The
Epic of Gilgamesh is an
epic poem from ancient
Mesopotamia. Dating from the
Third Dynasty of Ur (circa 2100 BC), it is often regarded as the first great work of literature. The literary history of
Gilgamesh begins with five
Sumerian poems about 'Bilgamesh' (Sumerian for 'Gilgamesh'), king of
Uruk. These independent stories were later used as source material for a combined epic. The first surviving version of this combined epic, known as the "Old Babylonian" version, dates to the 18th century BC and is titled after its
incipit,
Shutur eli sharri ("Surpassing All Other Kings"). Only a few
tablets of it have survived. The later "Standard" version dates from the 13th to the 10th centuries BC and bears the
incipit Sha naqba imuru ("He who Saw the Deep", in modern terms: "He who Sees the Unknown"). Approximately two thirds of this longer, twelve-tablet version have been recovered. Some of the best copies were discovered in the
library ruins of the 7th-century BC
Assyrian king
Ashurbanipal.