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A “wild man” from the island of Soqotra: a new text in its comparative setting

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 October 2023

Anastasia Belozerova*
Affiliation:
HSE University, Moscow, Russia
Anna Kharitonova
Affiliation:
Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera), Russian Academy of Sciences, St Petersburg, Russia
Ahmad ‘Isa al-Da‘arhi
Affiliation:
Independent scholar
*
Corresponding author: Anastasia Belozerova; Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

The article presents an annotated edition of a newly recorded Soqotri text about a wild man. The authors attempt to locate the story within a wide range of “wild/feral” men narratives. The protagonist of the Soqotri story displays a set of features cross-culturally ascribed to wild men, and the narrative pattern of the account demonstrates a sequence of plot elements and motifs characteristic of this tale-type. The article includes a comparison of the Soqotri tale to the Enkidu narrative known from the Akkadian Epic of Gilgameš. Although both focus on the contact between human society and a wild outsider, the two stories develop the subject differently: while Enkidu loses his wild traits and becomes “civilized”, the Soqotri hero dies unable either to join the human community or to preserve his wild nature once people have interfered with his life.

Type
Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of SOAS University of London

1. Introduction

The aim of this article is to present to an interested readership (particularly, but not exclusively, folklorists and specialists in Modern South Arabian languages and cultures) a previously unknown thematic type of Soqotri narrative. The Soqotri story of a “wild man” was first recorded in Moscow in Summer 2021, as a part of the long-standing and ongoing Russian-Soqotri research project headed by Vitaly Naumkin.Footnote 1 The narrator is Ahmad ʿIsa al-Da‘arhi, who prepared a version of the story and then told it to us, with some minor changes to the wording.Footnote 2 Work on the text continued in December 2021 during a two-week fieldwork season on the island.

The genre of the text can best be defined as a legend, “a short, (mono)episodic, traditional, highly ecotypified, historicized narrative” (Tangherlini Reference Tangherlini1990: 385). The story is skilfully organized in terms of both structure and style, and the high concentration of complex metaphysical issues is striking. The tale invites listeners to reflect on such fundamental problems as the confrontation between an individual and society, the unconscious refusal to accept the Other, lack of understanding between parties trying to communicate, the inherent painfulness of the socialization process, unintentional infliction of harm and the dangers of attempting to improve a person's condition through force. Deep insights into human nature and interaction are rendered in a reflective and somewhat aloof, non-didactic and non-emotional tone, culminating in what is far from a happy ending. All this makes the story a true masterpiece of Soqotri oral literature.

The first part of the article presents the Soqotri text in a format established in earlier publications by the Russian-Soqotri team. Three renderings are given in three columns: (1) the Soqotri text in a conventional Semitological transcription; (2) a rendering in the Arabic-based Soqotri script; and (3) an English translation. As usual in our text editions, the composition is accompanied by linguistic and philological annotations, focused on hitherto-unknown Soqotri vocabulary as well as certain non-trivial grammatical features.

In the second part of the article, an attempt is made to look at the text from a folkloristic point of view, paying attention to the literary features of the tale and its position within a wide range of similar narratives throughout the world. After a brief overview of previous studies on “wild” or “feral” men narratives, we undertake a structural analysis and isolate episodes characteristic of this tale-type.

In conclusion, we will compare the structure, motifs and poetics of the Soqotri text with those of a famous – and by far the most ancient – account of a “wild man”, namely, the Enkidu narratives preserved in the Akkadian Epic of Gilgameš.

2. The text

Ṭáḥrɛr

3. Philological notes

Line 1. Throughout the text, the name of the protagonist (ṭáḥrɛr, masculine) contrasts with ṭáḥrər, pl. ṭoḥórhir (feminine). This is due to the fact that goats are typically conceptualized as female on the island.

Line 2. The adjective mə́ḳrəš “naked” exhibits a rather complex background. On the one hand, a structurally comparable form is attested several times in the Vienna corpus (LS 388),Footnote 3 in each case with -š. In Müller (Reference Müller1902: 165, No. 9 and 183, No. 53), its meaning is “scarred, scratched (about one's feet)” (zerschunden), presumably < “peeled, deprived of its skin” (cf. Müller's informant's Arabic rendering مقشر ). In Müller (Reference Müller1905: 318, No. 620), however, the editor prefers the translation “der Zerlumpte” (= “ragged, wearing an old, torn garment”), coming close to the meaning “naked” attested presently, but also explained as مقشور by his informant. On the other hand, both the forthcoming CSOL III (No. 27) and Morris's corpus (Reference Morris2021: 2235, Text 28/17) feature mə́ḳraṣ̌ “stark naked” (with -ṣ̌) as the name of the pre-historical wise man. The relationship between the two terms is obscure to us.

The verb šə́drə (yəšdóri/ľišɛ́drɛ or ľišɛ́dri) “to be shy, to feel uncomfortable” is undoubtedly related to the well-known adjective də́rhi “foreign, strange; stranger” (LS 135, CSOL I 530, CSOL II 450). Maria Bulakh has kindly provided the following illustration for its use: mə́brəhe yəšdóri ḥə́yhe də́rhi yíboš ke édof ˁəy aḷ-yəšḳabíľin toy “A child feels shy and uncomfortable with a stranger; he weeps if a stranger touches him, and he is not happy with him.”

Line 3. máṭif (du. maṭífi)Footnote 4 “plain” has been illustrated as follows: sέmsomk tóˀo nəfέgo ére mən ri di-fə́dhon ˁaf tóˀo ḳəríb təftəḳéḥən ḥte ṭérobk id-máṭif bɛs aḷ-ˁak éˀtoḷk wa-šéˁəd énhi wa-ˀaḷ-sərέko tho órəm “I set off trotting when the moon appeared from the mountain peaks, and when the night reached its middle, I came down to the plain, and I was no longer afraid: it became easier for me to walk and the road did not confuse me anymore.” The word, previously unattested, is now also found in a lullaby published by Morris: bɛs ḥe mən saḥilíyə wa-máṭif / bɛs ḥe mən taṭwír di-máṭif “I have had enough of the coast and the lowlands! I had my fill of the ‘development’ in the lowlands!”Footnote 5 (Morris Reference Morris2021: 913; see also the Glossary, 127).

The adjective ḳánšər (LS 379, Naumkin et al. Reference Naumkin, Kogan, al-Daʿrhi and al-Daʿrhi2015: 76)Footnote 6 is known to designate a long-horned cow. The masculine form ḳánšɛr can also be substantivized with the meaning “mountain peak”: ḷaḷ nəḳánəm fə́ḷho bɛr eˀḷhítən nəródyhən ˁaf ľišérəd óuˁəẓ̂ yhen ḷə-ker ŝəraḥ kor yáḥŝeŝ ḷə-nö́foy mən ḳə́ṣho wa-yəšróḳəḥ ˁaf ľikéb ḷə-ri di-ḳanšérhɔn “When we begin to accustom calves, sons of cows,Footnote 7 to grazing, we water them until they quench their thirst, then they are driven to the foothills so they can graze on grass, then they go up until they reach the mountain peaks.” This lexeme is not identical to Leslau's qanéšehéten “sommet de montagne” (LS 378), which seems rather to render ḳanəṣ̌áˁyhon, pl. of ḳónṣ̌iˁ (du. ḳónṣ̌íˁi) as “mountain top”.Footnote 8

Line 5. The double n-marking in tšərέdnɛn (instead of the expected tšərédən) is noteworthy, but difficult to explain, as šérəd (yəšérod/ľišérɛd) “to be watered, to drink” (LS 73) is not an intensive-base verb. Moreover, the expected regular form is once attested in the Vienna corpus: géḥi di-mešoíten šésen // máḥtirémoh gibˀéleh // tšeréden wa-ˁá-tḥayémen // wu-min ḥámreh ˁáfedóken “Ein Wādi fließenden Wassers ist bei ihnen // Und eine schmutzige Pfütze // Sie (die Schafe) trinken und verschmähen's nicht // Und das trübe Wasser schlürfen sie” (Müller Reference Müller1905: 33210–13).

