symbot (lala), which took the frm of
brand mask orn) on diand (ge the references collecetin GAD 8/3, p.106)jon the marking
ofthese and other temple slaves with branding rons (na pars) and other devies in the fst
‘ilennium s= Dandamaey Slavery, pp. 488-9, Marking 24) ofslaves by branding, and perhaps
soother means, was known in the thi millenium But ic was aot common, nor do we Know
at pat of the slaves body the mark was imposed (se P. Steinke in OID 164, p. 243; D.
Forvo, ‘Sumerian brands and branding-rons’,Z4 85 (1995), pp. I-7),The classi save mark of
the second millenium waste ste of hair called alu, judging from our passage which serves
as anactoiogy ofthe ial inductin of obatesin Uru nearer times some form ofidenifction
was daplayed on the neck that denoted the oblate’ anus and obligation,
125-6, Theslines can be tken es quosng the potocalty which foundings were inducted into
the temple personnel Denoting sit does the act of indian the ver is certainly another
‘sarap ofthe performative’ preterit (ee above, on SBI 11) wabld predic the outeomeafthe
induction ands presenta,
127. In MS M the reading ofthe sgn as now seems inescapable Other examples of writings
of the first-person conjugation prefix with sigs normally spaying reno: uncommon: in
‘is book SB 1127 Lue (MS M) eb (MS 2a) joined by XT82 Eyer (MST) 9
eve (MS) and XI314 peal (MS C) ete purul MSS). MS a's elgdia further example
ofthe ‘performative’ pretrte This statement lokslke aversion ofthe very words pokenon adap
ion, for which the phrase wen OB legal document salon marci gdm (see M Dai Die
Adoption im alba lischen Rech Leipzig, 1927), pp, 38 £5M. de. Elks, 9CS27 (1975), p. 142).
128, The verb dummugu also oceus inthe context of adoption in an OB manumisson docs
‘ent fom Sippar (BEVI/1 96, 1-7)auurresum arena nad) “mal t) om
mateo am-m-gini-macona marisa uml eria-g. . dub Bib Surat,
‘whom Brisa, the nadia of Sama her mother ha favoured with adoption (it: favoured and
doped}: isa also) redceme er from slavery’ In the present ine iti evidently Gilgamed
‘wo wll show favour ois new brotherthere sno hendiady bt the verb describes the expected
behaviour ofthe adopting family towards the new member.
129, Pepota restores eau donot fea”
130-4, Restored after. 8-4
135, Pechaps repetition of SB IS 219,
148. Perhaps t)-La-u ol at?
350. Or na.an.na Parpo)
152, Or [a)-rigsurgimni the one whe scatesthe incense offerings
166, Thisline compares with ine ofthe ede’ blessing in the Yale tbls: [a dha eminaka
Sonia (OB1257).
167. This mention of Mardu the god of Babylon, unique in Gilgamedin which the divine
drmatispeionae are predominantly caw from the local pantheon of Uruk and the national
Pantheon of Sumer
168, Thefis word camalsobe ead kui: sheaves (chur see Landsberger, RA62,p.103,
fn.28)
CRITICAL AND PHILOLOGICAL NOTES: TABLET 1¥ 317
173. This cannot be the ctchtine fr SB IV, appearing it does on cl v of MS Iie obs
‘ously too carly forthe narrative of the journey to begin, since the inal valedictions are ye to be
‘made, sone must assume tha his ine comprises instrctons in dest speech and continu the
episode in which GigameS and Enki ae blessed forthe journey. Ax such it would compe wih
the similarly detailed instructions ofthe elders in theYale aber (OB I 268-71.
1202-5. Restored afer SI-4
241. Thelin related 10 OB Firma 17: nihun haba ina bb uaa,
214. Note she alteration thacarends the kisses abana slags pia,
215-27. Thisspeechisarepetiton fl I-12 (from whic tis restored), wih headin ofthe
‘age lie 223. The burden of this incompleelineseomso be that Enkin wil guide GgameSsaly
‘through the mountains. Inthe Sumerian poems of Bigames and Hawa there is a comparable
lie:mdsrsmd. rrp ep sm.in.tim.tim u (A Sand 60) benim sim. ne
(550), "1c them lead you through the pases ofthe mountain’ forms 0 traded see A,
‘Shaffer, 740S 103 (1983) pp. 307-8, fo. 4c, perhaps MSL XIV 386, ATVH4 128-30: i] =
rebuke Sumerian poem, however this function ite uy ofthe seven con-
steations given othe hero by Uma,
TABLET IV
1-4/34-7 [09-82] 120-3 163-5. This passage hasbeen staied by A Shaler, res ae!
