Read the following excerpt from the Epic of Gilgamesh. What does the phrase "this was the king who knew the countries of the world" suggest about the kind of government Gilgamesh ruled over? I will proclaim to the world the deeds of Gilgamesh. This was the man to whom all things were known; this was the king who knew the countries of the world. He was wise, he saw mysteries and knew secret things…When the gods created Gilgamesh they gave him a perfect body. Shamash the glorious sun endowed him with beauty…surpassing all others, terrifying like a great wild bull. Two thirds they made him god and one third man. The Epic of Gilgamesh
a. The government was a democracy.
b. The government was a monarchy.
c. The government was a patriarchy.
d. The government was a theocracy.

In the Epic of Gilgamesh, the gods believe that the great king is too proud and arrogant, so they decide to teach him a lesson by sending the wild man, Enkidu, to humiliate him. The fight between Enkidu and Gilgamesh is considered a couple by the population, but, after a fierce battle, Enkidu is defeated. He freely accepts his defeat and the two become friends and embark on adventures together.

Gilgamesh is the semi-mythical king of Uruk in Mesopotamia, best known for the Epic of Gilgamesh (written in the period between 2150 and 1400 BC), the great Sumerian poetic work that is 1500 years before Homer's writing and , therefore, it is the oldest work of world epic literature.

The reason for the search for the meaning of life is fully explored in Gilgamesh when the hero-king leaves his kingdom after the death of his best friend, Enkidu, to find the mystical figure Utnapishtim and obtain eternal life.

Gilgamesh's fear of death is actually a fear of meaninglessness and, although he fails to gain immortality, the search itself gives meaning to his life. This theme has been explored by writers and philosophers from ancient times to the present day.