The tablet, consisting of six columns (three on the obverse and three
on the reverse), comprised, according to the colophon, 240 lines
[25] and formed the second tablet of the series. Of the total, 204
lines are preserved in full or in part, and of the missing thirty-six
quite a number can be restored, so that we have a fairly complete
tablet. The most serious break occurs at the top of the reverse, where
about eight lines are missing. In consequence of this the connection
between the end of the obverse (where about five lines are missing)
and the beginning of the reverse is obscured, though not to the extent
of our entirely losing the thread of the narrative.
About the same time that the University of Pennsylvania Museum
purchased this second tablet of the Gilgamesh Series, Yale University
obtained a tablet from the same dealer, which turned out to be a
continuation of the University of Pennsylvania tablet. That the two
belong to the same edition of the Epic is shown by their agreement
in the dark brown color of the clay, in the writing as well as in
the size of the tablet, though the characters on the Yale tablet
are somewhat cramped and in consequence more difficult to read.
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