Death and Hope

Dear readers!

I know that even seeing the two words above side-by-side causes a shiver in the human heart and mind. Imagine a patient on their deathbed. No matter the patient's age, illness, gender, or religious belief, the hope of living never fades. No matter how pessimistic the patient is, and no matter how dark their soul, a tiny glimmer of hope always winks at them. They cling to that light. Merciless darkness may have enveloped their entire body, but their mind clutches desperately at the light of hope.

When we look at the sky on a cloudless night, there are stars twinkling far away, as if about to disappear. For a patient on their deathbed, clinging to life is like these flickering lights. A hope always flickers in their heart. They struggle between returning to life, continuing life with their loved ones, and surrendering their body to the darkness.

These days, millions of people around the world are on their deathbeds due to the coronavirus pandemic, clinging desperately to the hope of living. Of course, people don't die only because of coronavirus. Thousands of types of diseases, old age, accidents, wars, and suicides snatch people away from this world.

Even a patient in the final stage of cancer does not give up hope. They cling to the tiny flickering light in the darkness, that is, hope, and ask for help. Even someone committing suicide, when they put the noose around their neck, or hold the gun to their head, or take a high dose of medication, or go out to sea and abandon themselves to death, they still think that there is a glimmer of hope that will bring them back to life at the last moment. Even as their body dangles from the rope, they have not yet given up hope.

What about the mentally ill? If you think they don't cling to life with all their might, you are mistaken. In their own worlds, they are normal and attached to life. They see living as a right. All they expect from us is respect and understanding. Let's not begrudge them that much.

Humanity was born with wars, developed with them, and continues to exist with wars. Do you know what was done when a death warrant was issued for the extermination of civilians captured in war, in times before firearms? Old, young, and children alike, the populace would be lined up single file on the edge of a cliff. The executioner would mercilessly bring down his sword on the head of the civilian who came forward, knelt, and voluntarily bowed their neck. As the severed head rolled into the deep abyss, another executioner would powerfully kick the headless body, sending it tumbling into the same chasm.

Imagine yourself for a moment as someone waiting in that line. Your loved ones are being butchered one by one, annihilated, and your turn is coming. Even at such a moment, with every step you take towards the executioner, the hope within you diminishes but never dies out. Who knows, even as your head rolls into the abyss, the thought of hope might still be in your mind. As if this weren't enough, the executioner, tired from beheading, calls out to his friend: "I'm dead from exhaustion! You continue!"

Yes, the real one who dies is the executioner. The victim, hearing this and waiting their turn on their knees, feels remorse for tiring the executioner. This is humanity!

Humanity's desire for immortality extends to the infinity of history. However, it was only in the time of the Sumerians (4000 BCE) that this feeling could first be conveyed to us through writing.

BENGİ SU

The Turkish meaning of the word "Bengi" is "Eternity." Bengi Su (Water of Eternity) is a water such that whoever drinks it lives forever. In daily life, the expression Ab-ı Hayat, or Water of Life, is most commonly used. According to holy books, the first to drink Bengi Su were Prophets Moses and Khidr. Bengi Su, which finds a place in almost all world mythologies, is a drink that makes people immortal. This concept, just like in the Epic of Gilgamesh which you will read below, originated in Sumerian culture and was passed down to subsequent generations.

Those who drink Bengi Su become young again and attain immortality. It gushes from the roots of the tree of life, flowing as a river or stream. Metaphorically, Bengi Su symbolizes wisdom, leaving lasting works, and goodness. It resurrects the dead, gives strength and power to those who drink it. It heals the sick. It is also interesting that in many civilizations there is a common belief in such a water of life, often developing independently of each other.

GILGAMESH IN SEARCH OF IMMORTALITY

For millions of years, humanity lived a primitive life among the branches of trees, like monkeys. Their first shelter and home were trees. When they learned to make tools and walk on two feet, they dared to live in caves because they had spears and cutting tools to protect themselves against wild animals. When they learned agriculture, they learned to build houses. In fact, houses alone were enough to protect humankind from wild animals. But the problem was different! The philosopher Hobbes says: "Man is wolf to man."

The enemy of man, who learned to build houses, was no longer wild animals, but other humans. To protect themselves against them, they then built small villages from houses constructed side-by-side, and from villages, they formed city-states. They surrounded cities with huge walls to secure themselves against attacks from other people. Later, city-states united to form states and empires. As you can understand, the development of civilization, in a sense, happened thanks to wars between people. Isn't that a terrible paradox? Should we pray for wars to break out so that humanity and civilization can advance?

The Epic of Gilgamesh emerged in the city-state named Uruk, founded on the banks of the Euphrates River within the borders of present-day Iraq, and was carved into stone tablets with cuneiform script.

An English officer named Henry Rawlinson first succeeded in reading the cuneiform script used by the Sumerians in 1844. Thus, information about the first civilizations began to come to light. Another Englishman, archaeologist George Smith, one of the pioneers of Assyriology, published the first modern translation of the Epic of Gilgamesh by reading stone tablets in the 1870s.

Gilgamesh is the name of the king of the land of Uruk. After the death of his beloved friend Enkidu, Gilgamesh no longer cares about being king, his wealth, or his magnificent palace. His only desire is to be immortal. He prefers to be poor but immortal rather than a mortal king. One day, he entrusts his kingdom to his relatives and sets out on a quest for immortality. He hears that someone named Ziusudra knows the secret of immortality. A long journey awaits him to find him.

Gilgamesh is determined. He will find Ziusudra and become immortal. His journey is long. One day, he finally arrives at an island called Tilmun. Ziusudra lives there with his wife. Ziusudra says he is 950 years old. He has been through a lot. He even witnessed the flood and managed to survive.

Ziusudra says:

"Gilgamesh, let me reveal a secret to you. Let me tell you the secret of the gods: Shuruppak, a city you know, is on the bank of the Euphrates. When this city was very old, the gods were near this city. The gods decided to make a flood."

Ziusudra continues his speech, detailing the flood. He tells how the gods saved him and his wife by building an ark and honored them with immortality. Gilgamesh is impatient:

"I also want to be immortal. What should I do?"

"First, manage to stay awake for seven days and seven nights without falling asleep, then ask for immortality!" he replies.

Gilgamesh is ready for this challenge, but no matter what he does, he succumbs to sleeplessness. Ziusudra makes his final decision:

"You couldn't endure seven days of sleeplessness. Your desire for immortality is too great!" he says, refusing to give him the secret of immortality.

As Gilgamesh sadly leaves the island, Ziusudra's wife pleads with her husband to offer a gift to Gilgamesh, who has come such a long and arduous way. Ziusudra says there is a plant at the bottom of the sea, and if he eats it, he will remain young forever. Gilgamesh ties stones to his feet, walks on the seabed, and finds the described herb. Before eating it, he decides to test it on an old man when he returns to the city of Uruk to see if what was said is true. He is tired and exhausted. He hasn't washed for months. He falls asleep.

The gods do not want to bestow immortality upon an unclean human. A snake crawls towards Gilgamesh, takes the herb, and carries it away. When Gilgamesh wakes up, he cannot find the herb but finds a snakeskin next to him, realizing that the snake has eaten the herb of immortality. Gilgamesh cries for days. He returns to the city of Uruk in despair. The god speaks:

"You will never find the immortality you seek. Death was given to you as a part of you when you were born. Accept it, do not resist and tire yourself in vain, O son of man! You will die, but your works will live on!"

In short, we humans are born with the hope of not dying, and we die with the hope of living. The only thing that will remain of us mortals, as the gods said, will be our WORKS.