Review

Authors(s): José Gonzalo Rubio Pardo

Review by: José Gonzalo Rubio Pardo
Source: Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 117, No. 2 (Apr. - Jun., 1997), pp.
378-379
Published by: American Oriental Society
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/605515
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 378 Journal of the American Oriental Society 117.2 (1997)

useful than inveighing against these expressions of our knowl- visionist approaches, such as, for instance, N. Vulpe ("Irony

edge and lack thereof would be explaining the principles and and the Unity of the Gilgamesh Epic": JNES 53 [1994]: 275-

uses of vocalization to beginners in the field. 83), who defends the unity of the twelve tablets of the epic but

ignores the strong linguistic, thematic, and structural arguments

DENNIS PARDEE against that view (see S. N. Kramer, "The Epic of Gilgames

UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO and its Sumerian Sources," JAOS 64 [1944]: 22-23; J. H. Tigay,

The Evolution of Gilgamesh Epic [Philadelphia: Univ. of Penn-

sylvania Press, 1982], 5, 26-27, 49; A. Shaffer, "Sumerian

Sources of Tablet XII of the Epic of Gilgames" [Ph.D. diss.,

Univ. of Pennsylvania, 1963], 43, 146). Because of its content,

S. Parpola's similar assumption ("The Assyrian Tree of Life:

Gilgamesh, o la angustia por la muerte (poema babilonio). By

Tracing the Origins of Jewish Monotheism and Greek Philoso-

JORGE SILVA CASTILLO. Second edition. Mexico City: EL

phy," JNES 52 [1993]: 192-95) would deserve a very detailed

COLEGIO DE MIXICO, 1995. Pp. 226 (paper).

comment which exceeds the limits of this review. One may

argue that any proof of the unity of an epic work should follow

This is the second edition of the first Spanish translation

W. Schadewaldt's procedure for the Iliad (Iliasstudien [Leipzig:

of Gilgamesh, made directly from the original Akkadian. Un-

Hirzel,1938]), based on the study of book XI as a preparation

til now, only the Hittite version had received such an honor

(Vorbereitung) for the rest of the epic, and books I-IX as a

(A. Bernabe, Textos Literarios Hetitas [Madrid: Alianza Edito-

postponing or deferring (Aufschub) of book XI-book X being

rial, 1987], 93-115).

an addition. It is interesting that H. N. Wolff (A Study in the

The book is intended for both the layman and the scholar

Narrative Structure of Three Epic Poems: Gilgamesh, the Od-

from other fields. Thus, Silva tries to avoid the traditional phil-

yssey, Beowulf [New York: Garland, 1987]), who, like Vulpe,

ological conventions, substituting others that are easier to fol-

uses a comparative approach, seems not to mention Gilgamesh

low: the restoration of broken words or signs is indicated by

tablet twelve anywhere. It is easy to find modern examples of

italics, full (ad sensum) restorations by brackets, and, where the

these "unreal presences" (paraphrasing Steiner): Antoine Gal-

Old Babylonian version is used to fill a textual gap, it is given

land inserted his translation of Sinbad in his Les Mille et Une

in a different font. Also, the traditional division into tablets is

Nuits (12 vols.; Paris, 1704-17), although the story of the

replaced by thematic chapters, although keeping the conven-

sailor is not present in any of the manuscripts of AlfLayla wa-

tional numeration of tablets, columns, and lines.

Layla, and clearly is not part of that work (see M. Mahdi, The

The subtitle the translator gives the poem, la angustia por

Thousand and One Nights, part 3 [Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1994],

la muerte ("Anguish over Death"), along with the introduction

17-20, 190).

and notes, alerts the reader to the Weltanschauung of the epic.

Silva succeeds in his effort to give both a literary and a phil-

In that sense, it is the opposite of such modern works as, for

ologically accurate translation. Having said that, one can, how-

example, Giinter Dux's Liebe und Tod im Gilgamesh-Epos:

ever, disagree with him in some points of this translation. For

Geschichte als Weg zum Selbstbewui3tsein (Vienna: Passagen,

instance, in I.1, although the translation of the first edition

1992), where Dux seems to rethink Gilgamesh in the light of

(Hare que el mundo conozca / a quien penetr6 en el abismo) is

der Engel der Geschichte of the ninth thesis of W. Benjamin's

improved now (Hare que el mundo conozca I a aquel que vio el

Uber den Begriff der Geschichte (Frankfurt a. M.: Suhrkamp,

abismo), Silva continues to understand nagbu as "abyss" mainly

1991), 691-764-especially pp. 697-98, a reflection (illumina-

because of the parallel with [gd ta-ma-a]-ti, as Oppenheim pro-

tion) on Paul Klee's painting Angelus Novus.

posed ("Mesopotamian Mythology II," Or., n.s., 17 [1948]: 17).

The introduction initiates the reader into the historical and

However it should be recalled that there are two nagbus, one

literary context of the poem. Many footnotes help to explain

meaning both "spring, fountain" and "underground water," and

diverse passages, including fragments of the Hittite version

the other meaning "totality, all" (CAD, N/l: 108-1 1; AHw: 710-

which allegedly complement some of the broken parts of the

11). The gap at the beginning of line two is reconstructed [sd

Akkadian epic. At the end, several philological notes address

kul-la]-ti by many scholars (Campbell Thompson, Speiser, Dal-

assorted problems of interpretation.

ley, Pettinato, Tournay), although [gd ta-ma-a]-ti (Oppenheim,

Tablet twelve is translated in an appendix, following the

Schott-von Soden, Matoug, Diakonoff, Silva) or [sd kib-ra-a]-ti

communis opinio among scholars and ignoring some recent re-

(Heidel, Wilcke, Gallery-Kovacs) are also possible. Neverthe-

less, the parallel sa nagba imurullsa kullati ida seems to be re-

garded as the most likely.

