The Epic of Gilgamesh (Sumerian to Standard Babylonian traditions, c. 2100–600 BCE)

1. Early Sumerian Gilgamesh poems circulate

   Jan 1, 2100 BCELabels: Bilgames, Uruk

   • Britannica
   • Gilgamesh Wiki

2. Sumerian poems enter scribal-school copying

   Jan 1, 1900 BCELabels: Scribal schools, Humbaba episode

   • Humbaba Wiki
   • ETCSL overview

3. Old Babylonian Gilgamesh epic takes narrative shape

   Jan 1, 1800 BCELabels: Old Babylonian, Akkadian epic

   • Gilgamesh Wiki

4. Old Babylonian ‘Pennsylvania tablet’ preserves early episodes

   Jan 1, 1800 BCELabels: Pennsylvania tablet, Enkidu

   • Gilgamesh Wiki

5. Gilgamesh story spreads beyond Mesopotamia

   Jan 1, 1250 BCELabels: Hattusa, Hittite transmission

   • Arts Culture
   • WHE image

6. Standard Babylonian edition is compiled and edited

   Jan 1, 1200 BCELabels: Standard Babylonian, S n-l

   • Sin leqi Wiki
   • Gilgamesh Wiki

7. Standard version becomes a 12-tablet literary series

   Jan 1, 1100 BCELabels: 12-tablet series, a naqba

   • Gilgamesh Wiki
   • Sin leqi Wiki

8. Flood episode is preserved in Standard Tablet XI

   Jan 1, 1000 BCELabels: Tablet XI, Utnapishtim

   • Flood myth
   • Gilgamesh Wiki

9. Ashurbanipal’s library copies the epic at Nineveh

   Jan 1, 650 BCELabels: Ashurbanipal's library, Nineveh

   • Met Museum
   • Ashurbanipal

10. Nineveh tablet fragments enter the British Museum collections

    Jan 1, 1853Labels: British Museum, Nineveh fragments

    • Gilgamesh Wiki

11. George Smith announces the ‘Flood Tablet’ discovery

    Dec 3, 1872Labels: George Smith, Flood Tablet

    • Nature HSS
    • BAS Library

12. Modern critical editions stabilize the text for readers

    Apr 29, 2003Labels: Modern editions, critical edition

    • Penguin
    • George trans