The Open court . ally Eabani dies and Gilgamesh is visited with leprosy, the most awful disease of the Orient. 1 The significance of Belilis breaking a precious utensil in the ritual of lamentation is notclear. 362 THE OPEN COURT The twelfth tablet begins with the wailing for Eabani. Gilga-mesh visits one temple after another and invokes the several gods,until through the mediation of Marduk the spirit of Eabani risesbefore him like a breath from the earth.^ The fourth column con-tains a dialogue between Gilgamesh and the risen spirit of his friend,which begins with the words: Tell me, my frie
The Open court . ally Eabani dies and Gilgamesh is visited with leprosy, the most awful disease of the Orient. 1 The significance of Belilis breaking a precious utensil in the ritual of lamentation is notclear. 362 THE OPEN COURT The twelfth tablet begins with the wailing for Eabani. Gilga-mesh visits one temple after another and invokes the several gods,until through the mediation of Marduk the spirit of Eabani risesbefore him like a breath from the earth.^ The fourth column con-tains a dialogue between Gilgamesh and the risen spirit of his friend,which begins with the words: Tell me, my friend, the condition of the country (sheol) which thou hastseen. The spirit answers: Not can I tell thee, my friend, not can I tell thee what the condition is ofthe country. ... I will sit down and weep, I will sit down and weep. The rest of the column and the greater part of the next oneare mutilated. Then follows a scene which by its rhythm indicatesthat it was a hymn in honor of the hero who died honorably on the. Gilgamesh and Eabani in Conflict with Two Bulls.(Cylinder Seal, British Museum.) field of battle and receives a decent funeral, while all the bodies ofthe conquered ones are thrown away without burial. Gilgamesh, himself being infected with leprosy, decides to visithis ancestor Pir-napistim for the sake of finding a cure for his dis-ease, and to solve the mystery of his ancestors apotheosis. Tablet9 tells of Gilgameshs mourning for Eabani, as follows : Nimrod wept for Eabani, his friend,Bitterly, lying down upon the field ; I will not die like Eabani;Mourning has come over my of death I have tasted, lying down upon the 1 Cf. the fragment quoted by Jeremias, /. c, p. 103. 2 To lie down on the ground as a sign of great grief is an ancient custom frequently mentionedin the Bible (2 Sam. xii. 16; xiii. 31; Ez. xxvii. 30) and by Homer (Od. 4, 541. Iliad 22, 414 ; 24, 165 and 640). BABYLO^fIAN AND HEBREW VIEWS OF DEATH. 363 To the Power of Pir-napistim, th
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade188, booksubjectreligion, bookyear1887
