T) The narrow streets are becoming noisy with the New Year's festivities. The Sumerians celebrate the new year in what people in your time would call the month of April. Statues of Inanna, the goddess of love and fertility are paraded throughout the streets. You remember your father telling you that the New Year belongs to Inanna. "Wow,” you say out loud, "there must be hundreds of different gods and goddesses.". "Over three thousand, actually.” someone behind you says. It's the old traveler! "Young one, I have not told you my identity. I am Ori, a priest of this great city-state of Ur. I have wandered through many lands, but have now returned." As the two of you walk through the busy streets, Ori tells you stories of his travels, as well as many myths. He tells you tales of an ancient paradise known as Dilmun, and a legendary hero called Utnapishtim, who survived a great flood. As night begins to fall, Ori leads you through the great Court of Nanna to the mighty Ziggurat of Ur. Colorful mosaics adorn the enormous mud brick structure. Ori leads you up the endless stairway to the top of the ziggurat. You are a little nervous, because you have never been up so high. As the moon rises high in the night sky, and the sound of new year's celebrations echo below, you feel a great sense of peace. Ori, sensing your peace, declares, "This is why our shrine to the moon god Nanna-Sin is up high. You can think and pray without disturbance from below." Even though Ori is a member of the top social level, and you only belong to the second, you feel that the two of you could become friends.
THE END