List of Variants Between the Parallel Sources for Gilgamesh XI
No. Tablet G1 C i 1 Variant Text MU-ra Categorisation OV(l) – Ventive suffix lacking in b and f. (^509)
J K 2 i 1 M[U-r]a
b catchline MU-ár^3 catchline MU-ra
f catchline [ á]r
G2 KC i 1 a-na OV – The preposition cally in C. ana is written syllabi-
b catchline ana^3 catchline ana
f catchline ana
G3 C i 1 K m UD.ZI ru-ú-qi OV – The title napišti,” is spelled differently in the sources. Ūta-napišti rūqi, “distant Ūta-
b catchline UD.ZI-tim ru-qi^3 catchline UD.ZI ru-qi
f catchline m UD.ZI SUD
G4 C i 2 W m UD.ZI OV – W has a phonetic complement on the final element of the proper noun Ūta-napišti.
1 i 2 [ -t]im
G5 C i 3 ia-ti-ma OV – W writes the long medial vowel in the
W 1 i 3 ia-a-ti-m[a] independent pronoun.
G6 C i 4 ia-ti-ma OV(l) – Possible difference in pronuncia-
W 1 i 4 ia-ši-ma tion. 510
G7 C i 5 J ˹gu-um-mur-ka˺ OV(l) – Possible difference in pronuncia-tion. (^511)
W^2 i 5 [ m]ur-˹ka˺^
1 i 5 [ ]mu[r]- ˹ku˺^
G8 C i 5 ana OV – The preposition ana is written syllabi-
(^509) See note below.
(^510) W exhibits the phonetic change /t/ > /š/, probably reflecting pronunciation. The correct form in the pre-
vious line indicates that the scribe was aware of the standard orthography for this lexeme. 511
W has a different vowel for the 2ms pronominal suffix. A possible alternative is to read the suffix in W
is as a dative pronoun, so as the phrase gummurku libbi ana epeš ... is translated “my heart is for (devoted
to) you to do ...” (cf. M.B. Rowton, "The Use of the Permansive in Classic Babylonian," JNES 21 [1962]
260). The more straight forward reading of the suffix as accusative is more likely (cf. A.R. George, Gil-
gamesh, 878). The difference in the final vowel is therefore taken as a variation in pronunciation underly-
ing an orthographic change.