MEPX
Chapter 6 of 10All chapters
  1. 1What myths are
  2. 2Greek mythology
  3. 3Roman mythology
  4. 4Norse mythology
  5. 5Egyptian mythology
  6. 6Mesopotamian myth
  7. 7Myths of Asia
  8. 8Africa, the Americas and Oceania
  9. 9Patterns across cultures
  10. 10Myth in the modern world

Chapter 6 of 10

Mesopotamian myth

The oldest written stories.

Gilgamesh

The Epic of Gilgamesh, recorded on clay tablets, follows a king confronting friendship, loss and the refusal of immortality. It is among the oldest surviving literary works.

  • It includes a flood narrative with striking parallels to later accounts.
  • Enuma Elish describes creation from the body of a defeated sea goddess.

Gods and cities

Each city had a patron deity whose temple was the centre of economic as well as religious life, so myth and administration were closely bound together.