Epic of Gilgamesh
The "Epic of Gilgamesh" was discovered by Austen Henry Layard, Hormuzd Rassam, and W. K. Loftus in 1853. The central character of Gilgamesh was initially reintroduced to the world as ""Izdubar"", before the cuneiform logographs in his name could be pronounced accurately. The first modern translation was published in the early 1870s by George Smith. Smith then made further discoveries of texts on his later expeditions, which culminated in his final translation which is given in his book "The Chaldaean Account of Genesis" (1880).
Gilgamesh
Eventually, according to Kramer, "Gilgamesh became the hero par excellence of the ancient world—an adventurous, brave, but tragic figure symbolizing man's vain but endless drive for fame, glory, and immortality". By the Old Babylonian Period ( 1830 – 1531 BC), stories of Gilgamesh's legendary exploits had been woven into one or several long epics. The "Epic of Gilgamesh", the most complete account of Gilgamesh's adventures, was composed in Akkadian during the Middle Babylonian Period ( 1600 — 1155 BC) by a scribe named Sîn-lēqi-unninni. The most complete surviving version of the "Epic of Gilgamesh" is recorded on a set of twelve clay tablets dating to the seventh century BC, found in the Library of Ashurbanipal in the Assyrian capital of Nineveh. The epic survives only in a fragmentary form, with many pieces of it missing or damaged. Some scholars and translators choose to supplement the missing parts of the epic with material from the earlier Sumerian poems or from other versions of the "Epic of Gilgamesh" found at other sites throughout the Near East.