someTitle
gilgamesh
Y7886-Helle.indb 1Y7886-Helle.indb 1 6/25/21 2:28 PM6/25/21 2:28 PM
Helle, Sophus. Gilgamesh : A New Translation of the Ancient Epic, Yale University Press, 2021. ProQuest Ebook Central,
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Helle, Sophus. Gilgamesh : A New Translation of the Ancient Epic, Yale University Press, 2021. ProQuest Ebook Central,
XXXXXXXXXXhttp:
ebookcentral.proquest.com/li
kean/detail.action?docID=6721718.
Created from kean on XXXXXXXXXX:07:55.
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— 3 —
tablet i
Who saw the deep
There was a man
who saw the deep, the bedrock of the land, 1
who knew the ways and learned all things:
Gilgamesh saw the deep, the bedrock of the land,
he knew the ways and learned all things.
He sought out rulers everywhere 5
and came to grasp all wisdom in the world.
He discovered a secret, revealed a hidden matter,
and
ought home a story from before the Flood.
He came back from far roads, exhausted but at peace,
as he set down all his trials on a slab of stone. 10
He built the wall around Uruk the Sheepfold
and around that holy treasury, the Temple of Heaven.
See that wall—white as wool!
Behold the bulwark that cannot be rivaled.
Step across the ancient threshold and up 15
to the Temple of Heaven, home of Ishtar,
that no king will ever outdo.
Climb the wall of Uruk, walk its length.
Survey the foundation, study the
ickwork.
There—is it not made of oven-baked
icks? 20
Did the Seven Sages not lay its cornerstone?
Y7886-Helle.indb 3Y7886-Helle.indb 3 6/25/21 2:28 PM6/25/21 2:28 PM
Helle, Sophus. Gilgamesh : A New Translation of the Ancient Epic, Yale University Press, 2021. ProQuest Ebook Central,
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ebookcentral.proquest.com/li
kean/detail.action?docID=6721718.
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gilgamesh
— 4 —
Look: Two thousand acres for the city,
two thousand acres for the orchards,
two thousand acres for the pits of clay,
and one thousand acres for the temple of Ishtar.
Seven thousand acres is the size of Uruk.
Now look for the cedarwood box,
undo its locks of
onze, 25
open the door to its secrets,
take up the tablet of lapis lazuli and read aloud:
ead of all that Gilgamesh went through,
ead of all his suff ering.
He surpassed all kings, that splendid man of muscle,
heroic son of Uruk, the goring aurochs.1 30
When he marched at the front, he was the leader of his army,
when he marched at the back, the trust of his troops.
A mighty rive
ank, the shield of his soldiers,
and a furious fl ood that crushes walls of stone.
The calf of Lugalbanda, supe
in strength, 35
nursed by Ninsun, the holy aurochs!
Gilgamesh the great, magnifi cent and te
ible!
He cut passes through the mountains,
he dug wells in the hillsides,
he traveled toward sunrise, crossing sea aft er sea, 40
he searched in all directions for life without end,
he reached, through his toils, the faraway Uta-napishti,
he rebuilt the temples that the Flood had destroyed
and established the right rituals for vast humankind.
Who can compete with him in kingship 45
and claim, like Gilgamesh, “I am the king”?
From the day that Gilgamesh was born and named,
Y7886-Helle.indb 4Y7886-Helle.indb 4 6/25/21 2:28 PM6/25/21 2:28 PM
Helle, Sophus. Gilgamesh : A New Translation of the Ancient Epic, Yale University Press, 2021. ProQuest Ebook Central,
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ebookcentral.proquest.com/li
kean/detail.action?docID=6721718.
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tablet i. who saw the deep
— 5 —
he was two-thirds god and only one-third human.
The mother goddess Belet-ili designed his body,
the wise god Ea
ought his fi gure to perfection 50
so that he
immed with strength and shining beauty.
He was a giant in height, eighteen feet tall,
and his chest was six feet
oad. 55
His feet were fi ve feet long, and twice that his leg,
and the length of his stride was the same.
His beard, too, was fi ve feet long. 58
UGARITIC VERSION
His locks curled thick like ears of corn, Ug1 31
his teeth glistened like the rising sun,
his hair glowed dark like lapis lazuli. 33
STANDARD BABYLONIAN VERSION
He grew up to be supe
in charm, 61
as stunning as any mortal can be.
