An Old Babylonian Version of the Gilgamesh Epic
the equation of it with Gi-il-ga-mesh? Pinches' discovery pointed
conclusively to the popular pronunciation of the hero's name as
Gilgamesh; and since Aelian (_De natura Animalium_ XII, 2) mentions
a Babylonian personage Gilgamos (though what he tells us of Gilgamos
does not appear in our Epic, but seems to apply to Etana, another
figure of Babylonian mythology), there seemed to be no further reason
to question that the problem had been solved. Besides, in a later
Syriac list of Babylonian kings found in the Scholia of Theodor bar
Koni, the name GLMGVM with a variant GMYGMVS occurs, [46] and it
is evident that we have here again the Gi-il-ga-mesh, discovered by
Pinches. The existence of an old Babylonian hero Gilgamesh who was
likewise a king is thus established, as well as his identification with
[FIGURE]
It is evident that we cannot read this name as Iz-tu-bar or
Gish-du-bar, but that we must read the first sign as Gish and the
third as Mash, while for the second we must assume a reading Gìn or
Gi. This would give us Gish-gì(n)-mash which is clearly again (like
En-ki-dú) not an etymological writing but a _phonetic_ one, intended
to convey an _approach_ to the popular pronunciation. Gi-il-ga-mesh
might well be merely a variant for Gish-ga-mesh, or _vice versa_,
and this would come close to Gish-gi-mash. Now, when we have a name
the pronunciation of which is not definite but approximate, and which
is written in various ways, the probabilities are that the name is
foreign. A foreign name might naturally be spelled in various ways. The
Epic in the Assyrian version clearly depicts dGish-gì(n)-mash as a
conqueror of Erech, who forces the people into subjection, and whose
autocratic rule leads the people of Erech to implore the goddess
Aruru to create a rival to him who may withstand him. In response
to this appeal dEnkidu is formed out of dust by Aruru and eventually
brought to Erech. [47] Gish-gì(n)-mash or Gilgamesh is therefore in
all probability a foreigner; and the simplest solution suggested by the
existence of the two forms (1) Gish in the old Babylonian version and
(2) Gish-gì(n)-mash in the Assyrian version, is to regard the former
as an abbreviation, which seemed appropriate, because the short name
conveyed the idea of the "hero" _par excellence_. If Gish-gì(n)-mash
is a foreign name, one would think in the first instance of Sumerian;
but here we encounter a difficulty in the circumstance that outside of
the Epic this conqueror and ruler of Erech appears in quite a different
form, namely, as dGish-bil-ga-mesh, with dGish-gibil(or bìl)-ga-mesh
and dGish-bil-ge-mesh as variants. [48] In the remarkable list of
partly mythological and partly historical dynasties, published by
Poebel, [49] the fifth member of the first dynasty of Erech appears
as dGish-bil-ga-mesh; and similarly in an inscription of the days of
Sin-gamil, dGish-bil-ga-mesh is mentioned as the builder of the wall
of Erech. [50] Moreover, in the several fragments of the Sumerian
version of the Epic we have invariably the form dGish-bil-ga-mesh. It
is evident, therefore, that this is the genuine form of the name in
Sumerian and presumably, therefore, the oldest form. By way of further
confirmation we have in the syllabary above referred to, CT, XVIII,
30, 6-8, three designations of our hero, viz:
dGish-gibil(or bíl)-ga-mesh
_muk-tab-lu_ ("warrior")
_a-lik pa-na_ ("leader")
All three designations are set down as the equivalent of the Sumerian
Esigga imin i.e., "the seven-fold hero."
Of the same general character is the equation in another syllabary:
[51]
Esigga-tuk and its equivalent Gish-tuk = "the one who is
a hero."
