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Babylonian:
Gilgamesh is a great hero of Sumerian and Babylonian epic poetry. He is the precurser of Heracles and other folk hereos.
Gilgamesh was the son of the goddess Ninsun and Lugalbanda and he was the 5th king of Uruk after the great flood. He was famous as a great builder and a judge of the dead.
Well known to many is the Epic of Gilgamesh, a story, preserved on clay, which describes his adventures as the great king of Uruk (south Babylonia). These include his fruitless search for immortality and his friendship with Enkidu, a wild man from the hills.
If you want to read the full original story, click here or a summary click here.
Most of these poems were already written in the first centuries of the second millenium BC, but had probably existed many centuries earlier. The most complete edition, come from the seventh century library of Assurbanipal, antiquar and last great king of the Assyrian Empire.
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