G257 C v 36b iṣ-ṣa-˹pi˺ OV(l) – Possible difference in pronuncia-
W J^1 v 32b iṣ-ṣa-pi tion.^647
1 v 23a’ i ṣ-ṣa-pu
G258 C v 36b SU-šú OV – The noun √zumru, “body,” is written
J W 1 v 32b zu-mur-šú logographically in C.
1 v 23a’ zu-mu[r
G259 C v 37a J š]ú OV – The possessive pronominal suffix is written with the sign ŠU in b.
b rev. 18a’^1 v 33a S]AG.DU-šú ]šu
G260 C v 38a-39 [ i]l-[ ] ˹i-kaš-šá-du˺ ana ur-ḫi-šú
[ ]li-diš
SV(2) – Three lines omitted in J.^648J T 1 v 34 omits
1 v 20a-21 ˹] a˺-di ˹il˺[
[ ] ˹te˺[
W ]
25b’^1 v 24b’- [ ] ˹a˺-di i-kaš-šá-˹du˺ ana
˹ur-ḫi-šú˺
b rev. 18b’-19’ a-[ ] ˹di il-la-ku˺[ ]
[ d]i-˹ma e-de˺-šu[ ]
(^647) The writing of the ultimate vowel in final weak (^) √ṣapû is expected to be /i/. The vowel in W could indi-
cate the plural form of the verb, but in context the object of the verb is a singular noun plus possessive pro-
nominal suffix zumuršu, “his body.” A possible explanation may be to read the orthography of W as re-
flecting a Neo-Assyrian shift of the final vowel towards the penultimate stressed vowel (see J. Hämeen-
Anttila, Neo-Assyrian Grammar, 32), where the vowels /a/ and /u/ in this verb represent the same underly-
ing allophone [o]. 648
J seems to lack the lines: adi illaku ana ālīšu adi ikaššadu ana urḫīšu tēdīqu šīpa ay iddīma edēšu līdiš,
“until he goes to his city, he arrives at his path, may his garment show no stain but be always new.” The
text is largely reconstructed, but can be restored with some confidence due to the overlap of the preserved
sources. A.R. George, Gilgamesh, 894, posits that the omission in J is due to haplography, where the scribe
skipped from the first instance of the noun tēdiqu, “garment,” in line 267 to the second instance in line 270
(according to George’s numbering of the lines in Gilgamesh, 720).