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    Gilgamesh: A Captivating Guide to Gilgamesh the King and the Epic of Gilgamesh
    Gilgamesh: A Captivating Guide to Gilgamesh the King and the Epic of Gilgamesh
    Gilgamesh: A Captivating Guide to Gilgamesh the King and the Epic of Gilgamesh
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    Gilgamesh: A Captivating Guide to Gilgamesh the King and the Epic of Gilgamesh

    By Captivating History

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    About this ebook

    Rarely does a name survive as many millennia as Gilgamesh has. World-renowned men of letters such as Carl Gustav Jung and Rainer Maria Rilke spoke nothing but the highest praise for the ancient Babylonian epic about the popular and much beloved Sumerian king.


    Numerous works of literature have been either directly inspired by or openly mimic this epic, all from writers who have nothing but the utmost respect for this treasure written in cuneiform.


    One has to wonder, how come something so old, so detached from this crazy modern world became so beloved, something which hundreds of researchers and creators worldwide would end up not just liking but being enamored with?


    It can't have been its historical value—older and more crucial written texts of Ancient Mesopotamia were found and translated for modern audiences both before and after the Epic. It must be something else, then. It must be its contents, or, more particularly, the culture that created it.


    The aim of this new captivating history book is to allow you to go on a remarkable journey into this magic part of Mesopotamian history so you can come to your own conclusion regarding the question above as well as discover the truth about Gilgamesh.


    Gilgamesh: A Captivating Guide to Gilgamesh the King and the Epic of Gilgamesh will reveal:

    • The History of the Epic
    • All Eleven Tablets
    • Sumerian Poems About Gilgamesh
    • And much, much more!

     

    So if you want to learn more about Gilgamesh, click "buy now"!

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCaptivating History
    Release dateAug 16, 2022
    ISBN9798201800437
    Gilgamesh: A Captivating Guide to Gilgamesh the King and the Epic of Gilgamesh

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      Book preview

      Gilgamesh - Captivating History

      Gilgamesh

      A Captivating Guide to Gilgamesh the King and the Epic of Gilgamesh

      © Copyright 2018 

      All rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the author. Reviewers may quote brief passages in reviews.

      Disclaimer: No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical or electronic, including photocopying or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, or transmitted by email without permission in writing from the publisher.

      While all attempts have been made to verify the information provided in this publication, neither the author nor the publisher assumes any responsibility for errors, omissions or contrary interpretations of the subject matter herein.

      This book is for entertainment purposes only. The views expressed are those of the author alone, and should not be taken as expert instruction or commands. The reader is responsible for his or her own actions.

      Adherence to all applicable laws and regulations, including international, federal, state and local laws governing professional licensing, business practices, advertising and all other aspects of doing business in the US, Canada, UK or any other jurisdiction is the sole responsibility of the purchaser or reader.

      Neither the author nor the publisher assumes any responsibility or liability whatsoever on the behalf of the purchaser or reader of these materials. Any perceived slight of any individual or organization is purely unintentional.

      Table of Contents

      Introduction

      The History of the Epic

      Tablet 1: The Coming of Enkidu

      Tablet 2: Gilgamesh vs. Enkidu

      Tablet 3: Preparing for the Journey

      Tablet 4: The Journey

      Tablet 5: The Battle with Humbaba

      Tablet 6: Ishtar and the Bull of Heaven

      Tablet 7: The Death of Enkidu

      Tablet 8: Enkidu’s Funeral

      Tablet 9: Gilgamesh’s Wanderings

      Tablet 10: The Edge of the World

      Tablet 11: Gilgamesh’s Journey Ends: the Deluge, Immortality, and Return to Uruk

      Conclusion

      Bibliography and References

      Notes on Images

      Introduction

      Rarely does a name survive as many millennia as Gilgamesh has. World-renowned men of letters such as Carl Gustav Jung and Rainer Maria Rilke spoke nothing but the highest praise for the ancient Babylonian epic about the popular and much beloved Sumerian king. Numerous works of literature have been either directly inspired by or openly mimic this epic, all from writers who have nothing but the utmost respect for this treasure written in cuneiform.

