The width of each column being the same on both
tablets, the difference of 36 lines is made up by the closer writing.
Both tablets have peculiar knobs at the sides, the purpose of which
is evidently not to facilitate holding the tablet in one's hand while
writing or reading it, as Langdon assumed [26] (it would be quite
impracticable for this purpose), but simply to protect the tablet in
its position on a shelf, where it would naturally be placed on the
edge, just as we arrange books on a shelf. Finally be it noted that
these two tablets of the old Babylonian version do not belong to the
same edition as the Meissner tablet above described, for the latter
consists of two columns each on obverse and reverse, as against
three columns each in the case of our two tablets. We thus have
the interesting proof that as early as 2000 B.C. there were already
several editions of the Epic. As to the provenance of our two tablets,
there are no definite data, but it is likely that they were found by
natives in the mounds at Warka, from which about the year 1913, many
tablets came into the hands of dealers. It is likely that where two
tablets of a series were found, others of the series were also dug up,
and we may expect to find some further portions of this old Babylonian
version turning up in the hands of other dealers or in museums.
Pages:
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27