Q) You decide to enter through the main gates, after all, you are not an invader. You tie your onager to a post under the shade of the eastern wall. Carrying your goods, you stride toward the guarded main gate, trying to look confident. The soldiers at the gate are dressed in woolen cloaks dyed red, and carry bronze-tipped spears. Each one also wears a bronze helmet. You step into a long line of people waiting to enter the great city-state. Some carry sacrifices of grain and barley beer for the moon-god of Ur, Nanna-Sin. You have heard about the magnificent ziggurat to this powerful deity of Ur. It is very hot and many people obviously haven't washed in weeks. After several hours, it is your turn to enter the city. A guard says, "Halt! Why do you enter the city-state of our great king Ur-Nammu and our great god Nanna-Sin?" You tremble as you try to explain that you are on a trading mission from the city-state of Lagash. Since there is no war at the moment with Lagash, the guard grants you passage through the gate. You are now in the Court of Nanna. People move back and forth like bees in a beehive. You see people from all three of the social levels, Priests, soldiers, scribes, merchants, farmers, teachers, and of course slaves captured from other city-states during times of war.

Do you?

S) TRADE YOUR GOODS

T) WALK TOWARD THE GREAT ZIGGURAT OF UR

START OVER

copyright Jay D'Ambrosio 1998