Prelude to the Gilgamesh

The Gilgamesh is an epic poem and the oldest written text in any language, dating back to before 2000BC. It was originally in Sumerian, but most of it is lost and what we have is the translation into Babylonian (Akkadian) from a thousand years later, which itself remained undiscovered in the sands of modern-day Iraq from 700BC until 1849 when it was found by the British archeologist Austen Henry Layard. The cuneiform script was decoded and translated into English as early as the 1880s. There are apparently interesting parallels with the ancient Greek story of Odysseus and also with elements of the Bible, such as the story of Noah's Ark, though it predates both by over a thousand years.

I've yet to read more than the general gist of the story myself. I'm told that the best translation is by Stephen Mitchell, and you can see his version of the Prologue here. But despite that, I offer you my version of the Prologue and in verse(!), and perhaps it will whet your appetite to read more.

Prelude to the Gilgamesh
 

I tell of he who had seen everything,
Who in life experienced every feeling
From highest ecstasy to dark despair,
Of all things alike, granted knowledge rare.

By himself, the Secret untold he found,
And that which was Hidden deep underground
Its mysteries buried under the mud
From the primeval world before the Flood.

On an epic quest he tired himself out,
But then he found peace and spread it about,
Carving in stone stela, of all his toils,
And restoring the walls and temples and soils.

Behold this glorious city of Uruk,
The holy sanctuary, Eanna, look!
How it gleams like fire opal in the sun,
Inspect closer -- it is equal to none.

Hold the threshold stone that dates back so far,
Approach the temple, sacred to Ishtar,
Climb the city walls, examine around
The foundations, the plans, the brickwork sound.

Seven Sages of yore laid it all out,
One league of city and all about
One league of palm gardens and one of land,
And half a league for Ishtar’s temple grand.

Seek out and discover the copper box
Whose secret fastening of bronze unlocks.
Open the lid and inside you will see
Our tale inscribed in lapis lazuli.

Take out the tablets and read of the king,
This legend that into the land I bring,
Of Gilgamesh who suffered everything.
And how he overcame his suffering.