Masterwork of ancient Mesopotamian literature centered on Gilgamesh, fifth king of the First Dynasty of Uruk and son of the goddess Ninsun. Growing from five independent third-millennium Sumerian poems into an eleven-tablet (plus twelfth appendix) Standard Babylonian epic titled Ša nagba īmuru ("He Who Saw the Deep"), redacted by the exorcist-scribe Sîn-lēqi-unninni, it follows Gilgamesh's friendship with Enkidu, their confrontation with Humbaba and Ishtar, Enkidu's death, and Gilgamesh's journey to the flood survivor Utnapishtim in search of immortality.
Gilgamesh (king of Uruk), Utnapishtim (flood survivor), Ninsun (divine mother), Ishtar (goddess of Uruk), Uruk (royal city), Immortality Quest (central theme)