By means of this "play"
on the name, which reverts to the compilers of the Sumerian version
of the Epic, Gilgamesh was converted into a Sumerian figure, just as
the name Enkidu may have been introduced as a Sumerian translation
of his Amoritic name. dGish at all events is an abbreviated form of
the "Sumerianized" name, introduced by the compilers of the earliest
Akkadian version, which was produced naturally under the influence
of the Sumerian version. Later, as the Epic continued to grow, a
phonetic writing was introduced, dGish-gi-mash, which is in a measure
a compromise between the genuine name and the "Sumerianized" form,
but at the same time an _approach_ to the real pronunciation.
VI.
Next to the new light thrown upon the names and original character
of the two main figures of the Epic, one of the chief points of
interest in the Pennsylvania fragment is the proof that it furnishes
for a striking resemblance of the two heroes, Gish and Enkidu, to one
another. In interpreting the dream of Gish, his mother. Ninsun, lays
stress upon the fact that the dream portends the coming of someone
who is like Gish, "born in the field and reared in the mountain"
(lines 18-19).
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