I have already written a lot about the history of the oldest texts describing meteorites as well as monuments made of meteorites and tektites. But I kept forgetting the oldest text that mentioned an interesting event. Maybe because the event takes place in the conversations and in the dream of the main character, but it is the first record of a falling meteorite and the oldest on Earth.
It is the Epic of Gilgamesh, which is perhaps the oldest written history on Earth. It comes from ancient Sumeria and was originally written cuneiform on 12 clay tablets. It tells about the adventures of the historical king of Uruk, somewhere between 2750 and 2500 BC.
At the beginning of the Epic of Gilgamesh, a great meteorite appears on the First Tablet when it fell to the ground. Despite the fact that Gilgamesh is 2/3 god and 1/3 human he cannot raise him.
Below is my translation of the text from English, from the original translation made by the Maureen Gallery Kovacs team. Stanford University Press, 1990 (http://www2.latech.edu/~bmagee/103/gilgamesh.htm ) and also translated by John Maier and John Gardner (New York: Vintage, 1981) http://www.uwosh.edu /home_pages/faculty_staff/minniear/2010/Pages/Epic%20of%20Gilgamesh.pdf
The first and second tablets mention the meteorite. The first time a meteorite is mentioned is when Traper confides in his father about his encounter with Enkidu. The epic of Gilgamesh also describes a fragment of a dream in which the protagonist has a vision that a meteorite falls from the sky and was too heavy for him to pick it up. Although Gilgamesh’s mother interprets this dream as symbolically referring to his future benevolent companion, Enkidu, created by the heavenly gods. The next Gilgamesh dream compares Enkidu to a man like Gilgamesh, whom he embraced like a woman. Later, the record of the meteorite can be found several more times. It turns out that Enkidu is a „falling meteorite.” Interestingly, some scholars figuratively find Gilgamesh and Enkidu here as Orion and Meteor.
The meteorite is mentioned for the first time when Traper confides to his father when he met Enkidu:
The trapper addressed his father saying:”
„Father, a certain fellow has come from the mountains.
He is the mightiest in the land,
his strength is as mighty as the meteorite (?) of Anu!
He continually goes over the mountains,
he continually jostles at the watering place with the animals,
he continually plants his feet opposite the watering place.
I was afraid, so I did not go up to him.
He filled in the pits that I had dug,
wrenched out my traps that I had spread,
released from my grasp the wild animals.
He does not let me make my rounds in the wilderness!”
The trapper’s father spoke to him saying:
„My son, there lives in Uruk a certain Gilgamesh.
There is no one stronger than he,
he is as strong as the meteorite (?) of Anu.
Go, set off to Uruk,
tell Gilgamesh of this Man of Might.
……………………and next……………..
He heeded his father’s advice.
The trapper went off to Uruk,
he made the journey, stood inside of Uruk,
and declared to … Gilgamesh:
„There is a certain fellow who has come from the mountains–
he is the mightiest in the land,
his strength is as mighty as the meteorite (?) of Anu!
He continually goes over the mountains,
he continually jostles at the watering place with the animals,
he continually plants his feet opposite the watering place.
Elsewhere, Gilgamesh has a dream and confides to his mother:
Gilgamesh got up and revealed the dream, saying to his mother:
„Mother, I had a dream last night.
Stars of the sky appeared,
and some kind of meteorite (?) of Anu fell next to me.
I tried to lift it but it was too mighty for me,
I tried to turn it over but I could not budge it.
The Land of Uruk was standing around it,
the whole land had assembled about it,
the populace was thronging around it,
the Men clustered about it,
and kissed its feet as if it were a little baby (!).
I loved it and embraced it as a wife.
I laid it down at your feet,
and you made it compete with me.”
The mother of Gilgamesh, the wise, all-knowing, said to her Lord;
Rimat-Ninsun, the wise, all-knowing, said to Gilgamesh:
„As for the stars of the sky that appeared
and the meteorite(?) of Anu which fell next to you,
you tried to lift but it was too mighty for you,
you tried to turn it over but were unable to budge it,
you laid it down at my feet,
and I made it compete with you,
and you loved and embraced it as a wife.”
„There will come to you a mighty man, a comrade who saves his friend–
he is the mightiest in the land, he is strongest,
his strength is mighty as the meteorite(!) of Anu!
You loved him and embraced him as a wife;
and it is he who will repeatedly save you.
Your dream is good and propitious!”
……………………………………………………………………………………
The mother of Gilgamesh, the wise, all-knowing, said to her son;
Rimat-Ninsun, the wise, all-knowing, said to Gilgamesh:
„”The axe that you saw (is) a man.
„… (that) you love him and embrace as a wife,
„but (that) I have compete with you.”
„” There will come to you a mighty man,
„” a comrade who saves his friend–
„he is the mightiest in the land, he is strongest,
„he is as mighty as the meteorite(!) of Anu!”
Gilgamesh spoke to his mother saying:
„”By the command of Enlil, the Great Counselor, so may it to pass!
„May I have a friend and adviser, a friend and adviser may I have!
„You have interpreted for me the dreams about him!”
After the harlot recounted the dreams of Gilgamesh to Enkidu
the two of them made love.
Tablet II
Enkidu sits in front of her.
[The next 30 lines are missing; some of the fragmentary lines from 35 on are restored from parallels in the Old Babylonian.]
„Why …”(?)
