When did the epic of Gilgamesh occur?

The earliest Sumerian poems are now considered to be distinct stories rather than constituting a single epic (Dalley 1989: 45). They date from as early as the Third_Dynasty_of_Ur(2150-2000 BC) (Dalley 1989: 41-42). The earliest Akkadian versions are dated to the early second millennium (Dalley 1989: 45), most likely in the eighteenth or seventeenth century BC, when one or more authors used existing literary material to form the epic of GilgameshAnswers.com. The "standard" Akkadian version, consisting of 12 tablets, was edited by Sin-liqe-unninnisometime between 1300 and 1000 BC and was found in the library of Ashurbanipalin Nineveh.