Credible Theories
Sumer and Babylon · Gilgamesh, Standard Babylonian tablet I

Gilgamesh, two-thirds god

ReferenceGilgamesh, Standard Babylonian tablet I
WrittenOld Babylonian c. 1800 BCE; standard version c. 1200–1000 BCE
SetUruk, c. 2700 BCE
Gilgamesh is two-thirds divine and one-third human, over eleven cubits tall in the standard version, and tireless. The gods make Enkidu from clay as his match.

Summary by the editors. Translation: Summary (Thompson 1928 is the public-domain translation) · About the translator

Read it literally

A measured hybrid ratio. The Qumran Book of Giants names Gilgamesh among the Nephilim.

What scholars say

Gilgamesh was probably a real king of Uruk.

Giants and hybrids
People and places hereQumranUruk

Quick answers about Gilgamesh, Standard Babylonian tablet I

Where is Gilgamesh, Standard Babylonian tablet I found?

Gilgamesh, Standard Babylonian tablet I (Sumer and Babylon). Translation quoted: R. Campbell Thompson, The Epic of Gilgamish (1928).

When was Gilgamesh, Standard Babylonian tablet I written?

Old Babylonian c. 1800 BCE; standard version c. 1200–1000 BCE.

What do scholars say about Gilgamesh, Standard Babylonian tablet I?

Gilgamesh was probably a real king of Uruk.

Rabbit holes in this passage

TextBook of GiantsA lost book told from the giants' point of view, recovered in scraps from the Dead Sea caves and the Silk Road.PersonGilgameshThe two-thirds-divine king of Uruk who fought monsters and sought eternal life, and who reappears among the giants in the Dead Sea Scrolls.BeingNephilimThe mysterious offspring of the sons of God and the daughters of men, named twice in the Bible and never fully explained.

Sources

  1. R. Campbell Thompson, The Epic of Gilgamish (1928)Primary text
  2. 4Q530 (Book of Giants), Leon Levy Dead Sea Scrolls Digital LibraryPrimary text
  3. Epic of Gilgamesh, Tablet I, trans. R. Campbell Thompson (1928)Primary text
  4. Genesis 6:1–4, King James VersionPrimary text

Scholarly dates are rounded. The wording follows the named public-domain translation.

Updated