The epic of Gilgamesh, the king who tried to conquer death - Soraya Field Fiorio

Translator: Sabrina Go Reviewer: Maria Nainggolan

In 1849, in the ancient city of Nineveh in northern Iraq,

Di tahun 1849, di kota kuno Niniwe di sebelah utara Irak,

archaeologists sifted through dusty remains,

para arkeolog menggali puing-puing,

hoping to find records to prove that Bible stories were true.

berharap menemukan bukti bahwa cerita dalam Alkitab benar.

What they found instead was one of the oldest libraries in the world.

Tapi yang mereka temukan adalah salah satu perpustakaan tertua di dunia.

Inscribed on crumbling clay tablets was a 4,000-year-old story

Kisah berusia 4000 tahun dituliskan pada prasasti tanah liat yang hancur

so riveting the first person to translate it started stripping from excitement.

begitu memukai hingga penerjemah pertamanya sangat kegirangan.

Called the epic of Gilgamesh,

Judulnya adalah Puisi Gilgamesh,

the story starts with Gilgamesh, king of the city of Uruk,

ceritanya berawal dengan Gilgamesh, raja kota Uruk,

crashing every wedding and sleeping with the bride

mengacaukan setiap perkawinan dan meniduri pengantin wanitanya

before she has a chance to sleep with her husband.

sebelum si pengantin sempat bersama suaminya.

To tame Gilgamesh, the goddess Aruru created a rival called Enkidu.

Demi menjinakkan Gilgamesh, Dewi Aruru menciptakan tandingan, Enkidu.

Enkidu lived beyond the walls of the city,

Enkidu hidup di luar tembok-tembok kota,

where chaos reigned and wild animals, invaders, and evil spirits prowled.

di mana kekacauan berkuasa dan hewan liar, penjajah dan roh jahat berkeliaran.

After a priestess of the goddess Ishtar seduced Enkidu,

Setelah seorang pendeta wanita Dewi Ishtar merayu Enkidu,

the wild animals beyond the wall rejected him and he ventured into the city.

hewan-hewan liar di luar tembok menolaknya dan ia berkelana ke kota.

There, he encountered Gilgamesh up to his usual tricks.

Di sanalah, ia bertemu Gilgamesh dengan muslihatnya yang biasa.

Enkidu stepped in to stop him.

Enkidu maju untuk menghentikannya.

Almost perfectly matched, the two men wrestled all through the city streets

Hampir seimbang, kedua pria itu bergulat di sepanjang jalan kota

until Gilgamesh won the fight by a hair.

hingga akhirnya Gilgamesh menang tipis.

Afterwards, they were inseparable.

Sesudahnya, mereka tak terpisahkan.

With his new friend, Gilgamesh turned his attention from the brides of Uruk

Dengan teman barunya, Gilgamesh mengacuhkan para wanita di Uruk

to proving his strength in combat.

untuk membuktikan kemampuan bertarungnya.

They set out to slay Humbaba,

Mereka berangkat untuk menumpas Humbaba,

a creature with a thousand faces who guarded the trees of the Forest of Cedar.

makhluk berwajah seribu yang menjaga pepohonan di Hutan Cedar.

They tracked Humbaba and ambushed him.

Mereka melacak Humbaba dan menyerbunya.

Cornered, he begged for his life,

Terpojok, ia memohon diselamatkan,

then cursed them as Gilgamesh dealt the final blow.

lalu mengutuk mereka saat Gilgamesh mendaratkan pukulan telak.

Back home in Uruk, the goddess Ishtar took a romantic interest in Gilgamesh.

Di Uruk, sang Dewi Ishtar jatuh hati pada Gilgamesh.

Knowing she tended to lose interest and curse her former flames,

Tahu sang dewi cepat bosan dan suka mengutuk mantan kekasihnya,

Gilgamesh refused her advances.

Gilgamesh menolak sang dewi.

So Ishtar unleashed the Bull of Heaven on Uruk to destroy crops and kill people.

Ishtar pun melepas Banteng Langit di Uruk demi menghancurkan ladang dan manusia.

When Gilgamesh and Enkidu slayed the creature defending the city,

Ketika Gilgamesh dan Enkidu membasmi makhluk itu demi melindungi kota,

the gods killed Enkidu.

para dewa membunuh Enkidu.

