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Epic of Gilgamesh
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Mesopotamian literary tradition whose standard Tablet XI contains Utnapishtim’s flood.
Text
The epic is not one fixed text throughout history. Standard Tablet XI contains warning, boat, survivors, birds and sacrifice within Gilgamesh’s encounter with UtnapishtimUtnapishtimGilgamesh’s flood hero narrates survival to a king seeking immortality. Ea warns him; life is preserved; hero and wife receive exceptional life. Literary character, not an archaeologically established person.Glossary · Click to read the explanation. [1]
Passages close to AtrahasisAtrahasis: Epic and HeroAkkadian epic: humans created for divine labor, multiplication, noise and flood. Atrahasis, “exceedingly wise,” survives through Enki’s warning; human reproduction is regulated afterward.Glossary · Click to read the explanation favour literary reuse. Genesis’ connection with this tradition does not itself establish copying a particular Tablet XI. The image is a comparison diagram, not a Gilgamesh tablet. [2]
References and notes
- Alexander Heidel, The Gilgamesh Epic and Old Testament Parallels, 2nd ed. (1949), Tablet XI translation Translation, pp. 81–87: warning, boat, survivors, birds and sacrifice; older academic translation, not endorsement of every interpretation. Return to the text ↑
- A. R. Millard, The Atra-ḫasīs Epic and Its Place in Babylonian Literature (MPhil thesis, 1965), SOAS Indexed abstract, chapter VI: identical passages and probable reuse in Gilgamesh; full thesis not read. Return to the text ↑
Research history
Substantive changes are retained here. Minor copy edits remain in the internal operational log.
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IL Archive, «Epic of Gilgamesh», Edition 2, https://ilarchive.com/en/entities/gilgamesh