(1965), p 159, B. Landsberger, 4 62 (1968),p.99 (U.a-d), and}. Klein and K, Abraham, CRRA
MII, pp. 67-72, hough necessarily without knowlege of forerunner in OB Schoyens 25-6,
‘which confirms thatthe journey proceeded 2 a sucession of three-day non-stop marches, One
‘mater not fly discussed is the impicaons of the ‘month and & als march’ thatthe heroes
‘covered in each three ay period. According 0 the inscripsions of Bsrhaddon,the normal day's
march of te Assyrian army on a military expedion in hose county was two 6 (R. Borge,
Exar p. 112 rev 317; c£ Locke, OIP2,p.74,71).One bir one welt of ful day, ot hal
‘amean watch of four hours Asa measure oflength tis the distance mavled in we hour, whether
in theshy by dhe sun andstars (307), or on eathby men (Derseen 10and IT km:seeM Powel, REA
‘Vlip.467)-The standard march f four hours referedo by Bsartaddonrepresenea comfortable
stance by comparison withthe figures adduced forthe OB ineary known s the Rou to Ear,
‘which indicate thar a party ona forced arch cold coverin one dy upto 30% a the crow les
(WW. Hallo, JCS 18 (1968), 85), that, about thre Br.The reson why the Assyrian amy
‘vas evden slower than the saves of the OB text presumably that iw eacubered by &
heavier baggage tin.
In our pasage Gigumes and Enkidu watel an heroic fifty Avr each dy, which for ordinary
‘mortals would have aken about 18 days The nasonaljourey of ne month nd alin isthe
not the dally iy Ber bur presumably the distance covered bythe thi day (naa), ie, 150
(Sooo in SB X 171, where the phrase maak arbi apa inal i nsurs inthe context of|
Gilgames's journey over the ocean with Ur-anab. According to von Soden (Rel p43, fn.
the distance covered in the tree days roughly corresponds othe eng ofthe conventional route
‘romsouth Mesopotamia to Lebanon andinded,acordingo the evidence of he inerary own
the Road to mar the somesbat shorter journey to Haran rom Di Api-Sn,one day ut om
Sippar, could be done in 35 days (Hallo, FCS 18, p. 85). However, one should ot mae 00 muchsis TE STANDARD BABYLONIAN EPIC
ofthis becouse asthe txt ofSBIV standst would sem thatthe distance of 150 bir covered by the
end of thethid day was not the oa distance ofthe journey from Urukto the Cada Fores, but only
‘that covered before each dream episode Von Soden avoid this problem by maintaining that fir
‘Sin-lege-unni stele Libanon mur ein Zschenzel au dem langen Marsch er Freunde [tothe
‘Cedar Forest dar (Rela. 0,3) bat he fc heree that, according to SHV (ae wellas
‘OB Ishchal, che Cedar Fores: was on Me Lebanon, Foe this eon, to, kur lab-eo-nu mast be
ested inalthe parla the pestge under comiment.
“Toreum to thediscusion of distance and time there are ive dream episodes in the at version
ofthe tetas reconstructed so that in his account the journey took fifteen days. As Landsberger
pointed et theresa contadton nhsretin this, beeause the mention of Lebanon in. would
seem toinicate tht Ggane and Enkiduhas already arrived atthe Cedar Forestate three day
Fourey (e462, p.102)-To resolve this dict we have to assume tha 2a hero, and also in OB
Scheyens26means to draw nore” (salteady Renger in Oina od), Heo Epic ond Sago 2).
