With the evidence
furnished by Meissner's fragment of a version of the old Babylonian
revision and by our two tablets, of the early disposition to make
popular tales the medium of illustrating current beliefs and the
teachings of the temple schools, it may furthermore be concluded that
the death of Enkidu and the punishment of Gilgamesh were utilized for
didactic purposes in the old Babylonian version. On the other hand,
the proof for the existence of the deluge story in the Hammurabi
period and some centuries later, _independent_ of any connection
with the Gilgamesh Epic, raises the question whether in the old
Babylonian version, of which our two tablets form a part, the deluge
tale was already woven into the pattern of the Epic. At all events,
till proof to the contrary is forthcoming, we may assume that the
twelfth tablet of the Assyrian version, though also reverting to a
Babylonian original, dates as the _latest_ addition to the Epic from
a period subsequent to 2000 B.C.; and that the same is probably the
case with the eleventh tablet.
IX.
To sum up, there are four main currents that flow together in the
Gilgamesh Epic even in its old Babylonian form: (1) the adventures of
a mighty warrior Enkidu, resting perhaps on a faint tradition of the
conquest of Amurru by the hero; (2) the more definite recollection
of the exploits of a foreign invader of Babylonia by the name of
Gilgamesh, whose home appears likewise to have been in the West; [124]
(3) nature myths and didactic tales transferred to Enkidu and Gilgamesh
as popular figures; and (4) the process of weaving the traditions,
exploits, myths and didactic tales together, in the course of which
process Gilgamesh becomes the main hero, and Enkidu his companion.
Pages:
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82