He had wisdom and a comely face, he will not come again;
He is gone into the mountain, he will not come again;
On the bed of fate he lies, he will not rise again,
From the couch of many colours he will not come again.

—lament for the death of Gilgamesh, the world’s last great ruler. From The Epic of Gilgamesh, circa. 3000 BC, translated by N.K. Sandars, 1960.