Gilgamesh Tablet XII: THE END

"It was the cry of the dead that seized and held him. He did not fall in battle. It was the cry" (p 88) With these words it is that we say our last farewells to Gilgamesh. As Gilgamesh desperately cries in vain to the gods to salvage him, the house of the dead slowly swallows him in. This ending surprised me. Gilgamesh, wanting to live eternally, ends up driving himself to his own death. However, since the the dead are still alive in the netherworld, according to the descriptions, Gilgamesh reunites with Enkidu. It took me some time to figure out this part. Because some events are skipped between tablets XI-XII, the beginning of tablet XI was little unclear. This, however, was all more comprehensible after the text stated that "The Cry has seized my servant,Enkidu,whom I sent to bring me back from the world down there" (p 89). This let me understand why it was that all of a sudden Gilgamesh was speaking with Enkidu and why he had end up in the netherworld. Returning to Gilgamesh getting consumed by the underworld, Gilgamesh's rebellious attitude towards what he was specifically told not to do, reminded me of how childish and immature he can be. Previously, Gilgamesh has changed thanks to Enkidu, yet he seems to have gone back to being his old self. So finally, Gilgamesh comes to an end trapped in the underworld without consolation. Gilgamesh went straight to the underworld without physically dying. The story of Gilgamesh was probably told throughout the ancient world and with time, it was modified into other similar texts.

Because this is one of the first texts in literature, it gives this piece an increased value. Texts like these not only let us look at the evolution of literature, but also they are like doors into the past. They allow us to have a closer look on the people who wrote it first and let us see the world the way that they saw it. In conclusion, the many stories in this ancient text and their similarity with texts after it are mind blowing. Studying these pieces allow us to see how civilizations have influenced further accomplishments.