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Mesopotamian Mythos

Club Mesopotamian Mythos
Total Entries 6
Representative Shamhat
The Epic of Gilgamesh is an epic from ancient Mesopotamia. The literary history of Gilgamesh begins with five Sumerian poems about Gilgamesh (the variant “Bilgames” was once thought to be the earlier Sumerian form[3]), king of Uruk, some of which may date back to the Third Dynasty of Ur (c. 2100 BCE). These independent stories were later used as source material for a combined epic in Akkadian. The first surviving version of this combined epic, known as the “Old Babylonian” version, dates back to the 18th century BCE and is titled after its incipit, Shūtur eli sharrī (“Surpassing All Other Kings”). Only a few tablets of it have survived. The later Standard Babylonian version compiled by Sîn-lēqi-unninni dates to somewhere between the 13th and 10th centuries BCE and bears the incipit Sha naqba īmuru (“He Who Saw the Deep(s)”, lit. ”He Who Sees the Unknown”). About two-thirds of this longer, 12-tablet version have been recovered. Some of the best copies were discovered in the library ruins of the 7th-century BCE Assyrian King Ashurbanipal. ~ Epic of Gilgamesh – Wikipedia
A Priestess (1894) | John William Godward
A Priestess (1894) | John William Godward

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Bull of Heaven

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Category Bull of Heaven
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The Bull of Heaven is a mythical beast fought by the hero Gilgamesh. The story of the Bull of Heaven is known from two different versions: one recorded in an earlier Sumerian poem and a […]

Entry Bull of Heaven
Description 

The Bull of Heaven is a mythical beast fought by the hero Gilgamesh. The story of the Bull of Heaven is known from two different versions: one recorded in an earlier Sumerian poem and a […]

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Enkidu

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Category Enkidu
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Gilgamesh, Enkidu, Shamhat, and Humbaba were characters in ancient Mesopotamian mythology and the Epic of Gilgamesh, an epic poem written in Akkadian during the late 2nd millennium BC. Gilgamesh was possibly a historical king of […]

Entry Enkidu
Description 

Gilgamesh, Enkidu, Shamhat, and Humbaba were characters in ancient Mesopotamian mythology and the Epic of Gilgamesh, an epic poem written in Akkadian during the late 2nd millennium BC. Gilgamesh was possibly a historical king of […]

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Gilgamesh

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Category Gilgamesh
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Gilgamesh, Enkidu, Shamhat, and Humbaba were characters in ancient Mesopotamian mythology and the Epic of Gilgamesh, an epic poem written in Akkadian during the late 2nd millennium BC. Gilgamesh was possibly a historical king of […]

Entry Gilgamesh
Description 

Gilgamesh, Enkidu, Shamhat, and Humbaba were characters in ancient Mesopotamian mythology and the Epic of Gilgamesh, an epic poem written in Akkadian during the late 2nd millennium BC. Gilgamesh was possibly a historical king of […]

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Humbaba

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Category Humbaba
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Gilgamesh, Enkidu, Shamhat, and Humbaba were characters in ancient Mesopotamian mythology and the Epic of Gilgamesh, an epic poem written in Akkadian during the late 2nd millennium BC. Gilgamesh was possibly a historical king of […]

Entry Humbaba
Description 

Gilgamesh, Enkidu, Shamhat, and Humbaba were characters in ancient Mesopotamian mythology and the Epic of Gilgamesh, an epic poem written in Akkadian during the late 2nd millennium BC. Gilgamesh was possibly a historical king of […]

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Shamhat

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Category Shamhat
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Gilgamesh, Enkidu, Shamhat, and Humbaba were characters in ancient Mesopotamian mythology and the Epic of Gilgamesh, an epic poem written in Akkadian during the late 2nd millennium BC. Gilgamesh was possibly a historical king of […]

Entry Shamhat
Description 

Gilgamesh, Enkidu, Shamhat, and Humbaba were characters in ancient Mesopotamian mythology and the Epic of Gilgamesh, an epic poem written in Akkadian during the late 2nd millennium BC. Gilgamesh was possibly a historical king of […]

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Utnapishtim

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Category Utnapishtim
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Uta-napishtim or Utnapishtim (Akkadian: “he has found life”) was a legendary king of the ancient city of Shuruppak in southern Iraq, who, according to the Gilgamesh flood myth, one of several similar narratives, survived the […]

Entry Utnapishtim
Description 

Uta-napishtim or Utnapishtim (Akkadian: “he has found life”) was a legendary king of the ancient city of Shuruppak in southern Iraq, who, according to the Gilgamesh flood myth, one of several similar narratives, survived the […]