The Epic of Gilgamesh
Classic Literature I: The Ancient & Epic World
Course 1 · Chapter 2 · The Epic of Gilgamesh
A Text Built in Layers
Gilgamesh's own literary history didn't begin as one unified epic. It started as five separate, independent Sumerian poems about Gilgamesh, king of Uruk — the oldest fragments tracing back to the Ur III period (2094–2047 BCE). Akkadian-speaking Babylonian scribes of the 18th century BCE preserved these Sumerian poems specifically for their own cultural prestige, even after Sumerian itself had ceased to be a living spoken language.
The first combined epic, "Shūtur eli sharrī" ("Surpassing All Other Kings"), dates to roughly the 18th century BCE — only fragments survive, but it draws directly on three of the earlier Sumerian poems.
Compiled by the scribe Sîn-lēqi-unninni sometime between the 13th and 10th centuries BCE, titled "Sha naqba īmuru" ("He Who Saw the Deep(s)") — the canonical 12-tablet version, roughly two-thirds of which survives today.
The most complete surviving copy comes from the library of King Ashurbanipal at Nineveh, in the 7th century BCE — a single royal collection preserving a text whose own roots reach back well over a thousand years earlier.
George Smith's 1872 Discovery
In November 1872, George Smith — an assistant at the British Museum with no formal academic training — identified a fragment recovered from Nineveh as part of a flood narrative strikingly similar to the story of Noah in the Book of Genesis. He presented the discovery to the Society of Biblical Archaeology later that year, to an audience that reportedly included Prime Minister William Gladstone and the Archbishop of Canterbury — and was met with genuine enthusiasm.
Tablet XI describes Gilgamesh meeting Utnapishtim, who — like Noah — had been forewarned by the gods of a coming flood, built a boat, and loaded it with his family, craftsmen, and animals both wild and domesticated. Utnapishtim releases a dove, then a swallow, neither of which finds dry land to rest on and both return; finally a raven, released last, never returns — proof the floodwaters have receded.
Friendship and Mortality
Gilgamesh himself is introduced as two-thirds divine and one-third mortal — immensely strong and intelligent, but a genuine tyrant, misusing both gifts and abusing his own subjects. The goddess Aruru creates Enkidu, a wild man of the natural world, specifically to check Gilgamesh's own excesses. Enkidu is drawn into civilization through contact with Shamhat, and the two become genuine, deep companions — a friendship that visibly tames Gilgamesh's own arrogance.
The bond between Gilgamesh and Enkidu isn't ornamental to the plot — it's the mechanism that makes Gilgamesh a better ruler, giving him the capacity to identify with his own subjects rather than merely command them.
Enkidu's own death forces Gilgamesh to confront his own mortality directly, driving him into an ultimately unsuccessful quest for immortality — one that ends not in transcendence, but in a wiser acceptance of human limitation.
Gilgamesh returns to Uruk having failed to escape death, but genuinely transformed — a kinder, wiser king than the tyrant the epic opened with.
Applying Chapter 1's Own Toolkit
| Tool | Applied to Gilgamesh |
|---|---|
| Structure | A layered composite text — five independent poems, combined and recombined across a thousand-plus years |
| Genre | Heroic epic, built around a quest structure that ultimately fails on its own terms |
| Form | Twelve-tablet cuneiform structure (Standard Babylonian version) |
| Textual history | Genuinely traceable — Ur III fragments, Old Babylonian version, Sîn-lēqi-unninni's Standard version, Ashurbanipal's library copy |
Questions to Sit With
Gilgamesh's quest for immortality fails, yet the epic frames his return to Uruk as genuine growth rather than defeat. What does it suggest about this culture's own values that failure to escape death counts as a successful ending?
The flood narrative in Tablet XI predates the biblical account by centuries, yet shares remarkably specific details. What do you think that similarity actually tells us — shared cultural memory, a common source, or something else?
Gilgamesh started as five separate, independent poems before being combined into one epic. Does knowing a "single" ancient text actually has this composite origin change how you read it?
Quick Reference — Chapter 2
- Five independent Sumerian poems (Ur III period, c. 2094–2047 BCE) preceded any combined epic
- Old Babylonian version (~18th century BCE) → Standard Babylonian version by Sîn-lēqi-unninni (13th–10th centuries BCE, 12 tablets) → most complete copy from Ashurbanipal's library, Nineveh (7th century BCE)
- George Smith identified the Flood Tablet in 1872 — a flood narrative predating Genesis, with striking specific parallels (Utnapishtim, the dove/swallow/raven sequence)
- Gilgamesh (two-thirds divine, one-third mortal) tamed by his friendship with Enkidu, created by Aruru to check his tyranny
- Enkidu's death drives Gilgamesh's own unsuccessful quest for immortality — ending in wisdom, not transcendence
What's Next
Chapter 3: Homer: The Iliad and the Odyssey.