A Gilgamesh Epic Fragment from Nimrud
1975; Cambridge University Press; Volume: 37; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
10.2307/4200015
ISSN2053-4744
Autores Tópico(s)Ancient Egypt and Archaeology
ResumoThe excavation of a group of tablets, regrettably mainly broken, from the Ezida temple of the Nabû complex of buildings at Kalhu (Nimrud) has been described with evidence of their provenance by the excavator M. E. L. Mallowan. In a summary of the then identified texts given by me in 1968 one of these fragments was seen to be "a Gilgamesh epic type" text. The text ND 4405/4, now in the Iraq Museum (IM.67577), has subsequently been cleaned and a new copy made and collated (Plate XXXVII; with a photograph on Plate XXXVIII). During a recent seminar on the series ša naqba īmuru this tablet was identified as providing the missing section of the Epic of Gilgamesh tablet I, column i, fines 17–52 with traces of the beginning of I ii, ll. 40–44, 49–50, iii 1–3. There is sufficient overlap with the already known text of Gilgamesh I, i. 17–20, which lines are repeated at the end of the epic (XI, 304–307), for the location of this new part to be made with certainty and thus for the development of the opening of the epic to be traced despite the unfortunate break in the left side of the tablet. Since the new text provides twenty-five additional lines it justifies publication without further delay.
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