Furthermore, the name occurs frequently in "Temple" documents of the Ur
dynasty in the form dGish-bil-ga-mesh [52] with dGish-bil-gi(n)-mesh
as a variant. [53] In a list of deities (_CT_ XXV, 28, K 7659)
we likewise encounter dGish-gibil(or bíl)-ga-mesh, and lastly in a
syllabary we have the equation [54]
dGish-gi-mas-[si?] = dGish-bil-[ga-mesh].
The variant Gish-gibil for Gish-bil may be disposed of readily, in view
of the frequent confusion or interchange of the two signs Bil (Brünnow
No. 4566) and Gibil or Bíl (Brünnow No. 4642) which has also the value
Gi (Brünnow 4641), so that we might also read Gish-gi-ga-mesh. Both
signs convey the idea of "fire," "renew," etc.; both revert to the
picture of flames of fire, in the one case with a bowl (or some
such obiect) above it, in the other the flames issuing apparently
from a torch. [55] The meaning of the name is not affected whether
we read dGish-bil-ga-mesh or dGish-gibil(or bíl)-ga-mesh, for the
middle element in the latter case being identical with the fire-god,
written dBil-gi and to be pronounced in the inverted form as Gibil
with _-ga_ (or _ge_) as the phonetic complement; it is equivalent,
therefore, to the writing bil-ga in the former case. Now Gish-gibil
or Gish-bíl conveys the idea of _abu_, "father" (Brünnow No. 5713),
just as Bil (Brünnow No. 4579) has this meaning, while Pa-gibil-(ga)
or Pa-bíl-ga is _abu abi_, "grandfather." [56] This meaning may be
derived from Gibil, as also from Bíl = _isatu_, "fire," then _essu_,
"new," then _abu_, "father," as the renewer or creator. Gish with Bíl
or Gibil would, therefore, be "the father-man" or "the father-hero,"
i.e., again the hero _par excellence_, the original hero, just as in
Hebrew and Arabic _ab_ is used in this way. [57] The syllable _ga
_being a phonetic complement, the element _mesh_ is to be taken
by itself and to be explained, as Poebel suggested, as "hero"
(_itlu_. Brünnow No. 5967).
We would thus obtain an entirely artificial combination, "man (or
hero), father, hero," which would simply convey in an emphatic manner
the idea of the _Ur-held_, the original hero, the father of heroes as
it were--practically the same idea, therefore, as the one conveyed
by Gish alone, as the hero _par excellence_. Our investigation thus
leads us to a substantial identity between Gish and the longer form
Gish-bil(or bíl)-ga-mesh, and the former might, therefore, well be used
as an abbreviation of the latter. Both the shorter and the longer forms
are _descriptive epithets _based on naive folk etymology, rather than
personal names, just as in the designation of our hero as _muktablu_,
the "fighter," or as _âlik pâna_, "the leader," or as _Esigga imin_,
"the seven-fold hero," or _Esigga tuk_, "the one who is a hero," are
descriptive epithets, and as Atra-hasis, "the very wise one," is such
an epithet for the hero of the deluge story. The case is different with
Gi-il-ga-mesh, or Gish-gì(n)-mash, which represent the popular and
actual pronunciation of the name, or at least the _approach_ to such
pronunciation. Such forms, stripped as they are of all artificiality,
impress one as genuine names. The conclusion to which we are thus led
is that Gish-bil(or bíl)-ga-mesh is a play upon the genuine name,
to convey to those to whom the real name, as that of a foreigner,
would suggest no meaning an interpretation _fitting in with his
character_. In other words, Gish-bil-ga-mesh is a "Sumerianized"
form of the name, introduced into the Sumerian version of the tale
which became a folk-possession in the Euphrates Valley. Such plays
upon names to suggest the character of an individual or some incident
are familiar to us from the narratives in Genesis. [58] They do not
constitute genuine etymologies and are rarely of use in leading to a
correct etymology. Reuben, e.g., certainly does not mean "Yahweh has
seen my affliction," which the mother is supposed to have exclaimed
at the birth (Genesis 29, 32), with a play upon _ben_ and _be'onyi_,
any more than Judah means "I praise Yahweh" (v. 35), though it does
contain the divine name (_Ye_hô) as an element. The play on the
name may be close or remote, as long as it fulfills its function of
_suggesting_ an etymology that is complimentary or appropriate.
