For the entire 12-tablet Epic see Epic of Gilgamesh. The Epic of Gilgamesh is a literary work from Babylonia, dating from long after the time that king Gilgamesh was supposed to have ruled. ...

The Deluge tablet of the Gilgamesh epic in Akkadian

Gilgamesh flood myth refers to a story in the Epic of Gilgamesh relating to the deluge. This flood story was added as Tablet XI (eleven) to the ten original tablets of the Gilgamesh Epic by an editor who copied or altered parts of the flood story from the Epic of Atrahasis. ^[1] Deluge Tablet (Babylonian, Gilgamesh) http://www. ... Deluge Tablet (Babylonian, Gilgamesh) http://www. ... The Deluge by Gustave Doré. The story of a Great Flood sent by God or the gods to destroy civilization as an act of divine retribution is a widespread theme in myths. ... Akkadian (lišānum akkadītum) was a Semitic language (part of the greater Afro-Asiatic language family) spoken in ancient Mesopotamia, particularly by the Assyrians and Babylonians. ... The Epic of Gilgamesh is a literary work from Babylonia, dating from long after the time that king Gilgamesh was supposed to have ruled. ... The Deluge by Gustave Doré. The story of a Great Flood sent by God or the gods to destroy civilization as an act of divine retribution is a widespread theme in myths. ... The 18th century BC Akkadian Atra-Hasis epic, named after its human hero, contains both a creation and a flood account, and is one of three surviving Babylonian flood stories. ...

The original Gilgamesh Epic did not include the flood myth

Gilgamesh's supposed historical reign is believed to have been approximately 2500 BC, 400 years prior to the earliest known written stories. The discovery of artifacts associated with Agga and Enmebaragesi of Kish, two other kings named in the stories, has lent credibility to the historical existence of Gilgamesh.^{[citation needed]} According to the Sumerian king list, Gilgamesh was the fifth king of Uruk (Early Dynastic II, first dynasty of Uruk), the son of Lugalbanda. ... (Redirected from 2500 BC) (26th century BC - 25th century BC - 24th century BC - other centuries) (4th millennium BC - 3rd millennium BC - 2nd millennium BC) Events 2900 - 2334 BC -- Mesopotamian wars of the Early Dynastic period 2494 BC -- End of Fourth Dynasty, start of Fifth Dynasty in Egypt. ... Enmebaragesi (Me-Baragesi, En-Men-Barage-Si, Enmebaragisi), according to the Sumerian king list, was a king of Kish who subdued Elam and reigned 900 years, but was captured single handedly by Dumuzid the fisherman of Uruk, predecessor of Gilgamesh. ... Kish [kish] (Tall al-Uhaymir) was an ancient city of Sumer, now in central Iraq. ...

The earliest Sumerian versions of the epic date from as early as the Third dynasty of Ur (2100 BC-2000 BC). ^{[citation needed]} The earliest Akkadian versions are dated to ca. 2000-1500 BC. ^{[citation needed]} The "standard" Akkadian version, composed by Sin-liqe-unninni and including the flood story, was edited sometime between 1300 BC and 1000 BC. Sumer (or Shumer, Egyptian Sangar, Bib. ... The third dynasty of Ur reinstalled Sumerian rule after several centuries of Akkadian and Gutian kings (Sumerian Renaissance). ... (Redirected from 2100 BC) (22nd century BC - 21st century BC - 20th century BC - other centuries) (4th millennium BC - 3rd millennium BC - 2nd millennium BC) Events 2130 - 2080 BC -- Ninth Dynasty wars in Egypt 2112 - 2095 BC -- Sumerian campaigns of Ur-Nammu 2064 - 1986 BC -- Twin Dynasty wars in Egypt 2049... (Redirected from 2000 BC) (21st century BC - 20th century BC - 19th century BC - other centuries) (3rd millennium BC - 2nd millennium BC - 1st millennium BC) Events 2064 - 1986 BC -- Twin Dynasty wars in Egypt 2000 BC -- Farmers and herders travel south from Ethiopia and settle in Kenya. ... Akkadian (lišānum akkadÄ«tum) was a Semitic language (part of the greater Afro-Asiatic language family) spoken in ancient Mesopotamia, particularly by the Assyrians and Babylonians. ... (Redirected from 1500 BC) Centuries: 17th century BC - 16th century BC - 15th century BC Decades: 1550s BC 1540s BC 1530s BC 1520s BC 1510s BC - 1500s BC - 1490s BC 1480s BC 1470s BC 1460s BC 1450s BC Events and Trends Stonehenge built in Wiltshire, England The element Mercury has been... Sin-liqe-unninni was a professional exorcist who lived in Babylonia between 1300 BC and 1000 BC. He is the author of the best preserved version of the Epic of Gilgamesh. ... (Redirected from 1300 BC) Centuries: 15th century BC - 14th century BC - 13th century BC Decades: 1350s BC 1340s BC 1330s BC 1320s BC 1310s BC - 1300s BC - 1290s BC 1280s BC 1270s BC 1260s BC 1250s BC Events and Trends Cecrops II, legendary King of Athens dies after a reign... (Redirected from 1000 BC) Centuries: 12th century BC - 11th century BC - 10th century BC Decades: 1050s BC 1040s BC 1030s BC 1020s BC 1010s BC - 1000s BC - 990s BC 980s BC 970s BC 960s BC 950s BC Events and Trends 1006 BC - David becomes king of the ancient Israelites (traditional...