Jn the ite version ofthe epic the arrival athe Cedar Foes estensly occurred onhe sith day
‘of thejourney (H. ten, aanuler Mizegen (1958), . 18), which would represent sinple
outing of dis igure. However, che figure in queson can be red U 1)6.kaN, Later journey
‘of ffeen das, whic would then gece withthe SB tex (E-Laroche, BHA 26 1968) 9.126, Ee)
“owever tat maybe thelate poets enthusiasm fr repetition andapsrandiserpent means thatthe
account we havea ftredity along way behind andi, inefect air tale. AsLandsberger wrote
‘when reflecting on von Soden temp at reconeling the ests ofthis passage with reality, ie
junger de Breahiongen von Gilgames sind, deso mehr sie aie Meskmale einer Michen tager?
(R62, 9.99.7.
4. Tomy eyes he place name on MS w is! la-na- ot! naa (ote against Lamberts
copy). Late inthis ble, however, MS «has clear Bb a-ne (ee 1.124, Ror thie reason one
would be tempted 1 read MS ws labna-eu as onan, were i aot for the fact that ater
abyonian anestatos ofthe toponsm, where unambiguous, unanimously rporcit a Labnina
(aeeM Weippery‘Libsnon’, RLAVI pp 644-5).
5-{6 38-3 83} 125-6)) 166-7. Thesecondline of his couplet mote fly recovers
since itseems to menticn water it may be narrative elated to estrone those given by the
edersintheValetabet ea mbt ir Bram (hay m eitum ina natin maa
‘Sons tonaget tha whasasLxgabonda (OB Il 268-71), On Gilgames and wel see Chapter 3,
the section on Digging wel
(7)/40/(85//127// 168, ‘Thistineis helt cousterpart of OB Sehayen,27:iima Gigimefana
sriadin,
[13] 1/[44,789 41131] 172, “The sean (dale orbs based on Labats ‘wa abi (2) con-
tele] ve and encouraged by the ve ei. presume the shelters a makeshift tent and hath
isthe Map that goes over te enrancetokecp out the weather Others have supped Fo 2,
forboth of which rooms aking however For abil stmmvin’ see MSL TV,p. 35, Emel oe,
UL 90: mecersig= mirsig= stu following Kru and meh, end Malku TD 192: [zip gu=
‘Man (Le) Bila (von Weber, Uruk TT 120), among other winds.
{03} 1 (46) 1914 [133] 174. The three sign ater Hina have usually been imerpreted 35
“rmountin bale’ (Sd, Assyrian ortbouraphy), burt ms eyes the second sign seems more ke
ethan xu. For £4, n Sumerians. (ura, ‘ata net, 10 ofthe fw, se CAD SB,
339 (despite the heading ka B¥heertresin OB Lu clearly indcaethat the genitive is). Theverd
Aeseribed by this simile should mean ‘he threw himsef down fx’ but no plausible restoration
CRITICAL AND PHILOLOGIGAL NOTES: TABLET 1V 819
(aM ¢ (5019 951 (1371/78), Forde syntax see Chapter 5, the note on OBI
[20] i 53] 98 [240] [181]. The speling es is Assyrian For examples of the 3d
se prefix «and other mars of Assyrian influence in Kunik manuscripts see Chapter 9, the
section on Language and styles (i).
25, The conventional iacrpeeation of K+ NIW ois tke fic of the reed-bebut given the lack
‘of contexe isis sil very uncer
26, Ithasnotbeennoied previous tht hisline andl. 107 are een thesame Theline
selned 10 OB IM 19, where itis clearly part ofthe narrative, introducing a speech by Baki:
‘wade rin idan saqgarlan) ana ra. On acenunt of wl) in. 107, one has 0
‘consider aking the lt version of theline a ect speech, reading heist Woed ("alana end
‘Thave ate this opzon on that occasion where the folowing lin i fuller thant ishee-But in the
preset line an antecedent subject is badly needed for ézabkara ona iB, and for this reason 1
suppte that twas corer tothe OB in, an restore de"ot net Te ustaposton of Ekidu's
‘iterate origins and his cleverness inthe interpretation of dreams (and inthe OB tet inadvising a
‘course of ation san interesting poeicl device. In this conesion we may real tht dream inter-
‘pretation, atleast, an inutve art—in ancient Mesopotamia traditionally a female one—that
‘needs no scholarly or cour ting.
