The Quest for Immortality and the Transience of Life in Ancient Mesopotamia

This article examines the concept of mortality and immortality in ancient Mesopotamian literature. It starts from the analysis of the Epic of Gilgameš and discusses the centrality of the death of Enkidu as the key event of the story which determines the development of the second part of the epic, i.e. Gilgameš’ quest for immortality. Analysing anthropogenies and other literary passages, the article con- siders the relationship between death and humanity, in particular death (“counted days”) as a feature of humankind and the impossibility of the latter to gain immor- tality. In the conclusions, it deals with the Mesopotamian view on transience of life, with a particular focus on the futility of heroic deeds and enterprises in wisdom literature.