1. Read through The Encyclopaedia Britannica's Overview and Summary of "The Epic of Gilgamesh" to learn more about the "fictional" and "historical" Sumerian ruler of Uruk.

2. Read through Arthur A. Brown's essay "Storytelling, the Meaning of Life, and The Epic of Gilgamesh" from the "Exploring Ancient World Cultures" website to learn why we would or should read a story that's more than 4,000 years old.

3. For an overview of the pantheon of Sumerian deities and an introduction to the history and cosmology of ancient Sumer in southern Mesopotamia, visit Christopher Siren's "Sumerian Mythology FAQ".

4. For a comprehensive and detailed look at Ancient Mesopotamian cosmology and texts in translation don't miss visiting Shemhazai Endemoniado's Neo-pagan "Babyloniaca" website, where you'll find a "Guide to the Gods" and information about "Hymns, Poems and Incantations" to the ancient deities of Assyria and Sumer.

5. For an overview of the pantheon of Assyro-Babylonian deities and an introduction to the history and cosmology of ancient northern Mesopotamia, visit Christopher Siren's "The Assyro-Babylonian Mythology FAQ".

6. Visit John Heise's tuppi bitim ("home clay tablet") for a comprehensive and exhaustive look at the Akkadian Language. Akkadian you'll recall from lecture is the language in which the fullest extant text of the Gilgamesh epic has come down to us in. This site is an ideal starting point to learn more about Babylonian and Assyrian cuneiform writing systems and Babylonian and Assyrian cultural and linguistic history.

7. A visit to World Cultures' "Mesopotamia" website by Richard Hooker is a must see for students of ancient world cultures. Of particular interest to you as a UGIS 55A student will be "An Anthology of Mesopotamian Readings" where you'll find primary and secondary resources covering topics ranging from "The Akkadians" to "The Sumerians."

8. Universal Root Myths like the "Myth of the Flood" and "The Myth of Creation" abound in ancient cultures, within the Judeo-Christian traditions "Genesis 6-9" recounts the kernel events of the Biblical Flood Story, while the Babylonian Flood Story is recounted in Tablet XI of the Gilgamesh epic. Similarly, the Biblical Creation Story (Genesis 1-3) and the Babylonian Creation Myth (Enuma Elish I-VI) share many similarities. Visit Santa Clara University's "Religious Studies 011" web site on "Archaeology and Literature" for some background and an overview of the similarities between the cosmology of these two ancient religious traditions.

9. Visit Leiden University's Sumerian Text Archive for a sampling of administrative and epigraphical texts transliterated from tablets belonging to the Ur III period.

10. For an in-depth analysis of the history and cultural significance of Nippur, the Sacred City of Enlil, Supreme God of Sumer and Akkad, read through Prof. McGuire Gibson's artcile on Mesopotamian archealogy.