27. The ver) Rambura here and inthe similar L 108 meant tery ‘to make something
scceptable’ The point must be tat Game’ can only come to terms wit the dreams that so
‘bewilder i ifthi contents can he evel as neaingf
28, Thelinerecureas SBIV LO9 and 155
35. The phrase amat Samat damige seems litle unbkly buts secure from the parallel SB IV
162,
102. Because of the need for penultimate sess it i herr to passe ett as plural,
sccondingy sno vente
105. Restrain from Parola Though separate rom it abn agrees with ft G0 CAD Ni2,
149) as clerythecas inthe forerunner ofthis ine (OB Schayen. 0: ppm uta).
For other examples of remote adjectives in SB Gilgames see Chapter 9, the section on Language
and spiesub
106, Comparison with OB Schaven, 41 suggests thatthe frst word shouldbe ertored as abl
Roweves the Sie snot identical tthe OB line, for they donot agree inthe number of the verb
in the second haf ofthe ine: OB Sehoyens 41: tru Sami, SB IV 106: ir ana tun. For the
‘moment one must assume that in thelat version of eine he subjects nt mabiba i carried
‘over from, 105. have estore according.
107-9, Seedhe notes on the paral lines, V 26-8
124. The spelling *Hb-a-na i unique fora test om Babylonia, where the mountain is
‘ual rendered Labo (ce above, on 4).
161, The LBspelings n-o-caa (MS w) and nisz-sacaz-c (MS) look vee; for forms of
feesin the venve see OB M1179 and the note thereon.
190-205. “This passage has been studied by Landsberger, R462, pp.LOS-7.
190. Landsbergerrestoredthislineasnarratve,(«-na pn Somat} "la Aad-ma--f) baths
remains conjectural. More probably thelne det speech
191, The restoration ofthe binning of chs ine and 198 rely on SBIV 148: peru Sa BSE
rude Gilet iscoecto restore thus Landsberge' reading toy atthe end ofthe
line looks ess probable820 ‘THE STANDARD BABYLONIAN EPIC
182, Note he venti impersive of ues (1. 161 bow),
194-5, As Landsberg noted (Ra 62, p. 105), his couplet ako occurs ax SBVIE 132-3: Samal
‘nd (soalso MS AA here) [sii pj lw elamamna ub ul fad deanatsa The second
‘verbispresentbefore direct speech btthefrce of the tain is uncersn (ee the commentary
onSB178),
198, The seven das are dhe seven terible auras that Eni bestowed on Humbabe for his
protection.
205. There temptation ro compare thine witha passage of OB Harmal:in which Enid
says iii maha [Hed ia) dada oi (U,19-20), but whe both context are
so fragmentary itis best not wo use his wo jst restoration,
213. On ulin rst postion, separated from its vee, se the commentary oa SB Il 102-6. The
word éiahduis taken san Assyrianized speling fina (ee above, on|-20).As such tmakesa
Detter ative (WI perfec) than passive (LVI aad) cone Botéo (es enfants ont &é mis a
‘mo{nde)). or ala with an active masculine subject one need only cite Enna ell 16:14am
ameSlaté ld mudi-muc,Petbaps the point of the Bine was thet Gigs fears he wll le
swihout hele,
215-16. The couplet is restored after OB Schayen, 15-17: inanns bf So milan | a
{adios mbar mina} ian Bacon ila | ul kdl rr mina, CE also
(OB acral, 10: um bral,
230-48, Thispatsge hasbeen stdied by Landsberger, R462, pp, 110-12. Notall hirer
tions have been adopted hers
231. The vecd manele looks to my ees a better ft chan fmm AH p. 1155). The
restoration of ais sypportd by mang idk in 242,
233. Thelineisrestoed ater SBI.232 /¥V 100.
235. ‘The waces donot support Toumniy ant Shaffer's Le ps-tom (Lipp p. 11950
58)
238, Neihe ip nor igura bi, P119, fo. 60) fis the races.
239. Von Soden pases both a-ap-pit here and i-a-pitin BX 17S ftom sabi, 0 sweep?
(Affe p. 536). Lfllow Landsberger, op cit, and CAD Lp. 89, im paring instead fom ipa
assuming that dhe moe stems of tit (ft) ver can wtize (i) forms. Apart fom these :wo
instances, the incipit of an incanson in Surg exis simi form (Tablet ef 5): move
Ssalsap-p-i, You, O oath whokept on touching! Thathialso must be pdtv 3 is acepeedin
As,
240, An api is some kind! of marginal cule figure according to an entry in synonym ist
pico (oa. pil pa) = hala (CT 8 5, K A193 te, 10) LTBAII 1 vi 6).