He entered the House of Dust,

Enkidu masuk ke Rumah Debu,

the shadowy Mesopotamian underworld where the spirits of the dead

dunia bawah Mesopotamia yang suram tempat roh-roh yang sudah mati

knelt eternally on the ground, eating dirt and drinking stone.

berlutut selamanya di tanah, menyantap tanah dan meneguk kerikil.

Grieving for Enkidu and terrified of meeting this fate himself,

Berduka untuk Enkidu dan ketakutan akan menemui nasib yang sama,

Gilgamesh set off beyond the cosmic mountains to seek immortality.

Gilgamesh pergi ke balik pegunungan kosmis untuk mencari keabadian.

He passed scorpion people and groves of gemstone trees,

Ia melewati manusia kalajengking dan semak-semak pohon permata,

travelled beneath the mountains and outran the rising sun,

berjalan di bawah pengunungan dan mendahului matahari terbit,

until he finally came to the end of the world,

hingga akhirnya ia tiba di ujung dunia,

where he found a bar.

di mana ia menemukan sebuah bar.

The bartender was a goddess named Shiduri,

Pelayan bar itu adalah seorang dewi bernama Shiduri,

who urged Gilgamesh to give up his quest.

yang meminta Gilgamesh untuk menghentikan pencariannya.

She told him all mortals must die,

Sang dewi berkata semua manusia harus mati,

but until death comes, he should enjoy his life.

tapi sebelum maut tiba, ia harus menikmati hidupnya.

But Gilgamesh refused to give up.

Namun Gilgamesh tidak mau menyerah.

Reluctantly, Shiduri gave him directions to cross the Waters of Death

Dengan enggan, Shiduri memberinya petunjuk untuk melalui Air Kematian

and meet the immortal man Utanapishti.

dan menemui manusia abadi Utanapishti.

The gods had granted Utanapishti immortality following a great flood,

Para dewa menganugerahkan keabadian pada Utanapishti setelah banjir besar,

during which he built a boat,

yang waktu itu ia membuat sebuah kapal

loaded two of every animal onto it, and landed on a mountain peak.

berisikan dua dari setiap hewan dan mendarat di puncak gunung.

Utanapishti also encouraged Gilgamesh to accept that death comes for everyone.

Utanapishti juga menasihati Gilgamesh untuk menerima kematian.

But Gilgamesh still would not budge.

Namun Gilgamesh tetap kukuh.

So Utanapishti told him that if he could conquer sleep,

Maka Utanapishti berkata padanya jika ia bisa mengalahkan tidur,

the gods might grant him immortality.

para dewa mungkin akan mengabulkan keabadian padanya.

Gilgamesh intended to stay awake for seven days,

Gilgamesh berniat untuk terjaga selama tujuh hari,

but fell asleep immediately.

namun jatuh tertidur seketika.

Utanapishti then told him about a magical plant that grew at the bottom of the ocean

Utanapishti kemudian berkata tentang tanaman ajaib yang tumbuh di dasar laut

and granted eternal youth.

dan memberikan keabadian.

Though Gilgamesh successfully retrieved the plant,

Meski Gilgamesh berhasil mendapatkan tanaman tersebut,

a snake stole it on his way home.

seekor ular mencurinya di perjalanan pulang.

But when Gilgamesh laid eyes on his beautiful city again,

Tapi saat Gilgamesh melihat keindahan kotanya lagi,

he made peace with his mortality and vowed to spend his lifetime doing great deeds.

ia berdamai dengan kefanaannya dan berikrar untuk hidup baik seterusnya.

He wrote his story on a lapis lazuli tablet

Ia menuliskan kisahnya di atas prasasti lapis lazuli

and buried it under the city walls for future generations to find and learn from.

dan menguburnya di bawah tembok kota agar berguna bagi generasi mendatang.

The tablets uncovered in Nineveh

Prasasti yang ditemukan di Niniweh

were part of the library of the Assyrian king, Ashurbanipal.

adalah bagian dari perpustakaan raja Asyur, Ashurbanipal.

Though the story is mythical, Gilgamesh was probably a real king of Uruk.

Meski cerita ini mitos, Gilgamesh mungkin raja Uruk yang nyata.

Versions of his tale date to 2000 BCE and perhaps even longer ago,

Cerita-ceritanya bertanggal 2000 tahun SM dan mungkin lebih tua,

and still echo through literature today.

dan masih menggema lewat tulisan hingga hari ini.