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Anonymous

"An Old Babylonian Version of the Gilgamesh Epic"

So, for example, in the Assyrian Creation Myth,
Tablet IV, 66 (synonym of _kablu_, "waist," etc.). See Holma, _Namen
der K?rperteile_, page 158. Our word _pukku_ must be taken in this same
sense as a designation of the female organ--perhaps more specifically
the "hymen" as the "net," though the womb in general might also be
designated as a "net" or "enclosure." _Kak-(si)_ is no doubt to be
read _epsi_, as Langdon correctly saw; or perhaps better, _episi_. An
expression like _ip-si-s? lul-la-a_ (Assyrian version, I, 4, 13;
also line 19, _i-pu-us-su-ma lul-la-a_), with the explanation _sipir
zinnisti_, "the work of woman" (i.e., after the fashion of woman),
shows that _ep?su_ is used in connection with the sexual act. The
phrase _pit? p?k episi a-na ha-a-a-ri_, literally "open the net,
perform the act for marriage," therefore designates the fulfillment
of the marriage act, and the line is intended to point to marriage
with the accompanying sexual intercourse as one of the duties of
man. While the general meaning is thus clear, the introduction of
Gish is puzzling, except on the supposition that lines 149 and 151
represent later additions to connect the speech, detailing the advance
to civilized life, with the hero.


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