241. The lines also known from OB Hara, 5: Mia Bie Apu rinks. Falling on te
enemy with oud yells a tactic als employed at BX 97: na KB gt p(n,
242, The stock phrase margu w tu is common enough, but compare especialy a narative
ara to this line reproduced a coupletin Ladi ll 77-8:
man guip barbie Sines seized my arms,
‘neti nesarqulbinia_feebloness hasbeen my knses
245-8. Theselins appear to contain proverbial wisdom, some oft very similar to nes occut-
ring aso inthe story (f, OB II 255-6; SB IN 4-5 218-19), Not the nomic’ pretertes in
Lar,
TABLET V
1, Thesith sign on MS His now more damaged than Haupt and Thompsons cops show but
enough survives to vindicate them and to dispose ofan akermaive suggested reading, na po-at-
gt‘ the edge ofthe Fores. Compare nap in I. 2-3 and na in, 5. The alysis of bap-por
casivas a‘Sandhi-Schnebung” for the same ina pita (M.P Steck, Ors 68 (1995),p.47, 0.59)
is open 1 the objection that sucha speing would not conform to the usual per. Sand isa
teem given in Sanhrit to a predictable change in the phonetic redization of word made atthe
word boundary. In Asyrblogy the rem ‘Sandhi wring’ has been used to desrbe thoge rare
spellings that reflec pronuncstion in which one words run into another, ie, ea. Sometimes
‘his coupling involves sion, as when word-inal vowe! tht precedes a word beginning with ¢
syllable normally writen wih aV or VC sign ios, eg. esac te, fori ai oman for
(hérior tomar (ee further GAG? 617, "Kea. More commen are case in which word-inal
consonant in the sume poston is writen asi opening the following word «g ursi-ra-mi pte
(0 for pura ie (OB Icha 38 OB IM ob. 18), for be ede from ina). As
‘wala iting nether ofthese models, Sree’ analyse of -nap-parattesa Sandi writing should
be tempered bythe consideration thatthe preposition ina before a word begining wth p was not
necesunily pronounced asa bisylable It was often p perhaps more often than we think Te cold
sa be argued that nap para-v isa peculiar Kind of mompho-graphemicspeling for *ip-paty,
‘but MS H does not otherwise exhibit bizarre ortogzaphy. Thus I agee sith those who posit @
vb napa
‘The speling of inappad with ro Ts neods comment. Repeiton of consonaat a the bound
sry berneen stem (or bese) and afix is most sypical of thid-mlennium onography, being
‘normal in Sumerian and algo acceptable in Aksadian (ypcally when cored syllables wren with
CVC signs are resumed witha soca ending, e.g dena = din + am). For iterate on this
henomenon in texts fom second and fit-millenium Mesopoia sec W. Mayer, Or ss 61
(1992), pp. 47-8 with fn. 34. Ar some poin ic became acceptable for such doubling to occur
{in resuming the consonant after a VC sign, exactly a here with Fnap-pocat-av and napa
‘This development is alreaty found in tes from the Late Bronze Age periphery (as noted
by J. Hochnergard, The Atadion of Users p. 49, and J. Durham, ‘Studies in Bobazkay
‘Attain’, PAD thesis (Harvar, 1976) pp, 379-80), but ia Mesopotamia i becomes more com-
‘stonplace inthe first mileanium. The example with perhaps the highest profes -jusus-2u for
‘hus + in ASsrbanipal colophon d (Hunger, Kolophone no. 318, 5) 1a Gigumet tables fom
‘Kuyuiknote also the etesations listed inthe section of Chapter 9 on Spelling (subd and =).
Examples in older Neo-Assyian Gigames tales are given inthe inmoduction to Chapter 7,
sb (6.
