Gilgamesh and the Inevitable Time has been very kind to the Epic of Gilgamesh. Four thousand years after its inscription upon clay tablets, the story still has the power to move us, to help us contemplate what it means to be human. Its perspective of death is both humbling and powerful. For death is without an era. It is without a period. It is without a kingdom. It is without time. All that are given …showed first 75 words of 1449 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1449 total…will inevitably die opens the door to our humanity. For if we were granted immortality, everlasting life in its absence of anger, fear, pain, remorse, sorrow, and love would be meaningless. The Epic of Gilgamesh conveys this universal truth. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ **Bibliography** Sandar, N.K.,trans. The Epic Gilgamesh.London:Penguin, 1972 Watts, Alan W. The Way of Zen. New York: Vintage, 1957 Oppenheim, A. Leo. Ancient Mesopotamia:Portrait of a Dead Civilization. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1964