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Anonymous

"An Old Babylonian Version of the Gilgamesh Epic"

To convert him
into a civilized man, the hair is removed.
Line 107. _mutu_ does not mean "husband" here, as Langdon supposes,
but must be taken as in l. 238 in the more general sense of "man,"
for which there is good evidence.
Line 109. _la-bi_ (plural form) are "lions"--not "panthers" as Langdon
has it. The verb _?-gi-ir-ri_ is from _g?ru_, "to attack." Langdon by
separating _?_ from _gi-ir-ri_ gets a totally wrong and indeed absurd
meaning. See the corrections in the Appendix. He takes the sign _?_
for the copula (!!) which of course is impossible.
Line 110. Read _us-sa-ak-pu_, III, 1, of _sak?pu_, which is frequently
used for "lying down" and is in fact a synonym of _sal?lu_. See
Muss-Arnolt, _Assyrian Dictionary_, page 758a. The original has very
clearly S?b (= _r?'u_, "shepherd") with the plural sign. The "shepherds
of the night," who could now rest since Enkidu had killed the lions,
are of course the shepherds who were accustomed to watch the flocks
during the night.
Line 111. _ut-tap-pi-is_ is II, 2, _nap?su_, "to make a hole," hence
"to plunge" in connection with a weapon. _Sib-ba-ri_ is, of course,
not "mountain goats," as Langdon renders, but a by-form to _sibbiru_,
"stick," and designates some special weapon.


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