{ "meta": { "schema_version": "1.2", "endpoint": "/api/sources/epic-of-gilgamesh/index.json" }, "work": { "slug": "epic-of-gilgamesh", "name": "Epic of Gilgamesh", "stream": "persian", "epoch_reflected": "persian", "epoch_written": "egypto-chaldean", "form": "epic", "tradition": "Babylonian / Akkadian", "author": "Anonymous (Sumerian and Akkadian seers)", "year_approx": -1300, "note": "Standard Version compiled c. 1300–1000 BCE from earlier Sumerian oral and written sources reaching back to the 3rd millennium BCE.", "books_slug": "anonymous--epic-of-gilgamesh", "books_slugs": null, "has_project_translation": false, "steiner_loci": [] }, "parents": [], "translation": { "title": null, "author": null, "source": null }, "chapters": [ { "num": 1, "slug": "01-preface", "title": "Preface", "words": 1474, "url": "/sources/epic-of-gilgamesh/01-preface/", "api": "/api/sources/epic-of-gilgamesh/01-preface.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Thompson's 1928 preface", "blurb": "R. Campbell Thompson's preface to his 1928 verse translation of the Epic of Gilgamesh, the leading English version of its day. The Babylonian recension recovered from the Library of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh in the 1850s; Thompson's editorial decisions and source-base." }, { "num": 2, "slug": "02-addenda-et-corrigenda", "title": "Addenda et Corrigenda", "words": 132, "url": "/sources/epic-of-gilgamesh/02-addenda-et-corrigenda/", "api": "/api/sources/epic-of-gilgamesh/02-addenda-et-corrigenda.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Addenda et Corrigenda", "blurb": "Editorial corrections to Thompson's first printing. Errors of transliteration, missed cross-references, and minor textual variants identified between first manuscript and second printing." }, { "num": 3, "slug": "03-the-first-tablet-of-the-tyranny-of-gilgamish-and-the", "title": "The First Tablet: Of the Tyranny of Gilgamish, and the Creation of Enkidu", "words": 3098, "url": "/sources/epic-of-gilgamesh/03-the-first-tablet-of-the-tyranny-of-gilgamish-and-the/", "api": "/api/sources/epic-of-gilgamesh/03-the-first-tablet-of-the-tyranny-of-gilgamish-and-the.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Tablet I — Gilgamesh's tyranny; Enkidu created", "blurb": "Opens the epic. Gilgamesh, two-thirds god and one-third man, king of Uruk, oppresses his subjects — no man's son is left to his father, no maid to her lover. The gods hear the people's outcry and create Enkidu, a wild man of the steppe, to be Gilgamesh's equal and so check his tyranny." }, { "num": 4, "slug": "04-the-second-tablet-of-the-meeting-of-gilgamish-and-enkidu", "title": "The Second Tablet: Of the Meeting of Gilgamish and Enkidu", "words": 1099, "url": "/sources/epic-of-gilgamesh/04-the-second-tablet-of-the-meeting-of-gilgamish-and-enkidu/", "api": "/api/sources/epic-of-gilgamesh/04-the-second-tablet-of-the-meeting-of-gilgamish-and-enkidu.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Tablet II — Gilgamesh and Enkidu wrestle and become friends", "blurb": "The harlot Shamhat civilises Enkidu through six days and seven nights; he learns the ways of men. Coming to Uruk, he wrestles Gilgamesh at the city gate. Neither overcomes the other; they recognize equals and become inseparable friends." }, { "num": 5, "slug": "05-the-third-tablet-the-expedition-to-the-forest-of-cedars", "title": "The Third Tablet: The Expedition to the Forest of Cedars against Humbaba", "words": 2849, "url": "/sources/epic-of-gilgamesh/05-the-third-tablet-the-expedition-to-the-forest-of-cedars/", "api": "/api/sources/epic-of-gilgamesh/05-the-third-tablet-the-expedition-to-the-forest-of-cedars.