neilgodfrey

I am looking at the image of sleep in the hour of a life and death trial -- we know about it in the Gospels. It appears in other literature, too. But I am confused as to whether it appears in the Epic of Gilgamesh. Some online accounts say Gilgamesh fell asleep when the snake surfaced from the water to take the plant of eternal life from him; other accounts say Gilgamesh was off taking a bath when the snake did this. Does anyone know which one is correct? Why the differences?

Or if this is not the appropriate forum can someone pls redirect me.

Thanks
Neil

darstec

The Epic of Gilgamesh, Complete Academic Translation: Translated from cuneiform tablets in the British Museum literally into English hexameters (Forgotten Books) (or via: amazon.co.uk) is an excellent treatment of all the known ancient Gilgamesh texts. You can see a comparison of the stories. It is redundant almost to a fault so you won't miss the differences in the three versions.

Excellent book.

darstec

From what I have here it reads:
Gilgamesh: A New English Version (or via: amazon.co.uk) by Stephen Mitchell says that he used the mid-second millennium tablets by the scribe and incantation-priest Sîn-lëqi-unninni, and filled in the gaps with the late third millennium older tablets. While most of his footnotes contain the various renderings from three different sources there is no alternate for these verses. Mitchell does note that the sheding of the skin is a symbol of immortality.

Sorry it took so long but finding this book was a herculean endeavor. My place is fit for the show Packrat.