The Epic of Gilgamesh was rediscovered in the Library of Ashurbanipal in 1849. She became pregnant and the guards threw the child off a tower, but an eagle rescued him mid-fall and delivered him safely to an orchard, where the gardener raised him. Aelian relates that Gilgamesh's grandfather kept his mother under guard to prevent her from becoming pregnant, because an oracle had told him that his grandson would overthrow him. The story of Gilgamesh's birth is described in an anecdote in On the Nature of Animals by the Greek writer Aelian (2nd century AD). Most scholars agree that the Epic of Gilgamesh exerted substantial influence on the Iliad and the Odyssey, two epic poems written in ancient Greek during the 8th century BC. Gilgamesh repeatedly fails the trials set before him and returns home to Uruk, realizing that immortality is beyond his reach. After Enkidu dies of a disease sent as punishment from the gods, Gilgamesh becomes afraid of his death and visits the sage Utnapishtim, the survivor of the Great Flood, hoping to find immortality. Together, they embark on many journeys, most famously defeating Humbaba (Sumerian: Huwawa) and the Bull of Heaven, who is sent to attack them by Ishtar (Sumerian: Inanna) after Gilgamesh rejects her offer for him to become her consort. In the epic, Gilgamesh is a demigod of superhuman strength who befriends the wild man Enkidu. 1155 BC), based on much older source material. The standard Akkadian Epic of Gilgamesh was composed by a scribe named Sîn-lēqi-unninni, probably during the Middle Babylonian Period ( c. In later Babylonian times, these stories were woven into a connected narrative. Other Sumerian poems relate Gilgamesh's defeat of the giant Huwawa and the Bull of Heaven, while a fifth, poorly preserved poem relates the account of his death and funeral. The poem Gilgamesh and Aga describes Gilgamesh's revolt against his overlord Aga of Kish. After Enkidu's death, his shade tells Gilgamesh about the bleak conditions in the Underworld. She gives him two unknown objects, a mikku and a pikku, which he loses. The earliest of these is likely 'Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Netherworld', in which Gilgamesh comes to the aid of the goddess Inanna and drives away the creatures infesting her huluppu tree.

Tales of Gilgamesh's legendary exploits are narrated in five surviving Sumerian poems.

2900 – 2350 BC, though he became a major figure in Sumerian legend during the Third Dynasty of Ur ( c. His rule probably would have taken place sometime in the beginning of the Early Dynastic Period (Mesopotamia) (henceforth ED), c. He was possibly a historical king of the Sumerian city-state of Uruk, who was posthumously deified. Gilgamesh ( Akkadian: 𒀭𒄑𒂆𒈦, romanized: Gilgameš originally Sumerian: 𒀭𒉋𒂵𒈩, romanized: Bilgames) was a hero in ancient Mesopotamian mythology and the protagonist of the Epic of Gilgamesh, an epic poem written in Akkadian during the late 2nd millennium BC. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of cuneiform script.

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