His own counsel …
At his instruction …
Who knows his heart…
Shamhat pulled off her clothing,
and clothed him with one piece
while she clothed herself with a second.
She took hold of him as the gods do’
and brought him to the hut of the shepherds.
The shepherds gathered all around about him,
they marveled to themselves:
„How the youth resembles Gilgamesh–
tall in stature, towering up to the battlements over the wall!
Surely he was born in the mountains;
his strength is as mighty as the meteorite(!) of Anu!”
……………………………………………………………..
They kissed each other and became friends.
[The Old Babylonian becomes fragmentary. The Standard Version resumes]
„His strength is the mightiest in the land!
His strength is as mighty as the
meteorite(?) of Anu,
The mother of Gilgamesh spoke to Gilgamesh, saying;
Rimat-Ninsun said to her son:
„(I!), Rimar-Ninsun…
My son…
Plaintively …
She went up into his (Shamash’s) gateway,
plaintively she implored …:
„Enkidu has no father or mother,
his shaggy hair no one cuts.
He was horn in the wilderness, no one
raised him.”
Enkidu was standing there, and heard the speech.
He … and sat down and wept,
his eyes filled with tears,
his arms felt limp, his strength weakened.
They took each other by the hand,
and.., their hands like …
Enkidu made a declaration to (Gilgamesh’).
[32 lines are missing here.]
To clarify, the word ANU means Sumerian An, the father of the gods and the god of the firmament, „great above.” In Sumerian cosmogony it was first and foremost an ancient sea, from which a cosmic mountain was born consisting of the sky „An” and the earth „Ki”, they were separated by Enlil, then An lifted the heavens and Enlil the earth. Ann later withdrew more and more into the background. He had an important temple in Uruk.
Anu !!!! in this text expresses nervousness, surprise or terror, which in my opinion the use of the word Anu means the same as – „Oh my God !!!” and in this way the author of the text emphasizes, as we say today, „something amazing”, „something huge” or „something incredible”, etc.
For me, these texts are very interesting, because it is about the first meteorite described in the oldest recorded history on our Planet.
Sources and additional literature:
- Dreams in The Epic of Gilgamesh, https://freebooksummary.com/dreams-in-the-epic-of-gilgamesh-120805 – (accessed 3-08-2022)
- Maureen Gallery Kovacs Translation, http://king-of-heroes.co.uk/the-epic-of-gilgamesh/maureen-gallery-kovacs-translation/ – (ac. 3-08-2022)
- The Epic of Gilgamesh Translated!by!Maureen!Gallery!Kovacs Electronic!Edition!by!Wolf!Carnahan,!I998, https://uruk-warka.dk/Gilgamish/The%20Epic%20of%20Gilgamesh.pdf – (ac. 3-08-2022)
- John Maier i John Gardner (Nowy Jork: Vintage, 1981) http://www.uwosh.edu/home_pages/faculty_staff/minniear/2010/Pages/Epic%20of%20Gilgamesh.pdf – (ac. 3-08-2022)
- A. Kotowiecki, Epos o Gilgameszu a Biblia. Część Pierwsza, http://pressmania.pl/epos-o-gilgameszu-a-biblia-czesc-pierwsza/?fbclid=IwAR1rrsXVpXa_ra4oco6YVqPKjLElCn0sjrxDfZc8vMUykzHN_br7N6YmN5Y – (ac. 3-08-2022)
- A. Kotowiecki, Święte meteoryty – różne historie z nimi związane, http://pressmania.pl/swiete-meteoryty-rozne-historie-z-nimi-zwiazane/ – (ac. 3-08-2022)
- A. Kotowiecki A., 2003, Polskie zabytki wykonane z żelaza meteorytowego, Materiały, II Seminarium Meteorytowe, Olsztyn, s. 55–64.
- A. Kotowiecki A., 2003, Święte meteoryty, Meteoryt nr 3, s. 26–28.
- A. Kotowiecki A., 2004, Artifacts in Polish collections made of meteoritic iron, Meteoritics & Planetary Science, vol. 39, nr 8, supp. s. A151–A156.
- A. Kotowiecki, Artifacts in Polish collections made of meteoritic iron, https://repository.arizona.edu/handle/10150/655887 – (ac. 3-08-2022)
- A. Kotowiecki, Zabytkowe artefakty wykonane z meteorytów i tektytów, https://bibliotekanauki.pl/articles/1830275 – (ac. 3-08-2022)
- A. Kotowiecki, Tektyty i szkliwo impaktowe w świetle badań i odkryć archeologicznych na świecie, https://www.infona.pl/resource/bwmeta1.element.psjd-48b2fe70-25ee-4250-b905-cb2326946f32 – (ac. 3-08-2022)
- A. Kotowiecki, Dziewiętnasty polski meteoryt, Meteoryt, 2, 2003, s. 25. http://meteoryt.info/Met203.pdf – (ac. 3-08-2022)
- A. Kotowiecki, (2003), Polskie zabytki wykonane z żelaza meteorytowego, materiały, II Seminarium Meteorytowe, 24-26 kwietnia, Olsztyn 2003, s. 55-64. http://www.ptmet.org.pl/old/wydawnictwa/2003%2007%20Kotowiecki.pdf – (ac. 3-08-2022)
Congratulations – Yes this research result is top-top-top!
Thank you very much for your most interesting and informative site. Most welcome in Vienna any time to talk in person. I speak your antive language rather well (as many others).