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Gilgamesh (; , ''Gilgameš,'' originally Bilgamesh ) is the main character in the ''Epic of Gilgamesh'', an Akkadian poem that is considered the first great work of literature, and in earlier Sumerian poems. In the epic, Gilgamesh is a demigod of superhuman strength who builds the city walls of Uruk to defend his people and travels to meet the sage Utnapishtim, who survived the Great Flood. Gilgamesh is generally seen by scholars as a historical figure, since inscriptions have been found which confirm the existence of other figures associated with him in the epic. If Gilgamesh existed, he probably was a king who reigned sometime between 2800 and 2500 BC. The Sumerian King List claims that Gilgamesh ruled the city of Uruk for 126 years. According to the Tummal Inscription,〔The Tummal Inscription, an expanded king-list based on the standard Old Babylonian copy-texts, which exist in numerous examples, from Ur and Nippur.〕 Gilgamesh and his son Urlugal rebuilt the sanctuary of the goddess Ninlil in Tummal, a sacred quarter in her city of Nippur. ==Cuneiform references== The earliest cuneiform references to Gilgamesh are a cycle of Sumerian poems where he appears under the name "Bilgamesh" (spelled in Sumerian cuneiform as GIŠ.NE.GA.MES or GIŠ.NE-šeššig.GA.ME.U.U.U〔gilgameš, gilgameš2, and gilgameš3 in the Pennsylvania Electronic Sumerian Dictionary ()〕〔''The Epic of Gilgamesh'', translated by Andrew George 1999, Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, p. 141, ISBN 978-0-14-044721-7〕). These poems include many of the stories that would make up the later, more-famous ''Epic of Gilgamesh'', written in the Akkadian language. The latest and most comprehensive telling of the Gilgamesh legend was the twelve-tablet Standard Babylonian Version, compiled circa 1200 BC by the exorcist-priest (''mašmaššu'') Sîn-lēqi-unninni. Fragments of an epic text found in Me-Turan (modern Tell Haddad) relate that at the end of his life Gilgamesh was buried under the river bed. The people of Uruk diverted the flow of the Euphrates passing Uruk for the purpose of burying the dead king within the river bed. In April 2003, a German expedition claimed to have discovered his last resting place.〔("Gilgamesh tomb believed found" ), BBC News, 29 April 2003〕 Some of the Sumerian texts spell his name as ''Bilgamesh''. Initial difficulties in reading cuneiform resulted in Gilgamesh's name being initially given as "Izdubar" when parts of the epic were first published in English in 1872.〔Smith, George (1872). ("The Chaldean Account of the Deluge" ), in ''Transactions of the Society of Biblical Archaeology, Volumes 1-2'', pp.213–214. Society of Biblical Archæology; London.〕〔Alfred Jeremias, ''Izdubar-Nimrod, eine altbabylonische Heldensage'' (1891).〕 Although Gilgamesh was originally considered by scholars to be a semidivine hero, he is now generally regarded as a historical king. In most cuneiform texts, the name of Gilgamesh is preceded with the star-shaped "dingir" determinative ideogram for divine beings, but there is no evidence for a contemporary cult, and the Sumerian Gilgamesh myths suggest that deification was a later development (unlike the case of the Akkadian god-kings). The earliest datable cuneiform tablet bears the name of Enmebaragesi of Kish; he and his son Aga of Kish are associated with Gilgamesh in the epic, as well as appearing in the kinglist and Tummal Chronicle. If Gilgamesh was a historical king, he probably reigned in about the 26th century BC. Over the centuries there may have been a gradual accretion of stories about Gilgamesh, some possibly derived from the real lives of other historical figures, in particular Gudea, the Second Dynasty ruler of Lagash (2144–2124 BC).〔N.K. Sandars, introduction to ''The Epic of Gilgamesh'' (Penguin, 1972:16).〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Gilgamesh」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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