[Infrastructure] After being mistaken for a god

As a history student studying the history of Western Asia, Yinan has of course heard the name "Dumuz".

The person with this name is one of the ancient kings listed in the Sumerian king list, who once ruled Sumer for a long time.He is also known as "Fun" or "Shepherd God"-most historians tend to think that he is a mythical figure.

He also has another identity, the justifiable husband of the Venus goddess Inanna: Dumuzi was originally a human being, but the reason why Dumuzi jumped from a "shepherd" to the king of Sumer and was further promoted to a god was precisely because he got He was "favored" by Inanna and was chosen by Inanna, so he became a king and then a god.

In the mythology, Inanna and Dumuzi are definitely a couple who love and hate each other, and scumbag teammates who cheat each other.

Earlier in Bader Village, Dumuzi probably saw Yinan’s painful expression, and he couldn’t remember his “Amausumgarana” Yinan.So Dumuzi only told Yi Nan his name, which was simplified to one syllable——Du.

And Yinan didn't think about that at all, so he made a mistake and directly pulled Dumuzi out to be the frame of reference for the buck-toothed youth.

At this moment, Yinan saw Dumuzi stand up amidst the jokes of the villagers, looking at him with strange eyes, and couldn't help but feel a fever on his face.

Unexpectedly, the shepherd youth immediately became discouraged, sat back, even turned his back to Yinan, and explained to the fellow villagers solemnly: "Nothing! Ms. Nan must have just said it casually..."

"Don't laugh at me, everyone, I'm just a shepherd..."

Yi Nan also lowered his head, his face finally stopped burning, and the blush subsided.She was finally able to deal with other villagers with a normal attitude.

At this moment, beside her, there are several young men and women sitting, comforting their companions.

"I can't go to Uruk this year, maybe next year?"

A girl whimpered and wiped her tears: "Abba doesn't trust those priests anymore, and we won't be able to go to Uruk anymore."

"But I really want to see Uruk!"

Yi Nan asked curiously: "Who said that you can't go to Uruk to attend the New Year ceremony without the permission of the high priest?"

"If you ask me, young people should see the world and get to know people from other villages and city-states."

The girl stopped sobbing, and together with her companions, looked at Yinan in surprise.

"Anyway, I'm planning to go to Uruk." Yi Nan said with a smile, "If you want to, you may as well go on the road with me!"

When Yinan was in school, there was a sentence in the textbook called "Uruk, the mother of ten thousand cities" - which means: there are no cities in this world, and only after Uruk can there be cities.

Uruk is also a city that regards the goddess Inanna as a patron saint - the "Uruk culture" named after it is the most important part of Sumerian culture.

In modern times, Yinan still thought that if she had the opportunity, she would go to Uruk to see it for herself. Who would have thought that in 5500 BC, she would have the opportunity to lead a group of young men and women to Uruk to see its beauty. true face.

And she had to go.

It's not that Yi Nan has a deep obsession with Uruk, but that the witches and priests who control Uruk now are a bit too much.

These magic sticks put too much energy into pretending to be gods and ghosts, and using rituals for personal gain, and they don't think at all about seeking development for ordinary people.

They let the salinization of the fields become more and more serious, and the harvest declined without thinking of a solution;

They also failed to bring more progress to this civilization—Yinan watched people burn charcoal that could increase the temperature of the flame 500 years ago, but until now, the skill tree for smelting metals has not I don't know that I can't even see the shadow.If it continues like this, when will civilization continue to move forward?

In Yi Nan's view, these witches and priests, as well as ordinary people's blind worship of gods, are the heaviest burden on the shoulders of this civilization.

Because of this, she must go to Uruk to expose the methods of witches and priests face to face, and help the Sumerians establish an advanced political system suitable for their development.She is absolutely responsible for this.

"I interfered with the ceremony before, so that these young people could not go to Uruk with the priest to watch the ceremony. I will make up for it."

Yinan promised these villagers: "I will bring these young people to Uruk safely, and then send them back safely. Are you willing?"

Yi Nan was not sure how many people would be willing to join in the fun and go with her.

After all, she was just a foreign visitor of unknown origin, and she once disrupted the ceremony hosted by the high-ranking priest in public.

Unexpectedly, once she mentioned this idea, the villagers agreed one after another.

The fat Hamti, the thin Ake... Everyone looked at each other and smiled tacitly: "Since you have said so, my son and daughter, naturally I must obey your orders."

Yi Nan's eyes turned around their faces, very curious: My good guy, don't you have any objections at all?