For ḥáľmi (du. ḥaľmíti, pl. ḥíľhɛm) “water source” (LS 177) cf. the following verse from the Vienna corpus: il-ˀérəḥ tri ŝigeríti // ṭey ŝígreh wål-ḥémalótšen // il-šírid tri ḥalemíti // ṭey ḥálemih wål-ridótšen “Die zwei Bergpässe bestiegen // Weil sie ein Bergpaß nicht trägt // Die aus zwei Quellen trinken // Weil sie eine Quelle nicht tränken kann” (Müller Reference Müller1905: 34713–16).

Line 6. The newly detected verb ḷáḳaˁ (yəḷáḳaˁ/ľiľḳáˁ) “to stick, to adhere” has been illustrated by the following examples: éḳdomk ˁáže di-ḥaníˀo ḷə-ˀíˀidi wa-ḷə-ŝérhon wa-ḷəḳóˁo ˁəs ḥánna wa-ˀətéḳfo wa-tšəẓ̂óri mən škəro “I saw a woman who dyed her hands and feet with henna, and the henna stuck to her so well that one could admire her beauty”, ŝínik ˁag di-šərɛˀə́yhotš ḫaṭíbe wa-se ˁəmέro ḥúmra ˁaféro wa-ḷəḳóˁo ˁəy ḥúmra bə-náṣar wa-ˀaḷ-ẓ̂əḷóˁo həy bər ḷəḳóˁo ˁəy ḥúmra wa-tóˀo égaḥ di-métro ŝénə έˀɛfo məy bə-náṣar tóˀo ŝíbhɛ wa-bet έˀɛfo bər ˁáže ˁádo məy ˁaf náṣar wa-tóˀo éraḥ díˀyhe ḳáˁar ŝíni nhɔfš bə-mérə tóˀo míľi ḥúmra wa-hέbən yəsáḥam ḷə-nhɔfš mən fəzaˁ mən dəš ˁézmo “I saw a man who was kissed by his fiancée, and she had put red lipstick on her lips. So the lipstick stuck to his cheek, but she did not tell him that the lipstick stuck to him. When he took the subway, people saw something like lips on his cheek and they realized that a woman had touched his cheek. When he came home, he saw his cheek full of lipstick in the mirror, and nearly wet his pants out of fear, out of such disgrace.”

Line 7. The pious genitive attribute di-áḷḷa “belonging to God” that modifies nɛyf “cliff” cannot be separated from the Arabic nominal phrase iyyámat áḷḷa “days of God” (CSOL I 691)Footnote 9 and especially rího di-ˀáḷḷa “water of God”, designating natural bodies of water used for household needs (see Naumkin Reference Naumkin2012: 257).

Line 10. The expression maḥrím ˁank as a curse on the devil is attested already in Müller (Reference Müller1905: 9911). Judging by the shape of maḥrím, it may be an early borrowing from Mehri məḥrīm “deprived” (ML 186), in turn borrowed from Arabic maḥrūm- (the vocalic correspondence is regular in this pattern; see Bittner Reference Bittner1909: 29). The expression is used here as an euphemism for the devil, “the one about whom ‘maḥrím ˁank!’ is said”, cf. the following example featuring a by-form di-baḥrím ˁank (with the same meaning): wa-yhéhən ˁouyέghɛn yíšaˁ mən ŝə́ṭrəhər di-ŝə́ṭrəhər wa-yəṣ̌óˁor wa-sáˁa yəẓ̂óḥok wa-yənɛṣ̌íḳin tóˀo di-baḥrím ˁank wa-yənɛfíḳin tóˀo mə́ṭrəd wa-yóˁod mənáḷ ˁod wa-yəkténaḥ díˀyhe di-ḥaḷf mənáḷ díˀyhe ḳáˁar “That boy was running from tribe to tribe and shouting, and from time to time he was laughing and yelling like the devil, and running around like one possessed, moving away and then coming back to the neighborhood where his house was.”

Line 13. The verb ˁádfər (yəˁádfor/ľiˁádfɛr) means “to throw, to hurl”: ˁádfork ŝəḳa e-ˁáže kor tškoḷ ḷə-nhɔfs kor aḷ-ľiŝné έˀɛfo məs ḷə-riI threw a mantle to a woman so that she сould cover herself and people would not see her head.”

Line 14. The verbal noun əbége “rumble” is derived from ö́bog (yoˀóbəg/ľibέg) “to rumble, to rattle”, very often about thunder: əbέgoFootnote 10 bəraḥtétən bə-šed ˁaf yətέbər fə́dnhin “The day before yesterday it thundered so loudly that an echo was heard.”Footnote 11

bέdər “falling star, meteor” is used as a paragon of high speed: wa ľhe di-ˁad bə́yhən bar ḥérə liṭréd wa-ˀaḷ-ḳérbo dəy ˁar ḷaḷ yíšaˁ yíkən tóˀo bέdər “Those who still had some strength tried to catch him, but couldn't get near him, for he was as quick as a meteor.” The word is an Arabism, cf. bādir “eilig” (Behnstedt 66).

Line 16. The form nətéṣal “let us help each other” is derived from the inherently reciprocal verb (VIII stem) with the meaning “to help each other”: atéṣaḷ ˁəghétən díˀsen bə-nέfaˁ ˁaf yətétə “The women helped each other with their work until it was completed.” The singular forms are not attested, but can be reconstructed by inference as *atéṣaḷ (*yətéṣaḷ/*ľitéṣaḷ).

The verb ŝégor (yəŝógər/ľiŝgέr) “to set a trap; to sit in ambush, to lure into a trap” is well attested in the Vienna corpus (LS 425). An additional illustration: ŝégork ḷə-tɛr di-ḳáˁar mən ˁag kor ḷaḷ yəšráḳaḥ mən ḳáne wa-yəḥárof tho áˀamt əgámaḥš mən ḥérhənI was lying in wait for a man outside the house so that when he would go out and turn his side towards me, I would seize him from behind.”

Line 18. For the idiom áˁṭəb ˁárho “to utter a cry, to call out”, cf. ṭáhɛrk aḥáṭab ṭírob mənáḷ ətobírin hímaˁk əẓ̂ˁέyrhər di-ˀóˀoz tóˀo ḷaḥágo bə-ḳáṭbe Footnote 12 áˁṭobk ˁárho kə-ˁəyyúg kor yəroḳéḥəs mən ḷέḥɛg “I went out to gather some firewood, and while I was breaking it, I heard the shriek of a goat as it got stuck in a net. I yelled for people to get it out of the trap.” The same expression can use ḥərése (pl. ḥərəsétən) “cry, scream”: áˁṭobk ḥərése ˁaf yətéḳaṭ ke íno di-déməI uttered a scream so that anyone who might be sleeping would wake up.”

Line 21. The verb ətrέbbəš is a borrowing from dialectal Arabic: “to be or become confused” (Piamenta Reference Piamenta1990: 172).

The verbal expression kóḷə nhɔfš (cf. CSOL I 577) seems to be used here with the meaning “to restrain oneself” > “to give up, to surrender”, cf. tóˀo érəmk ṭəy ˁéno ṭad ˁouyέghɛn bédə ḥe wa-ŝórif ḥe mudarrəsín kor yəẓ̂óḥok wa-ḷaṭ tóˀo hímaˁk ŝórif ḥe wa-yhe ḥa še hέmən əḷáṭamš kóḷək nɔ́fin wa-ˁámok bismiľľá də ˁag di-ḥa diyáˁ ˁégəb énhi múškiľa wa-ḷoyk bə-nɔ́fin “As it happened to me one year, a boy was spreading lies about me and slandering me before our teachers to make fun of me. When I heard him slander me and he was near me, I almost gave him a slap in his face, but restrained myself. And I said to myself: ‘Dear God! this is a bad man! He wanted to create problems for me’. But I got a grip on myself (and didn't beat him).”

