On the Verge of Lunacy

Although the title refers to the epic of king of the same name, there is almost no connection the Gilgamesh itself except the references to his tomb and the retelling of the epic by the characters. Siblings Madoka Tatsuya and Madoka Kiyoko have nowhere to run. Forever haunted by their father's reputation as the cause of Twin X that wiped out most of the human population, they were chased by an unknown group with unclear motives. Not only did Twin X caused widespread death but  the explosion caused a mirror-like layer to appear in the sky. Most of the people born after Twin X have never seen the blue sky. Tatsuya is a Dynamis user. Dynamis is a psychic energy that allows the user to control physical objects.  Tatsuya and Kiyoko While trying to escape the pursuers, the Madokas meet three men in an abandoned house. Apparently those men also have Dynamis just like Tatsuya. It seemed that the group that's chasing them is opposed to the three men with dynamis. The f...

This is not exactly a collection of stories and can instead be treated as an introduction to Babylonian and Assyrian history, culture, and religion. Several important subjects are covered which the student or casual reader might find useful in understanding the myths of the people sustained by the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. In summary, the book discussed the following: the peoples and movements in the area collectively called Mesopotamia, these include emphasis on the Assyrians, Babylonians, Hittites, Kassites, Egyptians, and the Hebrews; possible origins and ancestry of the different peoples and their customs and laws with emphasis on Hammurabi's laws; summary of the wars and succession of kings in different regions; evolution of the pantheon from "monsters" to anthropomorphic deities and their parallels in other myths; nature of ghosts, fairies, and other minor creatures; and the development of astrology and astronomy. There are separate chapters as well for t...

Two versions of the Deluge Legend is given in this book. One is taken from Berosus' account in which the name of the survivor is Xisuthrus. The other version is related to Gilgamesh by Utnapishtim and was included in the tablets of Epic of Gilgamish. The circumstances do not differ much but the details vary. The Utnapishtim version, for example, gives the number of days it took for the water to recede. The introduction given by Budge is sufficient for casual readers and students alike. He gives an account of the discovery of the tablets; description of the palaces of Nineveh and the library; physical description of the tablets; and a brief introduction of Ashur-bani-pal, to whom the famed library was credited. Budge's writing is easy to understand. The Gilgamish epic is also retold here in the last part of the book. He does not give a transliteration of the tablets but divides the story by tablet and informs the reader which parts of the narrative are undecipherable...

This book provides a translation and analysis of a fragment of the South Babylonian version of the epic on a six-column tablet. The tablet was among Ashur-bani-pal's collection. I don't recommend this as a replacement for the complete and enhanced versions of the epic as this only includes a few parts of the epic. The transliteration is also incomplete because the author left out undecipherable and missing parts of the tablet. This is great as a supplementary reading material for those who wish to read more or study the epic. Included are the introduction of the epic and the possible origin of its hero, photos of the tablet, and autograph plates.