Editing Gilgamesh (section)

==Name==
[[File:Archibald Sayce's and Theophilus Pinches' interpretation of the new name of Gilgamesh, in 1890.png|thumb|''Exit Gišțubar!'' [[Theophilus Pinches]]' 1890 publication of the correct name of Gilgamesh, which had previously been deciphered as Izdubar. This was followed by [[Archibald Sayce]] noting that the name had appeared in [[Claudius Aelianus|Aelian]]'s ''De Natura Animalium'' as {{Langx|grc-x-classic|Γίλγαμος|translit=Gilgamos}} in the early 200s CE.<ref name="Emmerich 2016 pp. 251–273">{{cite journal | last=Emmerich | first=Karen | title= "A message from the antediluvian age": The Modern Construction of the Ancient "Epic of Gilgamesh"| journal=Comparative Literature | publisher=[Duke University Press, University of Oregon] | volume=68 | issue=3 | year=2016 | issn=0010-4124 | jstor=44211304 | pages=251–273 | doi=10.1215/00104124-3631557 | url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/44211304 | access-date=2024-01-02}}</ref>]]
The modern form "Gilgamesh" is a direct borrowing of the Akkadian {{cuneiform|6|[[wikt:Gilgāmeš|𒀭𒄑𒂆𒈦]]}}, rendered as ''Gilgāmeš''. The Assyrian form of the name derived from the earlier Sumerian form {{cuneiform|4|[[wikt:𒀭𒄑𒉋𒂵𒎌|𒀭𒄑𒉋𒂵𒎌]]}}, ''Bilgames''. It is generally concluded that the name itself translates as "the (kinsman) is a hero", though what type of "kinsman" was meant is a point of controversy. It is sometimes suggested that the Sumerian form of the name was pronounced ''Pabilgames'', reading the component ''bilga'' as ''pabilga'' ({{cuneiform|4|𒉺𒉋𒂵}}), a related term which described familial relations, however, this is not supported by epigraphic or phonological evidence.<ref>Gonzalo Rubio. "Reading Sumerian Names, II: Gilgameš." ''Journal of Cuneiform Studies'', vol. 64, The American Schools of Oriental Research, 2012, pp. 3–16, https://doi.org/10.5615/jcunestud.64.0003.</ref>