This article is a list of characters appearing in the ''Epic of Gilgamesh'', an ancient

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...

n epic poem. Its standard version was most likely compiled by

Sîn-lēqi-unninni Sîn-lēqi-unninni ( akk, ) was a '' mašmaššu'' who lived in Mesopotamia, probably in the period between 1300 BC and 1000 BC. He is traditionally thought to have compiled the best-preserved version of the ''Epic of Gilgamesh''. ...

in the

Kassite period The Kassites () were people of the ancient Near East, who controlled Babylonia after the fall of the Old Babylonian Empire c. 1531 BC and until c. 1155 BC (short chronology). They gained control of Babylonia after the Hittite sack of Babylon ...

. Older versions are already known from the

Old Babylonian period The Old Babylonian Empire, or First Babylonian Empire, is dated to BC – BC, and comes after the end of Sumerian power with the destruction of the Third Dynasty of Ur, and the subsequent Isin-Larsa period. The chronology of the first dynasty ...

. Hittite and

Hurrian The Hurrians (; cuneiform: ; transliteration: ''Ḫu-ur-ri''; also called Hari, Khurrites, Hourri, Churri, Hurri or Hurriter) were a people of the Bronze Age Near East. They spoke a Hurrian language and lived in Anatolia, Syria and Northern ...

adaptations have been discovered too. However, modern translations and adaptations generally depend on the standard

Babylonia Babylonia (; Akkadian: , ''māt Akkadī'') was an ancient Akkadian-speaking state and cultural area based in the city of Babylon in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq and parts of Syria). It emerged as an Amorite-ruled state c. ...

n edition attributed to Sîn-lēqi-unninni.

Main characters

Other major characters

Characters in this section are arranged in order of appearance in the Standard Babylonian version of the epic.

Minor characters

Characters in this section are arranged alphabetically, and include

deities A deity or god is a supernatural being who is considered divine or sacred. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines deity as a god or goddess, or anything revered as divine. C. Scott Littleton defines a deity as "a being with powers greate ...

only referenced by name.

Other characters connected to Gilgamesh in Mesopotamian tradition

In addition to the ''Epic of Gilgamesh'', a wide variety of other texts and works of art focused on the same king are known. Six standalone Sumerian poems about his deeds have been identified, ''Gilgamesh, Enkidu and the Netherworld'', two versions of ''Gilgamesh and Humbaba'' (A and B), ''Gilgamesh and the Bull of Heaven'', ''Gilgamesh and Akka'' and ''Death of Gilgamesh''. A further related text might be the ''

Tale of Gudam ''Tale of Gudam'', also known as the ''Gudam Epic'' or ''Inanna and Gudam'', is a Mesopotamian myth known from two Old Babylonian copies from Nippur. It tells the tale of Gudam, an otherwise unknown character, who goes on a rampage in Uruk. The m ...

'', though Gilgamesh himself does not appear in this composition. While the plot of the later epic incorporated many elements of their plots, some of them were ultimately left out. Characters in this section originate in these works and are arranged alphabetically.

References

Bibliography

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