"Then you can rest assured that I will take your children with you?"

The villagers twitched one by one and said, "After all, it's you..."

Their eyes flicked to and fro, looking for evidence in the crowd.Yi Nan followed their gazes and found that these guys were all staring at Dumuzi one by one.

Dumuzi was shrinking in the corner at this time, half leaning against the brick wall, holding the back of his head with his hands, holding a grass stalk in his mouth, half-squinting his eyes, and looking at everyone lazily.

Yi Nan wanted to stare at him: What did you say to everyone?

Dumuzi smiled and didn't answer, just reached out to scratch the little black dog lying beside him.

"But when do you plan to leave?" The veterans in the village looked a little worried, "We would like to ask you more about digging canals for irrigation... It's best to dig it out and ask you to take a look. No."

"No hurry! There are still seventy days before the New Year." Yi Nan was very calm.

"You...how do you know when the new year will come?" The crop handles looked at Yi Nan with surprise on their faces.

"This is actually not difficult..."

The villagers blinked at Yinan in surprise——

The shamans and priests all regarded the time as an oracle, and never shared the calendar with the public, how many days until the new year... How could Yi Nan say it was not difficult? !

But for Inan: it was too easy.

She had already learned from Dumuzi that it was the day of the vernal equinox that Uruk held the New Year's festival.This is consistent with her knowledge of the Sumerian calendar.

On the vernal equinox, the sun is at zero degrees ecliptic longitude and directly shines on the equator.The current position of the sun can be known through observation.

Yi Nan doesn't even need to be so troublesome. Although her watch can't use carbon 14 to locate the exact date and calculate the year, month and day in BC, it can complete the observation of the sun's angle - to calculate the distance from the vernal equinox in the next year How many days are left, that is a breeze.

"We just need to reach Uruk before the spring equinox," Inan said.

The watch reminded her that there are still more than two months before the vernal equinox.In the past two months, she can still do a lot of things.

As for the priests who hurriedly left the village, Yi Nan believes that they will continue to go to other villages within the influence area of ​​Uruk to hold rituals and receive gifts from their "fathers" .

—Maybe we can meet again.

Everything was discussed properly, and the villagers of the two villages felt at ease.In the square at the entrance of the village where the bonfire was shaking, the villagers beat the beat, danced, and sang while dancing.

Yi Nan listened, and felt that the tone was somewhat familiar.She lowered her head and thought about it, and suddenly realized that this should be the piece she taught Dan to play with leaves.

Now people have compiled it into a song, added lyrics, added harmony and tone change, and a simple melody immediately becomes rich and contains rich emotions.

"I heard that this is the song that the wizard Dan learned from the goddess Inanna back then. Everyone here can sing it."

At some point, Dumuzi had come to Yinan's side, carefully discerned her expression, and explained to her in a low voice.

"In your opinion, what kind of person is Wizard Dan...?" Yinan asked casually.

"Wizard Dan?" Dumuzi laughed and said without hesitation, "He is a great man! I heard that he treats any tribe that joins him equally. He makes pottery, burns bricks, farms, builds House...he never hides his secrets from anyone."

Yi Nan felt a little more relieved when she heard that, that was the Dan she knew, the frank Dan.It was different from today when she saw those so-called "high-ranking priests" who divided people into three, six, and nine classes, and played with people of all levels.

Dan's era has passed more than 1000 years, and witches and priests may not be suitable for the new era.

Dumuzi continued: "It is said that he was born the son of the leader, and he was instructed by the goddess at a young age, thus becoming the greatest witch in history."

"However, he chose to serve the goddess Inanna for life and dedicate his life to the goddess. I admire such perseverance and sincerity."

This was something Yi Nan didn't know before, and she was really taken aback when she heard about it.

"I can't compare this kind of life anyway." Dumuzi stared intently at the bonfire, and Yi Nan could see clusters of small flames dancing in his eyes.

"I raised sheep in the village of Bud since I was a child. After my family is gone, I sometimes think, if I have the same fate as Wizard Dan, can I become a person like him."

"Now?" Yi Nan crossed his arms and turned to look at him.She was still wearing the woolen waistcoat she had taken off from Dumuzi, which was quite warm in such a night.

"Now..." Dumuzi suddenly turned his face and stared at Yi Nan closely, "I'm not sure yet, I don't know if the goddess will look at me like the wizard Dan if she appears. But I think I ...I mean if I..."

He was still hesitant and unconfident, and even left room for himself in every sentence.