Tablet eleven (XI), the flood tablet

The Gilgamesh flood tablet XI contains additional story material besides the flood. The flood story was included because in the story the flood hero Utnapishtim is granted immortality by the gods and that fits the immortality theme of the Gilgamesh Epic. In Tablet XI Gilgamesh meets Utnapishtim, who tells him about the great flood and reluctantly gives him a chance for immortality. He tells Gilgamesh that if he can stay awake for six days and seven nights he will become immortal. However, Gilgamesh falls asleep and Utnapishtim tells his wife to bake a loaf of bread for every day he is asleep so that Gilgamesh cannot deny his failure. When Gilgamesh wakes up, Utnapishtim decides to tell him about a plant that will rejuvenate him. Utnapishtim tells Gilgamesh that if he can obtain the plant from the bottom of the sea and eat it he will be rejuvenated, be a younger man again. Gilgamesh obtains the plant, but doesn't eat it immediately because he wants to share it with other elders of Uruk. He places the plant on the shore of a lake while he bathes and it is stolen by a snake. Gilgamesh, having failed both chances, returns to Uruk, where the sight of its massive walls provokes him to praise this enduring work of mortal men. Gilgamesh realizes that the way mortals can achieve immortality is through lasting works of civilization and culture.

Sentences copied from the Atrahasis Epic into the Gilgamesh Epic

These are a few of the sentences copied, but many more were also copied.

Material not copied

The Epic of Atrahasis provides additional information on the flood and flood hero that is omitted in Gilgamesh XI and other versions of the Ancient Near East flood myth. According to Atrahasis III ii, lines 40-47 the flood hero was at a banquet when the storm and flood began: "He invited his people...to a banquet... He sent his family on board. They ate and they drank. But he (Atrahasis) was in and out. He could not sit, could not crouch, for his heart was broken and he was vomiting gall."

Atrahasis tablet III iv, lines 6-9 clearly identify the flood as a local river flood: "Like dragonflies they [dead bodies] have filled the river. Like a raft they have moved in to the edge [of the boat]. Like a raft they have moved in to the riverbank." The sentence "Like dragonflies they have filled the river." was changed in Gilgamesh XI line 123 to: "Like the spawn of fishes, they fill the sea." We can see the mythmaker's hand at work here, changing a local river flood into an ocean deluge.

Other editorial changes were made to the Atrahasis text in Gilgamesh that removed any suggestion that the "gods" may have been people with human needs. For example, Atrahasis OB III, 30-31 "The Anunnaki, the great gods [were sitt]ing in thirst and hunger." was changed in Gilgamesh XI, 113 to "The gods feared the deluge." Sentences in Atrahasis III iv: "She was surfeited with grief and thirsted for beer." "From hunger they were suffering cramp." were omitted in Gilgamesh.

These and other editorial changes to Atrahasis are documented and described in the book by Prof. Tigay (see below) who is Assoc. Prof. of Hebrew and Semitic Languages and Literature in the Univ. of Pennsylvania. Tigay comments: "The dropping of individual lines between others which are preserved, but are not synonymous with them, appears to be a more deliberate editorial act. These lines share a common theme, the hunger and thirst of the gods during the flood."

