Gilgamesh and Tablets - Final

OK, this is the last picture I have.
First, basic info:
Materials:
Book:
Copper, brass, and silver sheet: 18 gauge.
Assorted gauges of brass and copper wire.
Brass and copper tube, assorted sizes.
Tablets:
Plain old clay, bisqued and rubbed with a paste of various iron oxides for color.

Techniques used: Stamping, Roller-printing, Riveting, Soldering, Etching, and various hammering techniques.

Time to make: No clue as far as hours go, but I spent every waking moment for three weeks in the metalsmithing lab. Left home at 10:30, got home between 8:00 and 10:00 depending on the day.

Size:
Box: Measurements taken with box lying on its back (like in the picture).
5.5 inches wide.
6 inches long.
1.5 inches deep.
Clasps: slightly over 1 inch long.

Tablets: Measurements taken with tablets lying on their backs (like in the picture).
Plain tablet: 3.75 inches wide, 4.75 inches long, .25 inches deep.
Face tablet: 3.75 inches wide, 4.25 inches long, 1 inch deep.

Photography thanks to Otto: [link]

Ok, now for the explanation:
Our instructor told us to create something based on the idea of what happens when you take an everyday object and put it in an extraordinary context, or conversely, if you make something extraordinary and make it ordinary. We were also required to use one non-metal substance (i.e. found object)
I started thinking about how throughout my life I had always been an avid reader, and what would happen if suddenly it was near impossible for me to understand the words written in the books I love. I started thinking about where the words came from, and this made me think of cuneiform, one of the oldest known forms of writing, and through this, the Epic of Gilgamesh, one of the oldest known legends.
Thus, my piece: A box, shaped like a book, made of metal because this is a metal-smithing class, with the cuneiform alphabet etched onto the front, and the evolution of the alphabet, starting with Cuneiform, progressing through Phoenician, Old Greek, Etruscan, and finally, English Italics. The word it spells: Gilgamesh. Inside, I placed two ceramic tablets, both containing some of the original cuneiform writing from the tablets that the Epic of Gilgamesh was originally found on, and a half-portrait inspired by an ancient gold sculpture portraying Gilgamesh.
Why? It's all about immortality. Gilgamesh was searching for a way to make himself immortal, and at the end of the Epic, he finally realized that the only way he would live forever would be in the memories of the people following him. These words, written in clay tablets, so easily destroyed, and indeed, several tablets were destroyed and much of the tale was lost, nevertheless managed to survive thousands and thousands of years to our present day, where we learn about it in school. And isn't it extraordinary that something as common as an ancient fairytale survived when recorded on so fragile a medium?