"The epic of Gilgamesh' - Ancient Sumerian Song by Peter Pringle

Guy who made and sung the song:    / copperleaves  

The Epic of Gilgamesh (/ˈɡɪlɡəmɛʃ/) is an epic poem from ancient Mesopotamia, regarded as the earliest surviving notable literature and the second oldest religious text, after the Pyramid Texts. The literary history of Gilgamesh begins with five Sumerian poems about Bilgamesh (Sumerian for "Gilgamesh"), king of Uruk, dating from the Third Dynasty of Ur (c. 2100 BC). These independent stories were later used as source material for a combined epic in Akkadian. The first surviving version of this combined epic, known as the "Old Babylonian" version, dates back to the 18th century BC and is titled after its incipit, Shūtur eli sharrī ("Surpassing All Other Kings"). Only a few tablets of it have survived. The later Standard Babylonian version compiled by Sîn-lēqi-unninni dates from the 13th to the 10th centuries BC and bears the incipit Sha naqba īmuru ("He who Saw the Abyss", in unmetaphoric terms: "He who Sees the Unknown"). Approximately two-thirds of this longer, twelve-tablet version have been recovered. Some of the best copies were discovered in the library ruins of the 7th-century BC Assyrian king Ashurbanipal.

The text in Sumerian:

Ud rēa, ud sura rēa
Ngi rēa, ngi bara rēa
Mu rēa mu sura rēa
Ud ul ningduē pa ēaba
Ud ul ningduē mi zid duggaaba
Eš kalammaka ninda šuaba
Imšurinna kalammaka ningtab akaba
An kita badabaraaba
Ki anta badasuraaba
Mu namluulu baangaraaba

The text in English:

In those days, in those distant days
In those nights, in those ancient nights
In those years, in those distant years
In those ancient days all things had been created
In ancient time when all things were given their place
When bread was first tasted in the sacred shrines of the land
When the ovens had been lighted
When the heavens had been separated from the earth
When the earth had been separated from the heavens
When mankind had been established

Guy who made the song:    / copperleaves  

#sumer