In response
to this appeal dEnkidu is formed out of dust by Aruru and eventually
brought to Erech. [47] Gish-g?(n)-mash or Gilgamesh is therefore in
all probability a foreigner; and the simplest solution suggested by the
existence of the two forms (1) Gish in the old Babylonian version and
(2) Gish-g?(n)-mash in the Assyrian version, is to regard the former
as an abbreviation, which seemed appropriate, because the short name
conveyed the idea of the "hero" _par excellence_. If Gish-g?(n)-mash
is a foreign name, one would think in the first instance of Sumerian;
but here we encounter a difficulty in the circumstance that outside of
the Epic this conqueror and ruler of Erech appears in quite a different
form, namely, as dGish-bil-ga-mesh, with dGish-gibil(or b?l)-ga-mesh
and dGish-bil-ge-mesh as variants. [48] In the remarkable list of
partly mythological and partly historical dynasties, published by
Poebel, [49] the fifth member of the first dynasty of Erech appears
as dGish-bil-ga-mesh; and similarly in an inscription of the days of
Sin-gamil, dGish-bil-ga-mesh is mentioned as the builder of the wall
of Erech. [50] Moreover, in the several fragments of the Sumerian
version of the Epic we have invariably the form dGish-bil-ga-mesh.
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