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Tablet III — The expedition to the Forest of Cedars", "blurb": "Gilgamesh proposes the great heroic expedition — to slay Humbaba, guardian of the Forest of Cedars, and bring back its timber. The elders of Uruk advise against; Ninsun the mother of Gilgamesh prays to Shamash; the friends set out." }, { "num": 6, "slug": "06-the-fourth-tablet-the-arrival-at-the-gate-of-the-forest", "title": "The Fourth Tablet: The Arrival at the Gate of the Forest", "words": 846, "url": "/sources/epic-of-gilgamesh/06-the-fourth-tablet-the-arrival-at-the-gate-of-the-forest/", "api": "/api/sources/epic-of-gilgamesh/06-the-fourth-tablet-the-arrival-at-the-gate-of-the-forest.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Tablet IV — Arrival at the gate of the Forest", "blurb": "The journey of forty leagues a day across mountains and rivers. Five dream-visions of Gilgamesh on the way — bull, mountain, lion, thunderbird, fire — each interpreted by Enkidu as favourable. They reach the gate of the Forest of Cedars." }, { "num": 7, "slug": "07-the-fifth-tablet-of-the-fight-with-humbaba", "title": "The Fifth Tablet: Of the Fight with Humbaba", "words": 1169, "url": "/sources/epic-of-gilgamesh/07-the-fifth-tablet-of-the-fight-with-humbaba/", "api": "/api/sources/epic-of-gilgamesh/07-the-fifth-tablet-of-the-fight-with-humbaba.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Tablet V — The fight with Humbaba", "blurb": "The encounter with the giant Humbaba. The friends initially terrified; encouraged by Shamash who sends the thirteen winds against the monster. Humbaba pleads for his life; Enkidu insists Gilgamesh strike him down. The hero felled and the cedars cut for the temple of Enlil." }, { "num": 8, "slug": "08-the-sixth-tablet-of-the-goddess-ishtar-who-fell-in-love", "title": "The Sixth Tablet: Of the Goddess Ishtar, Who Fell In Love With the Hero After His Exploit Against Humbaba", "words": 2027, "url": "/sources/epic-of-gilgamesh/08-the-sixth-tablet-of-the-goddess-ishtar-who-fell-in-love/", "api": "/api/sources/epic-of-gilgamesh/08-the-sixth-tablet-of-the-goddess-ishtar-who-fell-in-love.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Tablet VI — Ishtar's wooing rejected; the Bull of Heaven", "blurb": "Ishtar, smitten with the post-Humbaba hero, offers herself in marriage. Gilgamesh's famous rebuke catalogues her former lovers and how each came to grief. Ishtar in fury demands the Bull of Heaven from Anu; Gilgamesh and Enkidu slay the Bull and throw its hindquarters at Ishtar." }, { "num": 9, "slug": "09-the-seventh-tablet-the-death-of-enkidu", "title": "The Seventh Tablet: The Death of Enkidu", "words": 1310, "url": "/sources/epic-of-gilgamesh/09-the-seventh-tablet-the-death-of-enkidu/", "api": "/api/sources/epic-of-gilgamesh/09-the-seventh-tablet-the-death-of-enkidu.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Tablet VII — The death of Enkidu", "blurb": "The gods judge that for the killing of Humbaba and of the Bull of Heaven, one of the two heroes must die. The lot falls on Enkidu. Twelve days of dying — Enkidu cursing the harlot who civilised him, then blessing her again; the vision of the House of Dust where the dead exist. Enkidu dies." }, { "num": 10, "slug": "10-the-eighth-tablet-of-the-mourning-of-gilgamish-and-what", "title": "The Eighth Tablet: Of the Mourning of Gilgamish, and What Came of It", "words": 749, "url": "/sources/epic-of-gilgamesh/10-the-eighth-tablet-of-the-mourning-of-gilgamish-and-what/", "api": "/api/sources/epic-of-gilgamesh/10-the-eighth-tablet-of-the-mourning-of-gilgamish-and-what.