For von Soden such splings mated a shift of suess (GAG 5202). Others view them as aa
‘orthographic phenomenon without significance for promunciaton (se 1]. Geb, BiOr 12 (1955),
1.101; GAG? 520g). In Sumerian wedng the practice of reuming fsa consonant the mor
‘heme boundary canbe shown to be amanrof orthography only: Tes that use non conventional
sillabie spelings sometimes show elon of vowels before a consonant that is conventionally
writen double, ths showing i tobe singe nevertheless (eg, in UrNammy B, SRT 11, 68 oi
bint TCL XV 38, 10 nhp-phigrae4 J Klein, dc Son 11 (1989), pp. 44-56). Given
‘he ong history and wide spread of weiten Akkadian, however it sems presimpriois to explain
ery analogous spling in thar language by reference ro the conventions of the third milena,
‘shen a variety offerors may havehoen at work,922 ‘THE STANDARD BABYLONIAN EPIC
4-5. Compare a version ofthis couplet in OB Harmal: Se Husa ila) | iin sume
zr panama (4-15),
6. The spelling ema-u for inmard is Assyrian in its use of the prefix «and in the non
‘marking ofthe gmination bu, nthe absence of vowel harmony, isnot actually an example of
Assyrian alec For eter examples in bets of the SB tex praper see Chapter 9, the secon on
Language nd sil sub ii)
"The epithe ofthe Cedar Mountain given ere san expansion of the eater malt Eman
(OB IM 19-18) j maiab Bruswabl (OB Ishehal 38). Given the clear parallelism in ou Hine
‘beoween mio iT and por r-s-nLssume thatthe Gonnstands not forthe wellknown aspect
‘of Tar (rina) but for goddesses in generan other words is a variant on the common noun
“tari which often appears pared with in formally masculine phragm thie se the com-
‘mentary on SB1 78) may be wanscribed ino.
8, [take the spling f-c- forthe stitive 16 and not ae the adjective (or extra vowels
appended ro closed sable wih ong vol ce the section of Chapter 9 on Speling, su 2.
(Otherwise cne may wars a single clause its shade so sect wa ulof delight
9, ‘Teresoratons are thos of von Soden, Z4 53.225
11, Pethaps Bhai
74, Another version of thisine canbe found in MB Emar iq
75. The wor tka soread by Landsberger, RA 62, p 108, is taken to bea plural form of
‘ahi (ee Ap. 1305),
76 ‘The‘tseesly rope’ also occurs in the feganent, probably of proverbs K 16804 (cl. B
bla ead, ced CAD 83, p. 383) The Sumerian equivalent ofthe saying is &3 abba Ii
‘nu kd. no man can snap a tree-lyrope’a prover which s embedded in sma context in
‘he tle of Bgames and Huwawa A 107. I equivalence the wel-known Hebrew proverb tier
lin rh yg a ace cord is not snapped in ahurey” (Eedesass 4:12, where the con-
testisalso of wo prevaing over one), was frst remarkedby SN Kramer, JCS 1 (1947),p.40,and
‘tablished by A. Shaffer, rtf (1967) pp.246-S0, and agin, the light ofthe pubieaion
of MS u, Bes-naet 9 (1968). 160."Taough in his edition ofthe Sumerian text D. ©. Edzard
pets in Kramer's reading tig ,cubbe, ‘cinendrefach zusammengefaeren Sto” (ZA 81
(1991),p.202, 107), the equation sands Occasional confosion between Sand isis to he expect
fein the work flere: series. In Prove Colecton Sno. 56 the tw signs occur as variants foe
‘the same reason (Aste, rors p. 403).
186, W.R, Mayers proposed an alternative reading of the ist rwo words
standing the wholelineasinsutngschmenschen-Drr, Glgames, dummer Ker! (Deer, Mayer
snd Sommerfeld, rns 6 (1987), p.210) Lamy view Riku (ear. of hull), "kinsman of isk
‘mar’ snot phrase tharin Babylonian would convey abuse: creature of Ea the h-man was 8
{fabulous monster of apotropsic fonction in religious iconography (Wiagermans, Prasive Spiis,
‘pp. 182-3). The word ii here asbeon sted as"cin chines Beipc! erarischerAmbigui’on
‘the grounds thc a6 wel as meaning To i aides to the lili-dermon who fatered Gilgame
(Reger, Studi Reiner 9,320). Lam nt convinced thatthe ext gains fom such ambi
89, The speling angered coud be for indicative aermbir (CV for VC) but can be
otherwise explained as exhibiting avensivein-u(),on which see Chapter9, he section on Speling
consentons sub (
90. The decipherment of the words that precede ina hariyais areal problem. Previous transi-
‘ors fave not been able to agre on wheter the four sens ua ba-a represent #0 word oF oe.