ľayḫ (pl. ľiyóḫ) “net” is widely attested in the Arabic dialects of the Gulf, as well as in Mehri and Jibbali (al-Salimi and Staples Reference Al-Salimi and Staples2019: 572; Qafisheh Reference Qafisheh1997: 552; ML 259). Its ultimate origin is obscure to us.

For a similar image, cf. Isaiah 51:20: “Your children are lying helpless at the end of every street like an antelope trapped in a net (-tō mikmār).”Footnote 13

Lines 22–31. These segments feature a dense concentration of impersonal passives (Lonnet Reference Lonnet, Medlaoui, Gafaiti and Saa1998: 78–79), mostly with experiencers encoded by prepositions with pronominal suffixes (ṭírab dəy, ḷö́wə bəy, íˁbɛr ˁəy əḳníyo, ḥərö́wə ḷəšö́mtoḷ, ídɛf ˁəy). Particularly interesting is ṭírab dəy “they went down to him”, with an intransitive verb of movement.

Line 27. The word gɛľído (du. gɛľidóti, pl. gέľyod) “skin, hide; body”, previously recorded by Simeone-Senelle and Lonnet (Reference Simeone-Senelle and Lonnet1991: 1457), is evidently related to the well-known gad with the same range of meanings.Footnote 14 What is meant here is Ṭáḥrɛr's firm, coarse skin that is loathsome to the touch. For the meaning “skin, hide”, cf. ṣáre waľľá ḥánžɛhɛr də di-ḥóuzoz bəy ə́ľľəhe ľázim yíkən ḥéḷɛf béne bər gɛľído di-ˀə́ľľəhe ˁíẓ̂o aḷ-tóˀo ŝə́rhi di-ˀóˀoz wa-di-tέˀɛ “A knife or a dagger with which one slaughters a cow must be very sharp, because a cow's hide is tough, unlike a goat's or a sheep's hide.” For the meaning “body”, see the following example (about a TV wrestling show): éḳdomk ˁag ḥáhar di-yoˀóugɛ wa-yhe aḷ-ˀóḷə ˁámok dəš gɛľído di-boḳ aḷ-toˀóḷə bə-bíľe əgö́wə bə-kúrsi di-ḥéṣhin ḥa ébdəd ə́nṭən wa-ľákin ṭámaˁ bə́yhən wa-zéˁe díˀyhe gáˀiza “I saw a black man who was hit (by one of his rivals), but did not care. I said (to myself): ‘That body won't be bothered by anything.’ Then he was hit with an iron chair and did finally feel a little bit. Still he overcame them all and got the prize.”

The anatomic term rokt (du. rókti, pl. érkot) designates the rough skin on the sole of one's foot (or, metonymically, the sole itself):Footnote 15 ḷaḷ róukot tɔ́mər róukot bə-ˀérkot di-ŝérhon “When dates are trampled, they are trampled with the sole of the foot.”

Line 35. The verb áˁdə (yəˁódi/ľáˁdɛ) “to put, to set” has been illustrated with the following examples: tóˀo tətéˀən ľáḥi di-fö́ḷho áˁdɛyn mən ḥóyhi íľľiḥan áˁanhɛ id-zórif ˁan nóyhər “When we finished feeding our calvesFootnote 16 we took our leather vessels from the ground and put them among zórif-trees (to protect them) from (scavenger) birds”, ḷaḷ yəfóŝə έˀɛfo naḥaṭ šérhom yənokéˁən méraḥt wa-yənóuẓ̂af wa-ḷaṭ yóudaḥ bəs ṣáḥan di-ˀírhɛz wa-tɛ wa-ḷaṭ yəfóŝə wa-báˁad-aḷ fŝə ke íno tɛ di-kíˀi yəzóugod mən méraḥt id-ṣáḥan wa-ḷaṭ yəzóugod ṣáḥan id-naṣf wa-méraḥt yəntəgéfən məs e-suwáˁid wa-ḷaṭ ˁóudɛ ḷə-ṭádaˁ di-ṣáḥan wa-kóḷə ˁəs méraḥt óbən mən ˁáľɛ aḷ-ḷərbók əḳníyo wa-ˀέˀɛfo yəṭómək ˁaf ḷə-ˁisírhin yəˁóṭəf díˀyhən ḷə-ˀəḳníyo “When people have lunch under the treesFootnote 17 they fetch an eating mat and spread it, and then a plate of rice and meat is put on it. People have their lunch, and after they have it, if there is any meat left, it is taken from the mat to the plate, and the plate is put aside. As for the mat, they shake it for the vultures, and then it is placed over the plate, and a stone is put on the mat to prevent the food from spoiling. Then people take a nap before getting back to their food in the evening.”

Line 37. The verb nɛtéḳat (yəntéḳat/ľintéḳat) seems to be used here as a modifier in a hendiadys construction with the meaning “to do something one after another”. Its basic meaning is “to go/come one by one, to disperse”, as in the following examples: gédəḥ έˀɛfo di-maṭár wa-notéḳət kuľľə ṭad díˀyhe di-ṣáľe “People got to the airport and went each to his waiting area”, tóˀo ebróḥo ṭáˀira bə-maṭár wa-ḳəˁö́wə tɛr di-ṭáˀira notéḳət έˀɛfo ˁáľa ṭad ṭad id-tɛr ˁaf yəkéˀə ṭayyár wa-muẓ̂ayyifát “When the plane arrived at the airport and the door of the plane opened, people began to go out one by one, until only the pilot and the cabin crew were left”, éḳdomk ˁag di-yəḥóḷəb bə-ḳáne di-míṣ̌hər yəḳənɛḳínin díˀyhe ḷə-ˀérhon wa-yhe ézˁəm bə-ˁamḳ di-míṣ̌hər wa-ˀérhon təntéḳat idə́y ˁáľa ṭəy ṭəy təróˀomən wa-yhe yəḥóḷəb “I saw a man milk his goats in his pen: he was singing to his goats while he was sitting inside the pen, and the goats would come to him one by one, fawning over him, and he would milk them.” The following example illustrates the meaning “to die one by one, to disappear gradually” (coming rather close to the passage under scrutiny): tóˀo kɔn fírus kuróna bə-ľ-ˁálam notéḳət έˀɛfo bə-mi ˁaf hέbən yətétə ˁan régom bɛ ˁad áḷḷa mən ˁálɛ zəgέdəš wa-ḫáffəf ˁan έˀɛfo “When the coronavirus struck the world, people were dying one after another until they nearly disappeared – if not for God who took the virus away and relieved the people.” Still another, rather divergent, meaning – “to come off, to drop off” – features in the following example: nɛtéḳat máˁabhər mən ri di-fə́dnhin ˁaf yəbáraḥ di-ḳánə di-ˁíṣ̌e wa-régom díˀyhe ˁíṣ̌e mən ʕáḳar “A stone slid off from a mountain peak, landed into a pond and covered the pond, being so large.”

4. The “wild man” narrative: towards a theoretical framework

The overall structure of the text, some characteristic details of its plot and the main character's image come close to those found in the stories of “feral men”Footnote 18 – adults or children who are found in the wild, display animal-like behaviour and cannot be introduced into society. Known images of “wild men” range from purely fantastic, indeed not quite human, creatures (similar to fairies or gnomes) to “true” human children who became wild in isolation from society. Across this spectrum, common clusters of motifs can be observed permeating a disparate variety of narratives, from academic texts to non-textual sources.Footnote 19

The credibility of accounts describing contact with “true” feral men has been debated by scholars (and laymen) for centuries,Footnote 20 alongside such issues as the origin of “feral men” and the nature of their “wildness”.Footnote 21 As of today, it seems that the reality of the phenomenon can be neither proved nor disproved conclusively, but it is safe to assume that at least part of the stories that found their way into academic and documentary discourse are highly coloured by or even wholly rooted in folklore.

