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{{Ancient Mesopotamia}}
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[[File:Statue of Gilgamesh, U.Sydney.jpg|thumb|left|Staute of Gilgamesh on grounds of University of Sydney, Australia]]
[[File:Statue of Gilgamesh, U.Sydney.jpg|thumb|left|Statue of Gilgamesh on grounds of University of Sydney, Australia]]
'''Gilgamesh''' ([[Akkadian language|Akkadian cuneiform]]: {{cuneiform|[[Wiktionary:𒄑𒂆𒈦|𒄑𒂆𒈦]]}} <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[Image:B469ellst.png|20px|link=Wiktionary:𒄑|alt=𒄑]]{{cuneiform|[[Wiktionary:𒂆|𒂆]]}}[[Image:B120ellst.png|20px|link=Wiktionary:𒈦|alt=𒈦]]<nowiki>]</nowiki>, ''Gilgameš'', also known as '''Bilgames''' in the earliest text<ref> ''The Epic of Gilgamesh'', translated by Andrew George 1999, Penguin books Ltd, Harmondsworth, p. 141 ISBN 13579108642</ref>) was the fifth king of [[Uruk]] (Early Dynastic II, first dynasty of Uruk), ruling circa 2700 BC, according to the [[Sumerian king list]]. According to the '''Tummal Inscription,'''<ref>The Tummal Inscription, an expanded king-list, was one of the standard Old Babylonian copy-texts; it exists in numerous examples, from [[Ur]] and Nippur.</ref> Gilgamesh, and his son [[Urlugal]], rebuilt the sanctuary of the goddess [[Ninlil]], in Tummal, a sacred quarter in her city of [[Nippur]]. Gilgamesh is the central character in the ''[[Epic of Gilgamesh]],'' the greatest surviving work of early Mesopotamian literature. In the epic his father was [[Lugalbanda]] and his mother was [[Ninsun]] (whom some call Rimat Ninsun), a goddess. Gilgamesh is described as two parts god and one part man. In [[Mesopotamian mythology]], Gilgamesh is credited with having been a [[demigod]] of superhuman strength who built a great city wall to defend his people from external threats and travelled to meet [[Utnapishtim]], the sage who had survived the [[Great Deluge]].
'''Gilgamesh''' ([[Akkadian language|Akkadian cuneiform]]: {{cuneiform|[[Wiktionary:𒄑𒂆𒈦|𒄑𒂆𒈦]]}} <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[Image:B469ellst.png|20px|link=Wiktionary:𒄑|alt=𒄑]]{{cuneiform|[[Wiktionary:𒂆|𒂆]]}}[[Image:B120ellst.png|20px|link=Wiktionary:𒈦|alt=𒈦]]<nowiki>]</nowiki>, ''Gilgameš'', also known as '''Bilgames''' in the earliest text<ref> ''The Epic of Gilgamesh'', translated by Andrew George 1999, Penguin books Ltd, Harmondsworth, p. 141 ISBN 13579108642</ref>) was the fifth king of [[Uruk]] (Early Dynastic II, first dynasty of Uruk), ruling circa 2700 BC, according to the [[Sumerian king list]]. According to the '''Tummal Inscription,'''<ref>The Tummal Inscription, an expanded king-list, was one of the standard Old Babylonian copy-texts; it exists in numerous examples, from [[Ur]] and Nippur.</ref> Gilgamesh, and his son [[Urlugal]], rebuilt the sanctuary of the goddess [[Ninlil]], in Tummal, a sacred quarter in her city of [[Nippur]]. Gilgamesh is the central character in the ''[[Epic of Gilgamesh]],'' the greatest surviving work of early Mesopotamian literature. In the epic his father was [[Lugalbanda]] and his mother was [[Ninsun]] (whom some call Rimat Ninsun), a goddess. Gilgamesh is described as two parts god and one part man. In [[Mesopotamian mythology]], Gilgamesh is credited with having been a [[demigod]] of superhuman strength who built a great city wall to defend his people from external threats and travelled to meet [[Utnapishtim]], the sage who had survived the [[Great Deluge]].
==Cuneiform references==
==Cuneiform references==

Revision as of 05:42, 6 June 2010

For other uses, see Gilgamesh (disambiguation).
Statue of Gilgamesh on grounds of University of Sydney, Australia

Gilgamesh (Akkadian cuneiform: 𒄑𒂆𒈦 [𒄑𒂆𒈦], Gilgameš, also known as Bilgames in the earliest text[1]) was the fifth king of Uruk (Early Dynastic II, first dynasty of Uruk), ruling circa 2700 BC, according to the Sumerian king list. According to the Tummal Inscription,[2] Gilgamesh, and his son Urlugal, rebuilt the sanctuary of the goddess Ninlil, in Tummal, a sacred quarter in her city of Nippur. Gilgamesh is the central character in the Epic of Gilgamesh, the greatest surviving work of early Mesopotamian literature. In the epic his father was Lugalbanda and his mother was Ninsun (whom some call Rimat Ninsun), a goddess. Gilgamesh is described as two parts god and one part man. In Mesopotamian mythology, Gilgamesh is credited with having been a demigod of superhuman strength who built a great city wall to defend his people from external threats and travelled to meet Utnapishtim, the sage who had survived the Great Deluge.

