If you arrange the ZhZL series chronologically, then the book about Gilgamesh should appear in it as the first number. The hero of this book is the first everywhere, in all endeavors of mankind. First political leader. The first hero of military battles. The first builder. The first person who wanted to overcome fate and avoid the fate of all mortals. The first cultural hero who left a story about his life’s journey for the edification of his descendants. The king and high priest of the Sumerian city of Uruk, Gilgamesh, who lived in the 27th century BC. e., was deified half a century after his death, and a few centuries later became the main hero of the Sumerian-Akkadian epic. Legends about Gilgamesh were preserved in all the languages of the peoples of the ancient Near East, penetrated into ancient culture, and inspired European poets and writers. Was Gilgamesh a real historical figure? For what deeds was he deified? How was the image of Gilgamesh reflected in world culture? The book by St. Petersburg Sumerologist V.V. Emelyanov answers these and other questions.