The Real Story of Gilgamesh

The epic Gilgamesh is not only an epic hero destroying Humbaba with his foil Enkidu, but in fact the character is based on eleven clay tablets containing cuneiform script in the 600's B.C. Cuneiform scripts are wedge-shaped characters used as a writing system by the Mesopotamian's. There were about 25,000 tablets found close to present day Jerusalem, at Nineveh in buried ruins of an Assyrian library, including the eleven clay tablets used to construct the epic of Gilgamesh. Scholars believe Gilgamesh was an actual king who rules over Uruk between 2700 and 2500 B.C. In addition, he becomes a legendary figure for centuries to scholars; however, to younger generations Gilgamesh is not a real hero nor friend to Enkidu throughout the poem. The epic of Gilgamesh helps scholars reveal a great deal about the Mesopotamian's, including their pessimistic views on existence and their behavior in their surroundings.