Mesopotamian

Epic of Gilgamesh, Tablet I (Gilgamesh and the creation of Enkidu): tablet K.2756.C

Epic of Gilgamesh, Nineveh tablets (7th c. BCE, British Museum),

British Museum K.2756.C photograph via eBL + eBL manuscript ATF (L.1.4 SB I) + R. Campbell Thompson 1928 · Electronic Babylonian Library manuscript transliteration (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

Introduction

Tablet I of the Epic of Gilgamesh (Standard Babylonian version, attributed to Sin-leqi-unninni) as it survives on one physical object: British Museum tablet K.2756.C (K.2756C, column i), excavated at Nineveh from the library of Ashurbanipal (7th c. BCE). It is manuscript B₃ in A. R. George's 2003 edition. The photograph is the British Museum's, showing the inscribed face(s) and edges; column(s) i are preserved (16 lines).

Three criteria are met for every section:

Manuscript scan: the British Museum photograph of K.2756.C itself (served by the Electronic Babylonian Library, LMU Munich). Each section names the column and face (obverse = columns i-iii, reverse = columns iv-vi) and the tablet's own line numbers, so the reader can find the lines on the photograph.
Original text: the eBL manuscript-level ATF transliteration of the signs on this tablet (not the composite text). Brackets [ ] mark broken signs, x an illegible sign, # a damaged sign. Superscript numbers are the modern line numbers of George 2003 / eBL.
Public-domain English: R. Campbell Thompson, The Epic of Gilgamish (London, 1928), verbatim, with his marginal line numbers as ^{T n}.

On line numbers. Thompson's 1928 numbering is not George's. For Tablet I the eBL edition records Thompson's 1930 column/line number for each modern line, and that concordance is used here. Where the tablet's text begins or ends inside a Thompson block, the whole block is given and the section says so. Thompson's readings reflect the state of knowledge in 1928: modern editions (George 2003; the eBL edition, updated continuously) supersede him and are not public domain, so they are not reproduced here beyond the transliteration of this tablet's signs.

How was this verified? (Provenance)

Manuscript: Epic of Gilgamesh, Nineveh tablets (7th c. BCE, British Museum) — page scan from British Museum K.2756.C photograph via eBL + eBL manuscript ATF (L.1.4 SB I) + R. Campbell Thompson 1928.

Original text: Electronic Babylonian Library manuscript transliteration (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) (public domain).

English translation: R. Campbell Thompson (1928) (public domain).

Verify: The scan image is the physical evidence. The original-language text is verifiable against the scan. The English translation is checkable against the original. Click any Greek, Hebrew, or Latin word for morphological analysis.

Challenge: Submit a correction to contact@theosislibrary.com.

Akkadian (transliteration) / English original and English translation, with manuscript scans.

§SB I 3-11 · K.2756.C col. i (obverse) ll. 1'-9' = SB I 3-11 (George/eBL numbering); English: Thompson ll. i 1 to 9 (Thompson 1928 numbering)

Manuscript

Akkadian · eBL transliteration

³[{d}GIŠ-gim₂-maš ša₂ n]ag-ba# i#-mu#-ru# [x x x x]
⁴[al-ka-ka-t]i i-du-u₂ ka-l[a-mu x x x]
⁵[i-hi-i]ṭ-ma mit-ha-riš p[a-rak-ki]
⁶[nap-h]ar ne₂-me-qi₂ ša ka-la-a-mi [x x]
⁷[ni]-ṣir-ta i-mur-ma ka-ti-im-t[i x x]
⁸[u]b-la ṭe₃-e-ma ša₂ la-am [x x x]
⁹[u]r-ha ru-uq-ta il-li-kam-ma a-ni-ih u# [x x x]
¹⁰[ša₂-k]in i-na {na₄}NA.RU₂.A ka-lu ma-na-a[h-ti]
¹¹[up-pi]š BAD₃ ša₂ UNUG{ki} su-p[u-ri]

English · R. Campbell Thompson (1928)

(The Argument).

^{T i 1}He who (the heart of) all matters hath proven let him [teach] the nation,
[He who all] knowledge possesseth, therein shall he [school] all the people,
[He shall his wisdom impart (?)] and (so) shall they ]share it] together.
[Gilgamish(?)] —he was the [Master] of wisdom, with [knowledge of all things,

^{T i 5}He ’twas discovered the secret concealed . . . . . . . . .
(Aye), handed down the tradition relating to (things) prediluvian,
Went on a journey afar, (all) aweary and [worn with his toiling(?)],

§SB I 12-18 · K.2756.C col. i (obverse) ll. 10'-16' = SB I 12-18 (George/eBL numbering); English: Thompson ll. i 10 to end of col. i (Thompson 1928 numbering)

Manuscript

Akkadian · eBL transliteration

¹²[ša₂ E₂].AN#.NA qud-du-ši šu-tum₄-mi e[l-li₃]
¹³[a-mur B]AD₃-šu ša₂ ki-ma qe₂-e n[i-ip-šu?]
¹⁴[i-tap-la-a]s sa-me-ta-šu ša₂ la u₂-maš-ša₂-l[u x x]
¹⁵[x x x {gi]š}KUN₄ ša₂ ul-tu u[l!?-la-nu x x x]
¹⁶[x x x x E₂.A]N.NA šu-b[at x x]
¹⁷[x x x x x l]a u₂-maš-š[a₂-lu x x x]
¹⁸[x x x x x x] ša₂# U[NUG{ki} x x x]

English · R. Campbell Thompson (1928)

^{T i 10}[Graved] on a table of stone all the travail.
Of Erech, the high-wall’d,
He (it was) built up the ramparts; (and) he (it was) clamp’d the foundation,
Like unto brass, of [E]-Anna , the sacred, the treasury hallow’d,
[Strengthen’d] its base to grant wayleave to no [one] . . . . . .
. . . . . the threshold which from [of old (?)] . . . . . .
. . . . . [E]-Anna . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

^{T i 15}. . . . . to grant wayleave [to no one (?)] . . . . . . .

(About thirty lines wanting. The description of Gilgamish runs on to the beginning of the next Column).

Thompson's numbered block(s) extend after the lines preserved on this tablet; the whole block is given so that no English line is cut mid-block.

Cite

Source & Cross-References

Source text: British Museum K.2756.C photograph via eBL + eBL manuscript ATF (L.1.4 SB I) + R. Campbell Thompson 1928 — view original
Critical edition: Electronic Babylonian Library manuscript transliteration (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

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