Gilgamesh - The Good Life - Jacobsen

Chapter VII "Mesopotamia: The Good Life" by Thorkild Jacobsen in "Before Philosophy; The Intellectual
Adventure of Ancient Man" - Frankfort, Wilson and Jacobsen (1949, Penguin Books, Baltimore, Maryland)
Editorial notes by Jim Braum (jimbraumcos@gmail.com):
(1) Please note that the following excerpt regarding the ancient Babylonian Goddess Siduri has been directly copied from "Before
Philosophy; The Intellectual Adventure of Ancient Man" - Frankfort, Wilson and Jacobsen (Penguin Books, Baltimore, Maryland, 1949)
for the sole purposes of teaching, scholarship and research on Siduri under the doctrine of "fair use" as codified in section 107 of
copyright law (www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html).
(2) While there are multiple English translations of Siduri's advice, they vary greatly in their usage and popularity. At the time of
writing (2013) a Google.com search for "Siduri's Advice" returned over 70,000 hits, with 8 of the top 10 Google.com hits actually
including a translation of Siduri's advice on the returned webpage. Of these eight webpages one observes four slightly different
translations of Siduri's advice, three of which are included only on a single webpage. However, one of the four versions is listed on
five of the eight webpages, strongly suggesting that it is by far the most popular English translation of Siduri's advice on the internet.
This popular translation of Siduri's advice (Gilgamesh, whither are you wandering? Life, which you look for, you will never find. For
when the gods created man, they let death be his share, and life withheld in their own hands. Gilgamesh, fill your belly. Day and
night make merry. Let days be full of joy, dance and make music day and night. And wear fresh clothes. And wash your head and
bathe. Look at the child that is holding your hand, and let your wife delight in your embrace. These things alone are the concern of
men) is often ascribed to James Thrower's "The Alternative Tradition: A Study of Unbelief in the Ancient World" (1980, Mouton
Publishers, The Hague, The Netherlands) but an examination of Thrower's book highlights that he actually obtained this translation of
Siduri's advice from chapter VII "Mesopotamia: The Good Life" of "Before Philosophy; The Intellectual Adventure of Ancient Man".
This chapter was authored by Thorkild Jacobsen, the renowned historian who specialized in Assyriology and Sumerian literature. As
Jacobsen was himself an expert translator and interpreter of Akkadian cuneiform, and he provided no reference for the translation he
included in this chapter, we can safely assume that it was most likely Jacobsen himself who created this popular translation of
Siduri's advice. Ironically, Siduri was peripheral to Jacobsen's main topos in this section, which was Gilgamesh's quest for eternal
life, and Siduri herself is not even mentioned by name. Nevertheless, it is Jacobsen's 1949 translation that has become by far the
most dominant version of Siduri's advice today.
(3) My apologies for the slight defacement of the version scanned here. The rarity of this 1949 book made finding a non-defaced
version difficult. If I locate one in the future I will scan and replace the defaced pages in this PDF.
Archived by the Siduri's Advice Archival Initiative (SAAI)
www.SidurisAdvice.com
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Chapter VII "Mesopotamia: The Good Life" by Thorkild Jacobsen in "Before Philosophy; The Intellectual

Archived by the Siduri's Advice Archival Initiative (SAAI)

Archived by the Siduri's Advice Archival Initiative (SAAI)

Archived by the Siduri's Advice Archival Initiative (SAAI)

Archived by the Siduri's Advice Archival Initiative (SAAI)

Archived by the Siduri's Advice Archival Initiative (SAAI)

Archived by the Siduri's Advice Archival Initiative (SAAI)

Archived by the Siduri's Advice Archival Initiative (SAAI)

Archived by the Siduri's Advice Archival Initiative (SAAI)

Archived by the Siduri's Advice Archival Initiative (SAAI)

Archived by the Siduri's Advice Archival Initiative (SAAI)

Archived by the Siduri's Advice Archival Initiative (SAAI)

Archived by the Siduri's Advice Archival Initiative (SAAI)

Archived by the Siduri's Advice Archival Initiative (SAAI)

Archived by the Siduri's Advice Archival Initiative (SAAI)

Archived by the Siduri's Advice Archival Initiative (SAAI)

Archived by the Siduri's Advice Archival Initiative (SAAI)

Archived by the Siduri's Advice Archival Initiative (SAAI)

Archived by the Siduri's Advice Archival Initiative (SAAI)

Archived by the Siduri's Advice Archival Initiative (SAAI)

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