Louvre Gilgamesh (AO 19862) is depicted in life size *)
The colossal human figure grasping a lion from the exterior façade of Sargon’s throne room in
Khorsabad has long been suspected to represent Gilgamesh. However, there is no inscription
on the sculpture, and the identification has remained unsure. One important detail has so far
escaped the notice of scholars, namely the height of the sculpted figure (ca 5,5 m) and its
exact correspondence to the data given about the tallness of the hero in the Epic of Gilgamesh.
Gilgamesh was said to be 11 cubits tall, as was first known from the Hittite version of the epic
– 11 AM-MA-TUM (KUB 8.57.I, line 8).1 A recently published Ugaritic version also agrees
with that – 11 i-na am-ma-ti la-an-šú (RS 94.2006, line 34).2 The Ugaritic version helped A.
R. George to reconstruct the line I 52 in the Standard Babylonian version from the
manuscripts g and h as follows: [x x x x l]a-na ˹11 ina˺ ammati(1.kùš) [la-an-šú], which he
translates „[A giant(?)] in stature, eleven cubits [was his height]“.3
The height of the Khorsabad giant AO 19862 is given as 5.52 m. on the Musée du Louvre
webpage, although according to another source it is a little shorter, 5.45 m.4 I don’t know the
origin of this 7 cm. difference, but both figures match the data of the epic that Gilgamesh was
11 cubits tall. The cubit of 30 “fingers” is ca. 50 cm, standard from Pre-Sargonic through Old
Babylonian times, later also called the “big cubit”.5 There are other details about measures of
the body of Gilgamesh in the epic that can be controlled from this relief. The Hittite version
gives the breadth of his shoulders with the number 9, but the length unit is broken away from
the tablet.6 The Ugaritic version reads: 4 i-na am-ma-tim bi-rít tu-le-šú „four cubits is the
width of his chest“ (lines 34-5), which is the only passage attesting to this figure, because
from the manuscripts with Standard Babylonian version, only bi-rit is legible so far from the
line (SB I 53, ms g).7 The Louvre Gilgamesh seems to have a little more than three cubits as
the width of his chest, measured from a two-dimensional photograph. However, nobody
knows how exactly the birit tulê was measured in ancient Mesopotamia. If one has to start the
measure from the point where the curvatures of hero’s figure emerge from the stone slab, four
cubits may be the actual width of his chest on this relief.
The next line of the epic describes the length of his feet – three cubits from the sole of the foot
to the knee and six cubits all together. The Ugaritic version reads: ni-kás GÌR.2-šu ù qa-na
pu-ri-du-šu (line 36) and SB I 56: NÍG.KA9 GÌR-šú ½ nindan p[u-ri-is-su] (ms. d1).8 This
information accords well with the Louvre relief, in which there are three cubits from the
ground to the knee of the hero and the full length of his purīdu is exactly 6 cubits. It is only
natural that a stride of this giant must have been about 3 metres, that is 6 cubits long, as we
are informed by SB I 57.9 Subsequently, line SB I 58 specifies the extent of a-šá-rit-ti š[á le]-
te-šú, which is probably from the topmost part of the bearded area on the cheeks to the bottom
end of his beard. This extent can be measured as two cubits from a photograph, accordingly
the restoration of the full line should be [2 K]ÙŠ a-šá-rit-ti š[á le]-te-šú.10
There was another very similar figure nearby in Sargon’s palace, also grasping a lion in his
left arm and holding a sickle sword in his right hand (AO 19861). These two colossal human
figures form a part of an elaborate heraldic motif, which P. Albenda designates the grand
royal emblem, consisting of “two winged human-headed bulls moving in opposite directions
and flanking a hero grasping a lion, all of which are depicted with frontal faces. It was set up
in two known areas of Sargon’s palace which stood on the high mound; namely, on the terrace
wall fronting the palace [AO 19861] and on the northeast wall in façade n [AO 19862].”11
The figure in the relief AO 19861 is shorter than that of AO 19862, it’s height being about
4,70 m.12 It is tempting to assume that the other colossal figure represents Enkidu. The Epic of
Gilgamesh does not give the exact physical measures of Enkidu, but in several versions it is
said that “he is like Gilgamesh in figure, though shorter in height he is strong in body.”13 Thus
Enkidu is shorter than Gilgamesh, but this is compensated for with a sturdier physique. If AO
19861 depicts Enkidu in life size as AO 19862 does with Gilgamesh, then he may have been
thought to be about 9,5 cubits tall. Another visible clue for AO 19861’s identification with
Enkidu is his curly hair, in accordance with SB I 107. The lions in the grip of the heroes have
been considered to be “small lions” in proportion to the human bodies holding them.
