19. Grand total 28876+
20. years,
21. ...... months.[375]
This interesting document does not stand alone. Three other tablets published in the same volume[376] contain similar material, though all that would have a bearing on our present topic is too broken for connected translation. It is clear from the translation here given that the Babylonians ascribed to some early kings reigns as long, and even longer in some cases, than those ascribed to the antediluvian patriarchs in Genesis 5.
The peculiar spelling of Galumum and Zugagib in the Babylonian characters, together with the meaning of the words, shows that they are animal names. Zugagib means “scorpion” and Galumum, “lamb.” In the lines which preceded, probably similar animal names were recorded. Perhaps this expresses the idea that animals were made before men, as is stated in Gen. 1:24-26.
2. Comparison with Genesis 5.—The next name, Aripi,[377] may also have been read Adimê, and perhaps was so read by the Sumerians themselves. If it came to the Hebrews in this form they would naturally equate it with the Hebrew Adam, which means “man.”
Etana, the shepherd, is said in this list to have gone to heaven. This at once suggests the fate of Enoch, who “was not; for God took him” (Gen. 5:24). In the Sumerian the words “to heaven” are AN-ŠU, which may also be read AN-KU. If these words were not fully understood by the Hebrews, to whom Sumerian was not only a foreign language but a dead language, they might easily be mistaken for a proper name, and would in Hebrew give us Enoch.[378] Another suggestion as to the method of borrowing is also possible. Later traditions cherished the name of a king, Enmeduranki, whom they called a king of Sippar or Agade.[379] Enmeduranki means “the hero who binds together heaven and earth.” Etana is in our list of kings called a king of Kish, but in later times kings of Kish were also called kings of Agade. It is altogether probable, therefore, that the “hero who binds together heaven and earth” is simply another designation of Etana who went to heaven. The last two syllables of Enmeduranki, i. e., AN-KI, “heaven and earth,” would, if taken over into Hebrew, also give Enoch. If we assume that Etana and Enoch are the same, we may at a later point be able to determine by which of these processes the name is most likely to have come into Hebrew. In an old poem, fragments of which have been found on some broken tablets from Nineveh, the fortunes of Etana were given in detail. He is said to have been carried to heaven on the back of an eagle. If he be really the prototype of Enoch, this lends a touch of realism to the narrative.
The Sumerian name Enmenunna means “exalted hero” or “exalted man.” A natural translation of this into Semitic Babylonian about 2000 B. C. would be Mutu-elu,[380] or, in one word, amelu, and an equally natural translation of this into Hebrew would give us Enosh.
Pilikam,[381] the next name, means in Sumerian “with intelligence to build.” In Babylonian Semitic it would be literally Ina-uzni-erêšu, or, rendered in one word, ummanu, “artificer.” The Hebrew translation of this is Kenan, which means “artificer.” Melamkish gives us the Hebrew Lamech by the simple elision of the first and last consonants. All people are lazy and words sometimes wear away both at the beginning and at the end.[382]
Barsalnunna, translated into Semitic Babylonian, becomes Shitḫu-elu.[383] Seth may well be a transfer of a part of this name to Hebrew. The final radical of the first part of the name may have worn away or have been accidentally omitted.