The Epic of Gilgamesh is the oldest recorded story we have, dating back to around 3,500 B.C.E.. Lost to time and rediscovered in the 1800’s, this story tells of a tyrant king ruling Uruk in Mesopotamia, who finds redemption. It includes the flood story, and a pantheon of Sumerian gods and goddesses.

This PDF download is not just a retelling of the epic of Gilgamesh, but also contains a bibliography and list of sources, one hundred vocabulary words and their meanings, a character list of who everyone is and who they might be related to, and a number of activities related to social studies and language arts. I saw in what my own children studied a need for an authentic version of the epic for middle school aged kids and older, so immersed myself in multiple versions from direct translations from the original cuneiform, to poetic renderings to kid versions of the story. What I have created, I hope, is an authentic retelling for young people aged eight and up.

I recorded the audio book of the story in November 2017 and the following April it won a Gold Award from Parent’s Choice.