Mesopotamian

Epic of Gilgamesh, Tablet VI (Ishtar and the Bull of Heaven): tablet K.5335

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

British Museum K.5335 photograph via eBL + eBL manuscript ATF (L.1.4 SB VI) + R. Campbell Thompson 1928 · Electronic Babylonian Library manuscript transliteration (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

Introduction

Tablet VI of the Epic of Gilgamesh (Standard Babylonian version, attributed to Sin-leqi-unninni) as it survives on one physical object: British Museum tablet K.5335 (K.5335, columns iii-iv), excavated at Nineveh from the library of Ashurbanipal (7th c. BCE). It is manuscript A₂ in A. R. George's 2003 edition. The photograph is the British Museum's, showing the inscribed face(s) and edges; column(s) iii, iv are preserved (19 lines).

Three criteria are met for every section:

Manuscript scan: the British Museum photograph of K.5335 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 this tablet the correspondence was established one anchor per Thompson marginal number by reading his verse against the Akkadian; sections are cut only at those anchors, so each section's English is the block of Thompson's lines that renders exactly these Akkadian lines. 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.5335 photograph via eBL + eBL manuscript ATF (L.1.4 SB VI) + 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 VI 101-109 · K.5335 col. iii (obverse) ll. 1'-10' = SB VI 101-109 (George/eBL numbering); English: Thompson ll. 100 to 109 (Thompson 1928 numbering)

Manuscript

Akkadian · eBL transliteration

¹⁰¹[x x x] x x x [x x x x x x]
¹⁰²[x x x x ru-bu]-ti {d#}iš#-[tar]
¹⁰³[x x x x x] ter-ri-ši-i[n-ni]
¹⁰⁴[x x x UNUG]{ki#} 7 MU-MEŠ p[e-e] | [l]i-pa-hi-i[r]
¹⁰⁵[{lu₂}ENGAR x x l]i-rab-bi U₂-H[I.A]
¹⁰⁶[x x x x x DU₃-u]š-ma i-qab-b[i]
¹⁰⁷[x x x x x {d}a-n]im AD-š[a₂]
¹⁰⁸[x x x (x)] x ak-ku-um
¹⁰⁹[x x (x)-ME]Š? u₂-šab-ši

English · R. Campbell Thompson (1928)

^{T 100}More than the . . . will be the . . . . . . .
Anu [made answer, (thus) speaking, and said unto] Ishtar, the Lady:
"[If I the Heavenly Bull shall create, for which] thou dost ask me,
(Then) seven years of (leer) husks [must needs follow after his onslaught (?)].

^{T 105}Wilt thou [for man] gather [corn (?)], and increase [for the cattle(?)] the fodder (?)."
[Ishtar made answer, (thus) speaking [and said unto] Anu, her father:
"[Corn for mankind] have I hoarded, have grown [for the cattle the fodder],

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

§SB VI 110-112 · K.5335 col. iii (obverse) ll. 11'-12'-14' = SB VI 110-112 (George/eBL numbering); English: Thompson ll. 110 to 129 (Thompson 1928 numbering)

Manuscript

Akkadian · eBL transliteration

¹¹⁰[al-mat-ti UNUG{ki} 7 M]U-MEŠ pe-e | [up-ta]h?-hi-ir
¹¹¹[x x x x x x x] U₂-HI.A
¹¹²[...] ša₂#-a-šu₂

English · R. Campbell Thompson (1928)

^{T 110}[If seven] years of (leer) husks [must needs follow after his onslaught (?)]
[I will for man] gather [corn and increase for the cattle] the fodder."

(Perhaps a small gap.)

(About seven lines are so badly mutilated that little can be gleaned from them except that the fight with the Heavenly Bull is about to take place in Erech. After these [a hundred men] descend [upon the Bull], but with his (fiery) breath [he annihilates them]. Then come two hundred with the same result, and then three hundred more, again to be overcome).

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.

§SB VI 122-128 · K.5335 col. iv (reverse) ll. 1'-2'-11' = SB VI 122-128 (George/eBL numbering); English: Thompson ll. 110 to 146 (Thompson 1928 numbering)

Manuscript

Akkadian · eBL transliteration

¹²²[x x x x x x x x x x x x 2 m]e GURUŠ-MEŠ | [im-taq-qu-tu] a#-na lib₃-bi
¹²³[x x x x x x x x x x x x KIMI]N 3 me GURUŠ-MEŠ | [im-taq-qu-tu] a-na lib₃-bi
¹²⁴[x x x x x x x x x a-le]-e# KIMIN!(KI) {d}+en-ki-du₃ | [im-ta-qut a]-di# qab-li-šu#
¹²⁵[x x x x {d}en-ki-d]u₃ GU₄.AN.NA iṣ-ṣ[a-bat] | [in]a qar-ni-[šu]
¹²⁶[x x x x x x x is-s]u-ka ru-pu-u[š-ta]
¹²⁷[x x x x x x x ka]-bu-us-su [id-di?]
¹²⁸[x x x x x x D]U₃-uš-ma# [i-qab-bi]

English · R. Campbell Thompson (1928)

^{T 110}[If seven] years of (leer) husks [must needs follow after his onslaught (?)]
[I will for man] gather [corn and increase for the cattle] the fodder."

(Perhaps a small gap.)

^{T 130}Enkidu girded (?) his middle; (and straightway) Enkidu, leaping,
Seized on the Heavenly Bull by [his] horns, and (headlong) before him
Cast down the Heavenly Bull his full length, . . . .
(Aye), by the thick of his tail.

(Gap of thirteen mutilated lines.)

Thompson's numbered block(s) extend before and 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.5335 photograph via eBL + eBL manuscript ATF (L.1.4 SB VI) + R. Campbell Thompson 1928 — view original
Critical edition: Electronic Babylonian Library manuscript transliteration (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

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