“Mostchoose the verb ei, sats’ This posible wth Aas (ee V R9 67,8 Steck, hp
GRITICAL AND PHILOLOGICAL NOTES: TABLET ¥ 323
"78s La sata hn matey coud ot sate thee belies with mi”), bo ine would
‘represent an unwanted intrusion. Other translations are no more compeling: Bonéro suggests
“Tame épanoui(2) Westeahols du bie ike noget(?). Its iff to parse what remains of te
Sirsa ofthe ine a any form of dtu oil thovah many have ied, Lambert soso (5a
eda a-haa = taba) tad (xb MD ina hap, ou who wsed to gaol about |
pputoutof my mind (personal communication). Ul anodher manoscript shedslghton tie ineit
seems esto eave the problemadal words unanshatd.
92, Theemendation neds justification. Taking hein ast stands ane might posta word gaze
sw (or gz), qualifying nakr a 'an you, oursel, ke a hose enemy with eth bared’ The
root ofthe ver in question seems to vary. The infinitive usually Aazdsu ayo gy note
«form ostensy from gazdouin Summa al XLV: Dx Sata)" Enna)" egeeanee,
i pgs gash thee teeth’ (CT 38 45 obs. 14). Aa objection i that gazsiey docs not provide the
stressed penultimate sable required by the meve. In manuscip where ial vowel can safely
belgored, emendatonto ova-2-2, for tazsz cures this problem,
94, Others render ier tararas 2 mychial'Sehlangeavogel or similar. assume that the all
sion io the smal birds that descend in large numbers ona dead animal to pick the carcass clean:
by ter number and vorscousnes.ifnotalso teint, dey could besa to resemble loess or
crickess (arava). Of the other bids mensoned, the vale (tu) feeds on dead prey burhe cage
(ori) generally does not, and thus is out of place, Pes the key les in the pare nd,
“snarling vicious which canbe used ons owa to denote a parte typeof bites in Hi XVEL
193: hauls" =a (MSL VIN, p 129) and pechaps Nabe ML 157-9: Auz™,
Dana gd = packing" (MSE XVI p65). In urine it may quali ard nd desig.
ate particular kindof eaghe-tkerapsor dat wl atom a carcass,
96. The changing of Humbaba's countenance implies that, confronted bythe intruders, his
cxpresion sumed hosile-The expresion used siary in OB Agusta: Jon ue itt
{paras ‘he godess grew frious, her countenance changed! (VAS X 214 vii 26, ed B.
Gronebers, RATS (1981),p.112),
9. The waces do act fly support the reading [utctoa Mls] nihabiad anata (A
‘estenhoizin von Weiber, Un I, p. 255).
98, Thespeing i! poi Au if eorredy ads for indicative pti
100-t, Forthisstandard couple se the commentary on SB 1232-3
102. The second half ofthe lie is perhaps reminisceat of OF Harmal, 16-17: nvidia
|warmeppsand OB Schoyen, 17:tomemmeidina at tp Here, however, a restoration (fe
[ed inrwed out because in SB we expect nip
103-5, Thelangeage is at ast pary proverbial with clear ference in 103-410 the work of
‘he copperfounder. ll tree ines are characterized by the se of infinitive instead of fn pars
ofthe ver. These may mask 103-1 direct quotations om procedural texts rina’), forthe
Infinitive canbe usd instead ofthe present of instruction in other practical es, sch a mesial
prescriptions (se GAG" 15", on the “heischendes It). However, this explanation wil ot work
forl 105, for icannot be rom sucha context
103. The conventional translation of nap as ‘smi doesnot do jusce to the scale of hit
activites As the eymalogy implies, the nap wasa man who heated furnace (oote FJoannts’s
translation fondeurin‘Metalle un Metalurpie Tn Mesopotamien’ LAV, pp. 96-1125,
100. Before the Ion Age his work scems to have covered the whole range of copper-working
smelingore, refining, alloying, caring in copper and bronze, anfnishing rough castings ty ham
sneving. Th apps dele wth in rind: