Discovering Gilgamesh : Geology, Narrative and the Historical Sublime in Victorian Culture

In 1872, a young archaeologist at the British Museum made a tremendous discovery. While he was working his way through a Mesopotamian ‘slush pile’, George Smith, a self-taught expert in ancient languages, happened upon a Babylonian version of Noah’s Flood. His research suggested this ‘Deluge Tablet’ pre-dated the writing of Genesis by a millennium or more. Smith went on to translate what later became The Epic of Gilgamesh, perhaps the oldest and most complete work of literature from any culture. Against the backdrop of innovative readings of a range of paintings, novels, histories and photographs (by figures like Dickens, Eliot, James, Dyce, Turner, Macaulay and Carlyle), this book demonstrates the Gordian complexity of the Victorians’ relationship with history, while also seeking to highlight the Epic’s role in influencing models of time in late-Victorian geology. Discovering Gilgamesh will be of interest to readers, students and researchers in literary studies, Victorian studies, history, intellectual history, art history and archaeology. In 1872, a young archaeologist at the British Museum made a tremendous discovery. While he was working his way through a Mesopotamian 'slush pile', George Smith, a self-taught expert in ancient languages, happened upon a Babylonian version of Noah's Flood. His research suggested this 'Deluge Tablet' pre-dated the writing of Genesis by a millennium or more. Smith went on to translate what later became 'The Epic of Gilgamesh', perhaps the oldest and most complete work of literature from any culture. Against the backdrop of innovative readings of a range of paintings, novels, histories and photographs, this work demonstrates the Gordian complexity of the Victorians' relationship with history, while also seeking to highlight the Epic's role in influencing models of time in late-Victorian geology Front matter Dedication Contents List of figures Acknowledgements Part I Gilgamesh Introduction Discovering Gilgamesh Part II Narrative and the historical sublime Capturing time: the iconography of water in painting and photography Forgetting the past and the future: Macaulay, Carlyle, and the ‘shoreless chaos’ of history Present endings: rethinking closure in the Victorian novel Part III Geology, Gilgamesh, and the historical sublime Conclusion: Gilgamesh and the resublimation of deep time Select bibliography Index Details the discovery of The epic of Gilgamesh, and explores the broader tensions concerning history and time that it highlighted in Victorian culture