Posted on 10/05/2015 7:25:47 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
A serendipitous deal between a history museum and a smuggler has provided new insight into one of the most famous stories ever told: "The Epic of Gilgamesh."
The new finding, a clay tablet, reveals a previously unknown "chapter" of the epic poem from ancient Mesopotamia. This new section brings both noise and color to a forest for the gods that was thought to be a quiet place in the work of literature. The newfound verse also reveals details about the inner conflict the poem's heroes endured.
In 2011, the Sulaymaniyah Museum in Slemani, in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, purchased a set of 80 to 90 clay tablets from a known smuggler. The museum has been engaging in these backroom dealings as a way to regain valuable artifacts that disappeared from Iraqi historical sites and museums since the start of the American-led invasion of that country, according to the online nonprofit publication Ancient History Et Cetera.
Among the various tablets purchased, one stood out to Farouk Al-Rawi, a professor in the Department of Languages and Cultures of the Near and Middle East at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London. The large block of clay, etched with cuneiform writing, was still caked in mud when Al-Rawi advised the Sulaymaniyah Museum to purchase artifact for the agreed upon $800.
With the help of Andrew George, associate dean of languages and culture at SOAS and translator of "The Epic of Gilgamesh: A New Translation" (Penguin Classics, 2000), Al-Rawi translated the tablet in just five days. The clay artifact could date as far back to the old-Babylonian period (2003-1595 B.C.), according to the Sulaymaniyah Museum. However, Al-Rawi and George said they believe it's a bit younger and was inscribed in the neo-Babylonian period (626-539 B.C.)...(continued)
(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...
Whoa, big “news”!
Interesting find that is hopefully authentic. My skepticism meter did go off however when I read the following: “Gilgamesh and Enkidu cut down the cedar to take home to Babylonia, and the new text carries a line that seems to express Enkidu’s recognition that reducing the forest to a wasteland is a bad thing to have done, and will upset the gods,” George said. Like the description of the forest, this kind of ecological awareness is very rare in ancient poetry, he added.”
Gilgamesh and Enkidu at Uruk.
Picard and Dathon at El-Adrel. Mirab, with sails unfurled.
The next tablet they find will say, “Enkidu planted a new forest as a carbon offset.”
“In the Pale Moonlight” is better.
O Barmaid of Heaven, serve me up a climate change brew!
They are still trying to determine if the script “Sheyra” refers to carbon sink or carbon offset.
Good thing the Sulaymaniyah Museum got to them before ISIS/ISIL could.
This stuff reminds me of Florida.
The river Temarc. In winter.
Good one!
Carbon sink is probably closer to the original Sumerian.
They could imagine the new forest taking up the spirit of the old forest from the air.
Darmok and Jalad... at Tanagra.
They also found a new Dr. Seuss book this summer — “What Pet Should I Get.”
It didn’t get as good reviews as the Gilgamesh tablet though.
Remember the faked Jesus family ossuaries, one was a box of bones with the names of Jesus’ brother on the outside, such discoveries were provided by smugglers and they were later exposed as frauds. If you can’t provide a list of ownership that accounts for the artifact’s history, it’s a bad sign. Someday an expert will determine the tablet as ancient but the writing is modern and badly faked with errors. The character of Gilgamesh is often brutal and callous and I can’t see him feeling guilty over a forest. We want so badly for these finds to be real and we therefore open ourselves up to fraud.
You know you're a Trekkie when you get that obscure reference. ;)
I wouldn’t say obscure! ... although I myself have trouble remembering “Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra” correctly.
Temba. His arms wide.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.