Gilgamesh stories start showing up circa 2100 BCE. The epic proper, a compilation of several of these stories, is newer, dating no earlier than 1300 BCE. And wh

Gilgamesh stories start showing up circa 2100 BCE. The epic proper, a compilation of several of these stories, is newer, dating no earlier than 1300 BCE. And while the Gilgamesh stories that became the epic date nearly to the point where stories started being written down in Mesopotamia, there are plenty of other stories that are as old, if not older. Gilgamesh is just prominent as the most widely-read work of pre-Homeric literature.