The Epic of Gilgamesh
translated by Andrew George
The definitive translation of the world's oldest known epic, now revised and updated with newly discovered material.
Miraculously preserved on clay tablets dating back as far as four thousand years, the poem of Gilgamesh, King of Uruk, predates Homer by many centuries. The story tells of Gilgamesh's adventures with the wild man Enkidu, and of his arduous journey to the ends of the earth in quest of the Babylonian Noah and the secret of immortality. Alongside its themes of family, friendship and the duties of kings, The Epic of Gilgamesh is, above all, about mankind's eternal struggle with the fear of death. This new edition of Andrew George's translation has been extensively revised to include recently discovered fragments and new sources.
____________________________________________________________
Table of Contents
List of Figures
Preface
Preface to the Second Edition
Introduction
A Note on the Translation
Further Reading
Map of the Ancient Near East
Time Chart
Dramatis Personae
1. The Standard Version of the Babylonian Gilgameshi Epic:
‘He who saw the Deep’
Tablet I. The Coming of Enkidu
Tablet II. The Taming of Enkidu
Tablet III. Preparations for the Expedition to the Forest of Cedar
Tablet IV. The Journey to the Forest of Cedar
Tablet V. The Combat with Humbaba
Tablet VI. Ishtar and the Bull of Heaven
Tablet VII. The Death of Enkidu
Tablet VIII. The Funeral of Enkidu
Tablet IX. The Wanderings of Gilgamesh
Tablet X. At the Edge of the World
Tablet XI. Immortality Denied
Tablet XII. Appendix
2. The Sumerian Poems of Gilgamesh
Gilgamesh and Akka: ‘The envoys of Akka’
Gilgamesh and Huwawa: ‘The lord to the Living One’s Mountain’ and ‘Ho, hurrah!’
Gilgamesh and the Bull of Heaven: ‘Hero in battle’
Gilgamesh and the Netherworld: ‘In those days, in those far-off days’
The Death of Gilgamesh: ’The great wild bull is lying down’
3. Fragments of Old Versions of the Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic
The Prologue
The Creation of Enkidu
Enkidu becomes Human
Gilgamesh Dreams of Enkidu; Enkidu in the Shepherds’ Camp; Enkidu Arrives in Uruk
Enkidu becomes Gilgamesh’s Brother; Preparations for the Journey to the Cedar Forest
The First and Second Dreams on the Journey to the Cedar Forest
The Third and Fourth Dreams on the Journey to the Cedar Forest
Another Dream on the Journey to the Cedar Forest
The Slaying of the Guardian of the Cedar Forest
Felling Trees in the Cedar Forest
Enkidu Curses the Hunter and the Prostitute
Gilgamesh at the End of the World
4. Miscellaneous Babylonian Fragments
The Ugarit tablets
The fragments from Hattusa
The fragments from Emar
The Megiddo tablet
The Sealand tablet
Appendix: From Tablet to Translation
Glossary of Proper Nouns
Publication of the Sources
____________________________________________________________
Paperback Edition
304 pages. Printed card cover.
ISBN: 9780140449198
____________________________________________________________
Press, reviews, endorsements
“Humankind’s first literary achievement… Gilgamesh should compel us as the well-spring of which we are inheritors… Andrew George provides an excellent critical and historical introduction”
Paul Binding, Independent on Sunday
“This volume will endure as one of the milestone markers… [Andrew George] expertly and easily conducts his readers on a delightful and moving epic journey”
Samuel A. Meier, The Times Literary Supplement
“Appealingly presented and very readably translated… it still comes as an exhilarating surprise to find the actions and emotions of the Sumerian superhero coming to us with absolute immediacy over 30-odd centuries”
Scotsman
“Andrew George has formed an English text from the best of the tablets, differentiating his complex sources but allowing the general reader a clear run at one of the first enduring stories ever told”
Peter Stothard, The Times
“An exemplary combination of scholarship and lucidity… very impressive… invaluable as a convenient guide to all the different strands which came together to produce the work we now call Gilgamesh”
Alan Wall, Literary Review
____________________________________________________________
About the Translator
Andrew George is a British Assyriologist and academic best known for his edition and translation of the Epic of Gilgamesh. Andrew George is Professor of Babylonian, Department of the Languages and Cultures of Near and Middle East at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.
