The historical Gilgamesh was a Sumerian King who ruled Uruk around 2700 BCE. However, he would later be immortalized in oral traditions eventually transcribed to cuneiform as early as 1600 BCE (Jacobsen 1976), but it is the Akkadian Scribe Sin-Leqi-Unini who is credited with shaping it into its current form around 1250 BCE (Maier and Gardiner 1985).

 

Despite its age, the story maintains a powerful relevance given its timeless existential musings on the human condition and environmental message (Pryke 2019). This project intends to restore it to an oral tradition, thus the entirety is recited by the Anishaman.

 

My adaptation is driven by the environmental message and is best summarized by the following logline:

 

Desperate to immortalize his legacy, Gilgamesh the tyrannical King of Uruk obsesses himself with constructing the world’s grandest city regardless of the human and environmental costs, but when the gods intervene by sending the Wildman Enkidu as his animistic counterbalance, Gilgamesh is forced to question his place in the world.

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Bibliography

Gilgamesh : translated from the Sīn-leqi-unninnī version (; J. Gardner, J. R. Maier, & R. A. Henshaw, Trans.; 1st Vintage books edition). (1985). Vintage Books.

Jacobsen, T. (1976). The treasures of darkness : a history of Mesopotamian religion. Yale University Press.

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Pryke, L. M. (2019). Gilgamesh. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315716343