In this way, an artificial division and at the same time a
distortion of a foreign name like Gilgamesh into several elements,
Gish-bil-ga-mesh, is no more violent than, for example, the explanation
of Issachar or rather Issaschar as "God has given my hire" (Genesis
30, 18) with a play upon the element _se_char, and as though the
name were to be divided into _Yah_ ("God") and _se_char ("hire");
or the popular name of Alexander among the Arabs as _Zu'l Karnaini_,
"the possessor of the two horns." with a suggestion of his conquest
of two hemispheres, or what not. [59] The element Gil in Gilgamesh
would be regarded as a contraction of Gish-bil or gi-bil, in order
to furnish the meaning "father-hero," or Gil might be looked upon
as a variant for Gish, which would give us the "phonetic" form in
the Assyrian version dGish-gi-mash, [60] as well as such a variant
writing dGish-gi-mas-(si). Now a name like Gilgamesh, upon which we
may definitely settle as coming closest to the genuine form, certainly
impresses one as foreign, i.e., it is neither Sumerian nor Akkadian;
and we have already suggested that the circumstance that the hero of
the Epic is portrayed as a conqueror of Erech, and a rather ruthless
one at that, points to a tradition of an invasion of the Euphrates
Valley as the background for the episode in the first tablet of the
series. Now it is significant that many of the names in the "mythical"
dynasties, as they appear in Poebel's list, [61] are likewise foreign,
such as Mes-ki-in-ga-se-ir, son of the god Shamash (and the founder
of the "mythical" dynasty of Erech of which dGish-bil-ga-mesh is
the fifth member), [62] and En-me-ir-kár his son. In a still earlier
"mythical" dynasty, we encounter names like Ga-lu-mu-um, Zu-ga-gi-ib,
Ar-pi, E-ta-na, [63] which are distinctly foreign, while such names as
En-me(n)-nun-na and Bar-sal-nun-na strike one again as "Sumerianized"
names rather than as genuine Sumerian formations. [64]
Some of these names, as Galumum, Arpi and Etana, are so Amoritic
in appearance, that one may hazard the conjecture of their western
origin. May Gilgamesh likewise belong to the Amurru [65] region, or
does he represent a foreigner from the East in contrast to Enkidu,
whose name, we have seen, may have been Baal-Tôb in the West, with
which region he is according to the Epic so familiar? It must be
confessed that the second element _ga-mesh_ would fit in well with
a Semitic origin for the name, for the element impresses one as
the participial form of a Semitic stem G-M-S, just as in the second
element of Meskin-gaser we have such a form. Gil might then be the
name of a West-Semitic deity. Such conjectures, however, can for the
present not be substantiated, and we must content ourselves with the
conclusion that Gilgamesh as the real name of the hero, or at least
the form which comes closest to the real name, points to a foreign
origin for the hero, and that such forms as dGish-bil-ga-mesh and
dGish-bíl-gi-mesh and other variants are "Sumerianized" forms for which
an artificial etymology was brought forward to convey the idea of the
"original hero" or the hero _par excellence_. By means of this "play"
on the name, which reverts to the compilers of the Sumerian version
of the Epic, Gilgamesh was converted into a Sumerian figure, just as
the name Enkidu may have been introduced as a Sumerian translation
of his Amoritic name. dGish at all events is an abbreviated form of
the "Sumerianized" name, introduced by the compilers of the earliest
Akkadian version, which was produced naturally under the influence
of the Sumerian version. Later, as the Epic continued to grow, a
phonetic writing was introduced, dGish-gi-mash, which is in a measure
a compromise between the genuine name and the "Sumerianized" form,