03_Samet_375_375_390 30/10/15 13:05 Pagina 387 387 THE GILGAMESH EPIC AND THE BOOK OF QOHELET: A NEW LOOK 387 lacking in the currently known versions of Mesopotamian flood stories in Gilgamesh and Atrahasis 38. These findings indicate the existence of an unknown Mesopotamian flood tradition, different from the ones known to us, that was probably used by both biblical scribes and Berossos. What, if anything, can be said of the concealed routes which in- troduced the author of Qohelet, sometime between the fifth and third century BCE, to a unique version of the Gilgamesh epic, which preserved second millennium traditions? While the familiarity with the Gilgamesh epic among eastern Jewry is well attested and easier to explain 39, the existence of Gil- gamesh traditions in early second temple Judah is scarcely docu- mented. In fact, the only direct piece of evidence, which is often mentioned in this connection, is the occurrence of the names vymglg and vbbwx in the Book of Giants from Qumran, where they figure as evil giants 40. But this mention of the names may well stem from an independent Gilgamesh tradition, which does not necessarily go back to the epic itself, and hence cannot serve as evidence that the epic was actually known in Jerusalem at the time of Qohelet. Given our limited knowledge of the literary and intellectual life in Judah of the fifth to third centuries, any suggestion should be considered a mere speculation; yet some speculations are better than others. It is a well-known fact that linguistic analysis of Qohelet indi- cates that the book’s author spoke Aramaic. The book betrays heavy Aramaic influence on its vocabulary, grammar and syntax 41. It is 38 J. DAY, “The Flood and the Ten Antediluvian Figures in Berossus and in the Priestly Source in Genesis”, On Stone and Scroll. Essays in Honour of Graham Ivor Davies (eds. J.K. AITKEN et al.) (BZAW 420, Berlin – Boston, MA 2011) 211-224. 39 Striking examples include parallels to Gilgamesh found in the books of Ezekiel and Daniel. 40 See recently L.T. STUCKENBRUCK, The Book of Giants from Qumran. Texts, Translation and Commentary (Tübingen 1997) 72-74. Note that addi- tional links between the Book of Giants and Gilgamesh, including a possible identification of Ūtanapištim, were suggested by J.C. REEVES, “Utnapishtim in the Book of Giants?”, JBL 112 (1993) 110-115; ID., Jewish Lore in Manichaean Cosmogony. Studies in the Book of Giants Traditions (MHUC 14; Cincinnati, OH 1992) 124. 41 See recently A. SCHOORS, The Preacher Sought to Find Pleasing Words. A Study of the Language of Qoheleth (Leuven – Paris – Dudley, MA 2004), with further bibliography.