More significantly, sources for Gilgamesh XI attest a high number of lexical interchanges
relative to the other genres in this study. Certain scribes appear to have replaced difficult
words with more familiar terms in the process of transmission. This observation seems
particularly true for tablet J (e.g. G151 and G155).
It might be said that the scribe of tablet J substituted terms that may have been more fa-
miliar on several occasions (G63, G72, G83, G86, G91, G98, G100, G101, G105, G193,
G212, G250). Ultimately we cannot be certain in any of these instances whether J reflects
a more ‘original’ reading or an updated text. However, the concentration of so many lexi-
cal differences in tablet J relative to the parallel sources seems to suggest that tablet J or
its Vorlage did make updates to the language to some degree. Some other sources also
display similar variations, albeit less frequently (G71, G163 and G279).
Stylistic Variants (Type 2)
Three major types of stylistic variation occur between the sources. These are: expansive
pluses, where an additional element in the narrative exists in one source against another;
explicating pluses, where an element in the narrative is clarified in one source against an-
other; and changes in expression, where the same narrative information is re-phrased, os-
tensibly for reasons of clarity or stylistic preference.
Expansive pluses involve additional information about objects in the narrative that are
common to all parallel sources (G59), additional objects not appearing in parallel sources
(G108), repeated phrases that form refrains within the narrative (G167, and possibly