Penguin Classics 2000, translated from the original cuneiform by Andrew George.
Quotations are for the most part taken from that work, as are paraphrases of his
commentary. Some text drawn from a webpage by Richard Hooker (no longer
available on the Web) and other Web sources are indicated in context. In 2006, I also
read the new adaptation ofGilgamesh prepared by Stephen Mitchell (who does not
read cuneiform or Akkadian, and therefore relied on the literal translations of others).
While the Mitchell work is intended to be quite readable, it takes considerable
liberties and poetic license with the source materials, and in general I prefer the more
scholarly style and transparent presentation of the comprehensive Penguin edition.

ostensibly about an actual Sumerian king Bilgamesh/Bilgames/Gilgamesh of Uruk/
Erech in Sumer (SE Mesopotamia) who is said to have reigned c. 2750 BCE as the
5th ruler of the first dynasty of Uruk. He became a cult figure of worship during the
Old Akkadian Empire c. 2350 BCE (somewhat analogous to King Arthur) and
presumably there were oral versions of the poems in Sumerian and Akkadian
predating the written ones.

Sumerian versions: There are 5 extant separate poems written in Sumerian cuneiform
and lacking common themes but providing episodes about "Bilgames" (i.e.,
Gilgamesh). These include Bilgames and the Netherworld, which begins "In those
days, in those far-off days..." as well as Bilgames and Akka, Bilgames and Huwawa,

The oldest known copies of these Sumerian versions were written down as royal court
entertainment c. 2100 in the reign of the Third dynasty of Ur and King Shulgi. This
was during a "Sumerian renaissance" following the Old Akkadian Empire and
occurred long after the invention of writing in cuneiform (the first Sumerian writing
dates to c. 3000 BCE, the first recorded literature c. 2600 BCE). Many copies in
Sumerian were created later in the Old Babylonian kingdom c. 1800 by Babylonian
scribes at Ur and Nippur. Copying Gilgamesh in Sumerian in fact was a common
scribal exercise in Old Babylonia (e.g., in the reign of King Hammurapi). A separate

poem in Sumerian about Atramhasis, "When the gods were man", once mistakenly
thought to be part of Gilgamesh, provides the basis for the Deluge tale incorporated
into the Babylonian version of Gilgamesh. Compared to Akkadian, Sumerian was an
older and linguistically unrelated language which was spoken in southern
Mesopotamia. It arose by 3100 BCE and had its classical period from 2600 - 2300
BCE. Old Akkadian (which flourished c. 2800-2500 BCE) coexisted with Classical
Sumerian. Sumerian had predominated in the urban south, whereas Akkadian initially
predominated in the north. But by 1800 BCE, Sumerian had died out as a spoken
language, though it retained prestige as a written literary language of learning (similar
to the later literary roles of Greek and Latin).

Old Babylonian version: The fragmentary version of Gilgamesh in Old Babylonian (a
dialect of Akkadian) beginning "Surpassing all other kings" dates to c. 1700 and
shows there was already an integrated epic by then. Akkadian (i.e., Babylonian-
Assyrian) is a family of Semitic dialects initially favored in the more provincial north of
Mesopotamia, but eventually becoming the lingua franca of all of Mesopotamia.
Dialects of Akkadian included Old Akkadian 2500 - 1950 BCE; Old Babylonian 1950 -
1530 BCE; Old Assyrian 1950 - 1750 BCE; Middle Babylonian 1530 - 1000 BCE;
Middle Assyrian 1500 - 1000 BCE; New Babylonian 1000 - 625 BCE; New Assyrian
1000 - 600 BCE; and Late Babylonian 625 BCE to 0 (data taken from John Heise's

Standard version: The standard version of Gilgamesh in Babylonia and Assyria is
called "He who saw the Deep", and was compiled and given its final form by Sin-liqe-
uninni c. 1200 BCE. It is written in a dialect of Akkadian termed Middle Babylonian
(also called Standard Babylonian). It is a damaged masterpiece full of holes and
missing parts and uncertain words and phrases. The author (George) fills in some of
the missing text from other copies from various earlier times and even from other
languages (e.g., a Hittite version). There are 11 "tablets" in the "Series of Gilgamesh"
totaling originally c. 3000 lines. What was once thought to be tablet 12 is actually a
line-by-line translation into Akkadian of the last 1/2 of the Sumerian-language
Bilgames poem "Bilgames and the Netherworld."

The great royal libraries contributing cuneiform manuscripts included that of
Ashurbanipal (who reigned 668 - 627 BCE during part of the Neo-Assyrian empire
era) in Nineveh in Assyria. This library contained tablets written in the reign of the
Assyrian king Tiglath-pileser I (1115 - 1077). Nineveh was sacked by the Medians
and Neo-Babylonians in 612 BCE, destroying many of these tablets. By the era of the
Neo-Babylonian Empire, spoken Akkadian began to die out in favor of Aramaic and
other languages.

Themes of Gilgamesh include the fear of death, human longing for life and eternal
renown, the path to wisdom, learning to face reality and growing up, youth versus
age, life and death, the proper duties of kingship, man's responsibilities to his family,

the benefits of civilization over savagery, the rewards of friendship, the nobility of
heroic enterprise, the vanity of the hero's quest and the folly of the pursuit of
immortality, the tale of the Deluge/Flood, and the gloomy realm of the dead. This is
more a story about a human and the human condition than a mythology of the gods.

The principle deities involved in Gilgamesh are as follows [information partly taken
fromwww.pantheon.org, and mixing the Sumerian and Babylonian pantheons
somewhat; "~" signifies differing versions exist]:

(Sumerian: Ninhursag "Queen of the Mountains", Ki, Ninmah "Exalted Lady", Nintu "Lady who gave birth"): the Mother Goddess who created man with Ea's help. That is, she gave birth to the first men, to take up the yoke imposed by Enlil, her brother [or ~spouse]. The clay she was given by Ea was accidentally mixed with a god's blood, thus imparting to man the divine elements of reason and self-consciousness. She and An were probably the progenitors of most of the gods.

freshwater Ocean Below (Babylonian: Apsu, the "Great Deep"), sent the Seven Sages to civilize mankind, and saved mankind from Enlil's wrath; son of Ansar and Kisar. Enki was god of intellect, creation, wisdom and medicine, etc.