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What can a king and a wild man reveal about friendship and the fear of death?
In ancient Mesopotamia, Gilgamesh rules the city of Uruk. Enkidu, a wild man, becomes his close friend. Their bond stands at the heart of this epic poem, where strength meets the fear of death. These Old Babylonian fragments offer a vivid, direct encounter with an early form of the tale.
Morris Jastrow and Albert Tobias Clay bring together evidence chiefly from the Pennsylvania tablet and the Yale tablet. Their study opens a window onto the story before later Babylonian and Assyrian scribes enlarge it. Expect broken clay, ancient words, and a tale taking shape—not the smooth, complete plot of a novel.
What you’ll discover
- A king and his companion Meet Gilgamesh and Enkidu, whose close friendship gives this ancient tale its human heart.
- Strength beside mortal fear Explore a story where a powerful king belongs to a world shadowed by death.
- The story before expansion Discover an earlier form of the epic and see why these fragments matter.
- Two tablets in focus Encounter the Pennsylvania and Yale tablets as central pieces of this early Gilgamesh.
- A world between rivers Enter the Mesopotamian setting between the Tigris and Euphrates, home to the epic's heroes.
Who will love it
Readers who love ancient myths, early Mesopotamia and the detective work of scholars who fit broken clay tablets into a story will find much here. So will anyone who enjoys comparing old tales with Genesis.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- The epic survives through many retellings
- The search for life meets limits
- Dreams announce an equal and friend
- Enkidu learns a shared human life
- Rivalry opens the way to friendship
- Courage needs guidance before the forest
- Names may preserve journeys from elsewhere
- Enkidu may stand behind the epic
- Separate tales become a shared epic
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An Old Babylonian Version of the Gilgamesh Epic
by Morris Jastrow; Albert Tobias Clay · 1920
Two clay tablets from about 2000 B.C. describe the heroes' meeting in Erech and their preparations to confront Huwawa.
Medium level2–5 hours to read20 languages
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In short
Picture a street in the city of Erech at night. A wild man who has only just learned to wear clothes blocks a doorway, and the king of the city tries to push past him.
An Old Babylonian Version of the Gilgamesh Epic at a glance
- Reading time
- About 2 h 30 min2 h fast, 3 h slow
- Length
- 35,500 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1920by Morris Jastrow; Albert Tobias Clay
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
The epic survives in pieces from many ages
The Gilgamesh Epic, say the authors, is the most notable literary work found so far in the mounds of Mesopotamia. In its final form it fills twelve tablets, about 3600 lines in all. Barely half of them have been found.
Most of what survives comes from the library of King Ashurbanapal at Nineveh. Scholars, above all George Smith, pieced fragments together from thousands of tablets and scraps sent to the British Museum. The authors call this the Assyrian version, though it copies a far older original.
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- 15-minute summary
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Details
- First published
- 1920
- Language
- English
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Jastrow, Morris, and Albert Tobias Clay. An Old Babylonian Version of the Gilgamesh Epic. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/an-old-babylonian-version-of-the-gilgamesh-epic.
Jastrow, M., & Clay, A. T. (2026). An Old Babylonian version of the Gilgamesh Epic. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/an-old-babylonian-version-of-the-gilgamesh-epic (Original work published 1920)
Jastrow, Morris, and Albert Tobias Clay. An Old Babylonian Version of the Gilgamesh Epic. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/an-old-babylonian-version-of-the-gilgamesh-epic.
@book{jastrow2026old,
author = {Jastrow, Morris and Clay, Albert Tobias},
title = {An Old Babylonian Version of the Gilgamesh Epic},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/an-old-babylonian-version-of-the-gilgamesh-epic},
note = {First published 1920}
}
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What is An Old Babylonian Version of the Gilgamesh Epic about?
It presents two clay tablets from about 2000 B.C. that tell of the dreams of Gilgamesh, the meeting and fight with Enkidu, and the preparations to face Huwawa. The authors add translations, notes and a theory of how the epic grew.
Who are Gilgamesh, Enkidu and Huwawa?
Gilgamesh is the king of Erech, partly divine. Enkidu is the wild man who becomes his friend. Huwawa is the fierce guardian of the cedar forest, whose roar is like a flood and whose breath is death.
Why is it called the old Babylonian version?
It comes from the time of Hammurabi, long before the Assyrian copies found at Nineveh. The authors use the name to tell this earlier edition from the later and fuller Assyrian version in the library of Ashurbanapal.
The author
Morris Jastrow
1861–1921 · American orientalist
Morris Jastrow Jr. (1861–1921) was an American orientalist and librarian born in Warsaw. He lived in Philadelphia and worked at the University of Pennsylvania. He wrote The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria (1898) and, with Albert T. Clay, An Old Babylonian Version of the Gilgamesh Epic (1920).
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