Cuneiform references

In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh is credited with the building of the legendary walls of Uruk. An alternative version has Gilgamesh telling Urshanabi, the ferryman, that the city's walls were built by the Seven Sages. In historical times, Sargon of Akkad claimed to have destroyed these walls to prove his military power.

Fragments of an epic text found in Me-Turan (modern Tell Haddad) relate that at the end of his life Gilgamesh was buried under the waters of a river. The people of Uruk diverted the flow of the Euphrates passing Uruk for the purpose of burying the dead king within the river bed. In April 2003, a German expedition claimed to have discovered his last resting place.[3]

It is generally accepted that Gilgamesh was a historical figure, since inscriptions have been found which confirm the historical existence of other figures associated with him: such as the kings Enmebaragesi and Aga of Kish. If Gilgamesh was a historical king, he probably reigned in about the 26th century BC. Some of the earliest Sumerian texts spell his name as Bilgames. Initial difficulties in reading cuneiform resulted in Gilgamesh making his re-entrance into world culture in 1891 as "Izdubar".[4]

In most texts, Gilgamesh is written with the determinative for divine beings (DINGIR) - but there is no evidence for a contemporary cult, and the Sumerian Gilgamesh myths suggest that deification was a later development (unlike the case of the Akkadian god kings). Over the centuries there was a gradual accretion of stories about him, some probably derived from the real lives of other historical figures, in particular Gudea, the Second Dynasty ruler of Lagash (2144–2124 BC).[5]

The name Gilgamesh appears once in Greek, as "Gilgamos" (Γίλγαμος), in Aelian, De Natura Animalium (On animals) 12.21.[6] Aelian's story, which has no obvious connection to the Gilgamesh of king-lists or Akkadian literature, is a variant of the Oedipus myth: The King of Babylon determines by oracle that his grandson Gilgamos will kill him, and so he throws him out of a high tower. An eagle breaks his fall, and the infant is found and raised by a gardener.

Notes

  1. ^ The Epic of Gilgamesh, translated by Andrew George 1999, Penguin books Ltd, Harmondsworth, p. 141 ISBN 13579108642
  2. ^ The Tummal Inscription, an expanded king-list, was one of the standard Old Babylonian copy-texts; it exists in numerous examples, from Ur and Nippur.
  3. ^ "Gilgamesh tomb believed found", BBC News, 29 April 2003
  4. ^ In Alfred Jeremias, Izdubar-Nimrod, eine altbabylonische Heldensage (1891).
  5. ^ N.K. Sandars, introduction to The Epic of Gilgamesh (Penguin, 1972:16).
  6. ^ Walter Burkert: The Orientalizing Revolution,bkjsahChcfghwaeqjgf`dtuczaihgsdcjshdalcj; 1992, p 33 note 32.

References

  • Damrosch, David (2007). The Buried Book: The Loss and Rediscovery of the Great Epic of Gilgamesh. Henry Holt and Co. ISBN 0-805-08029-5.
  • George, Andrew [1999], The Epic of Gilgamesh: the Babylonian Epic Poem and Other Texts in Akkadian and Sumerian, Harmondsworth: Allen Lane The Penguin Press, 1999 (published in Penguin Classics 2000, reprinted with minor revisions, 2003. ISBN 0-14-044919-1
  • George, Andrew, The Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic - Introduction, Critical Edition and Cuneiform Texts, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2 volumes, 2003.
  • Foster, Benjamin R., trans. & edit. (2001). The Epic of Gilgamesh. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. ISBN 0-393-97516-9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  • Hammond, D. & Jablow, A. [1987], "Gilgamesh and the Sundance Kid: the Myth of Male Friendship", in Brod, H. (ed.), The Making of Masculinities: The New Men's Studies, Boston, 1987, pp.241-258.
  • Kovacs, Maureen Gallery, transl. with intro. (1985,1989). The Epic of Gilgamesh. Stanford University Press: Stanford, California. ISBN 0-8047-1711-7. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: year (link) Glossary, Appendices, Appendix (Chapter XII=Tablet XII). A line-by-line translation (Chapters I-XI).
  • Jackson, Danny (1997). The Epic of Gilgamesh. Wauconda, IL: Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers. ISBN 0-86516-352-9.
  • Mitchell, Stephen (2004). Gilgamesh: A New English Version. New York: Free Press. ISBN 0-7432-6164-X.
  • Oberhuber, K., ed. (1977). Das Gilgamesch-Epos. Darmstadt: Wege der Forschung. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  • 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). {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  • Pettinato, Giovanni (1992). La saga di Gilgamesh. Milan, Italy: Rusconi Libri. ISBN 9788818880281.
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Original cuneiform text

Text translations

Translations for several legends of Gilgamesh in the Sumerian language have been written by:

Preceded by King of Sumer
ca. 2600 BC 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Ensi of Uruk
ca. 2600 BC
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