The Epic of Gilgamesh

Although this epic is believed to be at least 5000 years old, we knew of it only in the mid-nineteenth century. Cuneiform tablets on which it was written were unearthed at several sites in Iraq. The epic was written as a series of 12 tablets, all of which were found in fragments. Because there were several copies of each tablet, archaeologists were able to use fragments from different sites to put the epic together. Most of the tablets found in ancient Babylon and Assyria were written in Akkadian. The most famous and complete collection is the one found at Nineveh. It was translated by George Smith.