Talk:Gilgamesh

"Gilgamesh is written with the determinative for divine beings (DINGIR)" The reason this is so and there is no gilgamesh cult is because he was not a god, in the epic it states that he was part god part man, 2 thirds god, 1 third man, as a result his name would have been written to signify his deity heritage. - DAFONZ

The following is a translation of an article in the Brazilian language newspaper "Jornal do Brasil" that appeared 2 Feb 1993, pg 9.

Gilgamesh Saga

Ruins Reveal Details About the Assyrian Hero

ROME—An Italian archeologist managed to decipher a series of clay tablets with cuneiform inscriptions found close to Baghdad. The discovery of the tablets in the ruins of an ancient library in Sippar revealed new details about the adventures of the mythological hero Gilgamesh. The results of this research appear in the book “The Saga of Gilgamesh,” that went on sale yesterday in Milan by archeologist Giovanni Pettinato, who holds the Assyriology chair at the La Sapienza University in Rome. Gilgamesh was the main mythological hero of the civilizations in Sumeria, Assyria and Babylon. He was a man of great knowledge who tried to penetrate the mysteries of the universe. The main new concept in the recently deciphered tablets is the notion that a man can become a god by eating the flesh of a dead god. This idea of the Mesopotamian culture has similarities in the bible story about the tree of life. According to the serpent’s promise, Adam and Eve would become gods if they ate the forbidden fruit of the tree. The clay tablets were discovered in 1988 by a group of Iraqi archeologists who were working in the ancient city of Sippar, close to the temple dedicated to the sun god, Shamash. Within a hermetically sealed chamber there were more than a thousand tablets placed on shelves carved into the walls. The tablets date back to the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II, who oppressed the Jews and was king of Babylon in 604 B.C. In addition to the mythological story there are works on medicine, mathematics, history and legal texts. (Jornal do Brasil, 2 Feb 1993, pg 9)

What is the best way to make reference to this in the main article? I wish I could include a link to the original article but it does not appear to be archived on the web.

In both his main books about Gilgamesh, Andrew R. George names him Bilgames (not Bilgamesh, or Bilgameš). You can review it in his introduction or contents or even in his other book. RousouR (talk) 08:21, 26 October 2021 (UTC)

After reviewing his books, I noticed he uses Bilgames not only in introduction and contents, but in referring to and quoting from the Sumerian poems (for example throughout this part: p. 141-p. 208). It seems better to do the same here. RousouR (talk) 08:08, 29 October 2021 (UTC)

@Deor: RousouR certainly has a point that the article as it stands is a little bit confusing on the language front. Clearly Gilgamesh is the common name, and should remain as such in the text - but also, the article needs to better explain that the standard Akkadian version of the text, featuring "Gilgamesh", is a version that is far from the earliest writing on the Sumerian King, which is indeed in Sumerian, names the king "Bilgames", and is older still. There is no lack of sources for this (e.g.: ). Iskandar323 (talk) 07:03, 30 October 2021 (UTC)

My main objection is that if the sources we're citing call a poem "Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Netherworld [or 'Nether World']", we can't simply decide to call it "Bilgames, Enkidu, and the Netherworld". If someone wants to revise the article to use the name Bilgames in all references to Sumerian stories, a revamping of the article's sourcing is needed as well. Deor (talk) 17:01, 30 October 2021 (UTC)

If I could understand the need for undoing all the edits I made, I couldn't understand the need for erasing the note. It fits without revamping of article's sourcing. RousouR (talk) 17:18, 30 October 2021 (UTC)

I wasn't suggesting replacing anything. Gilgamesh is clearly the WP:COMMONNAME. However, the Akkadian/Sumerian differentiation is a bit breezed over at present. What really needs adding is some backstory on the Sumerian fragments that we have the predate the standard Akkadian version. Iskandar323 (talk) 14:37, 31 October 2021 (UTC)

If he ruled 2900-2700 bc. Isn’t that the early 3rd millennium BC? Article says late 2nd millennium. 104.159.160.80 (talk) 12:49, 13 July 2022 (UTC)

The article says that the Epic of Gilgamesh was written in the late 2nd millennium BC (long after the time when he is thought to have ruled). Deor (talk) 13:30, 13 July 2022 (UTC)

The name Gilgamesh also appears in the apocryphal Book of Giants in chapter 8, verse 8. 76.202.192.102 (talk) 19:56, 27 June 2023 (UTC)

@Tenkax In a recent edit you added references to George (2003). There are two such sources in the article: the Penguin edition of a translation (George 2003a), and a much longer OUP book with multiple sources in the original, critical commentary, etc. (Georges 2003b). Could you clarify which of the two books you were referring to and update the sfns accordingly? Thanks, Wham2001 (talk) 15:12, 15 March 2026 (UTC)