The Epic of Gilgamesh - 1 - Penguin Audiobooks - Pasco

''These are the massive walls of Uruk which no city on earth can equal. See how its ramparts gleam like copper in the sun. Climb the stone staircase more ancient than the mind can imagine. Approach the Eanna Temple, sacred to Ishtar, a temple that no king has equalled in size or beauty. Walk on the wall of Uruk, follow its course around the city, inspect its mighty foundations, examine its brickwork, how masterfully it is built. Observe the land it encloses: the palm trees, the gardens, the orchards, the glorious palaces and temples, the shops and marketplaces, the houses, the public squares''

You cannot get anything older than this nor more contemporary – the quest for immortality, fame, power or whatever you wish to call it, the struggle in man's soul between god and animal, the conquest of Nature, perceived as evil by the forces of civilisation, and the disasters consequent upon this, the sex act not only as a civilising agent but symbolic of mystery and glory, and finally, returning home and seeing the city as if for the first time, life begins to make sense for the hero and he realizes the wisdom of living for the day.

Gilgamesh it seems was an historical figure who flourished around 2800 B.C. He was best known as a builder of cities and legends began to accrue around him. Noah's Flood it appears was due to the first civilisations being constructed on high fertility flood plains (the mouths of the Nile, Tigris and Euphrates respectively, while the initial appearance of Gilgamesh as a tyrant, sexual predator and employer of forced labour, is a reflection of early state formation which sees the first governments as something akin to the modern mafia. Go to this documentary for the background -
http://thepiratebay.se/torrent/7720575/Secrets_of_Ancient_Empires

This is narrated by Richard Pasco, reading the translation by N.K.Sandars. It is very well done though occasionally the listener may feel the use of a de-esser would have been useful. I will be uploading the Stephen Mitchell version in a few weeks time. Kindly seed as I will only be able to do so for a limited time