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Tablet VIII — Mourning of Gilgamesh; the funeral", "blurb": "Gilgamesh's lament for Enkidu. *Hear me, O elders of Uruk, hear me, O men!* For seven days he refuses burial, hoping a worm will not appear from Enkidu's nose. The maggot at last; Enkidu buried; Gilgamesh dresses in the skin of a lion and wanders the wild." }, { "num": 11, "slug": "11-the-ninth-tablet-gilgamish-in-terror-of-death-seeks-eternal", "title": "The Ninth Tablet: Gilgamish In Terror of Death Seeks Eternal Life", "words": 954, "url": "/sources/epic-of-gilgamesh/11-the-ninth-tablet-gilgamish-in-terror-of-death-seeks-eternal/", "api": "/api/sources/epic-of-gilgamesh/11-the-ninth-tablet-gilgamish-in-terror-of-death-seeks-eternal.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Tablet IX — Gilgamesh in terror of death seeks eternal life", "blurb": "The hero's encounter with his own mortality. *Must I also die as Enkidu?* He sets out to find Uta-Napishtim, the survivor of the flood, who alone has been granted eternal life. The journey through the mountains of Mashu where the sun rises and sets; the scorpion-men; the long passage through darkness." }, { "num": 12, "slug": "12-the-tenth-tablet-how-gilgamish-reached-uta-napishtim", "title": "The Tenth Tablet: How Gilgamish Reached Uta-Napishtim", "words": 2320, "url": "/sources/epic-of-gilgamesh/12-the-tenth-tablet-how-gilgamish-reached-uta-napishtim/", "api": "/api/sources/epic-of-gilgamesh/12-the-tenth-tablet-how-gilgamish-reached-uta-napishtim.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Tablet X — Siduri the ale-wife; Uta-Napishtim", "blurb": "Gilgamesh reaches the *Garden of the Sun* and the ale-wife Siduri who counsels him to *eat thou and drink, and let thy heart rejoice* — the famous proto-*carpe diem* of world literature. Refusing, he crosses the Waters of Death with the boatman Urshanabi to the island where Uta-Napishtim dwells." }, { "num": 13, "slug": "13-the-eleventh-tablet-the-flood", "title": "The Eleventh Tablet: The Flood", "words": 3172, "url": "/sources/epic-of-gilgamesh/13-the-eleventh-tablet-the-flood/", "api": "/api/sources/epic-of-gilgamesh/13-the-eleventh-tablet-the-flood.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Tablet XI — The Flood account; Gilgamesh's return", "blurb": "The most famous tablet — the Babylonian Flood narrative that Sumerian-Akkadian originals share with Genesis. Uta-Napishtim tells how Ea warned him in secret, how he built the great ark, how the seven-day flood destroyed mankind, how the gods regretted what they had done. The test of sleep that Gilgamesh fails; the plant of youth lost to a serpent." }, { "num": 14, "slug": "14-the-twelfth-tablet-gilgamish-in-despair-enquires-of-the-dead", "title": "The Twelfth Tablet: Gilgamish, In Despair, Enquires of the Dead", "words": 1606, "url": "/sources/epic-of-gilgamesh/14-the-twelfth-tablet-gilgamish-in-despair-enquires-of-the-dead/", "api": "/api/sources/epic-of-gilgamesh/14-the-twelfth-tablet-gilgamish-in-despair-enquires-of-the-dead.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Tablet XII — The vision of the dead (a late appendix)", "blurb": "An appendix-tablet derived from a separate Sumerian poem (Gilgamesh, Enkidu and the Netherworld). Gilgamesh causes Enkidu's shade to be raised; Enkidu describes the conditions of the dead — those who fell in battle, those who died unburied, those who died childless. The Babylonian eschatology in summary." } ] }