Enki roared, Nanshe closed her eyes, and Ishtar sighed toward the heavens. The instant the sky sealed shut completely, their figures gradually began to blur.
What Gilgamesh had sealed with the Key was the very concept of "gods" in Mesopotamia. Gods in the sky and gods upon the earth alike would all be encompassed by this seal.
This was a method Annanu and Enkidu could not have used while they were alive. If they had entered a state of oneness with the Key back then, it would ultimately have triggered an immensely terrifying possibility—one that could even bring the entire world to its end.
Thus, only after their deaths could this absolute seal be invoked through the hands of their dear friend, Gilgamesh.
From this point onward, for Mesopotamia, though mystery still remained and the age was still the Age of Gods, the rule of the gods had come to an end.
This was the true Age of Man.
A brand-new age ushered in by Gilgamesh, Annanu, and Enkidu—
So, who was Annanu?
He was one of the "strongest men" spoken of by King Gilgamesh, a messenger of the heavens who had ultimately become a hero standing against the heavens.
Naturally, his ending suited that of a hero as well. He died in the conspiracy of the gods, alongside his younger brother Enkidu.
Yet he established for Uruk the first recorded "army" in human history—not a militia, but a fully professional "army" charged with protecting the city-state, though later the uses of "armies" were mostly—
He and Enkidu—one gave Uruk valor, the other gave Uruk wisdom. Even hundreds or thousands of years later, their names were still sung, until the civilization of Mesopotamia's era was utterly swept away by the tides of human civilization.
Ereshkigal's tears had already run dry.