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Based on data from a Sumerian king list, Gilgamesh was the fifth king of Uruk (Early Dynastic II, first dynasty of Uruk), a boy of Lugalbanda. Legend has it that his mother was Ninsun, a goddess.

He was succeeded by his boy Ur-Nungal, said to have ruled for Xxx years. He built the temple to Ninlil in Nippur, and even a bulwarks of Uruk.

Despite a deficiency of direct grounds to believe, virtually all scholars don't object to consideration of Gilgamesh as a historical figure, particularly when inscriptions were discovered confirming a historical being of more numbers associated by owning him: kings Enmebaragesi and Aga of Kish. Whenever Gilgamesh was a historical king, he probably reigned inside just about the 26th century BC. Occasionally of the earliest Sumerian texts spell his title when Bilgamesh.

A few own identified Gilgamesh sustaining a Mesopotamian king Nimrod, usually considered to stand been a Biblical figure responsible for the Tower of Babel. Yet, David Rohl has claimed stronger evidence inside trend lines of his theory that Nimrod is to exist as identified by owning Gilgamesh's predecessor, Enmerkar, founder of Uruk according to Sumerian legend.

Within virtually all texts, Gilgamesh is written using a determinative for divine beings (DINGIR), however no grounds to believe for a contemporary cult, & the Sumerian Gilgamesh myths suggest a deification was a in the future development (unlike the example of the Akkadian god-kings). Historical or even non, Gilgamesh became the legendary protagonist in the Epic of Gilgamesh.

Gilgamesh in popular culture

Sumerian Gilgamesh has inspired many works inside modern popular culture:

Gilgamesh the King by Robert Silverberg. Gilgamesh is a summon in the Final Fantasy game series, as well as a revenant boss inside Final Fantasy V. A hero of Namco's Tower of Druaga and its sequels is also known as Gilgamesh. "Gilgamesh" is likewise the character within TV series Xena: Warrior Princess. An anime show by the same title, airy inside 2003. "Gilgamesh" occurs as Japanese rock group. In the Marvel Comics universe, a character called a Forgotten One (comics) claimed to have been a historical Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh, an opera by Serbian composer Rudolf Brucci based on the Epos. Gilgamesh is likewise the character in the game Fate/stay night, produced by TYPE-MOON. Darmok, an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation is inspired by the tale of Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh, by the director Roger Christian (Pre-production). The Norton Anthology of World Literature, Beginnings to A.D. 100, Volume A, Second Edition pp. 10-12. In the Skin of a Lion by Michael Ondaatje contains themes from "The Epic of Gilgamesh". Around Highlander: The Series, Gilgamesh was rumored to be the number 1 immortal ever recorded by a "watcher", & would exist as a resole cause behind a formation of the watcher organization. Within Namco's Tales of Symphonia, a title Zelos Wilder could earn. "Gilgamesh" occurs as character inside David Gemmels Sipstrassi Stones series of books David Gemmel

Gilgamesh Study Guide
Online course materials outlining the epic of Gilgamesh and its historical setting.

Gilgamesh Summary
Summary of the Old Babylonian heroic poem, which describes the legendary story of Gilgamesh, King of Uruk.

Storytelling, the Meaning of Life, and The Epic of Gilgamesh
Article by Arthur A. Brown discussing the literary development in the several versions of the epic of Gilgamesh.

Kramer's Translation of a Gilgamesh Prologue
A passage that may be considered to include the oldest known reference to the goddess Lilith.

Sin-leqe-unnini
Extracts from the legend of Gilgamesh.

Gilgamesh
A summary of the great epic of Gilgamesh.

Gilgamesh
English translation of the Akkadian clay tablets, with gaps filled in from the Old Babylonian version.

The Epic of Gilgamesh
The text as translated by Maureen Gallery Kovacs.






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