Gilgamesh (22 page)
p. 96,
he is horrible to look at:
“The âmask of Huwawa/Humbaba,' grimacing and hideous, was well known, and often reproduced as an amulet” (Bottéro, p. 91).
p. 97,
After he had listened to the elders' words, / Gilgamesh laughed. He got up and said, / “Dear friend, tell me, has your courage returned? / Are you ready to leave? Or are you still / afraid of dying a hero's death?:
From OB III, ll. 201 ff. Literally, “He looked at Enkidu and laughed. âNow, my friend [ ⦠] Should I be so afraid of him that I [ ⦠].” I have omitted a speech of the elders that is repeated word for word later in Tablet III and have inserted the visit to the foundry here.
pp. 97-98,
Enkidu, let us go to the forge
through
weighing more than six hundred pounds:
From OB III, ll. 161 ff.
p. 97,
and order the smiths to make us weapons / that only the mightiest heroes could use.” // Enkidu listened gravely. He stood / silent there for a long time. At last / he nodded. Gil-gamesh took his hand:
Literally, “âLet them cast [whatever axes] we will need.' They took [each other by the hand] and went to the forge.”
p. 98,
two hundred pounds:
Literally, “3 talents” = 87 kg. = 191 lbs.
p. 98,
six hundred pounds:
Literally, “10 talents.”
p. 98,
Gilgamesh said, “Before we leave:
I have omitted a speech that begins “The elders stood up and addressed the king: / âCome back safely â¦'” It is repeated word for word later in Book III.
p. 99,
Dear mother, great goddess, help me in this:
I have added this line and omitted the last three lines of Gilgamesh's speech, which, like the rest of the passage, are repeated word for word from the address to the young men.
p. 99,
soapwort:
“This is the plant
tullal;
it has not been identified, but its name (it means, in Akkadian, âYou purify') indicates its usage, in both personal hygiene and the operations of âmagic' and exorcism, as a detergent. Ninsun, by âpurifying' herself, puts herself in a condition to address §amaÃ, a god of higher rank than she” (Bottéro, p. 94).
p. 99,
went up to the roof:
“In this hot country, in which rain is quite rare, the roofs were, and still are, entirely flat, and serve as terraces” (Bottéro, p. 192).
p. 99,
“Lord of heaven, you have granted my son / beauty and strength and courage:
I have added these lines.
p. 100,
O Lord Shamash, glorious sun, / delight of the gods, illuminator / of the world, who rise and the light is born, / it fills the heavens, the whole earth takes shape, / the mountains form, the valleys grow bright, / darkness vanishes, evil retreats, / all creatures wake up and open their eyes, / they see you, they are filled with joy-/ protect my son. On his dangerous journey:
Literally, “O [Shamash], you opened [ ⦠] for the animals of the wilderness, you came out for the land to [ ⦠], the mountains [ ⦠], the heavens grow [bright], animals of the wilderness [ ⦠] your radiance. [ ⦠] waited for [ ⦠] them, the animals [ ⦠] you. [ ⦠] I am offering you, the dead man [ ⦠] life. To the [ ⦠] your head, when [your light] rises crowds assemble, the great gods wait for [your light], [may Aya your bride] not be afraid [to remind you]: [Entrust] him to [the watchmen of the night]. The road that [ ⦠] touch and [ ⦠]. Because [ ⦠] the journey [ ⦠] And [ ⦠] while Gilgamesh travels to the Cedar [Forest].”
p. 101,
stir up strong winds:
The Standard Version specifies thirteen winds. Because there are so few relatively synonymous nouns for “wind” in English, I have reduced the number to eight, as in the Hittite version.
p. 101,
After she had prayed:
I have omitted the following passage, which comes from a different strand of the tradition and whose irony seems an unfruitful contrast with Gilgamesh's awareness that “we are not gods, we are mortal men”: “Ninsun made a second prayer to Shamash: âO Shamash, won't Gilgamesh [ ⦠] the gods? Won't he share the heavens with you? Won't he share a scepter with the moon? Won't he act in wisdom with Ea in the Great Deep? Won't he rule the black-headed race with Irnina (=Ishtar)? Won't he dwell with Ningishzida in the Land of No Return?'”
p. 102,
Enkidu listened. Tears filled his eyes. / He and Gilgamesh clasped hands like brothers. // They took their weapons: the massive axes, / the massive knives, the quivers, the bows:
There is a large gap in the text here. I have omitted three fragmentary passages and added these lines.
p. 102,
Remember what the ancient proverb says:
I have added this line.
