Symbolism

One thing you have to ask yourself is how does Ge’ez/Tigrinya translation give an accurate historical and contextual etymology which makes much more sense than the manistream translations. I will leave you to your own judgement.

First rulers of Uruk

Enmerkar – እንመርከር – (reigned for 420 years)

Anama – አነመ – he slept.

Anami – አናሚ – weaver.

enmo – እንሞ – texture, web.

raqa – ረቅ – type of paper, parchment,

raqa – ረቅ – slin, thin, minute, slender.

raqa – ረቅ – spittle, saliva, spit.

kara – ከረ – dry up, be dry.

qar’a – ቀረዐ – whip, hit in the head with a stick.

ku’er’ – ቊርዕ – helmet, head piece.

qar – ቃር – bitumen, liquid pitch.

qu’ra – ቈረ – disgusted, feel repugnance.

qu’ra – ቈረ – feel cold, cool down from anger.

marqe – መርቄ – oppressive heat, torrid region.

me’r – ምዕር – moment, time.

araqa 1- ዐረቀ – strip naked.

araqa 2 – ዐረቀ – be equal, straighten out, reconcile.

Arket – ዓርክት – God mother.

Arak – ዐረክ – be firend.

Ane – አነ – I

Arrata – ዐራታ – her bed, her resting place. (it is Innana’s temple in Uruk)

Enmerqa’ir – እን ምራቃአ ኢር -because of the light from her blessing.

Enm’erka’ir – እንመ ዓረከአ ኢር – because of the ligt from her friendship.

The contextual and symbolic etymology refers to Enmerkar’s blessing from Innana from her temple and resting place in Arrata which made him a successful and victorious King of Uruk.

mainstream translation

Enmerkar was an ancient Sumerian ruler to whom the construction of Uruk and a 420-year reign was attributed. According to literary sources, he led various campaigns against the land of Aratta.

The tradition of Enmerkar as the founder of Uruk seems to date from the Jemdet Nasr period (3100-2900 BC) as found in the Ad-gi4 list. The lexical list mentions Enmerkar and his wife Enmerkarzi as the builders of a town and the bringers of agriculture. A bilingual edition of the list has been found at Nineveh, indicating that the tradition was transmitted into the first millennium.

Despite his proclaimed divine descent from the poems, Enmerkar was not deified as his successors Lugalbanda and Gilgamesh. These two last kings were already listed in the god lists of Shuruppak and received offerings during the Ur III period (2112-2004 BC). It concluded that Enmerkar was only remembered as the founder and first king of Uruk.

Lugalbanda – ልጐልባንዳ – (reigned for 1200 years)

gual – ጐል – girl, female, daughter.

An/ini/Annuna/ – አን/ኢኒ/አኑና – title of the God’s.

Gala – cover over, veil, wrap.

da’ – ዳአ – indeed, certainly.

Le Gual An da – ልጕል አን ዳአ – the daughter of An, Indeed ! (Annuna, the Gods) he did it.

The contextual and symbolic etymology refers to Lugalbanda as the mortal who married a daughter of An. Ninsun, a mesopotamian goddess and the mother of Gilgamesh. As Lugalbanda was a mortal king who married an immortal goddess, which also explains why Gilgamesh was a demi – god.

Lugalbanda was a deified Sumerian king of Uruk who, according to various sources of Mesopotamian literature, was the father of Gilgamesh. Early sources mention his consort Ninsun and his heroic deeds in an expedition to Aratta by King Enmerkar.

Lugalbanda is listed in the Sumerian King List as the second king of Uruk, saying he ruled for 1200 years, and providing him with the epithet of the Shepherd. Lugalbanda’s historicity is uncertain among scholars. Attempts to date him in the ED II period are based on an amalgamation of data from the epic traditions of the 2nd millennium with unclear archaeological observations.
Lugalbanda appears in Sumerian literary sources as early as the mid-3rd millennium, as attested by the incomplete mythological text Lugalbanda and Ninsuna, found in Abu Salabikh, that describes a romantic relationship between Lugalbanda and Ninsun. In the earliest god-lists from Fara, his name appears separate and in a much lower ranking than the goddess; however, in later traditions until the Seleucid period, his name is often listed along with his consort Ninsun.

