Further, both men have built lots of their reputations by building large and impressive structures. The Epic starts with a description of the king’s accomplishments, highlighting a great wall around the city, “He built the walls of ramparted Uruk,” (p.3:11) and a treasury for the goddess Ishtar, “The lustrous treasury of hallowed Eanna!” (p.3:12). The text considers the wall and Eanna, the treasury, so important and impressive that it encourages the reader to
(preferably go and see, or if not,) imagine the dimensions and material that made up the imposing structures. So important does the text consider the wall that it bookends the epic with it. When Gilgamesh returned from the final journey, he told Ur-Shanabi, a travelling partner, “Go
up...pace