This conclusion is supported by the fact that folkloric stories about “feral men” often exhibit conspicuous commonalities with the “scientific” accounts. For instance, Dennis (Reference Dennis1941: 427) points to the fact that supposedly “real” records of children reared by wolves come from India, whereas “bear-boys” were found only in Lithuania, “although bears, like wolves, have a very extensive geographic distribution”. It means that the informants who reported the respective cases were actually influenced by images and concepts characteristic of local folkloric traditions. It is possible to establish a common repertoire of the characteristic features of the “wild man” and related plot elements that are applicable to both folkloric stories and documentary reports.

In her detailed survey, Benzaquén (Reference Benzaquén2006) focuses primarily on the presence of “feral men” in non-fictional writings (mostly in accounts left by travellers and journalists) and suggests approaching them as a type of narrative and setting aside the issue of credibility. She traces the history of the scholarly and philosophical debate on the subject and shows that the kernel of most of the pertinent works is formed by lists of “wild children” cases known to this or that author. Descriptions of individual cases tend to be standardized and form a kind of narrative pattern with characteristic motifs and images, often overlapping with those found in folkloric and literary accounts. This is, of course, only natural, as many accounts pretending to be “real” have been in fact either influenced by oral and/or written literature or can be appropriately qualified as folkloric. Benzaquén (Reference Benzaquén2006) then describes the narrative pattern characteristic of most of the documented “wild men” accounts. As we will see below, her results can be used to analyse literary narratives as well.

Both academic and literary narratives often mention a number of characteristic traits of “feral men”. Lists of such traits have been compiled in scientific works from as early as Carl Linnaeus, who based his description on the eight cases that were known at that time: a “wild man” must be mutus, tetrapus, hirsutus – mute, quadruped and hairy (Linnaeus Reference Linnaeus1758: 20).Footnote 22 This list became classical in later literature, but subsequent authors tried to expand it. Eventually, such lists became a common structural element of this narrative pattern in documentary and academic reports. But it is interesting to note that the folkloric accounts, too, tend to highlight the peculiarities of the “wild man”, making the respective segments stylistically different from the rest of the text.Footnote 23

Examination of documentary reports allows one to detect the following additional features thought to be typical of a “wild man” (Dennis Reference Dennis1941: 430–1; Zingg Reference Zingg1940: 504–14; Benzaquén Reference Benzaquén2006: 58–9):Footnote 24

  • can produce animal sounds;

  • is untidy in relieving his bladder and bowels;

  • has strange eating habits – consumes raw meat or grass, refusing “normal” food, eating in an animal-like manner;

  • is insensitive to cold and heat;

  • does not wear clothes (at times may have some articles from previous contacts with people), refuses to dress or tears off clothes put on him upon capture;

  • avoids people, shows no attachment to them;

  • has inhibited or peculiar sexuality;

  • possesses unusually acute senses – sharp vision, hypersensitive hearing or smell;

  • can be angry and impatient;

  • prefers the company of animals to humans, especially the kind of animals he was found with;

  • suffers (and eventually dies) of illness(es) caused by the society's efforts to “civilize” him.

5. The Soqotri narrative as a specimen of its kind: commonalities and differences

We will now enumerate the key elements of the narrative pattern described by Benzaquén (Reference Benzaquén2006: 66–70) and examine our story against this structural background, paying attention to the typical “wild men” features and characteristic details.

1. Encounter/discovery

This element may coincide with the next element, namely capture, “but usually some time elapses between discovery and capture, filled by astonishment and confusion” (Benzaquén Reference Benzaquén2006: 66). The “feral man” may be spotted in the wilderness by an individual or group of people, but sometimes he or she suddenly appears among “civilized” people. The first one to find the “feral man” may himself be a socially marginal person frequenting the areas which lie outside the realm of civilization such a hunter, a soldier or a native.

2. Capture/rescue

“Сivilized” people decide to track down and capture the “feral man”. The act is often seen as a kind of rescue operation motivated by their concern for the situation of the “wild man” and his future. Usually the aim is to make him or her “normal” and introduce them into society. Ethically, the episode can be ambiguous, as the wish to rescue a human being often disguises mere curiosity about a wild, unusual creature, whose eventual fate is rarely considered beforehand.

3. Curiosity/concern/diagnosis

The story then usually moves to the impression the “wild man” makes upon common people and/or researchers (whether professional or self-proclaimed). The former typically have a very emotional reaction, whereas the latter aim at a kind of scientific account. Both groups of observers may compile lists of the distinctive features of the “wild man”: nakedness, muteness, strange habits. He is tested and examined in various ways, alongside initial attempts at socializing and “civilizing”.

4. Response/care/treatment

“Something is always done to and with the [feral] child” (Benzaquén Reference Benzaquén2006: 68). Authorities and organizations try to determine further treatment for the “wild man” and he might be placed in a teaching and/or socializing institution. Ways of treating the “wild man” vary widely and naturally depend on the historical and geographical setting of the story.

5. Knowledge production/controversy

Scientists and philosophers study the “wild man”, looking for an insight into human nature. Their involvement may interfere with the care and treatment procedures, but occasionally there is no direct contact between the two: research into the “wild man” may be done indirectly, via reports, sometimes years or even centuries after the event.

6. Disappointment/indifference

The “wild man” may escape or die shortly after the capture. The story may then involve a debate on whether the event was true or not. But if there is no quick, dramatic solution, he is forgotten by the public and left to live the rest of his life under human/institutional care. The researchers and philosophers are unable to get any valuable information from him, and all attempts to socialize him yield no results or a very modest one.

It turns out that our story exhibits almost every of the aforementioned plot elements, except for 4 and 5, since in our case the interaction was too brief to establish any long-term treatment for Ṭaḥrɛr, and no researchers were present to conduct the experiments.

Lines 1–7 describe Ṭaḥrɛr and his way of life before his direct interaction with “civilized” people, when he could only be seen, rarely, from a considerable distance (line 7). He roams with “wild goats”Footnote 25 high in the mountains. Though it is not explicitly stated that he was reared by animals, he demonstrates some diagnostic features of animal-nurtured children: keeps company with goats, walks their paths in the mountains, drinks with them at their watering places, avoids people. He is even said to be “grazing” (yəšégəŝ, line 5).Footnote 26 Ṭaḥrɛr's animal-like appearance and behaviour are further emphasized later in the story (lines 18–20 and 27). Some of the prototypical “wild man” features, such as nakedness (line 2) and unusual skin colour (line 6) are also mentioned.

Lines 8–14 deal with his first encounter with “a strong man” (ˁag ḷáfi) who was hunting “wild goats”. He thought Ṭaḥrɛr to be a devil (di-maḥrímˁank, line 10) – quite a typical detail for the “feral man” stories (Benzaquén Reference Benzaquén2006: 67). The hunter tries to make contact with the strange creature, but gets no answer so that another classical feature of the “wild man” – his dumbness – becomes apparent (line 12).

Lines 15–22 deal with the capture. The people of the village decide they should catch Ṭaḥrɛr. The background of this decision is not explained, as the story is more concerned with the technical details of setting the trap and ambush,Footnote 27 as well as with Ṭaḥrɛr's animal-like behaviour: he is captured along with wild goats on an animal path, acts like one of them during the capture and makes sounds similar to those of a wild goat (line 21).