p. 103,
May Shamash grant you your heart's desire
through
and remember Lugal-banda your father:
From OB III, ll. 257 ff.
p. 103,
who journeyed to far-off mountains himself:
I have followed a hint in one of Kovacs's footnotes and added this line. In two Sumerian poems, “Lugalbanda and Enmerkar” and “Lugalbanda and Mount Hurrum,” Lugalbanda makes long journeys across mountains.
pp. 103-4,
The elders turned to Enkidu and said, / “We leave the king in your care. Protect him, / guide him through all the treacherous passes, / show him where to find food and where / to dig for fresh water, lead him to the Forest / and fight at his side:
Literally, “In this our assembly [we leave the king in your care]. Make sure that he returns and bring [the king back into our care].”
p. 104,
May Shamash help you, / may the gods grant you your heart's desire:
From OB III, ll. 285-86.
p. 104,
Enkidu said to Gilgamesh
through
to the Cedar Forest, where Humbaba lives”:
From OB III, ll. 272 ff.
Book IV
p. 105,
At four hundred miles they stopped to eat, / at a thousand miles they pitched their camp. / They had traveled for just three days and nights:
Literally, “At 20 bër (=216 kilometers, or about 134 miles) they stopped to eat, at 30 bër (=324 km., 201 mi.) they pitched their camp, they had traveled 50 bër (=540 km., 335 mi.) in a single day.” There is some confusion in the text, which has the heroes pitching camp after one day, yet describes the actual camping and dream ritual as taking place every third evening, after a three-day march. For clarity's sake, I have inserted the three-day rather than the one-day distances.
p. 105,
Enkidu did the ritual for dreams:
Here I have followed the interpretation of Bottéro. “The ritual is one of incubation: of a dream âobtained,' that is, asked of the gods and received in a place determined and protected from evil influences that could disturb or corrupt the process.
Here, it is the top of the mountain, which is a sacred place, nearer to heaven, the dwelling of §amaÃ, who will certainly send the dream. Hence the use of maÃatu, scented flour or powder, which was burned in fumigating offerings, the mantic ritual performed by Enkidu for Gilgameà (we know nothing about it), and the enchanted circle in which he encloses him at the moment when he is going to sleep and receive the desired dream. These circles were standard practice in rituals of magic and exorcism: drawn with flour, leaves, or branches, even with improvised barriers of reeds, in order to isolate the dreamer from all pernicious fluids. The gust of wind passing by is the sign that heaven has given its consent that the dream should take place, in the ordinary conditions, and thus with divinatory value, which of course the dreamer hopes will be favorable” (Bottéro, p. 99).
p. 106,
We were walking in a gorge, / and when I looked up, a huge mountain loomed, / so huge that we were as small as flies. / Then the mountain fell down on top of us. / Dear friend, tell me, what does this mean?:
Literally, “[in] a mountain valley, [the mountain] fell on [ ⦠], we, like [flies].”
p. 107,
Gilgamesh, happy with his good dream, / smiled, and his face lit up with pleas-ure:
From OB Schøyen2 , ll. 23-24. The second line also occurs in OB II, l. 104, in the description of Enkidu drunk; both lines occur in one of the Middle Babylonian Bo¢azköy fragments, MB Bo¢2, obverse, ll. 3'-4'.
p. 108,
I looked up and a huge mountain loomed, / it threw me down, it pinned me by the feet:
From MB Bo¢2, obverse, ll. 13'-14'.
p. 108,
a terrifying brightness hurt my eyes, / suddenly a young man appeared, / he was shining and handsome, he took me by the arm / he pulled me out from under the moun-tain:
From OB Schøyen2 , ll. 8 ff.
p. 108,
he gave me water, my heart grew calm.:
From MB Bo¢2, obverse, l. 18'.
p. 109,
Again, the mountain stands for Humbaba. / He threw you down, but he could not kill you:
From OB Schøyen2 , ll. 14 ff. Literally (in George's trans-lation), “Now, my friend, the one to whom we go, / is he not the mountain? He is something very strange! / Now, ¶uwawa to whom we go, / is he not the mountain? He is something very strange!”
p. 109,
As for the handsome young man who appeared, / he stands for Lord Shamash, who will rescue you / and grant you everything you desire:
From OB Schøyen2 , ll. 21-22.
p. III,
The fiery heavens stand for Humbaba, / who tried to kill you with lightning and flames. / But in spite of the fire, he could not harm you. / We will kill Humbaba. Success is ours. / However he attacks us, we will prevail:
Literally (in Foster's transla-tion), “Humbaba, like a god [ ⦠] / [ ⦠] the light flaring [ ⦠] / We will be [victorious] over him. / Humbaba aroused our fury [ ⦠] / [ ⦠] we will prevail over him. / Further, at dawn the word of Shamash will be in our favor.”
