Here are just a few facts about the Epic for your consideration:
Most of Gilgamesh was "already written down in the first centuries of the second millennium B. C.," i.e. circa 2000 B.C.E. It, however, probably existed for centuries prior in an oral form. The most complete version we have is from the 7th century B.C.E., which was among the manuscripts translated and stored in the library of Assurbanipal, the last Assyrian King, at Nineveh. Assurbanipal had earlier texts written in various Sumerian languages translated into Akkadian. The tablets of this Akkadian version were the first to be discovered by the Englishman Austen Layard in the 1840's. The texts could not be read until the "Record of Darius" was found, which like the Rosetta Stone, contained a text in cuneiform as well as other known languages. George Smith discovered the text of the flood among these tablets in 1872. Thirty to forty thousand more tablets were found in the excavation of Nippur in 1888-1889. We have now discovered parts of the Epic in many languages and from many cultures spread throughout the middle east and Turkey ranging as far back nearly to the third millennia B.C.E., i.e. 3000 B.C.E. Parts of the poem thus predate the Odyssey, for instance, by fifteen hundred years. Still, we know Gilgamesh was a real king and that he and Uruk were famous throughout the region. The text you are reading is not a translation of a single text, but a compilation from many ranging from the oldest to the most recent and from various different cultures. This will be important to consider and remember when reading!
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Dear Students,
This is a place to share your work, summaries, questions and odd finding. Feel free to use this space in creative ways. But please keep in mind that this is a public blog - yes, that means anyone can read it - and that I expect you to respect each other. This does not mean that you cannot criticize and argue (that is in part why we hare here!), but that you should do so constructively. I hope you enjoy! Since we are starting with Gilgamesh, here's a picture of an original cuneiform tablet that tells part of the story of the flood. |
AuthorThis is created by the Students of CVSP 201 Archives
May 2015
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