"But if I'm really lucky enough to have the same fortune as Wizard Dan, I think I will definitely do my best."

The young shepherd looked at Yi Nan sincerely, as if Yi Nan was the god he was most looking forward to appearing in his heart, and it seemed that he was expecting Yi Nan to give an answer.

Who knows that Yi Nan imitated his appearance just now, put his hands behind his head, leaned against the low wall behind him, didn't say anything more, just looked up at the starry sky, and after a long time sighed and said: "Maybe God is more I want you to think a little more about yourself."

The past events belonging to the young Dan made her worry more out of thin air.

Dumuzi didn't speak, but took a bone flute from his pocket and brought it to his mouth, then played it high and low.It happened to be the piece that Yi Nan taught Dan.

Dumuzi's playing skills are much better than Dan's, and the sound of the bone flute is clearer and louder than that of the leaves.But for some reason, Yinan still felt that he could hear the feeling when Dan played it back then. It seemed that this bone flute had the same emotion as that small leaf at the beginning.

Looking at the clear starry sky, she hesitated for a long time before she made up her mind and asked the young shepherd——

"Would you like to go to Uruk with me?"

The bone flute in Dumuzi's mouth froze immediately, and the music stopped abruptly.It's just that no one noticed it when it was mixed in the noisy voices.

Yi Nan didn't wait for a response.

Suddenly, there was a rustle of clothes around her, and Du Muzi turned over and ran away without even giving her an answer.

Yinan: ...What's the matter?

She didn't know that after hearing Yinan's invitation, the young shepherd ran directly to the borrowed sheepfold and counted his few remaining sheep over and over again. The number on the left was 37, and the number on the right was still 37. Only, after counting many times with the same result, the young man raised his head and took a deep breath:

He could finally believe it was true.

The next day, Yi Nan confronted the boys and girls who signed up for her "Uruk tour group".

Of course that majestic and mighty buck-toothed boy was not among them that day, and it was almost clear who the others came from: this is the young master of the Hamti family, and that is the younger brother of the Ake family... Even if you can’t recognize them one by one, On the shoulders of their linen robes, mostly, a mark was embroidered with dyed wool thread—something like the emblems of later families.

Yi Nan looked at Mo Ran: These are still marks, and have nothing to do with words.

She was a little depressed: she was already so close to the text, why did it seem like there was still a hurdle she couldn't get past?

But in this kind of matter, she can't completely do it for her. She can only find a suitable entry point and properly inspire it—otherwise, the boomerang that has gradually "degenerated" into an ornament is a very good example.

"I mainly want to meet and get to know you today. After all, I have to stay in the village for a few more days before leaving." Yinan introduced himself very politely.

"In the past few days, everyone can pay attention to what preparations should be made. If you have any questions about this trip, you can come and ask me."

"That's a good relationship," said the fat boy of Hamti's family, "Since we still have the opportunity to go to Uruk, and we will go by ourselves, let us take advantage of these few days to practice back exercises for two more days." Heavy things, go a long way!"

"It's the first time we've gone to a place so far away. We can't teach the people in Uruk to look down on us." The young man from the Ake family was older, thin and tall, and he seemed to need to practice weight-bearing even more.

"Backing heavy loads?" Yi Nan felt that he couldn't keep up with the opponent's brain circuit, "Why do you need to practice carrying heavy loads?"

"My dad said that if you carry a lot of heavy loads, calluses will develop on your shoulders and back, and it won't hurt if you grind it again. My dad asked me to carry more for everyone, after all, I eat a lot..." The fat boy was a little embarrassed to say that.

Yi Nan finally realized something: "You mean, when you go out to Uruk, you have to carry all the items you carry with you on your own back?"

The boys and girls looked at each other, nodded together, and said loudly to Yinan, "Why not?"

Even the girls said that, Yinan confirmed it without a doubt.But she immediately had a new question: "You go out, don't you have any animals, camels, luggage, or cars?"

"Car?" The young people looked at each other and said they had never heard of this term.

Yi Nan stretched out his hand and patted his head: "Who can tell me how did you go so far?"

Unexpectedly, she asked the wrong person, these young people had never traveled far, and running from one village to another was considered a long journey.

Yi Nan had to be taken by them, and then went to ask the elders in the village for advice, and finally figured out the way of transportation for the people in the village—people have two legs and animals have four legs.

The livestock raised in these Sumerian villages were mainly goats for meat, sheep for wool, and some cattle for transportation and farming.

