I rather like how the story is bookended. After everything that happens, it ends with Gilgamesh reciting an excerpt from the beginning to Ur-Shanabi the boatman:
Go up, Ur-Shanabi, pace out the walls of Uruk.
Study the foundation terrace and examine the brickwork.
Is not its masonry kiln-fired brick?
And did not seven masters lay its foundations?
One square mile of city, one square mile of gardens,
One square mile of clay pits, a half square mile of Ishtar's dwelling.
Three and a half square miles is the measure of Uruk!
This was after Gilgamesh, fearing death, tried to gain immortality and failed. He's back to his town, but he's not afraid any more. I loved this poignant ending: he's not bitter; cities are there to stay through buildings (walls) and society (agricultural production, religion); meaning we cannot gain immortality as individuals, but what we achieve as a collective outlasts us.
thats a great point-- I never realised it in my reading.
An I suppose Gilgamesh the epic survived, even though the culture/civilisation that created it died out. Which just goes to show that immortality is possible for beautiful ideas/stories, just not for humans
Go up, Ur-Shanabi, pace out the walls of Uruk.
Study the foundation terrace and examine the brickwork.
Is not its masonry kiln-fired brick?
And did not seven masters lay its foundations?
One square mile of city, one square mile of gardens,
One square mile of clay pits, a half square mile of Ishtar's dwelling.
Three and a half square miles is the measure of Uruk!