Pg. 42: Death is a Regression

pg. 42 (6 verses) “No one comes back who ever enters there. ... dead chanters and anointers, bearers of ointments;”

Enkidu’s perceives his transition from living to the dead not as transcending his plane of existence, but as a permanent regression. Upon his death, Enkidu is forced on a garment of feathers, a spiritual statement of his death, as feathers are associated with birds who are used to symbolize the departure of a soul from an earthly body. He is not just stripped of his humanity, but his human form and is now regarded as a lesser being. From the verse, the dead are perceived with low regard and are considered inferior to humans and even nature. Evidence for that is how Enkidu describes the "food they eat is clay, the drink is dirt" because the luxury to eat anything cultivated or organic is no longer possible. Enkidu acknowledges that in the Underworld, he will lose his identity and distinction, as kings and chanters alike were sentenced to the same fate despite their disparity in social status. This is idea supplemented by how humans originated from clay and since the dead can only feed on clay, it is a circular reminder of their baser origins. So regardless of hierarchy in civilization, humans were all created the same way and upon their end, will end up in the same place.

The verse of how “stillness and dust are on the door and door bolt” reveals that human technology, although present in the underworld, is pointless. The stillness and dust can imply that those items have been untouched or even ignored by the dead. This additionally contributes to the idea that the dead are of lesser entities, as they cannot recognize and use man-made products, therefore have lost their ability to form thoughts and make rationale decisions. Although animals do not possess human logic, they are curious by nature and would have at least touched or approached those objects, but the dead just ignore them. The door’s presence can be viewed as a mockery to the dead, who no longer capable of independent thinking and the helplessness of their situation. Enkidu also comments how "there is no light of any sort at all" in the Underworld, which represents a loss of vitality. Without light there is no nourishment or growth, just an atmosphere of perpetual darkness and inactivity; any hope for development is impossible. Death is an inevitable regression, as all mortals will lose their human form, identity, comforts, rationale, and need for progress.