When at last they arrived at Uruk – the Enclosure – Gilgamesh said to Urshanabi, the ferryman: “Urshanabi, climb on to the wall of Uruk, inspect its foundation terrace and examine well the brickwork. See if it is not of burnt bricks. One third of the whole is city, one third is garden, and one third is field,

with the precinct of the goddess Ishtar. These parts and the precinct are all Uruk.”

I want my country to know of the one who has seen all things.

He who was wise and knew of everything,

He who saw secret things and disclosed what was hidden,

He who passed on to us a knowledge of days before the Flood,

Went on a long journey, came back weary but serene.

He, then, engraved on a stone the story of his labours.