Lines 23–29 describe the villagers’ reaction to the appearance of the “wild man” in their midst and their attempts to interact with him. They are curious: women and children come to see him upon his arrival. They attempt to communicate with him and “civilize” him, but all in vain. This segment catalogues people's actions and Ṭaḥrɛr's very passive – yet always negative – reactions: they offer him “human” food, but he refuses it; they try to talk to him, but he doesn't understand; they wash him and cut his hair, only to find him later afflicted by an unknown and fatal disease. As surmised by the narrator, this could be caused by the loss of some of his genuine features: the characteristic goat smell and the rough skin (line 27) disappeared when he was washed and touched by people.

Lines 30–36 describe Ṭaḥrɛr's death: as with many other “wild men”, he could not survive after being torn from his natural environment. He was unable to return to his old life or to remain in the community. The villagers set him free, but it is too late. After his death, they seem to regret their incautious actions and organize a kind of funeral – undoubtedly one last, post mortem act of “civilizing”.

Lines 37–38 represent a legend-like conclusion, probably of an etiological nature: Ṭaḥrɛr's story explains why the wild goats ceased to live in the area. At the same time, the way this concluding part is incorporated into the narrative seems to make sense on the level of the text's integrity. Throughout the story, wild goats are strongly associated with Ṭaḥrɛr: they accompany him during his everyday activities such as roaming and visiting watering-places (lines 3, 5); side by side with him, they experience the fear and confusion of the capture (in line 21 Ṭaḥrɛr's stressful reaction to the violence of the hunters is directly compared to that of a wild goat) – after all, they are the animals after which he is named. The wild goats are Ṭaḥrɛr's lifetime companions and indicative of his own condition, so their presence in the story is closely connected to and depends on Ṭaḥrɛr's whereabouts.Footnote 28 It is no wonder that, in the end, the goats share Ṭaḥrɛr's fate by dying out upon his death. Their sudden extinction comes as a consequence of Ṭaḥrɛr's end, reinforcing the association of Ṭaḥrɛr with wild goatsFootnote 29 and thus shoring up the story's internal coherence. The skilful arrangement of the etiological coda aptly meets this challenge.

6. In lieu of a conclusion: Ṭáḥrɛr and Enkidu

The Babylonian Enkidu is the oldest “wild man” attested in a written source. He has often been seen as a precursor of later European heroes of this type (Bartra Reference Bartra1994: 55–6; Wells Reference Wells1975). As noted by Mobley (Reference Mobley1997: 220–3), Enkidu and his story share numerous commonalities with the medieval pattern of the “wild man” story outlined in Bernheimer (Reference Bernheimer1952). In his wild state, Enkidu is quite close to the “feral man” type:Footnote 30 nurtured by gazelles,Footnote 31 naked and hairy, he lives in the wilderness with the animals and behaves like one of them. His later story exhibits many motifs shared by medieval “wild man” legends: he is civilized by a woman after sexual intercourse and becomes a great warrior and a faithful companion of King Gilgameš.

Enkidu's image as a “wild man” may have developed independently in the Mesopotamian oral tradition, to be later incorporated into the broader literary framework of the epic. The Sumerian legends about Gilgameš do not portray Enkidu as a “wild man”: here he is merely a junior companion of the protagonist or his servant (George Reference George2003: 140–4). And, conversely, the image of Enkidu as a “wild man” is present in at least one Akkadian text other than the Gilgameš Epic (Westenholz and Westenholz Reference Westenholz, Westenholz, Finkel and George2000: 438, n. 7), namely, in the mannam lušpur (“Whom should I send…”) formula of the Old Babylonian lullaby-incantation OECT 11, 2. In this formula, which is a widespread element in a variety of Old Babylonian and Old Assyrian incantations, the narrator addresses one or several mythological figure(s) with a plea to help him or her to achieve the goal of the incantation. Here the formula is addressed to Enkidu, who is expected to calm the baby “as he calmed the gazelle and her fawn in the steppe” (Farber Reference Farber1990: 303, 309).Footnote 32 Enkidu is not only associated with gazelles and the wilderness, but can also be seen as their patron.

The Soqotri story of Ṭaḥrɛr and the Enkidu narratives in the Gilgameš Epic are both prominent representatives of the “wild men” story type, which makes them suitable for comparison in terms of plots, motifs and ideas. The number of parallels between the two stories is remarkable, although it is impossible to decide whether there could be any direct influence.

Both characters live among wild ungulates (“gazelles”) and roam with them in the wilderness, eating grass and drinking from their watering places. A structural similarity between lines 3 and 5 of our text and Enkidu's description in the Hittite Gilgameš Epic I ii 9–12 (Tigay Reference Tigay2002: 199)Footnote 33 is noteworthy:

Enkidu is explicitly seen to be responsible for rescuing wild animals from traps (SB Gilg. I 130–3, 157–60 = George Reference George2003: 546–7) – a prominent trait of the “master of animals”Footnote 34 (for Ṭaḥrɛr's background as a “master of animals” see fn. 28). However, Enkidu is no longer a mighty supernatural being of a higher rank, but comes closer to the “wild man” proper. This is the reason why, instead of trying to placate him, the hunter decides to devise a plot and actually succeeds.

At the same time, Ṭáḥrɛr is explicitly called “naked” (mə́ḳrəš) in line 2, but nothing is said about his hairiness. Moreover, some details of the plot suggest that his body was not hairy: the villagers only cut the hair on his headFootnote 35 (line 28) and his skin is described as rough (line 27) and unusually coloured (line 6), but not hairy. Ṭáḥrɛr is thus perceived more as a human being than a fantastic creature. Enkidu's “all body” is “matted with hair” (SB I 105 = George Reference George2003: 544–5) and he is said to be “clad in a garment like Šakkan's” (SB I 109 = George Reference George2003: 544–5). This is usually interpreted as a reference to his nakedness or hairiness, or both (George Reference George2003: 790, Lambert Reference Lambert2013: 519).Footnote 36

Both characters are torn away from their normal life in the wild after an encounter with a hunter. It is remarkable that “the strong man” in the Soqotri story is unnamed, like the hunter in the Gilgameš Epic.Footnote 37 The hunter then takes counsel with his fellow villagers (Ṭaḥrɛr) or with his father and the king (Enkidu), before a plan to lure the “wild man” into a trap is devised.

The initial contact between the “wild man” and the civilized people is quite different in the two cases: while Ṭaḥrɛr is hunted and trapped like a wild animal, Enkidu is lured into abandoning his wild nature by Šamḫat who first seduces himFootnote 38 and then convinces him to go to the city, where she introduces him to a civilized lifestyle. No direct violence is involved, and the process of introducing him into society is gradual: at first Enkidu interacts only with the harlot, then she brings him into a shepherds’ camp and after that to the city; at each stage he learns new things. Conversely, Ṭaḥrɛr is caught by surprise and physically taken into captivity, where he is forcibly washed and his hair is cut. In contrast to Enkidu, who actively interacts with Šamḫat (even if he has no idea about her ultimate intentions), Ṭaḥrɛr is presented as extremely passive.Footnote 39 He is static both physically and mentally and does not undergo any transformation, in contrast to Enkidu's dynamic involvement and curiosity. If Enkidu's predominant emotion – from his first meeting with Šamḫat until his confrontation with Gilgameš in Uruk – can be described as genuine interest, in Ṭaḥrɛr's case it is nothing but shock, fear, dismay and insecurity.Footnote 40

This distinction can be demonstrated by a comparison of the scene in both stories, corresponding to the third stage in Benzaquén's narrative pattern. When brought among civilized people, the “wild man” is given human food and expected to learn how to eat and drink as a human, then undergoes grooming procedures.

