Lost fragment of The Epic of Gilgamesh Discovered

At least there is a little good news coming out of the hell hole that is the middle east.

A serendipitous deal between a history museum and a smuggler has provided new insight into one of the most famous stories ever told: "The Epic of Gilgamesh."

The new finding, a clay tablet, reveals a previously unknown "chapter" of the epic poem from ancient Mesopotamia. This new section brings both noise and color to a forest for the gods that was thought to be a quiet place in the work of literature. The newfound verse also reveals details about the inner conflict the poem's heroes endured.

In 2011, the Sulaymaniyah Museum in Slemani, in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, purchased a set of 80 to 90 clay tablets from a known smuggler. The museum has been engaging in these backroom dealings as a way to regain valuable artifacts that disappeared from Iraqi historical sites and museums since the start of the American-led invasion of that country, according to the online nonprofit publication Ancient History Et Cetera.

And

Among the various tablets purchased, one stood out to Farouk Al-Rawi, a professor in the Department of Languages and Cultures of the Near and Middle East at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London. The large block of clay, etched with cuneiform writing, was still caked in mud when Al-Rawi advised the Sulaymaniyah Museum to purchase artifact for the agreed upon $800. [In Photos: See the Treasures of Mesopotamia]

With the help of Andrew George, associate dean of languages and culture at SOAS and translator of "The Epic of Gilgamesh: A New Translation" (Penguin Classics, 2000), Al-Rawi translated the tablet in just five days. The clay artifact could date as far back to the old-Babylonian period (2003-1595 B.C.), according to the Sulaymaniyah Museum. However, Al-Rawi and George said they believe it's a bit younger and was inscribed in the neo-Babylonian period (626-539 B.C.).

What Al-Rawi and George translated is a formerly unknown portion of the fifth tablet, which tells the story of Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, and Enkidu (the wild man created by the gods to keep Gilgamesh in line) as they travel to the Cedar Forest (home of the gods) to defeat the ogre Humbaba.

The new tablet adds 20 previously unknown lines to the epic story, filling in some of the details about how the forest looked and sounded.

"The new tablet continues where other sources break off, and we learn that the Cedar Forest is no place of serene and quiet glades. It is full of noisy birds and cicadas, and monkeys scream and yell in the trees," George told Live Science in an email.

In a parody of courtly life, the monstrous Humbaba treats the cacophony of jungle noises as a kind of entertainment, "like King Louie in 'The Jungle Book,'" George said. Such a vivid description of the natural landscapes is "very rare" in Babylonian narrative poetry, he added

New Gilgamesh material

I would never of thought there were monkeys in the highlands of Mesopotamia.
It is a fascinating find

Epic of Gilgamesh

Unbelievable. How wonderful! Cheers to a very cool discovery!

Fantastic. Good to see something good in that region.... Also nice to see the kurds taking a practical approach.

I would never of thought there were monkeys in the highlands of Mesopotamia.

The forest detailed in the Epic is in Lebanon. Its last vestiges are known as The Cedars of God

The Cedars of God (Arabic: أرز الربّ‎ Horsh Arz el-Rab "Cedars of the Lord") is one of the last vestiges of the extensive forests of the Cedars of Lebanon (Cedrus libani ) that thrived across Mount Lebanon in ancient times. Their timber was exploited by the Phoenicians, the Assyrians, Babylonians and Persians. The wood was prized by Egyptians for shipbuilding; the Ottoman Empire also used the cedars in railway construction

en.wikipedia.org...

The monkeys are gone now, though were most probably Macaques
en.wikipedia.org...

a reply to: Marduk

That would make sense since the Cedars of Lebanon were famous in the ancient world.

www.biblicalarchaeology.org...

Lebanese Cedar—The Prized Tree of Ancient Woodworking
From Solomon’s Temple to the Jesus Boat, the Biblical world was built of cedar

In the Biblical world, Lebanese cedar (Cedrus libani) trees were highly sought after as an excellent source of timber for ancient woodworking. The wood’s high quality, pleasant scent and resistance to both rot and insects made it a popular building material for temples, palaces and seagoing vessels, from Solomon’s famed Temple to the so-called “Jesus Boat” of the first century C.E. Today, Lebanese cedar trees grow mostly in Lebanon and southern Turkey, with a few found in Cyprus and Syria. As the Bible makes clear, the valuable wood had to be imported into ancient Israel.

The Phoenician king Hiram of Tyre sent Lebanese cedar, carpenters and masons to Jerusalem to build a palace for King David (2 Samuel 5:11). Likewise, Hiram provided cedars and artisans to King Solomon for the construction of his own palace as well as the Temple in Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 2:3,7; 1 Kings 5:20). The Bible also informs us that Lebanese cedar timbers were commonly transported by sea. The Book of Ezra reports that timbers were hauled to the Phoenician coast and then sailed to Jaffa for transport to Jerusalem (Ezra 3:7).

originally posted by: infolurker
a reply to: Marduk

That would make sense since the Cedars of Lebanon were famous in the ancient world.

Even the gates of Babylon were made of cedar. Babylon actually means "the gate of the gods,"

originally posted by: Marduk

I would never of thought there were monkeys in the highlands of Mesopotamia.

The forest detailed in the Epic is in Lebanon. Its last vestiges are known as The Cedars of God

The Cedars of God (Arabic: أرز الربّ‎ Horsh Arz el-Rab "Cedars of the Lord") is one of the last vestiges of the extensive forests of the Cedars of Lebanon (Cedrus libani ) that thrived across Mount Lebanon in ancient times. Their timber was exploited by the Phoenicians, the Assyrians, Babylonians and Persians. The wood was prized by Egyptians for shipbuilding; the Ottoman Empire also used the cedars in railway construction

en.wikipedia.org...

The monkeys are gone now, though were most probably Macaques
en.wikipedia.org...

But there should be skeletons, fossilized tree roots and seeds somewhere ?

This is a great find.

This shows Humbaba was was not so bad. He loved the cedar forest and the sounds of the animals in it.

Then after Gilgamesh and Enkidu cut down the forest and killing his childhood friend Humbaba he felft guilt for his actions.

This piece gives the story a bit more humanity to Enkidu for his actions.

Link

Thanks for posting this, reading the paper now

a reply to: Marduk

Many interesting things in this thread, I didn't know that was the meaning of Bablyon!

a reply to: d8track
Thanks for that link

Nice find O.P S&F

originally posted by: d8track
This is a great find.

This shows Humbaba was was not so bad. He loved the cedar forest and the sounds of the animals in it.

Then after Gilgamesh and Enkidu cut down the forest and killing his childhood friend Humbaba he felft guilt for his actions.

This piece gives the story a bit more humanity to Enkidu for his actions.

I, perhaps for my own reasons, felt that it was less a moral decision and more of a spiritual one, it's a subtle difference, I know. I'm still mulling it through, but I felt that the narrative, so contemporary and relational to where we are right now even after all these centuries, is the destruction of the sacred to make way for the profane. The sacred grove, and Humbaba, represent the "old" way of living, both spiritually and socio-economically, exploitation of the forest for timber the new, "civilised" way (and the one that leads to The Wasteland).

Question for you Sumerologist and enthusiast , could Gilgamesh be the forerunner of Herakles, I remembered Bernal saying something to that effect.

a reply to: punkinworks10

Its great that we are still discovering artefacts from ancient times. I have always worried that the Iraqis would so regret the loss of theirs due to wars. They have one of the greatest heritages in the world.