An overview for understanding the composition and transmission of the Epic of Gilgamesh
asterixes denote material particularly relevant to the Epic.

First Sumerian city states: 3100
in North – Akkadian dialects (including Babylonian)
in the south — Sumerian and Elamite dialects

* 2750 Gilgamesh is king of Uruk

*The Epic of Gilgamesh dates in some form to third millennium BC

Sargon of Akkad unifies Sumerian cities in his empire ca. 2350 BC

2300 Amorite immigration from Syria (eventually kings of Assur and Babylon)

2100-2000 Renaissance of Ur (ziggurat)

* ca. 2000 – reign of King Shulgi of Ur – earliest written versions of the Epic date to his reign

( Ur sacked by Elamites see Lament of Ur)

ca. 1760 Hammurabi of Babylon conquers empire

ca. 1600 Hittites sack and destroy Hammurabi’s empire

Assyria (north) emerges as a major power

* 1300-1000 – Sin-liqe-unninni shapes the form of the “standard version” of The Epic of Gilgamesh in Akkadian

Assyrian king Ashurbanipal II (669-626 BC) conquers an empire
— palace in Nineveh



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