The initial events are structurally quite similar in the Epic (Gilg. P 87–93 = George Reference George2003: 176–7) and the Soqotri text (lines 24–5) as they involve the people's action – the character's perplexed reaction to it – an explanatory remark:Footnote 41

The background of this startled response is different, however. While Enkidu just awaits instructions, Ṭaḥrɛr remains shocked and unresponsive throughout the villagers’ manipulations.

After eating and drinking, Enkidu feels merry – either because of his introduction to human practices or as a result of plentiful drinkingFootnote 42 or both. Either way, he is now at ease and comfortable. When treated by the barber, he actively participates in the process, then anoints himself and “becomes a man” (awīliš īwe, Gilg. P 109 = George Reference George2003: 176–7).Footnote 43 Having put on some clothes, he acquires a new occupation: chasing wild beasts and protecting the herds. This is the point at which Enkidu's character takes on the features of an epic hero (as opposed to the “wild man”Footnote 44). Conversely, Ṭaḥrɛr refuses to eat and interact with people and, right up to his tragic end, continues to behave like a wild animal in captivity (lines 24–29).

The distinction between the outcomes of the two stories (socialization versus death) is complicated to some extent if the broader perspective of the Enkidu narrative is taken into consideration. Contact with Šamḫat puts an end to Enkidu's wild state, but this transition to a “civilized state” has its price: the wild animals grow estranged from their former companion (SB Gilg. I 195–200 = George Reference George2003: 548–51), who has lost the abilities he previously possessed as a part of the natural world. After Enkidu meets Gilgameš in Uruk, the narration focuses on their joint heroic adventures and the theme of Enkidu's wild background is set aside – only to re-emerge bitterly in the description of Enkidu's death in Tablet VII of the standard version of the Epic.Footnote 45 When death approaches, Enkidu curses the hunter and the harlot (SB Gilg. VII 94–99 and 102–31 = George Reference George2003: 638–41),Footnote 46 that is, those who were responsible for his socialization and whose disruption of his uncivilized existence “was the first link in the chain of events that led inexorably to his doom” (George Reference George2003: 479). Not unlike Ṭaḥrɛr, Enkidu's identity as a “wild man” is inevitably lost through close contact with people. But while Enkidu, for the most part, manages the transition, for Ṭaḥrɛr the termination of his wild modus vivendi signals the termination of his life.

Acknowledgements

Anastasia Belozerova is a lecturer in Arabic at the Institute of Oriental and Classical Studies, HSE Research University (Moscow, Russia) and a researcher at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Anna Kharitonova is a researcher at the Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera), Russian Academy of Sciences (Moscow, Russia). Ahmad ʿIsa is an independent scholar. The authors are indebted to Professor Leonid Kogan who has read the manuscript at different stages of preparation and offered numerous corrections of content and style. To him, as well as to Professor Vitaly Naumkin, we owe a debt of gratitude for the opportunity to enter the fascinating field of Soqotri studies. We are grateful to Dr Maria Bulakh who patiently answered our questions regarding linguistically difficult passages and shared with us her unique expertise in Soqotri verbal morphology. This work would not have been possible without the active participation of ʿIsa Gumʿan al-Daʿrhi and Maysoon Mohammed al-Daʿrhi who helped us understand and analyse its various linguistic and thematic features. Our thanks go to Rim Nurullin, MA, who discussed with us some references to Assyriological studies dealing with the Epic of Gilgameš and which are of key relevance to the concluding part of the article. Our warm gratitude is extended to Professor Sergey Nekludov who shared with us his thoughts on the Soqotri story and its place in the world folklore.

Funding information

A. Belozerova extends her gratitude to the RSCF/RNF (grant No. 22-18-00163) for its support during the preparation of this article. A. Kharitonova's contribution to the comparative analysis of the Soqotri story of Ṭaḥrɛr and the Akkadian Epic of Gilgameš (part 6 of the article) was supported financially by the Russian Science Foundation (project no. 21-18-00232).

Abbreviations

Behnstedt

Behnstedt, P. 1992–2006. Die nordjemenitischen Dialekte (Glossar). Wiesbaden: Reichert Verlag.

BDB

Brown, Francis, Samuel R. Driver, Charles A. Briggs and Wilhelm Gesenius. 2010. The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon: With an Appendix Containing the Biblical Aramaic; Coded with the Numbering System from Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. [Nachdr.], Reprinted from the 1906 edn. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers.

CSOL

Naumkin, Vitaly, Leonid Kogan, Dmitry Cherkashin, Maria Bulakh, Ekaterina Vizirova, ʿIsa Gumʿan al-Daʿrhi, Ahmad ʿIsa al-Daʿrhi and Maysoon Mohammed al-Daʿrhi. 2014–. Corpus of Soqotri Oral Literature. Studies in Semitic Languages and Linguistics. Leiden: Brill.

EDA

Kogan, L. and M. Krebernik (eds). 2020–. Etymological Dictionary of Akkadian. Boston/Berlin: De Gruyter.

LS

Leslau, Wolf. 1938. Lexique Soqoṭri (Sudarabique moderne) avec comparaisons et explications étymologiques. Collection linguistique publiée par la Société de linguistique de Paris 41. Paris: C. Klincksieck.

ML

Johnstone, T.M. 1987. Mehri Lexicon. London: School of Oriental and African Studies.

OECT

Oxford Editions of Cuneiform Texts. 1923–1984. London: Oxford University Press.

Footnotes

1 For general information about Soqotra and its culture, see Morris Reference Morris2021: 1–9. A recent summary description of the Soqotri language and the extant corpora of Soqotri texts is found in Bulakh and Kogan Reference Bulakh, Kogan, Huehnergard and Pat-El2019. The history and aims of the Russian-Soqotri research project are described in CSOL I ix.

2 The introduction of the writing system on the island has substantially changed the format of the folkloristic fieldwork: quite often, both the narrative and poetic compositions are put down by the informants in advance, so that some sort of literary editorial work is inherently present in them (see CSOL I 27).

3 Throughout the works of the Russian-Soqotri research team, “the Vienna corpus” is a conventional designation for Müller's editions (Reference Müller1902, Reference Müller1905 and Reference Müller1907) of Soqotri texts, most of them recorded and analysed in the Austrian capital. See CSOL I 21–23 for an overview of this remarkable corpus and its significance for Soqotri studies.

4 No plural form could be elicited.

5 That is, “I'm fed up with the ‘civilized’ world of the Hadibo plain and prefer the traditional Bedouin life-style of the inlands.”

6 Masculine ḳánšɛr (du. ḳanšέri, pl. ḳanšérhɔn), feminine ḳánšər (du. ḳanšíri, pl. ḳanóšir).

7 The Biblical flavour of this expression is not occasional, as it is just one of the many Soqotri noun phrases strikingly similar to Hebrew ˁēgäl bän-bāḳār (for which see extensively BDB 121, meaning 7b).

8 Interestingly, di-ḳánṣ̌aˁ can also be used to describe an animal, according to Morris Reference Morris2021: 143 (“single horned; the horn rising straight up from the head [goats]”); contrast ḳánšher “horns growing straight up from the head [cattle]”. For ḳánṣ̌aˁ as a topographic term (“the highest peak of a range”), see Morris Reference Morris2021: 124.

9 And its puristic Soqotri calque énhor di-ˀáḷḷa (CSOL I 4:16, 7:4, 18:1, 19:2 and 7 and elsewhere).

10 In this example, the verb is used in 3 sg. f., as many other Soqotri verbs denoting natural phenomena (ľíso “it rained”, etc.).

11 Literally, “so that the mountains broke”.

12 ḳáṭbe (du. ḳaṭbíti, pl. ḳaṭéb) “net, trap” has been explained as follows: ḳaṭéb šəˁóurok bésən ṣóde wa-ˁad yəŝóugor bəy ḷə-bəsatín ˁan érhon wa-ṭa yəŝóugor bəy ḷə-ṭoḥórhir “People use ḳaṭéb to fish with them, to fence with them their gardens to protect them from goats, and to catch feral goats.”

