Editing Epic of Gilgamesh (section)

== Discovery ==
[[File:Hérosmaîtrisantunlion.jpg|left|upright=0.77|thumb|Ancient Assyrian statue currently in the [[Louvre]], possibly representing Gilgamesh]]
{{quote box
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| align = right|...this discovery is evidently destined to excite a lively controversy. For the present the orthodox people are in great delight, and are very much prepossessed by the corroboration which it affords to Biblical history. It is possible, however, as has been pointed out, that the Chaldean inscription, if genuine, may be regarded as a confirmation of the statement that there are various traditions of the deluge apart from the Biblical one, which is perhaps legendary like the rest.|''[[The New York Times]]'', front page, 1872<ref>{{Cite journal |date=22 December 1872 |title=The New York Times |at=front page |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref>||
}}
[[File:Enkidu, Gilgamesh's friend. From Ur, Iraq, 2027-1763 BCE. Iraq Museum.jpg|thumb|[[Enkidu]], Gilgamesh's friend. From Ur, Iraq, 2027–1763 BC. [[Iraq Museum]]]]
About 15,000 fragments of [[Assyrian cuneiform]] tablets were discovered in the [[Library of Ashurbanipal]] in [[Nineveh]] by [[Austen Henry Layard]], his assistant [[Hormuzd Rassam]], and [[William Loftus (archaeologist)|W.&nbsp;K. Loftus]] in the early 1850s.<ref name= tangled /> Late in the following decade, the [[British Museum]] hired [[George Smith (Assyriologist)|George Smith]] to study these; in 1872, Smith read translated fragments before the [[Society of Biblical Archaeology]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/ane/chad/ |title=The Chaldean Account of the Deluge |last=Smith |first=George |date=3 December 1872 |website=Sacred Texts |access-date=27 March 2020 |archive-date=11 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411045721/https://www.sacred-texts.com/ane/chad/ |url-status=live}}</ref> and in 1875 and 1876 he published fuller translations,{{sfn|George|2003|p= xi}} the latter of which was published as ''[[s:The Chaldean Account of Genesis|The Chaldaean Account of Genesis]]''.<ref name= tangled /> The central character of Gilgamesh was initially reintroduced to the world as "''Izdubar''", before the cuneiform [[logograph]]s in his name could be pronounced accurately.<ref name=tangled>{{Cite journal |last=George |first=Andrew R. |date=2008 |title=Shattered tablets and tangled threads: Editing Gilgamesh, then and now |url=http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/id/eprint/7497 |journal=Aramazd. Armenian Journal of Near Eastern Studies |volume=3 |pages=7–30 |access-date=12 September 2018 |archive-date=8 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191208175153/https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/7497/ |url-status=live}}</ref>{{Sfn|Lins Brandão|2019|p=11}} In 1891, [[Paul Haupt]] collected the cuneiform text, and nine years later, [[Peter Jensen (Orientalist)|Peter Jensen]] provided a comprehensive edition; [[R. Campbell Thompson]] updated both of their work in 1930. Over the next two decades, [[Samuel Noah Kramer]] reassembled the Sumerian poems.{{sfn|George|2003|p=xi}}

In 1998, American [[Assyriology|Assyriologist]] [[Theodore Kwasman]] discovered a piece believed to have contained the first lines of the epic in the storeroom of the British Museum; the fragment, found in 1878 and dated to between 600&nbsp;BCE and 100&nbsp;BCE, had remained unexamined by experts for more than a century since its recovery.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/first-lines-of-oldest-epic-poem-found-1185270.html |title=First lines of oldest epic poem found |date=16 November 1998 |website=The Independent |access-date=16 September 2019 |archive-date=30 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191230101336/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/first-lines-of-oldest-epic-poem-found-1185270.html |url-status=live}}</ref> The fragment read "He who saw all, who was the foundation of the land, who knew (everything), was wise in all matters: Gilgamesh."<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.northcoastjournal.com/humboldt/it-was-a-dark-and-stormy-night/Content?oid=2804001 |title=It Was a Dark and Stormy Night |last=Evans |first=Barry |website=North Coast Journal |access-date=16 September 2019 |archive-date=16 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150416135730/https://www.northcoastjournal.com/humboldt/it-was-a-dark-and-stormy-night/Content?oid=2804001 |url-status=live}}</ref> The discovery of artifacts ({{circa|2600 BCE}}) associated with [[Enmebaragesi]] of [[Kish (Sumer)|Kish]], mentioned in the legends as the father of one of Gilgamesh's adversaries, has lent credibility to the historical existence of Gilgamesh.{{sfn|Dalley|2000|pp= 40–41}}

In the early 2000s, the Gilgamesh Dream Tablet was imported illegally into the United States. According to the [[United States Department of Justice]], the tablet was encrusted with dirt and unreadable when it was purchased by a US antiquities dealer in 2003. The tablet was sold by an unnamed antiques dealer in 2007 with a letter falsely stating that it had been inside a box of ancient bronze fragments purchased in a 1981 auction.<ref name=Hurley>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/epic-of-gilgamesh-hobby-lobby-b1891782.html |author=Bevan Hurley |date=27 July 2021 |title=US seizes Epic of Gilgamesh tablet, considered one of world's oldest works of literature, from Hobby Lobby |work=Independent UK|access-date=25 January 2022|archive-date=25 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220125205254/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/epic-of-gilgamesh-hobby-lobby-b1891782.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2014, [[Hobby Lobby]] privately purchased the tablet for display at the [[Museum of the Bible]] in [[Washington, D.C.]]<ref name=Hurley /><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/justice-department-seizes-rare-ancient-tablet-illegally-auctioned-hobby-lobby-n1275217 |title=Justice Department seizes rare, ancient tablet illegally auctioned to Hobby Lobby |work=NBC News |first1=Dartunorro |last1=Clark |first2=Pete |last2=Williams |date=27 July 2021 |access-date=28 September 2021 |url-status=live |archive-date=23 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211223192311/https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/justice-department-seizes-rare-ancient-tablet-illegally-auctioned-hobby-lobby-n1275217}}</ref> In 2019, the Gilgamesh Dream Tablet was seized by US officials and was returned to Iraq in September 2021.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-57992957 |work=BBC News |title=Gilgamesh tablet: US authorities take ownership of artefact |date=28 July 2021 |access-date=28 September 2021 |url-status=live |archive-date=2 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211102175700/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-57992957}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/ancient-gilgamesh-tablet-taken-iraq-bought-hobby-lobby-returned-n1279996 |title=Ancient Gilgamesh tablet taken from Iraq and bought by Hobby Lobby is returned |work=NBC News |last=Helsel |first=Phil |date=23 September 2021 |access-date=28 September 2021 |url-status=live |archive-date=23 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211223192303/https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/ancient-gilgamesh-tablet-taken-iraq-bought-hobby-lobby-returned-n1279996}}</ref>

Recent developments in the use of [[Artificial Intelligence]] software have vastly accelerated the process of uncovering new fragments of the epic dispersed, and often unread, in museums around the world.<ref>Erik Ofgang, [https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/12/books/booksupdate/ai-ancient-tablets-gilgamesh.html  Piecing Together an Ancient Epic Was Slow Work. Until A.I. Got Involved,'] [[The New York Times]] 12 August 2024</ref>