Scalpers are very precious, and they are the sons of veterans during the busy farming season, so I wish I could hold them all.Only when there are villagers who want to go far away during the slack season and have too many things to carry, will they borrow a cow, pile the goods high on the cow's back, and then carefully lead the cow to other places.

Even so, everyone who goes out needs to carry heavy luggage. After all, they have to bring a lot of things when they go out: their own rations, tools for fetching water, flint, clothes, and goods to exchange with others...

It's no wonder that young people who have never experienced such hardships vowed to "exercise" for a while, so as not to be ashamed to go out without carrying their luggage.

As for the thing called "car" in Yi Nan's mouth, they had never heard of it.

So Yi Nan sat down cross-legged under the watchful eyes of everyone, with his chin resting on his hands, frowning and thinking.

She felt something was wrong——

Before arriving in this small village, she subconsciously felt that this civilization had already invented the "car".

However, as a student of history and at the same time performing such complex ancient observations, Yinan received special training earlier, striving to get rid of "preconceived" notions.

But she still thinks the Sumerians already had cars—why exactly.

Seeing Yi Nan like this, the boys and girls quickly imitated Yi Nan and sat down, frowning together and holding their chins.

If Yi Nan paid attention to them, he would definitely find them both cute and funny.But now she can't take care of these things, she can only think about one thing:

If a civilization did not invent the car, then the greatest possibility is that it did not invent the wheel.

The wheel seems very simple, but the invention of the wheel means that human civilization has taken a big step forward.

Some civilizations are very advanced in specific fields, such as the Mayan civilization in Mexico, whose calendar can be counted until 2012 thousands of years later, but they just failed to invent the wheel for thousands of years.

But for the Sumerians, Yinan had previously tacitly assumed that they already had wheels—what on earth caused her misunderstanding?

Yi Nan thought hard - the young people opposite her all frowned.

"By the way, potter's wheel!"

Yi Nan suddenly thought of it—she had seen round and regular shapes in both villages, and it looked like pottery processed by pottery wheels.

The pottery wheel is also a kind of wheel and is an important tool in pottery making.It is a horizontal platform that can rotate along the wheel axis, and the pottery wheel can be rotated to make the pottery embryo placed on it into a regular original shape.

She had seen pottery kilns and very mature pottery in the village of Bard, so she acquiesced that the Sumerians had already used pottery wheels in pottery-then correspondingly, the wheels and pottery wheels are exactly the same structure.The Sumerians had pottery wheels, so they should know how to use them!

But now it seems that the situation is not the case at all.

The potter's wheel is used as a horizontal platform, while the wheel is used vertically.There is a layer of diaphragm between the two tools, which has not been pierced.

Yi Nan slapped his head and asked the young man who was looking eagerly at her: "Which one of you has a potter's wheel, can you borrow it?"

"I have it at home! I'll get it now!"

Immediately, several young people agreed in one breath, and ran to their own homes. In a blink of an eye, they all hugged the dismantled pottery wheel and came to give it to Yinan.

Most of these pottery wheels are made from a circular tree trunk under the piece, a hole is dug in the middle, the wheel shaft is supported, and then it is turned to make it rotate.

The shapes of the pottery wheels are also different, and most of them are not perfectly round.Yinan picked left and right, and finally picked one that was almost a perfect circle, and the position of the wheel axis was also in the center of the circle.She wanted to find another one of the same size, but couldn't find it.

The boys and girls looked at Yinan eagerly, waiting for her to show them this "car" that could help them transport and hunch things.

Yi Nan couldn't make up a pair of wheels for a while.

She thought about it, and suddenly smiled: There is only one wheel, and it is also a wheel that can be used conveniently.

When introducing new things, we must strike while the iron is hot and see immediate results, so that the young people in front of us can see the results immediately.

One wheel is fine, what more do you need a two-wheeler.

Yinan immediately replaced the pottery with a stronger wooden stick as the axle, and then stretched out his hand: "Who will help me?"

"Alright!" Dumuzi's voice sounded.

A solid arm was immediately handed over to Yi Nan.The young shepherd seemed to be around all the time, and seeing that she needed help, he hurried to appear.

Yi Nan supported Dumuzi's arm, and jumped onto the upright pottery wheel with a light leap.She stepped steadily on the axles protruding from both sides of the cockpit, supported Dumuzi with one hand, and opened the other arm for balance.

Dumuzi took a step forward, even rolling the pottery wheel under Yinan's feet.Yinan stepped on the potter's wheel and moved forward slowly following Dumuzi's footsteps.

So, this is a unicycle.