Voices from above and below: divine communication in the Epic of Gilgamesh

The Standard Babylonian Version of the Epic of Gilgamesh offers numerous examples of communication between mortals and divinities, including the marriage proposal of the goddess Ishtar, the counsel of the sage Siduri, and the words of Gilgamesh’s divine mother Ninsun. In addition, it depicts communication with a number of liminal beings on the fringes of the conceptual category of godhood, such as the forest guardian Humbaba, the immortal flood-hero Uta-napišti, and the semi-divine Gilgamesh himself. This thesis assesses the nature of these interactions to explore how the genre of the SBV and the unique social and liminal qualities of its protagonists have shaped the character of these depictions of divine communication within their cultural context.