Epic of Gilgamesh

A reference page linking a name, group, or concept to the materials that discuss it.

Mesopotamian literary tradition with multiple versions, concerning Uruk’s king, Enkidu and mortality. Standard Tablet XI preserves Utnapishtim’s flood; manuscript date does not date the tradition’s origin.

Text

Story and version

Gilgamesh literature developed across versions and periods. The flood hero is known in Old Babylonian tradition, while the fuller surviving Tablet XI narrative belongs to the standard version.^[1] SOAS displays only lines 1–163.^[2]

Tablet date is not composition date

K.3375, Ashurbanipal’s library, Kouyunjik/Nineveh, seventh century BCE, is a famous physical witness.^[3] It establishes neither initial composition then nor the manuscript read by a Genesis writer. Image: modern distinction of narrative time, tradition and copy.

References and notes

Mehmet-Ali Ataç, The Flood Myth as Paradigm, 2018. Chapter 3, pp. 81–101; opening paragraphs on Old Babylonian and standard witnesses read, not the entire chapter or Mari painting analysis. Return to the text ↑
Andrew George, Gilgamesh XI, lines 1–163, SOAS project. Published Akkadian and translation read; based on Oxford 2003 with minor modifications. Excludes later Enlil anger and immortality after line 163. Return to the text ↑
British Museum, catalogue result for Flood Tablet K.3375. Indexed catalogue result checked: Ashurbanipal library, Kouyunjik, Neo-Assyrian, seventh century BCE. Does not date the story’s initial composition. Return to the text ↑

Research history

Substantive changes are retained here. Minor copy edits remain in the internal operational log.