Dumuzid – ደምእዚድ – (reigned for 100 years)

dum – ደም – blood.

uzi – እዚ – this one, him.

dama – ደመ – miraculous, astonish, stupefy, astound.

‘ed – ዕድ – men, people, husband.

‘id – ኢድ – hand, arm, handle.

‘eda – ዕዳ – payback, guilt, sin , punishment.

za – ዘ – relative pronoun (who, that, which)

Dumuzi’id – ደም እዚ ኢድ – The blood in his hands.

Dumuzi’ed – ደም እዚ – ዕድblood of this man.

Damauzi’ed – ደመ እዚ ዕድ – miracles of this man.

The contextual and symbolic etymology refers to Dumuzid as a miraculous being who had supernatural powers. This could tell us that he was indeed a demi-God as he could be the son of Lugal-banda and the Goddess Ninsun which could make him the brother of Gilgamesh.

Dumuzid titled the Fisherman was a legendary Sumerian king of Uruk listed originating from Kuara. In his one-hundredth year of reign, he was captured by Enmebaragesi.

According to scholars, the sequence of the first Uruk dynasty was fabricated during the Ur III period, which didn’t include comments about some rulers. The fabrication of king Dumuzid could have been derived from an ideological representation of the positional relationship, thought to have been practiced by the Ur III kings and their predecessors to Dumuzid in the myth of the holy wedding, and was added as a symbol of this act.

Gilgamesh – ጊልጋሜሰ – (reigned for 126 years)
Galeg – ገለግ – lay bare, pillage.
gallaga – ገለገ – be well dressed, adorned, be decorated.
gəlā – ግላ – covering, veil, darkness.
gal’a – ገለዕ – break, split.
Gil – ጊል – separate, set aside, choose.
gāmus – ጋሙስ – buffalo.
gamas – ገመስ – ring for the little finger made of buffalo horn.
gam’a – ገምዐ – pluck out, cut, shave.
gamas – ገመስ – split in half.
Masa – መሰ – become evening.
Masa’ – መጸእ – he came.

Galegmasa’ – ግለግ መጽእ – the pillaging one has come.
Gilgamus – ግል ጋሙስ – set aside, the buffalo.
Gelagamas – ግላ ግምስ – In darkness, split into two.

The contextual and symbolic etymology refers to Gilgamesh as a rough and aggressive Demi God who was a brutal and oppressive ruler. It could also refer to the creation of Enkidu from Gilgamesh by Anu by making the exact copy of him (Enkidu which translates to “in his place” – እክንድእ) to accompany him in his journey for the search of immortality.

Gilgamesh (Akkadian: 𒀭𒄑𒂆𒈦, romanized: Gilgameš; originally Sumerian: 𒀭𒉋𒂵𒈩, romanized: Bilgames) was a hero in ancient Mesopotamian mythology and the protagonist of the Epic of Gilgamesh, an epic poem written in Akkadian during the late 2nd millennium BC. He was possibly a historical king of the Sumerian city-state of Uruk, who was posthumously deified. His rule probably would have taken place sometime in the beginning of the Early Dynastic Period (Mesopotamia) (henceforth ED), c. 2900 – 2350 BC, though he became a major figure in Sumerian legend during the Third Dynasty of Ur (c. 2112 – c. 2004 BC).

The modern form “Gilgamesh” is a direct borrowing of the Akkadian 𒄑𒂆𒈦, rendered as Gilgameš. The Assyrian form of the name derived from the earlier Sumerian form 𒉋𒂵𒈩, Bilgames. It is generally concluded that the name itself translates as “the (kinsman) is a hero”, the relation of the “kinsman” varying between the source giving the translation. It is sometimes suggested that the Sumerian form of the name was pronounced Pabilgames, reading the component bilga as pabilga (𒉺𒉋𒂵), a related term which described familial relations, however, this is not supported by epigraphic or phonological evidence.