The Akkadian determinative dingir which is usually translated as "god" or "goddess" can also mean "priest" or "priestess"^[2] although there are other Akkadian words ēnu and ēntu that are also translated priest and priestess. The English noun "divine" would preserve the ambiguity in dingir.

Alternative Translations

As with most translations, especially from an ancient dead language, scholars may differ on the meaning of ambiguous sentences.

For example, line 57 in Gilgamesh XI is usually translated (with reference to the boat) "ten rods the height of her sides."^[3] or "its walls were each 10 times 12 cubits in height".^[4] A rod was a dozen cubits and a Sumerian cubit was about 20 inches. Hence these translations imply the boat was about 200 feet high which would be impractical with the primitive technology in Gilgamesh's time (about 2700 BC). One problem with these translations is nowhere in line 57 is there an Akkadian word for "height". The sentence literally reads "Ten dozen-cubits each I-raised its-walls." ^[5] A similar example from an unrelated house building tablet reads: "he shall build the wall [of the house] and raise it four ninda and two cubits." This measurement (about 83 feet) obviously means wall length not height.^[6]

Line 142 in Gilgamesh XI is usually translated "Mount Nişir held the boat, allowing no motion." Nişir (with a dot under the s) is often spelled Nimush. The Akkadian words translated "Mount Nişir" are "KUR-ú KUR ni-şir". The word KUR was a Sumerian word and could mean hill or country. The first KUR is followed by a phonetic complement -ú which indicates that KUR-ú is to be read in Akkadian as šadú (hill) and not as mātu (country). Since šadú (hill) could also be translated as mountain in Akkadian and scholars knew the Biblical expression Mount Ararat, it has become customary to translate šadú as mountain or mount. But the flood hero was Sumerian according to the Sumerian king list and in Sumerian the word KUR meant hill or country, not mountain. Therefore KUR-ú should be translated as hill. The second KUR lacks a phonetic complement and is therefore read in Akkadian as mātu (country). Hence, the entire clause reads "The hill/mound country nişir held the boat". Nişir is usually transliterated as a proper name, because of the KUR sign that precedes nişir and the absence of a case ending on nişir. But nişir may have been derived from nişirtu which meant hidden, inaccessible, secluded, and secret. Hence the clause can be read as "Mound country inaccessible held the boat." Or in English grammar: "The inaccessible country mound held the boat." A sand bar in a marsh would qualify. This is an ambiguous sentence and we cannot be sure that it means inaccessible mound. But likewise we cannot be sure that it means Mount Nimush. Inaccessible mound would be possible; mountain Nimush would not be possible. Possible is more likely than impossible. In languages written in cuneiform, a phonetic complement is a sign used to indicate the type of the word it either precedes or follows. ... The Sumerian king list is an ancient text in the Sumerian language listing kings of Sumer from Sumerian and foreign dynasties. ...

Lines 146-147 in Gilgamesh XI are usually translated "I ... made sacrifice, incense I placed on the peak of the mountain." ^[7] Similarly "I poured out a libation on the peak of the mountain." ^[8] But Kovacs ^[9] provides this translation of line 156 "I offered incense in front of the mountain-ziggurat." Parpola provides the original Akkadian for this sentence: "áš-kun sur-qin-nu ina UGU ziq-qur-rat KUR-i"^[10] Áš-kun means I-placed; sur-qin-nu means offering; ina means on; UGU means top-of; ziq-qur-rat means temple tower; KUR-i means hill-like. Ziggurat KUR-i is a construct-genitive phrase in which KUR-i can be interpreted as an adjective modifying ziggurat. Parpola's glossary (page 145) defines ziq-qur-rat as "temple tower, ziggurat" and refers to line 157 so there is no doubt that he translates ziq-qur-rat as temple tower. The sentence literally reads "I placed an offering on top of a hill-like temple-tower." A ziggurat was an elevated platform or temple tower where priests made offerings to the temple god. The top of a temple ziggurat was a place where food was cooked for the priests to eat. Most translators disregard ziq-qur-rat and say it was a metaphor for peak and is therefore redundent and can be ignored. There is no authority for this other than previous translations of line 157. Why translators disregard the clear meaning of this sentence is not clear. Kovacs is correct that the flood hero's offering was at a ziggurat.

