Epic of Gilgamesh Compiled

The Old Babylonian version of the Epic of Gilgamesh was compiled around 1800 BCE from older Sumerian sources. The epic tells of a king who seeks immortality after his friend's death, and includes a flood narrative remarkably similar to the biblical account — a righteous man builds a boat, fills it with animals, and survives a divine flood. Whether one influenced the other or both draw from a shared memory, the parallel is impossible to ignore.