Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Trevor & Julie Peterson" <06peterson AT cua.edu>]

> On Mon 23 Dec 2002 (13:05:31 +1100), mshields AT mail.usyd.edu.au wrote:
> > Oh, and isn't it Siduri who tells Gilgamesh that "The life you pursue
> > you shall not find"?
>
Ben replied:

>  Dear Martin,
>
>  I don't have the Epic to hand here at home. JH Eaton says it is Shamash.

It is. On a 17th-18th c. tablet said to have come from Sippar (two fragments
currently housed in the British Museum (96974) and the Vorderasiatisches
Museum in Berlin (4105)), Shamash says, "O Gilgamesh, where are you
wandering? / The life that you seek you never will find" (i.7'-8'; George
1999, 123). I don't see a comparable statement in Siduri's speech.

Trevor Peterson
CUA/Semitics