However, both lions’ bodies measure about 3 cubits or 1,5 metres, which is the natural size of
an adult lion. Accordingly, one does not have to see the lions as diminutive, as they are also
depicted life size.
There seems to be no doubt that, given the central position of these two figures in Sargon’s
palace in Khorsabad, this Assyrian king thought himself to have a special relationship to the
two epic characters. The grand royal emblem proclaims the long genealogy of the Assyrian
king, extending to Gilgamesh, depicted in an artistic style resembling that of the Akkad
period. The powerful qualities of the two heroes in the reliefs reinforce symbolically the
might of Assyrian kingship and its lasting greatness over all foes.14 The tragic death of Sargon
on military expedition in 705 may have had an impact on how later Mesopotamian kings
began to think about their personal relationship to Gilgamesh. It is also noteworthy that the
famous scribe Nabû-zuqup-kēnu sought an explanation for Sargon’s hideous fate by copying
the 12th tablet of the epic after receiving the news about his death.15 This was because the
scribe knew about his king’s special relationship with Gilgamesh, and also possibly with
Enkidu.
* The present paper was written by a partial support of grants from Estonian Science Foundation, nos. 8669
and 8993; as well as from Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst (DAAD). The abbreviations used are those
of the Chicago Assyrian Dictionary, volume U/W and others. I thank J. Cale Johnson for correcting my English.
1
This tablet (Bo. 624) was first published by J. Friedrich ZA 39 (1930); subsequently by H. Otten, Istanbuler
Mitteilungen 8 (1958); and J. Laroche RHA 26 (1968): 8.
2
D. Arnaud, Aula Orientalis Supplementa 27 (2007) no. 42; A. R. George, Aula Orientalis 25 (2007): 240.
3
A. R. George, Aula Orientalis 25 (2007): 247-248.
4
The webpage: http://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/hero-overpowering-lion (accessed June 9th, 2012); cf.
P. Albenda, Le palais de Sargon d'Assyrie. Paris: Recherche sur les Civilisations (1986), 158, Fig. 8.
5
M. A. Powell, „Masse und Gewichte“, RlA 7 (1987-1990): 459, 462, 475.
6
The reconstruction w[a-ak-šur] in the end of the line 8. is unsure, as wakšur does not occur anywhere else as
a length unit (RlA 7, p. 518). However, if it was about 1/3 of a cubit (ca. 15 cm), the breadth of his shoulders
should have been about 3 cubits (J. Puhvel, personal communication).
7
A. R. George, Aula Orientalis 25 (2007): 240, 242; A. R. George, „SB Gilgamesh Tablet I“, p. 5, published
electronically http://www.soas.ac.uk/nme/research/gilgamesh/standard/file39589.pdf (accessed June 9th,
2012).
8
See A. R. George, Aula Orientalis 25 (2007): 240, 242; A. R. George, „SB Gilgamesh Tablet I“ (see previous
note), p. 6. The measure nikkas or nikkassu equals three cubits (M. A. Powell, RlA 7, p. 463), one qanû is six
cubits (ibid.), and a half of nindan is also six cubits.
9
A. R. George, Aula Orientalis 25 (2007): 247.
10
See A. R. George, Aula Orientalis 25 (2007): 247.
11
P. Albenda, Le palais de Sargon d’Assyrie (see n. 4), 101.
12
P. Albenda, Le palais de Sargon d’Assyrie (see n. 4), 158.
13
anami Gilgāmeš mašil padattam lānam šapil esemtam pukkul. See A. R. George, The Babylonian Gilgamesh
Epic (Oxford, 2003), OB II 81-2// 184-5 (pp. 183-4); MB Boğ1 (p. 178); cf. SB II 41; for another versioon, see A. R.
George RA 101 (2007): 66, line 84: la-na né-e’; cf. p. 70.
14
P. Albenda, Le palais de Sargon d’Assyrie (see n. 4), 102. Sargon personally discussed the measures of some
art objects in his Khorsabad palace with his administrators, see Parpola, SAA 1: 145; 150.
15
See E. Frahm, „Nabû-zuqup-kēnu, das Gilgameš-Epos und der Tod Sargons II.“ JCS 51 (1999), esp. 76-81.
Amar Annus
University of Tartu
amar.annus@ut.ee
