Religion and Humanity in Mesopotamian Myth and Epic

Religion and Humanity in Mesopotamian Myth and Epic
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date: 22 December 2022
Death
Along with the capacity for supernatural deeds, it is the immortality of deities that most clearly 
distinguishes the divine and human spheres of existence; yet even in the literary presentation of 
death, the boundaries between the divine and mortal realms are blurred. As noted by Sasson, in 
some myths deities die, and at times in epic, heroes ascend to the heavens.
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 Despite the 
imprecision of the subject, death and mortality are crucial themes for understanding the complex 
dynamics between human and deities in myth and epic. In comparison to the timespans inhabited 
by theistic figures, the brevity of mortal lives contributes to the hierarchical structure of human 
and divine relations.
The wide variety of sources for ancient Mesopotamian views on death and the afterlife, including 
ritual texts, lamentations, magic and medical texts, omens, hymns, and prayers, creates 
conflicting accounts of how the afterlife experience was conceived. Although outside of the focus 
on myth and epic, it is important to note the variability in the presentation of “life” after death in 
different ancient sources; for example, Barret has shown that a gloomy view of an unhappy 
afterlife, found in some Mesopotamian mythic narratives, is not reflected in the rich 
archaeological record accessed through the analysis of grave goods.
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 The varied nature of the 
sources on the Mesopotamian afterlife may reflect diversity in its conception in ancient times. 
The suggestion of afterlife skepticism in some texts (as noted by Katz
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) implies some variance in 
conceptions of death and the existence (or otherwise) that followed the perishing of the body.
The experience of the netherworld shows variability even within the course of a mythical 
composition. In the Sumerian narrative of 
Gilgamesh, Enkidu and the Netherworld
, Gilgamesh and 
Enkidu have a discussion about the things Enkidu has seen in the netherworld. Enkidu relays to 
Gilgamesh the fates in the afterlife of different categories of people, in response to his friend’s 
questioning.
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 In Enkidu’s description, the fates of people in the afterlife are closely related to 
their activities and status while living. The importance of family for a relatively happy and 
comfortable experience of the netherworld is a recurring theme of the dialogue.
The underworld and the terrestrial realm were not entirely separate spheres; some amount of 
penetrability was tolerated between the two territories. Behaviors in the upper world had 
significant consequences for those below, and ghosts and demons were thought capable of rising 
periodically and haunting or otherwise interfering with living mortals. For the inhabitants of both 
the upper and lower worlds, actions that “crossed over” could be beneficial or harmful. Good 
mourning practices in the upper world resulted in a happier afterlife for those below, and dead 
relatives and loved ones could be consulted by the living for supernatural advice. Death was 
perceived as a gradual weakening of the connections that bound the deceased person to the land 
of the living, rather than as an abrupt and complete end.
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While deities in Mesopotamian literature are generally immortal and free from human concerns 
such as illness and aging, the immortality of deities is not presented in absolute terms. As seen 
above, death is possible for deities, although their deaths tend to be violent rather than caused by 
illness or age, and their experience of death is not always as permanent as the death of humans.
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