# Hear a fragment of the Epic of Gilgamesh in the original Akkadian

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hear-a-fragment-of-the-epic-of-gilgamesh-in-the-original-akkadian/672879>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [November 1, 2013, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hear-a-fragment-of-the-epic-of-gilgamesh-in-the-original-akkadian/672879 "2013-11-01T22:47:14Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\
**Post date:** [November 1, 2013, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hear-a-fragment-of-the-epic-of-gilgamesh-in-the-original-akkadian/672879/1 "2013-11-01T22:47:14Z")

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[This link has a link to someone reciting a fragment of the Epic of Gilgamesh in a reconstruction of what we currently think Ancient Akkadian sounded like.](http://www.openculture.com/2010/10/the_sounds_of_ancient_mesopotamia.html) Akkadian is the earliest attested Semitic language, so is a relative of Hebrew and Arabic, and was written in cuneiform originally used to write Sumerian, an unrelated language also spoken in ancient Mesopotamia, roughly where Iraq is now.

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**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\
**Post date:** [November 1, 2013, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hear-a-fragment-of-the-epic-of-gilgamesh-in-the-original-akkadian/672879/2 "2013-11-01T23:19:11Z")

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Wow. Thank you for posting. I will give a listen. How cool a concept - I’m gonna listen to some Akkadian, thankyouverymuch.

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**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\
**Post date:** [November 2, 2013, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hear-a-fragment-of-the-epic-of-gilgamesh-in-the-original-akkadian/672879/3 "2013-11-02T16:45:24Z")

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Akkadian? Pfft, danged Modernists. I prefer it in the older Sumerian form.

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**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\
**Post date:** [November 2, 2013, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hear-a-fragment-of-the-epic-of-gilgamesh-in-the-original-akkadian/672879/4 "2013-11-02T17:13:01Z")

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I know that this is the faintest, best-guess, we-think approximation of the spoken language, but it positively gave me goosebumps to listen to such an ancient voice.