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32 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Floods, fantasies, and fables in clay, March 9, 2007
This review is from: The Buried Book: The Loss and Rediscovery of the Great Epic of Gilgamesh (Hardcover)
In the mid-19th Century, the fragile condition of the Ottoman Empire left its borders more open to intrusion by Christian visitors. Originally intending to simply visit the "Holy Land", the influx included people who wanted to know more about the various peoples living in Biblical times. Their quests led them to the earliest sites of human civilisation, ancient Mesopetamia. The Land of Two Rivers hinted at early complex societies and a bit of scratching around at enigmatic mounds revealed immense potential for new knowledge. David Damrosch, a scholar of literature, focusses on one element of that vast store, the Epic of Gilgamesh.
Damrosch organises his material around the diggers, their findings and the stories revealed. There are several notable figures, with the author striving to give credit where that has been lacking - or purposely dismissed. Austen Layard was the prime mover in the revelation of Nineveh. After him, a self-taught enthusiast, George Smith, became among the earliest translators of ancient Akkadian, the language engraved on the multitude of clay shards uncovered. A third, more tragic figure is that of Hormuzd Rassam. With family and cultural ties to the area, Rassam kept teams of excavators working, sometimes in the face of obstructions by Ottoman authorities. His finds were significant, but, according to Damrosch his origins made him "suspect". The British attitude toward "Orientals" led to his work being dismissed as unimportant or even false. Yet, between them all, a legend buried for two millennia came into view - the epic of Gilgamesh.
The real purpose of this book is revealed at Damrosch examines and assesses the Gilgamesh story. Apart from its seeming verification of the Noachean Flood, Gilgamesh offers insight to how ancient peoples viewed their relationship to the gods. The epic also demonstrates how myths and legends, especially those dealing with social norms and major events, were neither conceived nor accepted in isolation. Each culture passed its myths to its neighbours, the process often blurring origins beyond identification. Damrosch sees Mesopetamian floods of cities on the plains as inspiring others. To those ancient peoples, the loss of a mud-brick city to floodwaters was tantamount to the end of the world [as a literary scholar, Damrosch is apparently unaware of William Ryan's thesis on the flooding of the Black Sea as a source for these legends]. Far more significant, however, is Damrosch's explanation of the persistence of the Gilgamesh story both in its homeland and as a part of Western society's outlook. The book, although narrowly focussed, is a major contribution. The writing is a touch labourious, but flows smoothly enough to remain informative and entertaining. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]
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21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A good read, but somewhat misleading in its title., March 31, 2007
This review is from: The Buried Book: The Loss and Rediscovery of the Great Epic of Gilgamesh (Hardcover)
Let me first say that I enjoyed this book. However, while the book purports to be about the history of the Gilgamesh epic, very little of the book is actually devoted to that topic. More than half the book is a biographical sketch of 2 important 19th century British scholars, George Smith and Hormuzd Rassam. Smith was the first to read fragments of the Gilgamesh story, while Rassam excavated some of the fragments. These bios are actually quite interesting and are the highlight of the book. (One wonders, though, if Rassam is given such high praise in part because he was Arab and therefore discriminated against in his own time.)
Much of the rest of the book is essentially a history of various periods in Mesopotamian history. First is a discussion of the reigns of Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal, under whose reigns the most important extant Gilgamesh fragments were copied. However, these chapters really don't connect to the story of Gilgamesh very well.
The final chapter deals with the presence of the Gilgamesh epic's themes in the modern world. I am not convinced that Saddam Hussein's books have anything to do with the Gilgamesh theme (other than the fact that he writes about the ancient Assyrians). I am likewise unconvinced of the Philip Roth connection (other than the fact that he names a character in one of his novels Gil Gamesh).
Despite the bizarre format of the book, and the fact that Gilgamesh features very little in the book, the book is worth reading. Just don't expect much Gilgamesh!
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sand, sun and tales of Epic discovery, April 2, 2007
This review is from: The Buried Book: The Loss and Rediscovery of the Great Epic of Gilgamesh (Hardcover)
The story begins in 19th century Iraq with the accidental discovery of the until then unknown Epic of Gilgamesh, and unlike most history books, works backwards in time slowly revealing the mystery of its origins and meaning - this chronology works well, not unlike an archaeological dig. The first half of the book is devoted to two unlikely and largely unsung heroes of the Victorian era who first found and deciphered the tablets, George Smith and Horzmud Rassam. Rassam is probably the most important and unique revelation of the book, as Damrosch restores an unfairly maligned scholar to his rightful place in history and perhaps some immortality. The second half of the book jumps backwards from the 19th century to when the Epic was written, discussing the history of the Assyrian kingdom, and the library where the tablets were buried. The tablets were buried around 700 BC when the city was sacked, and thus the Epic lain forgotten from that time until the 19th century. Had the city not been sacked and the tablets not buried, it is likely the Epic would have been lost forever, as most tablets from that period did not survive otherwise.
This is a fun tale, both Smith and Rassam encompass dramatic lives as underdogs who rose from obscurity, overcoming Victorian prejudices of class and race. If nothing else the first half of the book is worth the price of admission, in particular Rassam's side adventure to Ethiopia. Damrosch's literary interpretation of the Epic (Ch. 6) provides valuable insights, such as the importance of cedar trees, making it less "foreign" (both in time and culture) and more universally human. I certainly came away with a new appreciation of the tales message of the quest for immortality.
The Sources and Notes section includes an up to date guide of recent translations of the Epic, recommended reading before deciding which translation(s) to pursue.
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