690b, and others have supposed,
though _nu-um-tum_ in one passage quoted by Muss-Arnolt, _ib._ p. 705a,
may have arisen from an aspirate pronunciation of the _p_ in _nubtum_.
Line 215. The kneeling attitude of prayer is an interesting
touch. It symbolizes submission, as is shown by the description of
Gilgamesh's defeat in the encounter with Enkidu (Pennsylvania tablet,
l. 227), where Gilgamesh is represented as forced to "kneel" to the
ground. Again in the Assyrian version, Tablet V, 4, 6, Gilgamesh kneels
down (though the reading _ka-mis_ is not certain) and has a vision.
Line 229. It is much to be regretted that this line is so badly
preserved, for it would have enabled us definitely to restore the
opening line of the Assyrian version of the Gilgamesh Epic. The
fragment published by Jeremias in his appendix to his _Izdubar-Nimrod_,
Plate IV, gives us the end of the colophon line to the Epic, reading
......... _di ma-a-ti_ (cf. _ib._, Pl. I, 1. ... _a-ti_). Our text
evidently reproduces the same phrase and enables us to supply _ka_,
as well as the name of the hero Gish of which there are distinct
traces. The missing word, therefore, describes the hero as the
ruler, or controller of the land.
Pages:
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160