The Epic of Gilgamesh

The Epic of Gilgamesh is considered the most significant work of Akkadian (Babylonian-Assyrian) literature, and of ancient Near Eastern literature in general. It has rightfully become part of world literature. It is a celebration of friendship and heroic courage, an expression of anxiety about the finality of human life and the longing to achieve immortality. Its hero painfully searches for an answer to the question of the meaning of life, ultimately finding it in deeds whose results will outlast mortal human existence. This new annotated translation of the ancient text, whose final form—developed over a long period of more than a thousand years—was preserved in the library of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal in Nineveh, reflects the latest findings and discoveries currently made by cuneiform scholars.