Editing Gilgamesh (section)

==Historical king==
[[File:Mesannepada seal drawing.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|Seal impression of "[[Mesannepada]], king of [[Kish (Sumer)|Kish]]", excavated in the [[Royal Cemetery at Ur]] (U. 13607), dated circa 2600 BC.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hall |first1=H. R. |last2=Woolley |first2=Leonard |last3=Legrain |first3=Leon |title=Ur excavations |date=1900 |publisher=Trustees of the Two Museums by the aid of a grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York |page=[https://archive.org/details/urexcavations186385join/page/312 312] |url=https://archive.org/details/urexcavations186385join}}</ref><ref name="Image">Image of a Mesanepada seal in: {{cite book |last1=Legrain |first1=Léon |title=Ur Excavations |volume=III. Archaic Seal-Impressions|date=1936 |publisher=The Trustees of the Two Museums by the Aid of a Grant from the Carnagie Corporation of New York |page=44 seal 518 for description, Plate 30, seal 518 for image|url=http://www.etana.org/sites/default/files/coretexts/20144.pdf}}</ref> The seal shows Gilgamesh and the mythical bull between two lions, one of the lions biting him in the shoulder. On each side of this group appears [[Enkidu]] and a hunter-hero, with a long beard and a Kish-style headdress, armed with a dagger. Under the text, four runners with beard and long hair form a human [[Swastika]]. They are armed with daggers and catch each other's foot.<ref name="Image"/>]]
Most historians generally agree that Gilgamesh was a historical king of the Sumerian city-state of [[Uruk]],{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=89}}{{sfn|Dalley|1989|page=40}}{{sfn|Kramer|1963|pages=45–46}}{{sfn|Powell|2012|page=338}} who probably ruled sometime during the early part of the [[Early Dynastic Period (Mesopotamia)|Early Dynastic Period]] ({{circa}} 2900–2350 BC).{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=89}}{{sfn|Dalley|1989|page=40}} [[Stephanie Dalley]], a scholar of the ancient Near East, states that "precise dates cannot be given for the lifetime of Gilgamesh, but they are generally agreed to lie between 2800 and 2500 BC".{{sfn|Dalley|1989|page=40}} An inscription, possibly belonging to a contemporary official under Gilgamesh, was discovered in the archaic texts at Ur;<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Marchesi|first=Gianni|date=2004|title=Who Was Buried in the Royal Tombs of Ur? The Epigraphic and Textual Data|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43076896|journal=Orientalia|volume=73|issue=2|pages=153–197|jstor=43076896|issn=0030-5367}}</ref> his name reads: "Gilgameš is the one whom Utu has selected". Aside from this the [[Tummal Inscription]], a thirty-four-line [[Historiography|historiographic]] text written during the reign of [[Ishbi-Erra]] ({{circa|1953|1920 BC}}), also mentions him.{{sfn|Kramer|1963|pages=45–46}} The inscription credits Gilgamesh with building the walls of Uruk.{{sfn|Mark|2018}} Lines eleven through fifteen of the inscription read:

{{poemquote|
For a second time, the Tummal fell into ruin,
Gilgamesh built the Numunburra of the House of [[Enlil]].
Ur-lugal, the son of Gilgamesh,
Made the Tummal pre-eminent,
Brought [[Ninlil]] to the Tummal.{{sfn|Kramer|1963|page=46}}
}}
Gilgamesh is also connected to King [[Enmebaragesi]] of Kish, a known historical figure who may have lived near Gilgamesh's lifetime.{{sfn|Mark|2018}} Furthermore, he is listed as one of the kings of Uruk by the ''[[Sumerian King List]]''.{{sfn|Mark|2018}} Fragments of an epic text found in [[Mê-Turan]] (modern Tell Haddad) relate that upon his death Gilgamesh was buried under the river bed,{{sfn|Mark|2018}} and the workmen of Uruk temporarily diverted the flow of the [[Euphrates]] for this purpose.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/2982891.stm |title=Gilgamesh tomb believed found |date=29 April 2003 |work=BBC News |access-date=12 October 2017}}</ref>{{sfn|Mark|2018}}