1 Jerrold S. Cooper and Philip Jones kindly read earlier drafts

On minor points, it must first be remarked that, though Sham-

of this review, sharing with me their comments. Responsibility

hat may have a meaning (p. 200, n. 24), it is a proper name (see
for the ideas expressed, however, is entirely mine.

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 Reviews of Books 379

I. M. Diakonoff, Epos o Gilgamese [Moscow: Akademija Nauk, this text was the only one of its kind in Armenia until the intro-

1961], 149; and his reviews of F M. Th. de Liagre Bohl, Het duction of modern cartography in the seventeenth century. Sub-

Gilgamesj Epos [Amsterdam, 1958], and L. Matous, Epos o Gil- sequently, it inspired generations of politicians and freedom

gamesovi [Prague, 1958], in BiOr 18 [1961]: 62a). Second it fighters with a depiction of the Armenian homeland at its larg-

is interesting that for most Sumerian names Silva puts the est extent.

stress on the last syllable (Enkidi, Nins6n, Sumuqan). It is clear Following the classical model of describing the known world

that, even if Sumerian is a tonal language (A. Falkenstein, Das from Europe to China, the work seems to rely most heavily on

Sumerische [Leiden: Brill, 1959], 23), it also has stress (as is the lost Xopoypa(pia oiKOupEVtKfl of the fourth-century Pappus

the case, for example, also for Chinese; see J. Norman, Chi- of Alexandria for its coverage of Europe and Africa, which is

nese [Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1988], 148-49; simi- rather sketchy and uneven. Moreover, Hewsen reasonably ar-

larly for Japanese; see M. Shibanati, The Languages of Japan gues that most of the references by the Armenian translator/

[Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1990], 177-84). Regard- redactor to other Greek authorities such as Ptolemy, Marinus of

ing proper names, it is very difficult to decide where the stress Tyre, and Hipparchus derive from Pappus' work. Surely more

was, but some clues lead us to infer that, for instance, Sumuqan controversial is his suggestion, following Soukry, that under the

must be Sumuqan (/sum6qan/), if one accepts J. Krecher's in- designation Constantine of Antioch, the text may preserve the

terpretation of the non-orthographic Sumerian writing su-mu-

real identity of Ps. Cosmas Indicopleustes as author of much

un-ga-an ("Verschlusslaute und Betonung im Sumerischen," of the Christian topography the work evinces.

Lisan mithurti: Festschrift W. F von Soden [Neukirchen-Vluyn, In contrast, the main contribution of the Armenian redaction

1969]: 179).
is to supplement the brief classical section regarding the Sasa-

In my review of the first edition of this book (JNES, forth-

nian Empire with an original survey of the region according to

coming), I congratulated Silva on the literary quality of his

the same methodology and approach, beginning at Asiatic Sar-

translation, while noting some technical mistakes and typograph-

matia. This more detailed treatment is especially valuable for

ical errors. The popularity of the first edition precluded any cor-
the Caucasian portion, providing the only comprehensive docu-

rection of the minor problems, since the author was called upon
mentation of the area's subdivision into districts for the early

to provide a second edition almost immediately, leaving time

period. It is not clear what sort of evidence this section is based

only for some stylistic corrections in the translation. Thus the

on and the translator's postulation of the author's access to Per-

main aim of the work, providing a readable translation for the

sian archives is perhaps rather sanguine.

Spanish-speaking public, has been advanced. [A third edition of

The Asxarhaccoycc has undergone a rather complex trans-

this book (1996) has now appeared. -ed.]

mission history. Like many a treatise, it seems it was subject to

One can only welcome and be grateful for Silva's transla-

abridgment in order to satisfy the requirements of the school

tion, hoping that further editions will present a book free of

curriculum. Consequently, alongside the longer recension ad-

typographical errors.
duced by a single manuscript, which generally appears to afford

the more original form of the work, we find a shorter edition

JoSE GONZALO RUBIO PARDO

witnessed by some fifty codices, the earliest of which was cop-

JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY

ied in 1178. However, affinities between the two textual forms

in their present condition are both complex and multifaceted.

As a result, Hewsen wisely opts to translate both separately on

facing pages rather than attempt an artificial synthesis.

Although the latter is only half the size of the former, it

offers a more complete description of Albania (nucleus of the

The Geography of Ananias of Sirak (ASXARHACCOYCC), The

present Azerbaijan) and contains other features which presum-

Long and the Short Recensions: Introduction, Translation and

ably fell out of the longer form through scribal error. At the
Commentary. By ROBERT H. HEWSEN. Beihefte zum Tii-

same time, it reveals a series of additions and corrections up-

binger Atlas des vorderen Orients, Reihe B (Geisteswissen-

dating coverage to harmonize with changing circumstances. One

schaften), vol. 77. Wiesbaden: DR. LUDWIG REICHERT, 1992.

of the most significant relates to the state the Armenians estab-

Pp. xii + 467. DM 252.

lished in Cilicia toward the end of the eleventh century, which

This imposing volume makes available in English for the

Hewsen translates in an appendix. This activity was antici-

first time an important geographical source plausibly dated to

pated by earlier scribes of the ninth century. The abbreviator

the early seventh century C.E., which forms a link in the chain
himself, however, is dated to the end of the seventh. As the

from Ptolemy and his Greek successors to later Arab cultiva-

longer redaction exhibits no familiarity with conditions under

tion of the genre. Apart from an independent, more succinct

Umayyad rule, its terminus ad quem can be fixed at 636.

work attributed to Vardan Arewelci in the thirteenth century,

Hewsen, following Eremyan, sets the work's lower limit at 591

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