Immortality Through Legacy

I was deep into my current read when my mind drifted. When was the first book ever written? What was the first story that truly gripped people, the one that refused to be forgotten?

That question took me back, far back, to ancient Mesopotamia, where stories were not just written but painstakingly carved into clay tablets. The first known book, in the sense of a written narrative, was The Epic of Gilgamesh. This ancient masterpiece was not printed or bound but etched into stone over 4000 years ago.

Calling it just a story does not do it justice. This is not some dusty old myth lost to time; it is humanity’s first great narrative. At its heart, Gilgamesh is about power, friendship, loss, and the endless search for meaning. It wrestles with the same questions we still ask ourselves. What does it mean to be human? How do we deal with mortality? What kind of legacy do we leave behind?

What makes it even more fascinating is the transformation at the core of the story. Gilgamesh starts off as an unchecked ruler, feared more than respected. Then he meets someone who changes him and challenges him. He sets off on grand adventures, defies gods, and tries to outrun fate. But his greatest journey is not through distant lands; it is the internal battle, the painful but necessary path to self-awareness, that truly defines him.

It is astonishing to think that thousands of years ago, long before modern philosophy, people were already grappling with these same existential dilemmas. The world has changed in ways those ancient scribes could never have imagined, yet human nature has remained strikingly familiar. We still crave connection. We still fear the unknown. We still struggle to accept that life is fleeting.

And that is why The Epic of Gilgamesh is not just a relic; it is a bridge to the past. These words, carved into clay so long ago, have outlived their authors, their civilizations, and even entire eras of history. And yet, here we are, still reading them, still finding pieces of ourselves in them.

The only way to achieve immortality is to live a legacy worth leaving.