Did Adapa Indeed Lose His Chance for Eternal Life? A Rationale for Translating Ancient Texts into a Modern Language

Shlomo Izre'el
Tel Aviv University
Abstract

This paper takes as a model for discussing the issue of translating ancient texts into a modern language and for a modern western society an ancient Mesopotamian myth written in the Semitic Akkadian language. Aiming for an oral production for a Hebrew-speaking audience in contemporary Israel, the translator has tackled problems of transmission in both poetics and language. The genre and linguistic gaps have been bridged by the existent proximity of the two cultures in poetic meter. Both the theoretical approach and some practical problems and solutions are discussed.

Table of contents

The primordial sage, Adapa, had been chosen by Ea, the Mesopotamian god of wisdom, to be a leader to his people. Ea gave Adapa wisdom, but he did not give him eternal life. As a servant of Ea, Adapa did the chores needed to perform the daily rituals, among which was supplying fish from the nearby [ p. 16 ]sea. One day Adapa's journey to the sea ended unexpectedly in a sudden burst of the South Wind, which threatened to drown him. There was nothing for Adapa to do but to utter a malediction against the blowing wind, wishing that its wing be broken. And so it was: as soon as he uttered his words, the wing of the South Wind broke, and it could not blow any longer. Anu, the god of heaven and the head of the Mesopotamian pantheon, called upon Adapa for inquiry. The situation was indeed unpleasant for the disciple of Ea, and Ea supplied Adapa with minute instructions which were supposed to save his life. Among these were strict orders to avoid any food or drink offered to him in heaven, which were expected to be lethal. However, the situation turned out to be rather remote from that anticipated by Adapa: instead of being offered deadly food and drink, he was offered the bread and water of life. Adapa refused it, and thus—at least according to one tradition—lost a unique and irreversible chance for eternal life.

Full-text access is restricted to subscribers. Log in to obtain additional credentials. For subscription information see Subscription & Price. Direct PDF access to this article can be purchased through our e-platform.

References

Berrendonner, A., M. Le Guern and G. Puech
1983 Principes de grammaire polylectale. Lyon: Presses Universitaires de Lyon. [Linguistique et sémiologie.]Google Scholar
Buccellati, Giorgio
1990 “On Poetry - Theirs and Ours”. Tzvi Abusch, John Huehnergard and Piotr Steinkeller, eds. Lingering Over Words: Studies in Ancient Near Eastern Literature in Honor of William L. Moran. Atlanta, Georgia: Scholars Press 1990 105–134. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cooper, Jerrold S
1992 “Babbling on Recovering Mesopotamian Orality”. Vogelzang and Vanstiphout 1992 : 103–122.Google Scholar
Gardner, John and John Maier
1984 Gilgamesh. Translated from the Sîn-leqi-unninnī Version. New York: Vintage Books.Google Scholar
Gil, David
1990 “Aspects in Prosodic Theory: The Iambic-Super-Iambic Strophe”. Hebrew Linguistics 28–30. 111–122. [Hebrew]Google Scholar
Hatav, Galia
1989 The Aspect System and Foreground-Background Relations in the Biblical Hebrew Prose. Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv University. [PhD Dissertation.]Google Scholar
Hrushovski, Benjamin
1960 “On Free Rhythms in Modern Poetry”. Thomas A. Sebeok, ed. Style in Language. Cambridge, Mass.: The M.I.T. Press 1960 173–190.Google Scholar
1971 “Prosody, Hebrew”. Encyclopedia Judaica 13. Jerusalem: Keter 1971 1195–1240.Google Scholar
[ p. 41 ]
Izre’el, Shlomo
1991 “See Red: Reflections on the Amarna Recension of Adapa”. Alan S. Kaye, ed. Semitic Studies in Honor of Wolf Leslau on the Occasion of His Eighty-Fifth Birthday November 14th, 1991, I. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz 1991 746–772.Google Scholar
1992 “The Study of Oral Poetry: Reflections of a Neophyte. Can We Learn Anything on Orality from the Study of Akkadian Poetry, Especially in Akhetaton?” Vogelzang and Vanstiphout 1992 : 155–225.Google Scholar
forthcoming. Language Has Power of Life and Death: The Mesopotamian Myth of Adapa and the South Wind.
Kramer, Samuel Noah and John Maier
1989 Myths of Enki, The Crafty God. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Kurylowicz, Jerzy
1972 Studies in Semitic Grammar and Metrics. Wroclaw: Zaklad Narodowy Imienia Ossolinskich Wydawnictwo Polskiej Akademii Nauk. [Polska Akademia Nauk, Komitet Jezykoznawcze, Prace Jezykoznawcze, 67.]Google Scholar
Kutscher, Edward Yechezkel
1982 A History of the Hebrew Language, ed. Raphael Kutscher. Jerusalem: Magnes.Google Scholar
McCall, Henrietta
1990 Mesopotamian Myths. Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press. [The Legendary Past.]Google Scholar
Maier, John R.
1984 “Three Voices of Enki: Strategies in the Translation of Archaic Literature”. Comparative Criticism 6. 101–117.Google Scholar
O’Connor, M.
1980 Hebrew Verse Structure. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns.Google Scholar
Parker, Simon B.
1990 “Toward Literary Translation of Ugaritic Poetry”. Ugarit Forschungen 22. 257–270.Google Scholar
Tchernichowsky, Shaul
1924 c cAlilot Gilgamesh. Warsaw: Stiebel.Google Scholar
1937 Kol Shirey Shaul Tchernichowsky. Jerusalem: Schocken.Google Scholar
Vogelzang, Marianna E.
1992 “Some Aspects of Oral and Written Tradition in Akkadian”. Vogelzang and Vanstiphout 1992 : 265–278.Google Scholar
Vogelzang, Marianna E. and Herman L.J. Vanstiphout
eds. 1992 Mesopotamian Epic Literature: Oral or Aural? Lewiston, NY: Mellen.Google Scholar
Westenholz, Joan
1992 “Oral Traditions and Written Texts in the Cycle of Akkade”. Vogelzang and Vanstiphout 1992 : 123–154.Google Scholar