World Famous Comics: The Buried Book: The Loss and Rediscovery of the Great Epic of Gilgamesh
The Buried Book: The Loss and Rediscovery of the Great Epic of Gilgamesh
By: David Damrosch Publisher: Holt Paperbacks Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Holt Paperbacks Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 336 Publication Date: December 26, 2007 Release Date: December 26, 2007
Adventurers, explorers, kings, gods, and goddesses come to life in this “useful, entertaining and informative” story of the first great epic (The Washington Post)
Composed in Middle Babylonia around 1200 BCE, The Epic of Gilgamesh foreshadowed later stories that would become as fundamental as any in human history: The Odyssey and the Bible. But in 600 BCE, the clay tablets that bore the story were lost to the world, buried beneath ashes and ruins.
David Damrosch begins with the rediscovery of the epic in 1872 and from there goes backward in time, all the way to Gilgamesh himself. The Buried Book is an illuminating tale of history as it was written, stolen, lost, and—after 2,000 years and countless battles, conspiracies, and revelations—finally found.
Interesting slender tale made long and boring This should be an interesting book. But with the repetitions, and the irrelavant digressions, and the PC finger-wagging at those awful victorians it just drags.
Good subject, but book buried through bad organization Good subject, bad idea. Damrosch makes a decision to work in reverse chronological order that flaws his account of the discovery and deciphering of the tablets of the Epic of Gilgamesh, then doesn't follow through because he needs to build on chronological knowledge to bring the Epic to the general readers his book is intended for.
So he starts with synopsis of the discovery of some of the tablets, then goes through the deciphering of the tablets, before going back to the discovery in more detail, then works backward to a synopsis of the Epic, before concluding with a prologue which returns to a tacked-on discussion of the cultural impact of the Epic today. Damrosch would have been better served by a straight chronological sequence or some other organizational framework.
Also, in the telling he goes off-topic in his earnestness to resurrect the career of an Iraqi native who was crucial to the 19th-century archaeological finds--a worthy effort to be sure, but then to spend a whole chapter in a thin book on Hormuzd Rassam's subsequent 20-year diplomatic career away from the archaeological field betrays Damrosch's lack of confidence in his core subject material.
History tou may never have learned Excellent read. Great look at history about how the artifacts were saved..not stolen. Well researched
Gilgamesh for Dummies? This is a strange sort of an introductory book. It is so very general, in fact that I cannot help but feel that with a little more creativity and work it could have become one more title in the For Dummies series. Now, I like those books, they are often quite good for what they are. This poor book cannot seem to figure out just what it is. Part real history and part literary speculation, it has only two of the Ten Parts of a For Dummies title and they are not at all well melded together. The illustrations don't help to advance the tale much either as they are of very poor quality for the most part. If and only if, the person who reads this book goes on to read some of the other books and articles this book cites does this title earn its keep.
Well researched and an interesting read! I really enjoyed reading "The Buried Book". Unlike some other Amazon readers, I felt it was a lot less tedious than actually sifting through sand and transcribing cuneiform. If you're looking for a book about the translation or the process of archaeology, look elsewhere. If you enjoy reading about personalities within a social context and high adventure, this book is for you. The reader also learns a lot about ancient literature within Mesopotamian culture. David Damrosch's research is impressive. Those that like "The Buried Book" might also like Joseph Alexander MacGillivray's "Minotaur".
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