13 The differences between the Soqotri and Biblical phrases are not to be ignored, though. The Soqotri text is not completely metaphoric: it is natural for Ṭaḥrɛr to behave like a wild goat, and he is literally captured. Conversely, in Isaiah no physical captivity is involved, nor a real antelope: it is only the bad, humiliating condition of the people that makes them similar to animals.

14 The morphological shape of gɛľído is unusual (not a diminutive). From a purely formal perspective, it is identical to the pattern of the verbal noun (infinitive) of the intensive (II) stem.

15 ‘Plante du pied; talon’ (Simeone-Senelle and Lonnet Reference Simeone-Senelle and Lonnet1991: 1469).

16 Artificially, using leather vessels as jugs.

17 In a kind of picnic.

18 As pointed out in Benzaquén Reference Benzaquén2006: 70, in virtually all non-literary stories about “wild men” the protagonist is a child, so that the motif can be properly labelled “feral child” rather than “feral man”. The age of the “feral children” varies from infants to teenagers to adults up to 23 years old (Carroll Reference Carroll1984: 66; Zingg Reference Zingg1940: 500). Note, though, that Tylor Reference Tylor1863: 23 mentions that in Tahiti, among the “wild man” cases were a few adult war fugitives from the French-Tahitan war (1844–7) who had become insane and taken to roaming in the mountains: two of them were later examined by missionaries and showed some characteristic “wild” traits.

19 For European literary and artistic images, see Bernheimer Reference Bernheimer1952 and Bartra Reference Bartra1994.

20 As early as in 1811, J.F. Blumenbach pointed to the lack of reliable supportive evidence in all cases known to him and, therefore, tried to discard them altogether (Zingg Reference Zingg1940: 489).

21 Typical causes of this condition are isolation (due to staying alone in an uninhabited place or to lack of proper contact with humans within society) or being reared by animals (McNeil et al. Reference McNeil, Polloway and David Smith1984: 70; Zingg Reference Zingg1940: 487).

22 The last of these is thought to be not very realistic: Benzaquén (Reference Benzaquén2006: 59) cites Malson, who calls it “probably a literary survival” and Tinland, who suggests that the unusual colour of the skin, due to poor hygiene and weather conditions, could be mistaken for hairiness. Zingg (Reference Zingg1940: 487) disregards it “since few of the cases are reported as hairy”. Some of them, however, are reported as such, probably on account of the strong association with folklore and mythological characters.

23 Note, for instance, the use of isomorphic syntactic structures (syntactic parallelism) used in lines 3 and 5, then in lines 24–25 of our text. A very similar formal organization is characteristic of the description of Enkidu in the Old Babylonian Gilgameš Epic (Gilg. P 87–9 = George Reference George2003: 176–7).

24 It is important to observe, at this point, that the pool of motifs and concepts pertaining to “feral man” has been often extended to entire peoples seen as “primitive”, thus contributing to folkloric images and common perceptions of “savage people” or “barbarians”. This trend proved very persistent and survived, in particular, in the early (and not so early) European narratives of the Other. An interesting instance of this transfer is provided by Dickason (Reference Dickason1977: 19–22): early colonial accounts of Native Americans attribute to them some features otherwise characteristic of mythological “wild men” and, curiously, even more of them attempt to disprove this, particularly the hairiness – for example, by referring to traditional costumes made of fur and feathers. Bartra (Reference Bartra1994: 7, fn. 6) notes that accounts of “hairy savages” were still created as late as the end of the seventeenth century.

25 The protagonist is actually named after those very goats he lived among. In the modern Soqotri usage, ṭáḥrɛr is a “semi-wild goat” (CSOL I 685, II 618), i.e. one that used to be domestic, but became feral (Morris Reference Morris2021: 169–70). The word is rendered as “gazelle” throughout Müller's corpus (see LS 202 for the list of passages), apparently because Soqotrans – up to now – use ġazāl as the Arabic equivalent of ṭáḥrɛr in their communication with outsiders. In literary contexts, it seems at least sometimes to denote a species of wild ungulates (presumably, “mountain goats”) distinct from domestic goats. However, no reliable report on the existence of true wild goats on the island has ever been published. “Gazelles” are sometimes mentioned in expedition reports; the first of those seems to be Heuglin's account (Reference Heuglin1861: 150: “Schakale and Gazellen sollen sich im inneren aufhalten”). None of them could be confirmed, see Forbes and Ogilvie-Grant Reference Forbes and Ogilvie-Grant1903: 5 and Wranik Reference Wranik2003: 92. In another expedition report, Boxhall (Reference Boxhall1966: 217) states that he had seen two types of “gazelles” – “reddish-brown” and “greyish” ones – but “gazelle are now nearly extinct in Socotra”. According to the papers of the Socotra Conservation and Development Program, prepared by an international team (Scholte et al. Reference Scholte, Miller, Shamsan, Suleiman, Taleb, Millroy, Attorre, Porter, Carugati and Pella2008: 3), domestic goats were introduced on the island at least 2,000 years ago, becoming an integral part of the local ecosystem since then. The so-called “wild goats” must be their descendants, although “it remains a matter of speculation as to whether the introduction of these goats coincided with the extinction of a native herbivore”. At any rate, the high functional load of the “wild goat” in Soqotri folklore and traditional thought is evidently due to the well-known lack of major quadrupeds on the island. Exactly the same is the case of the “wild cats” (in all probability, also feral descendants of domestic ones) which, although indeed harmful to livestock, are heavily demonized in the traditional narratives (cf. Morris Reference Morris2021: 85) as well as the dragon-like snake bekele (Naumkin and Porkhomovsky Reference Naumkin and Porkhomovsky2000). Last but not least, the colourful accounts of pursuing and catching feral donkeys, and especially feral billy goats, often acquire the dimensions of a real tauromachy (see, for instance, Naumkin and Porkhomovsky Reference Naumkin and Porkhomovsky1998).

26 See CSOL II 276 for the use of the verb.

27 Quite a similar scene of the traditional goat hunt is found in Wellsted's 1835 expedition report: “When the shepherds are desirous of catching them, they seek the track by which they pass up and down the mountains; across this they spread a net; and one of their number then ascends to the summit of the mountain by another route, and makes his appearance before the animal, who no sooner discovers him that he darts down the path, and becomes entangled in the net, when he is quickly secured by those stationed there for the purpose” (Wellsted Reference Wellsted1835: 202).

