In the beginning, according to Sumerian legend, the creator deity Enlil separated Heaven and Earth and formed the natural world. He then appointed the god Enki to form the world of men. Enki, from his great temple at Nippur, became the first teacher of all the arts and crafts. Some men, such as the hero Gilgamesh, became so skilful at creation that they sought to challenge the gods, even to become immortal. The story of Gilgamesh is the first great epic of mortality wherein the heroic triumph of man over the gods of nature is accompanied by the tragedy of death.
The gods of nature (the baal) are envious of Gilgamesh, the mythical builder-king of ancient Mesopotamia. He conquers the forests and transforms the holiest trees into valuable timbers for the first great cities. But the hero, for all his strength and skill, is still a mortal man and not a god. His triumph does not mean that he can escape the tragedy of death. Such is the price of civilization: the separation of men from gods, of men from nature, and of some men from others.
Mysteries of the Carpenter 