Gilgamesh

deity underworld Ur III single tradition · 6

Gilgamesh is the subject of early compositions that were eventually adapted into the form of a singular epic. The Humbaba narrative was among them. An independent Akkadian account of the battle between Humbaba and the heroes was later incorporated into the Epic of Gilgamesh.

↻ synthesized from 6 sources

When

First attested
3000 BCE
Attested period
-3000 – 2020
Historical notes
King of Uruk, Mesopotamia.

Relationships

consort of
Ištar
child of
Ninsun
sibling of
Inanna
served by
Enkidu

Expand to full subgraph →

Sources

Source passages

“The elders of Uruk also warn Gilgamesh about Humbaba, but he rejects the pleas and embarks on the journey to the cedar forest alongside Enkidu. The surviving copy of this section on the Yale tablet breaks off before the confrontation with Humbaba occurs.”

#8439 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001

“In this capacity he could be associated with the deified legendary king Gilgamesh, commonly portrayed in a similar role.”

#17265 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001

“she received an offering of sacrificial animals alongside deities such as...Allatum, Gilgamesh, the underworld gatekeeper Bitu, the deified king Amar-Sin”

#37193 · extracted by anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5

“Gilgamesh became the hero par excellence of the ancient world—an adventurous, brave, but tragic figure symbolizing man's vain but endless drive for fame, glory, and immortality. By the Old Babylonian Period (c. 1830 – c. 1531 BC), stories of Gilgamesh”

#39001 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001

“In an incantation from the middle of the second millennium BCE, he appears between Namtar and Gilgamesh.”

#39178 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001