28 Professor Nekludov has drawn our attention to Ṭaḥrɛr's similarity to the so-called “wild shepherd” – a mythological figure attested primarily in the German folklore (Mannhardt Reference Mannhardt1877: 96–8). The “wild shepherd” is a benevolent being responsible for the fertility of a community's flocks: he gathers domestic animals at a certain stone and then drives them to an unknown location; in the evening they are found near the same stone from which they were taken, their udders full of milk. There are several reports of the villagers’ attempts to catch him. According to one account (Mannhardt Reference Mannhardt1877: 98), the “wild shepherd” ceases to patronize people after they make him drunk and catch him, then try to make him reveal his secret. Typologically, the “wild shepherd” is close to the “master of animals” (Röhrich Reference Röhrich, Brednich, Alzheimer, Bausinger, Brückner, Drascek, Gerndt, Köhler-Zülch, Roth and Uther1990; Bäcker Reference Bäcker, Brednich, Alzheimer, Bausinger, Brückner, Drascek, Gerndt, Köhler-Zülch, Roth and Uther2014), primarily relevant for hunting societies, where he is thought to maintain a balanced communication between animals and hunters. The “master of animals” does not let hunters kill too many animals, but, at the same time, a hunter's luck depends on his benevolence. The conceptual background behind the proximity of the two types is rather straightforward: “die Jagdtiere des Menschen sind die Haustiere des Herren der Tiere; er ist der “Hirte” und “Hüter” des Wildes” (Röhrich Reference Röhrich, Brednich, Alzheimer, Bausinger, Brückner, Drascek, Gerndt, Köhler-Zülch, Roth and Uther1990: 866). While nothing is said in our text about Ṭaḥrɛr's shepherding or protective function, it is possible that a certain belief of this kind is actually in the background of the Soqotri story. The very name of the protagonist suggests that he is, in a way, “The Wild Goat”, that is, he represents the whole kind without being, biologically, a wild goat himself. This is, indeed, how “masters of animals” are usually imagined: they are sometimes anthropomorphic and sometimes zoomorphic, and in the latter case they are often conceived as much larger representatives of the kind of animals they patronize (Röhrich Reference Röhrich, Brednich, Alzheimer, Bausinger, Brückner, Drascek, Gerndt, Köhler-Zülch, Roth and Uther1990: 867; Bäcker Reference Bäcker, Brednich, Alzheimer, Bausinger, Brückner, Drascek, Gerndt, Köhler-Zülch, Roth and Uther2014: 804). As will be shown below, an even more precise correspondence to the “master of animals” type may be detected in Enkidu's image.

29 We tend to agree with the anonymous reviewer who suggests that the connection between creatures related by name works as a kind of “sympathetic magic”: the death of the protagonist brings about the death of his eponymous animals. This “sympathetic” connection may be related to the “master of animals” motif; see the previous footnote.

30 See Tigay Reference Tigay2002: 206 and George Reference George2003: 450 (“the earliest of the well-known corpus of folk tales of human babies raised by wild animals”).

31 Quite literally in Gilg. P 85, 188 (George Reference George2003: 176–7, 178–9) and more or less figuratively in SB Gilg. VIII 3–6 (George Reference George2003: 650–1) and Gilg. P 18–19 (George Reference George2003: 172–3).

32 For deer and gazelles as prototypical sleeping creatures, see Kogan (Reference Kogan2004). Farber (Reference Farber1989: 38) states that “das Motiv von Enkidu und den Gazellen der ‘Steppe’ ist schon in der sumerischen Literatur wohlbekannt”, but contrast George (Reference George2003: 142): “There is no sign in any of the Sumerian poems of the notion of Enkidu as a wild man <…> This story, which has parallels in the folklore of other cultures, has the appearance of having been taken over from some other source.”

33 Descriptions of humans eating grass and drinking water like animals are found elsewhere in Mesopotamian literature, either about primordial people (the Sumerian “Dispute between Ewe and Grain”) or those suffering calamities and doomed to wander in the mountains or steppe (George Reference George2003: 450; Tigay Reference Tigay2002: 203–04).

34 The delicate issue of whether Enkidu is primarily associated with wild or domestic animals acquires some importance in this context. Fleming and Milstein (Reference Fleming and Milstein2010: 19–31) argue that Enkidu's image in the Yale tablet differs from what we learn from the Pennsylvania tablet (both Old Babylonian): while in the latter Enkidu is presented as a true “wild man” born in the wilderness and sharing the company of wild animals (nammaštû), in the former he is instead depicted as a herdsman, well-trained in dwelling in the open country and protecting the livestock (būlu) from different kinds of dangers. The standard version of the Epic later adapted the image known from the Pennsylvanian tablet. It is difficult to say whether such a strict separation is truly justified. The meaning of būlu remains obscure. Fleming and Milstein (Reference Fleming and Milstein2010: 23–7) argue that the term originally designates domestic animals as one of the proofs of Enkidu's original status as a herdsman. Some authors prefer not to narrow the meaning in such a way, assuming that it has no connotations of tameness or wildness: see, for instance, George's neutral translation “herd” in Gilg. Y 107 (George Reference George2003: 199). See, however, EDA I 84–85: the word is probably derived from *b-ˁ-l “to own, to possess”, suggesting the original meaning “domestic animals, cattle”; only later does it become applicable to both domestic and wild animals.

35 Professor Nekludov informs us that shaving and washing the captive “wild man” is a relatively rare element of the plot. It is all the more significant, therefore, that in the Pennsylvania tablet Enkidu's hairy body is treated by a barber (Gilg. P 106 = George Reference George2003: 176–7).

36 Tigay mentions an alternative interpretation, presuming that “Šakkan's garment” is a kind of special clothing, but recognizes that in Gilg. P 110 (= George Reference George2003: 176–177) Enkidu, while learning the ways of civilized people, puts on a garment (ilbaš libšam), which implies his previous nakedness (Tigay Reference Tigay2002: 200, fn. 4 and 5).

37 We are grateful to the anonymous reviewer of BSOAS for this observation.

38 It is remarkable that the matter of sex is given as much significance in the story of Enkidu's civilizing as it is completely irrelevant for the story of Ṭaḥrɛr – we simply know nothing about his sexuality. As for Enkidu, the intercourse with Šamḫat is the starting point of his acquaintance with the human world and inspires him to further explore the civilized way of living. The sexual contact is described as extraordinarily passionate (Gilg. P 46–49 = George Reference George2003: 174–5, SB Gilg. I 194 = George Reference George2003: 548–9), which seems to correlate with the fact that unusual sexual behaviour (notably, high sexual desire) is one of the universal characteristics of “wild men” (Bartra Reference Bartra1994: 100–06).

39 Note that the whole fragment dedicated to Ṭaḥrɛr's interaction with the villagers (especially lines 22–31) abounds in passive forms, in all probability intended to produce a kind of literary effect highlighting Ṭaḥrɛr's lack of agency.

40 The non-consensual nature of Ṭaḥrɛr's contact with the villagers is highlighted by several mentions of his reactions to what is done to him: in lines 18–20 he is unable to bear people's yelling, while in line 21 he is “confused and uncomfortable” in captivity. Quite remarkable is his “panting like a goat” in line 21, obviously a sign of his bad physical and/or psychological condition. When our informants explained the meaning of the verb áṭaḥ, they actually imitated the sound of panting. The only other attestation of the verb in our corpus is CSOL II 348 (annotation to Text 29:23), again dealing with a critically ill goat.

41 The last element is absent in line 24 of the Soqotri text.

42 “This first stage of his conversion into a civilized being ends with him drunk on beer, laughing and singing” (George Reference George2003: 167).

43 See the discussion in Zgoll Reference Zgoll2012: 141–4 – Enkidu becomes fully human only at this point, after eating human food, washing and anointing his body and getting dressed. The words awīliš īwe summarize the meaning of this chain of actions, which can be seen as a kind of rite of passage. The sexual contact with Šamḫat alone was not enough to bring Enkidu into the human realm.

44 “His first act on becoming a man is to take his weapon ‘to chase the lions’; this is his entrance as a hero” (Wolff Reference Wolff1969: 365).

45 In terms of setting and style, the episodes of Ṭaḥrɛr's and Enkidu's deaths are dramatically divergent. Enkidu's end is a solemn death of a glorious hero doomed by the gods. No less than two tablets of the standard version of the Epic (VII and VIII) woefully anticipate and grieve over Enkidu's death, including a description of his destiny in the netherworld, the mourning rites and commemoration of his fate. Ṭaḥrɛr humbly dies on his own, unnoticed and unmourned, and, as a character, he is rather “off screen” in the final segments of the story: we see his death only through the eyes of the villagers.

46 The closing part of the curse (lines 130–1), focused on Enkidu's painful deprivations provoked by becoming civilized, is formulated as an overt reproach: through her intervention, Šamḫat had “belittled” (šumṭû) the previously “pure” (ellu) man and is to be blamed for his eventually tragic fate.

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