GILGAMESH
("Gilgamesh - Wikipedia." Photograph, 2000s. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilgamesh)
Was Gilgamesh a real king, or only a legend?
Early third millennium B.C. · Uruk, Sumer
Gilgamesh may have been an actual king of early Sumeria, but his deeds have been cast in such heroic proportions that some argue he is simply a mythic figure. Nevertheless, certain references from the early third millennium B.C. seem to confirm his existence.
Somewhere between?
- Oldest recorded stories: The Sumerian stories about Gilgamesh and the Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh are the oldest in human history.
- His city: Uruk, in early Sumeria
- His rival: Agga, the king of Kish
- His equal: Enkidu, the wild man the gods created to match his strength
- Widely known: His stories spread throughout the ancient world and were translated into several ancient languages.
What happens when the most powerful man in the world meets his limits?
Hover or tap each idea to follow Gilgamesh’s story
- Defending the CityGilgamesh took a heroic stand against Agga, the king of Kish. “Let us not submit to the house of Kish,” he urged the people of Uruk, calling them to fight for their city.
- From Hero to TyrantSuccess made Gilgamesh arrogant. The people of Uruk called on the gods to deliver them from their tyrant.
- Power to Limit PowerThe gods answered by making Enkidu, the wild man, Gilgamesh’s equal in strength. Their battle tempered his character, and the two set off on adventures, leaving Uruk in peace. Some readers see this as an early recognition of the need to use power to limit power.
- Facing MortalityIn later stories Gilgamesh laments the natural limits placed on mankind:Man, the tallest, cannot reach to heaven,
Man, the widest, cannot cover the earth. - Raising Up a NameGilgamesh grasps at immortality by attempting great deeds in order to “raise up my name.”
- The Herb of ImmortalityHe searches for an elusive herb that guarantees immortality, showing the limits placed on humans regardless of their earthly strength.
At the dawn of history, the first story warns of the limits of human nature and the perils of power.
The stories of Gilgamesh were well known throughout the ancient world and were translated into several ancient languages. It is especially fitting that at the start of Pierre Goodrich’s “story of the centuries” we find a story dealing with the basic limitations of human nature and the perils of political power, themes that will be repeated time and time again.
Where to read more about Gilgamesh, the oldest recorded story.
- 1982The Evolution of the Gilgamesh EpicTigay, Jeffrey H. · University of Pennsylvania Press · ISBN 9780812277849
- 1999The Epic of Gilgamesh: A New TranslationGeorge, Andrew · Penguin Classics · ISBN 9780140449198
- 2004Gilgamesh: A New English VersionMitchell, Stephen · Free Press · ISBN 9780743261692
- 2005Before the Muses: An Anthology of Akkadian LiteratureFoster, Benjamin R. · CDL Press · 3rd edition
- 2008Myths from Mesopotamia: Creation, the Flood, Gilgamesh, and OthersDalley, Stephanie, ed. · Oxford University Press
- Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature (ETCSL)etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk
- Project Gutenberg Edition (Gilgamesh)gutenberg.org
- British Museum Cuneiform Databasebritishmuseum.org
- Penn Museum Cuneiform Digital Collectionpenn.museum
- UNESCO Memory of the World Register: Gilgamesh Tabletsunesco.org
("Gilgamesh - Wikipedia." Photograph, 2000s. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilgamesh)
A stone relief carving of a bearded man in ancient attire holding a lion cub under one arm and a staff in the other, standing in profile on a textured wall panel.
(AI-generated Image)
Gilgamesh, the legendary king of Uruk, was said to be two-thirds divine and one-third human, making him a superhuman hero with a knack for wrestling gods and building epic city walls.
(Citation: "Epic of Gilgamesh - Wikipedia." Photograph, 2000s. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epic_of_Gilgamesh)
An irregularly shaped clay tablet fragment with cuneiform inscriptions in columns, displayed on a transparent acrylic stand against a neutral background.