oldest literature in the world. The original text dates to the 3rd century before the Christian era in the lands of Mesopotamia (modern Iraq/Iran) and the successive civilizations of Sumerian, Akkadians, Hittites, and Babylonians, spanning three thousand years.

The Epic is famed for its original tale of the Flood as also told in the book of Genesis of the Bible. It is seminal for the tale of man's search for meaning of "life in the midst of death".

Supplementary text includes: a collation of Sumerian proverbs, sayings and parables of daily life; tablets of Gilgamesh's death, and some concerning his father Lugalbanda.

Annotations and supplementary text detail and explicate the customs and various gods of these peoples.