pp. 112-13,
I have had a fourth dream
through
who came to your rescue was our lord, Shamash:
From the Old Babylonian excerpt tablet from Nippur, OB Nippur, ll. 9 ff.
pp. 112-13,
it grimaced at me, terrifying flames / shot from its mouth, then beside me I saw / a young man with an unearthly glow, / he seized the creature, he broke its wings, / he wrung its neck and threw it to the ground ⦠The eagle that you saw, with a lion's head, / stands for Humbaba. Though it dived straight toward you / and terrifying flames shot from its mouth, / nothing could cause you harm. The young man / who came to your rescue was our lord, Shamash. / He will stand beside us when the monster attacks. / Whatever happens, we will prevail:
Literally, “âIt was [ ⦠], its face was strange, its jaws were fire, its breath was death. There was a strange-looking man [ ⦠] he was standing by me in my dream. [He ⦠] its wings, he seized its arms, [ ⦠] then he threw it down [in front of] me. [ ⦠]' [
gap
] â[ ⦠] it [descended upon us, like a] cloud, it was [ ⦠], its face was strange, its jaws were fire, its breath was death. Though you were afraid of its terrifying aura, I will [ ⦠] its foot, I will enable you to get up. The man you saw was mighty Shamash.”
pp. 115-16,
I was wrestling with a gigantic bull
through
we will achieve a triumph / greater than any man has achieved:
From one of the Old Babylonian §adup-pûm tablets, OB HarmalI, ll. 4 ff.
p. 116,
They could hear Humbaba's terrifying roar:
From OB Schøyen2 , l. 57, where the line occurs after Gilgamesh's second dream.
pp. 116-17,
Gilgamesh stopped. He was trembling. Tears / flowed down his cheeks. “O Shamash,” he cried, / “protect me on this dangerous journey. / Remember me, help me, hear my prayer.” / They stood and listened. A moment passed. / Then, from heaven, the voice of the god / called to Gilgamesh: “Hurry, attack, / attack Humbaba while the time is right, / before he enters the depths of the forest, / before he can hide there and wrap himself / in his seven auras with their paralyzing glare. / He is wearing just one now. Attack
him! Now!”:
Literally, “[ ⦠] going [ ⦠] Uruk's midst, [ ⦠] stand there and [ ⦠] O Gilgamesh, scion sprung from Uruk [ ⦠]. [Shamash] heard what [he] had said, immediately a voice [called from the sky], âHurry, attack him, don't let him [escape into the forest], [don't let him] go down into the thicket or [ ⦠]. He hasn't yet wrapped himself in his seven terrifying auras [ ⦠], he is wrapped in only one, the six others are off.”
p. 117,
He is wearing just one now. Attack him! Now!:
I have moved the rest of Tablet IV to Book V, except for two fragmentary passages, which I have omitted, and the last two lines, which remain as the conclusion of Book IV.
B
OOK
V
p. 118,
Gripping their axes, their knives unsheathed, / they entered the Forest and made their way through:
These lines actually occur slightly further on in Tablet V. Literally (in Foster's translation), “Axes touched with [the whetstone], / Daggers and swords [ ⦠] / One by one [ ⦠] / They crept forward [ ⦠] / Humbaba [ ⦠].”
p. 118,
the tangle of thorn bushes underfoot:
This line is followed by a fragmentary passage, which I have omitted. pp. 118-22,
Suddenly Enkidu was seized by terror
through
Dear friend, great warrior,
noble hero, / don't lose courage:
The text of the Standard Version is so fragmentary here and so full of gaps that I have borrowed at length from the Sumerian poem “Gilgamesh and Huwawa” (Version A). I have also added a few passages, as specified in the following notes. The Standard Version of this entire section reads literally, “Gilgamesh [ ⦠] Why
[ ⦠] [
gap
] Enlil [ ⦠] Enkidu [ ⦠] his mouth [ ⦠] of Humbaba [ ⦠] one by one [ ⦠] garments [ ⦠] On the treacherous path [ ⦠] two [ ⦠] Two triplets [ ⦠] A three-ply rope [ ⦠], two cubs are [ ⦠] than a strong lion. [
gap
].”
p. 118,
Suddenly Enkidu was seized by terror, / his face turned pale like a severed head:
From OB Schøyen2 , ll. 63 ff., following George's restoration.