The Ballad of Early Rulers, an Ubi Sunt originally of Sumerian origin but with a life into the first millennium BCE. This rendering is from Yoram Cohen’s Wisdom From the Late Bronze Age and combines copies from Emar and Ugarit with further supplements from the Old Babylonian Sumerian Standard Version. Which is to say it’s a fictional patchwork that reads better than the individual fragmentary versions.

1 The fates are determined by Ea,
2 The lots are drawn according to the will of the gods,
3 Since always so it was.
4 Has it never been heard from the mouth of (our) predecessor(s)?
5 Above these were the kings… (the rest is corrupt)
6 Above the houses of their dwelling, below their house of eternity.
7 Like the distant heaven, nobody can reach (them),
8 Like the depths of the Netherworld, nobody can know (them),
9 Life is but a swivel of the eye,
10 Life of mankind cannot [last] forever.
11 Where is Alulu who reigned for 36,000 years?
12 Where is Entena who went up to the sky?
13 Where is Gilgameš who sought (eternal) life like (that of) Ziusudra?
14 Where is Huwawa who was subdued when bowing down (to
Gilgameš)?
15 Where is Enkidu who was famous in his strength [throughout the
land]?
16 Where is Bazi? Where is Zizi?
17 Where are they—the great kings (Ugarit Version I) // Where are the
great kings from past days up to now (Emar Version)?
18 They are not (anymore) engendered, are not born.
19 Life without light—how can it be better than death?
20 Young man let me teach you truly about (the nature of) your god.
21 Chase away grief from depression; have nothing to do with silence.
22 In exchange for a single day of happiness let pass a time of silence of
tens of thousands of days. (Ug. and Emar combined)
23 May Siraš rejoice over me as if over her little child!
24 Thus the fates of mankind are established

And for some orientation here’s a selection of Cohen’s commentary:

The Ballad of Early Rulers begins by stating that ever since the fates were determined by Ea life is transient and not meant to last forever. The poem then offers a list of early illustrious rulers. The reader is asked to question what their fate was in spite of their heroic deeds. Did these rulers ever reach immortality? Alulu, Entena, Gilgameš, Bazi, and Zizi, in spite of the fact that none like these past rulers are born anymore, were eventually mortal, so we are to understand.

As has been made evident by several scholars, the list of The Ballad of Early Rulers rests heavily on Mesopotamian scholarly and historiographical traditions, particularly on the Sumerian King List and, as will be seen, The Epic of Gilgameš. Alulu of The Ballad of Early Rulers can be identified with Alulim from the city of Eridu, the first king of the antediluvian section in the Sumerian King List. Alulim or, in his Akkadian rendering, Ayyalu is also known from the Uruk List of Kings and Sages, where he is mentioned in the company of the famous sage Adapa. Otherwise Alulu is also known as a magic power called upon to ward away pests in several incantations.

Following Alulu in The Ballad of Early Rulers is Entena, or, as he is better known to us, Etana King of Kiš, who also appears in the Sumerian King List. The mention of Etana’s ascent to heaven in The Ballad of Early Rulers (l. 12, partly preserved in the Sumerian Standard Version) refers to the mythological story The Epic of Etana. As in The Ballad of Early Rulers, the Sumerian King List speaks of “Etana, the shepherd, who ascended to heaven.”

After Kiš, the Sumerian King List informs us that kingship passed on to Uruk, whose most famous king was Gilgameš. As in the Sumerian King List, so in The Ballad of Early Rulers, it is Gilgameš who follows Etana. Both kings failed to reach immortality but were somewhat compensated for their brave but futile attempt when they achieved a place in the Netherworld as venerated figures.

Once Gilgameš is mentioned in The Ballad of Early Rulers, other characters known from his Epic show up. First comes Ziusudra, better known as Atra(m)-ḫasīs or Utnapištim, the only person to have reached immortality in Mesopotamian literary tradition. He is followed by Huwawa, Gilgameš’s adversary, and then by Enkidu, the hero’s companion.

The next two characters, Bazi and Zizi, are mentioned only in the Emar version. They are missing from Ugarit Version I (which mentions Enkidu and then jumps to line 17) and the Sumerian Standard Version. Nonetheless, in spite of what has repeatedly been claimed in the scholarly literature, both characters were not inserted in the list by scribes from Emar.

Like other early rulers of The Ballad of Early Rulers, Bazi and Zizi are also found in the Sumerian King List. Known from a recension of the Sumerian King List found at Tel Leilan (an ancient site located in the Habur Triangle), they are included in the section of the list dedicated to the kings of Mari. Like many other pre-Sargonic kings of the Sumerian King List, Bazi and Zizi were legendary figures of probably no historical background.