Writing Resources
The first work is The Epic of Gilgamesh an epic poem composed by an anonymous group of authors from ancient Mesopotamia This story follows Gilgamesh the King of Uruk and his struggle to avoid death and his obsession with his own inevitable mortality The depiction of the underworld in this epic comes from the nightmares of a dying Enkidu In these nightmares Enkidu is snatched by a creature with hands like lions and nails like an eagle's talons turned into a dove and led to the underworld termed The House of Darkness Enkidu describes the underworld house where those who enter do not come out along the road of no return to the house where those who dwell do without light where dirt is their drink their food is of clay where like a bird they wear garments of feathers and light cannot be seen they dwell in the dark and upon the door and bolt there lies dust The Epic of Gilgamesh Lines 161 167 Here Enkidu observed royal crowns tossed aside and gathered in heaps the royals whom the crowns belonged and who had once ruled the land now served Anu and Enlil cooked meats
