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The Epic of Gilgamish
About this book
The Epic of Gilgamesh is an epic poem from ancient Mesopotamia. The literary history of Gilgamesh begins with five Sumerian poems about Bilgamesh (Sumerian for "Gilgamesh"), king of Uruk, dating from the Third Dynasty of Ur (c. 2100 BC).
These independent stories were later used as source material for a combined epic in Akkadian. The first surviving version of this combined epic, known as the "Old Babylonian" version, dates back to the 18th century BC and is titled after its incipit, Sh?tur eli sharr? ("Surpassing All Other Kings"). Only a few tablets of it have survived. The later Standard Babylonian version compiled by Sîn-l?qi-unninni dates from the 13th to the 10th centuries BC and bears the incipit Sha naqba ?muru ("He who Saw the Abyss", lit. '"He who Sees the Unknown"'). Approximately two-thirds of this longer, twelve-tablet version have been recovered. Some of the best copies were discovered in the library ruins of the 7th-century BC Assyrian king Ashurbanipal. Reginald Campbell Thompson (21 August 1876 – 23 May 1941) was a British archaeologist, assyriologist, and cuneiformist. He excavated at Nineveh, Ur, Nebo and Carchemish among many other sites.
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Table of contents
- Cover
- The Epic of Gilgamish
- Table of contents
- Preface
- The First Tablet: Of The Tyranny Of Gilgamish, And The Creation Of Enkidu
- The Second Tablet: Of The Meeting Of Gilgamish And Enkidu
- The Third Tablet: The Expedition To The Forest Of Cedars Against Humbaba
- The Fourth Tablet: The Arrival At The Gate Of The Forest
- The Fifth Tablet: Of The Fight With Humbaba
- The Sixth Tablet: Of The Goddess Ishtar, Who Fell In Love With The Hero After His Exploit Against Humbaba
- The Seventh Tablet: The Death Of Enkidu
- The Eighth Tablet: Of The Mourning Of Gilgamish, And What Came Of It
- The Ninth Tablet: Gilgamish In Terror Of Death Seeks Eternal Life
- The Tenth Tablet: How Gilgamish Reached Uta-Napishtim
- The Eleventh Tablet: The Flood
- The Twelfth Tablet: Gilgamish, In Despair, Enquires Of The Dead