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๐ Myths & Epics
๐ Epic of Gilgamesh
World's oldest known work of literature; Sumerian king's quest for immortality
Mesopotamia 2100 BC Myths & Epics
๐ Key Facts
1
World's oldest surviving literary work โ written on clay tablets in Sumerian cuneiform, ~2100 BC
2
King Gilgamesh of Uruk seeks immortality after friend Enkidu dies; encounters a great flood narrative
3
Discovered by Austen Henry Layard at Nineveh (1849); Flood tablet translated by George Smith (1872) shocked Victorian England
The flood story in Gilgamesh predates the Biblical Noah's Ark by at least 1,000 years and is remarkably similar
Quick Reference
Category
๐ Myths & Epics
Country/Origin
๐ Mesopotamia
Year / Era
2100 BC
About
World's oldest known work of literature; Sumerian king's quest for immortality