Sumerian Epigraphy

The Epic Cycle of Gilgamesh is known from many sources written on different languages from different regions of Middle East: Sumerian, Akkadian, Hettite etc., bearing witness, that the Epic was highly appreciated in the ancient times. However, the Sumerian epigraphy is not that extensive, and is somewhat different from the Akkadian. The comparative analysis of the contents of the relevant available Sumerian material highlights six poems, which may be titled as follows:

Gilgamesh and the Land of Living
Gilgamesh and the Bull of Heaven
The Deluge
Gilgamesh and Agga of Kish
Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Nether World
The Death of Gilgamesh

It should be understood that the text of most of these poems is still fragmentary and that the translation is often difficult and uncertain even where the text is complete. Nevertheless, the available Sumerian material does provide sufficient data to answer with certainty, whether the Sumerian version is the original for the "Epic of Gilgamesh" as a whole, despite of differences. Here are given the contents of the six Sumerian poems.