      But as is often the case with ancient writing, there are still plenty of things left to discover about Gilgamesh and his exploits. The sources that give us the tale are broken, damaged, incomplete, and more often than not contradict each other in crucial places. The story of the king of Uruk was so popular that it went way past its original area of influence, that being the Sumerian city-states. Akkadians, Hittites, Assyrians, Babylonians, and many other people groups of Ancient Asia Minor saw this hero as worthy of preserving in their own cultural milieus. The stories of his accomplishments were told and retold, taught and learned, and retaught and relearned over and over again. And what’s more, the tale of the hero of Uruk wasn’t content on just staying active in ancient times. Since its discovery in 1853 and subsequent first translation in the 1870s, it has reached an entirely new, entirely different, audience, one that would see the epic come to life after almost four millennia of utter obscurity. It’s impossible to count all of the research that has gone into the epic, and with new fragments being discovered every day, this interest keeps growing.

      One has to wonder, how come something so old, so detached from this crazy modern world became so beloved, something which hundreds of researchers and creators worldwide would end up not just liking but being enamored with? It can’t have been its historical value—older and more crucial written texts of Ancient Mesopotamia were found and translated for modern audiences both before and after the Epic. It must be something else, then. It must be its contents, or, more particularly, the culture that created it.

      Gilgamesh was a stepping stone in world literature, insofar as being the first real literary work that we know of. Indeed, it wasn’t the oldest written document, not even the oldest written creative literary piece. But it was the first piece of high art, of high literature, the first true instant classic. And as such, it has captured the imaginations of literary scholars and critics almost as much as, say, the Homeric epics or the works of William Shakespeare. And speaking of the bard, he is probably the best point of comparison to understand the importance of Gilgamesh. Most (bad) works contain within them stereotypes and non-relatable characters and situations. Only the skilled author can humanize something inherently silly or not to be taken seriously. It is the works of creators whose works stand out and in turn have built the backbone of world culture. With Shakespeare, people often say of his Hamlet—the character, not the play—that he is literature’s first modern man. In that regard, Gilgamesh, the hero-king of Uruk, is literature’s first man.

      In case this last bit confuses you, dear reader, it will be made clear once you’ve read through the epic itself. But before moving on to the story, it’s essential to briefly cover the background of Gilgamesh.

      The History of the Epic

      The epic was first discovered in 1853 by the Assyriologist Hormuzd Rassan and a young British traveler Austen Henry Layard in the Library of Assyrian king Ashurbanipal at Nineveh. This version consisted of twelve tablets and was written by the scribe known as Sîn-lēqi-unninni. Because of its relative completeness compared to other sources, this became the so-called Standard version of the epic, popularly known by the first ominous sounding verses He Who Saw the Deep.

      Older versions of the epic were found throughout the ancient world, the most famous one of those being Surpassing All Other Kings. There have been several fragments found as well that contain mere pieces of the story, some even written by student scribes, with wildly different, freer interpretations. Two tablets that make up Surpassing All Other Kings are known as the Pennsylvania Tablet and the Yale Tablet, named after the museums they are still housed in. Other fragments also bore either the name of the college or the name of their excavation site, such as the Philadelphia fragment, the Nippur School tablet, the Tell Harmal tablets, the Ishchali tablet, the partial Baghdad tablet, and the tablet reportedly from Sippar. Most of these tablets served as supplementary material in reconstructing the entire epic.

      Its first translation came in the 1870s, a few decades after its discovery. The first translator of the epic, George Smith, reportedly recognized the story of the Great Flood in the cuneiform writings of the epic and was so excited that, immediately after rushing out to tell everyone the good news, he began undressing himself. Before his efforts to translate the epic (later dubbed The Chaldean Account of the Genesis), Rassan erroneously translated the god-king’s name as Izdubar. The to-this-day unparalleled translation came from the world-renowned Assyriologist Andrew George in 2003, published by Penguin Books. Still incomplete, this translation gave the researchers a clearer, better scope of the epic and its development.

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