One of the Sumerian cities with a zigurrat was Eridu located west of an arm of the Persian Gulf known as the apsû. The only ziggurat at Eridu was at the temple of the god Ea (Enki), known as the apsû-house. In Gilgamesh XI, line 42 the flood hero said "I will go down [the river] to the apsû to live with Ea, my Lord." The flood hero "placed an offering on top of a hill-like temple-tower" at the temple of the god Ea in the city of Eridu, on an arm of the Persian Gulf, near the place where the boat grounded. Eridu (or Eridug) was an ancient city seven miles southwest of Ur . ... The apsû (also known as abzu or engur) was the name for the mythological underground freshwater ocean in Sumerian and Akkadian mythology. ...

External links

• Comparison of equivalent lines in six ancient versions of the flood story
• Noah’s Ark and the Ziusudra Epic A local flood theory that combines six Ancient Near East flood myths.

See also

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

The Epic of Gilgamesh

• Gilgamesh Epic
• Ziusudra
• Atrahasis
• Deluge
• Noah's Ark
• Babylonian and Assyrian religion

Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Wikisource – The Free Library – is a Wikimedia project to build a free, wiki library of source texts, along with translations into any language and other supporting materials. ... The Deluge tablet of the Gilgamesh epic in Akkadian The Epic of Gilgamesh is from Babylonia, dating from long after the time that king Gilgamesh was supposed to have ruled. ... Utnapishtim, whose name means he found life or he who saw life, is also known as Atrahasis, meaning the exceptional wise one. In the Akkadian sources, a wise citizen of Shurrupak on the banks of the Euphrates, or Ziusudra in the Sumerian poems. ... The 18th century BC Akkadian Atra-Hasis epic, named after its human hero, contains both a creation and a flood account, and is one of three surviving Babylonian flood stories. ... The Deluge by Gustave Doré. The story of a Great Flood sent by God or the gods to destroy civilization as an act of divine retribution is a widespread theme in myths. ... A painting by the American Edward Hicks (1780–1849), showing the animals boarding Noahs Ark two by two. ... This diorite head is believed to represent king Hammurabi Babylonian and Assyrian religion was a series of belief systems in places in the early civilisations of the Euphrates valley. ...

Bibliography

• Tigay, Jeffrey H., (1982). The Evolution of the Gilgamesh Epic. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia. ISBN 0-8122-7805-4.
• W. G. Lambert and A. R. Millard, Atrahasis: The Babylonian Story of the Flood, Eisenbrauns, 1999, ISBN 1-57506-039-6.
• George, Andrew R., trans. & edit. (2000 (reprinted with corrections 2003). The Epic of Gilgamesh. Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-044919-1.
• Kovacs, Maureen Gallery, transl. with intro. (1985,1989). The Epic of Gilgamesh. Stanford University Press: Stanford, California. ISBN 0-8047-1711-7. Glossary, Appendices, Appendix (Chapter XII=Tablet XII). A line-by-line translation (Chapters I-XI).
• Parpola, Simo, with Mikko Luuko, and Kalle Fabritius (1997). The Standard Babylonian, Epic of Gilgamesh. The Neo-Assyrian Text Corpus Project. ISBN 951-45-7760-4 (Volume 1) in the original Akkadian cuneiform and transliteration. Commentary and glossary are in English.
• Heidel, Alexander (1946). The Gilgamesh Epic and Old Testament Parallels. University of Chicago. ISBN 0-226-32398-6.
• Bailey, Lloyd R. (1989). Noah, the Person and the Story. South Carolina: University of South Carolina Press. ISBN 0-87249-637-6.
• Best, Robert M. (1999). Noah's Ark and the Ziusudra Epic. Fort Myers, Florida: Enlil Press. ISBN 0-9667840-1-4.

Simo Parpola is professor of Assyriology at the University of Helsinki, Finland. ...

References

1. ^ Tigay (1982)
2. ^ Margaret Whitney Green, Eridu in Sumerian Literature, PhD dissertation, University of Chicago (1975), p. 224.
3. ^ Andrew George page 90
4. ^ Kovacs, page 99
5. ^ Parpola, page 109
6. ^ R M Best, page 275
7. ^ Andrew George, page 94
8. ^ Heidel page 87
9. ^ Kovacs page 102
10. ^ Parpola page 111