An Old Babylonian Version of the Gilgamesh Epic | Page 2

shop in Bagdad and acquired for the
Berlin Museum. The tablet consists of four columns (two on the
obverse and two on the reverse) and deals with the hero's wanderings in
search of a cure from disease with which he has been smitten after the
death of his companion Enkidu. The hero fears that the disease will be
fatal and longs to escape death. It corresponds to a portion of Tablet X
of the Assyrian version. Unfortunately, only the lower portion of the
obverse and the upper of the reverse have been preserved (57 lines in

all); and in default of a colophon we do not know the numeration of the
tablet in this old Babylonian edition. Its chief value, apart from its
furnishing a proof for the existence of the Epic as early as 2000 B. C.,
lies (a) in the writing Gish instead of Gish-gi(n)-mash in the Assyrian
version, for the name of the hero, (b) in the writing
En-ki-du--abbreviated from dug--"Enki is good" for En-ki-dú in the
Assyrian version, [9] and (c) in the remarkable address of the maiden
Sabitum, dwelling at the seaside, to whom Gilgamesh comes in the
course of his wanderings. From the Assyrian version we know that the
hero tells the maiden of his grief for his lost companion, and of his
longing to escape the dire fate of Enkidu. In the old Babylonian
fragment the answer of Sabitum is given in full, and the sad note that it
strikes, showing how hopeless it is for man to try to escape death which
is in store for all mankind, is as remarkable as is the philosophy of "eat,
drink and be merry" which Sabitum imparts. The address indicates how
early the tendency arose to attach to ancient tales the current religious
teachings.
"Why, O Gish, does thou run about? The life that thou seekest, thou
wilt not find. When the gods created mankind, Death they imposed on
mankind; Life they kept in their power. Thou, O Gish, fill thy belly,
Day and night do thou rejoice, Daily make a rejoicing! Day and night a
renewal of jollification! Let thy clothes be clean, Wash thy head and
pour water over thee! Care for the little one who takes hold of thy hand!
Let the wife rejoice in thy bosom!"
Such teachings, reminding us of the leading thought in the Biblical
Book of Ecclesiastes, [10] indicate the didactic character given to
ancient tales that were of popular origin, but which were modified and
elaborated under the influence of the schools which arose in connection
with the Babylonian temples. The story itself belongs, therefore, to a
still earlier period than the form it received in this old Babylonian
version. The existence of this tendency at so early a date comes to us as
a genuine surprise, and justifies the assumption that the attachment of a
lesson to the deluge story in the Assyrian version, to wit, the limitation
in attainment of immortality to those singled out by the gods as
exceptions, dates likewise from the old Babylonian period. The same

would apply to the twelfth tablet, which is almost entirely didactic,
intended to illustrate the impossibility of learning anything of the fate
of those who have passed out of this world. It also emphasizes the
necessity of contenting oneself with the comfort that the care of the
dead, by providing burial and food and drink offerings for them affords,
as the only means of ensuring for them rest and freedom from the pangs
of hunger and distress. However, it is of course possible that the twelfth
tablet, which impresses one as a supplement to the adventures of
Gilgamesh, ending with his return to Uruk (i.e., Erech) at the close of
the eleventh tablet, may represent a later elaboration of the tendency to
connect religious teachings with the exploits of a favorite hero.

II.
We now have further evidence both of the extreme antiquity of the
literary form of the Gilgamesh Epic and also of the disposition to make
the Epic the medium of illustrating aspects of life and the destiny of
mankind. The discovery by Dr. Arno Poebel of a Sumerian form of the
tale of the descent of Ishtar to the lower world and her release
[11]--apparently a nature myth to illustrate the change of season from
summer to winter and back again to spring--enables us to pass beyond
the Akkadian (or Semitic) form of tales current in the Euphrates Valley
to the Sumerian form. Furthermore, we are indebted to Dr. Langdon for
the identification of two Sumerian fragments in the Nippur Collection
which deal with the adventures of Gilgamesh, one in Constantinople,
[12] the other in the collection of the University of Pennsylvania
Museum. [13] The former, of which only 25 lines are preserved (19