03_Samet_375_375_390 04/11/15 15:06 Pagina 375 The Gilgamesh Epic and the Book of Qohelet: A New Look The study of Qohelet in light of ancient Near Eastern literature has yielded dozens of different suggestions for connections between Qohelet and the literature of the ancient world. For more than a century, scholars have failed to heed Qohelet’s own warning against the making of “many books without limit”. Various studies have suggested parallels between Qohelet and Egyptian, Mesopotamian, West-Semitic or Hellenistic texts 1. The contribution of these par- allels to our understanding of the context and content of the book of Qohelet is often indirect. In some of these cases, the texts under discussion share with Qohelet the theme of vanity and a carpe diem spirit 2. However, as a rule, they do not betray unique similarities to specific phrases in Qohelet. Their analogy with Qohelet is there- fore typological in nature. In other cases, scholars have identified close parallels to individual saying in Qohelet in Egyptian or Egyptian- Aramaic sources. There are two striking examples of such parallels: an admonition against cursing which uses birds as a metaphor for rumors occurs in Qoh 10,20 and in Ahiqar 3; and the image of find- ing bread that was thrown into water is found in Qoh 11,1 and in the Instructions of Ankhsheshonq 4. On the surface, these cases seem more promising in that they display a close phraseological similarity to the relevant maxim in Qohelet. Yet upon closer inspec- 1 For a useful summary of research see: C.L. SEOW, Ecclesiastes (AB 18C; New York 1997) 60-64. An instructive up-to-date discussion of the data is given by K. VAN DER TOORN, “Echoes of Gilgamesh in the Book of Qohelet?”, Veenhof Anniversary Volume. Studies Presented to Klaas R. Veenhof on the Occasion of his Sixty-Fifth Birthday (eds. W.H. VAN SOLDT et al.) (PIHANS 89; Leiden 2001) 503-514. Other extensive discussions of this issue are found in: O. LORETZ, Qohelet und der Alte Orient (Freiburg 1964); C. F. WHITLEY, Koheleth. His Language and Thought (BZAW 148; Berlin – New York 1979) 151-158. 2 For Egyptian texts of this genre see e.g. M. LICHTHEIM, Ancient Egyptian Literature (Berkeley, CA 1977-1980) I, 66; 145-149; 163-169; 196-197. For Mesopotamian texts of this type see now N. SAMET, “Religious Redaction in Qohelet in light of Mesopotamian Vanity Literature” VT (forthcoming). 3 B. PORTEN – A. YARDENI, Textbook of Aramaic Documents from Ancient Egypt (Jerusalem 1986) III, 1.1.80-82. 4 LICHTHEIM, Ancient Egyptian Literature III, 174. BIBLICA 96.3 (2015) 375-390