But he was stomping through Uruk the Sheepfold
with head held high, ove
earing like an aurochs.
He was unmatched when the weapons were unsheathed, 65
and the swing of his bat kept his team on their toes.2
He darkened the youth of Uruk with despair,
Gilgamesh let no son go home to his father.
Day and night, he stormed around in fury,
King Gilgamesh, leader of the many. 70
This is how he tended to the Sheepfold of Uruk!
Gilgamesh let no daughter go home to her mother.
Month aft er month, the women prayed to their goddesses,
again and again, they gave voice to their so
ows:
that powerful, splendid, clever king! 75
Y7886-Helle.indb 5Y7886-Helle.indb 5 6/25/21 2:28 PM6/25/21 2:28 PM
Helle, Sophus. Gilgamesh : A New Translation of the Ancient Epic, Yale University Press, 2021. ProQuest Ebook Central,
XXXXXXXXXXhttp:
ebookcentral.proquest.com/li
kean/detail.action?docID=6721718.
Created from kean on XXXXXXXXXX:07:55.
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gilgamesh
— 6 —
Gilgamesh let no
ide go home to her groom.
The wa
iors’ daughters and the young men’s wives:
the goddesses listened to their so
ows.
The gods of heaven, lords of words,
said to Anu, the god of the skies: 80
“Why did you unleash this savage aurochs in Uruk?
“He is unmatched when the weapons are unsheathed,
and the swing of his bat keeps his team on their toes.
He has darkened the youth of Uruk with despair,
Gilgamesh lets no son go home to his father. 85
“Day and night, he storms around in fury,
this is how he tends to the Sheepfold of Uruk!
King Gilgamesh, leader of the many,
meant to be their shepherd and protector.
“This powerful, splendid, clever king! 90
Gilgamesh lets no
ide go home to her groom.”
The wa
iors’ daughters and the young men’s wives:
Anu listened to their so
ows.
They summoned the mighty Ar uru:
“You, Aruru, created this man, 95
now create his counterpart!
Let him be a match for the storm of his heart,
let them rival each other and leave Uruk at peace.”
When Aruru heard this,
Anu’s idea found form in her heart. 100
Aruru washed her hands,
she took a lump of clay and threw it down into the wild.
Y7886-Helle.indb 6Y7886-Helle.indb 6 6/25/21 2:28 PM6/25/21 2:28 PM
Helle, Sophus. Gilgamesh : A New Translation of the Ancient Epic, Yale University Press, 2021. ProQuest Ebook Central,
XXXXXXXXXXhttp:
ebookcentral.proquest.com/li
kean/detail.action?docID=6721718.
Created from kean on XXXXXXXXXX:07:55.
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tablet i. who saw the deep
— 7 —
In the wild she created the hero Enkidu,
a son of silence, woven for war.
All his body was covered with fur, 105
his hair was as long as a woman’s,
and his locks curled thick like ears of corn.
He knew no people and no country.
Naked like an animal,
with the gazelles he grazed on grass, 110
with the herd he rushed to drink,
with the beasts he quenched his thirst.
One day by the waterhole,
he locked eyes with a hunter, a woodsman.
One day, and a second, and a third, 115
Enkidu and the hunter locked eyes by the waterhole.
The hunter looked at him and froze with fear,
then he headed home with his catch.
Th e hunter was troubled, speechless, and still,
his heart was heavy, and his face full of gloom.
There was so
ow in his mind, 120
and he looked like one who had traveled far.
The hunter worked his words, saying to his father:
“Father, there was a man by the waterhole,
a man all muscle, the mightiest in the land,
as mighty as a meteorite fallen from the sky.3 125
“I see him roaming through the mountains,
always grazing with the herd,
always standing by the waterhole.
I am afraid to go near him!
Y7886-Helle.indb 7Y7886-Helle.indb 7 6/25/21 2:28 PM6/25/21 2:28 PM
Helle, Sophus. Gilgamesh : A New Translation of the Ancient Epic, Yale University Press, 2021. ProQuest Ebook Central,
XXXXXXXXXXhttp:
ebookcentral.proquest.com/li
kean/detail.action?docID=6721718.
Created from kean on XXXXXXXXXX:07:55.
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gilgamesh
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