[Infrastructure] After being mistaken for a god

The Egyptian caravan seemed to send Gilgamesh the "Book of the Dead" with good intentions, but unexpectedly, it caused an uproar.

The first thing is that today is Uruk’s New Year—on such a festive and peaceful day, people in Uruk have never had the habit of talking about the immortality of the dead;

The second thing is that the Egyptians regard the "Book of the Dead" as a "cheating weapon" leading to eternal life, and they want to give this "cheating weapon" to Gilgamesh with great fanfare-isn't this just a secret? The connotation of Gilgamesh, is he a "tyrant" with insatiable desires and evil deeds?

Gilgamesh lost his kingly temper on the spot and declared that he was "two-thirds gods and one-third human beings". He was familiar with all the gods in Sumer and had never heard of such a strange way of immortality. .

The merchants from Egypt were all terrified, seeing Gilgamesh's stormy anger in front of them, and the interpreter didn't even have time to explain to them why the king was angry.

The merchants turned around and tried to escape, but the lion outside the temple turned back with ill intentions. Its green lion eyes glanced at various parts of their bodies, as if trying to figure out where to bite.

The Egyptian merchants were most afraid of this, for fear that their heart, liver, lungs, stomach and intestines would be damaged, and they would lose their intact bodies, and their souls would not be able to attach to their bodies, so they would not be able to lead to eternal life.

Now, the entire caravan knelt down in front of Gilgamesh, kowtowed to the ground, and begged for mercy; even a translator was not needed, as Gilgamesh could understand what the merchants in front of him were praying for.He suppressed his anger, and finally regained the demeanor that belonged to the king before, and asked noblely and arrogantly:

"Who told you that people can live forever after death?"

After this question was asked, all the Egyptians looked at each other in blank dismay: "Didn't someone tell us this? Isn't it...should be like this?"

The cognition gained in the temple of Memphis is deeply ingrained, but when it comes to Uruk, it happens to meet the unbelievers.

"My father, the former king Lugabanda, is now among the gods, and my mother...is also a goddess of extraordinary status." Gilgamesh said with a dignified expression.Yi Nan smiled secretly, and skillfully helped him conceal the moment of hesitation during the translation.

"The matter of eternal life is something that mortals need to consider." Gilgamesh declared solemnly, "The king doesn't care about it."

After Yi Nan finished translating, he rolled up the precious scroll of papyrus properly, put it back into the box, and handed it back to the Egyptian merchant.

The merchants, terrified, were crawling mournfully on the temple floor.

"Go back, this matter is actually just a misunderstanding caused by the differences in customs and concepts between the two parties." Yinan comforted them, "There is a Sumerian chamber of commerce in Uruk, and they must be very concerned about the production of Memphis. I am very interested. The Sumerians will be happy to exchange supplies with you, and I believe that your trip will be worthwhile."

She and Gilgamesh are typical, one singing red face and the other singing white face.Gilgamesh was still sitting in the king's seat, with a gloomy face and a look of anger; Inan had already comforted them with good words, hoping that these merchants could temporarily get rid of the psychological shadow that Hakish had caused them.

Unexpectedly, before the caravan leader left, he asked Yi Nan with all kinds of doubts: "Then, according to the king, if there is no eternal life after death, then where will our souls go?"

Yi Nan pouted: "You really don't need to worry about it...Come on, Hakesh, squat down!" She stopped the little lion.

But even in front of the lion, the caravan leader still refused to let go of the question.

He turned back three times at a step, his eyes were shocked, and he looked at Gilgamesh in the temple behind him again and again.

Gilgamesh had already suppressed his anger and was thoughtful.

When Inan came back to him, Gilgamesh asked Inan to translate for him the questions that the Egyptian merchant had asked before he left.The young king sat in the temple with his chin propped up, and a knot between his brows.

"Duo, after death, where will our soul go?"

Inan stretched out his hand and waved it in front of him. Gilgamesh didn't even bat an eye, obviously really dazed.

Although the young king kept saying in front of the Egyptians who came from afar that he was a special existence straddling the realm of the gods and the realm of humans, he knew better than anyone else that he was a human being.

Moreover, the Gilgamesh that Inan knew was a person who had a more sense of crisis and far-reaching thinking than any Uruk people.

Then here comes the problem: everyone is going to die.

Even Rujabanda, who was as shrewd as the previous king Rujabanda, who left countless arrangements and successors for his son, has passed away.

That being the case, then, where will the lively, always awake consciousness flowing in Gilgamesh's body, those vivid sorrows, joys and joys, flow in the end?

It was such a simple question that actually made the smart and strong Gilgamesh stunned, sitting motionless in the temple like a stone statue.

Hakish the lion cub was trained never to enter Inanna's sanctuary, so he just walked around outside, and finally lay down on his stomach, resting his head on his forearm, wagging his tail boredly.

Gilgamesh still sat where he was, without moving his position, without changing his posture or expression. He seemed to be trying his best to think hard, but he still couldn't find the answer.

"I remember that the Sumerians believed that after death, people would go to the underworld." Yinan said softly.

Gilgamesh hummed softly.

The Sumerian view of life and death is relatively "real". The dead leave the sunny world and suffer in the dark and gloomy underworld.Even their gods will go to the underworld. When the gods are in the underworld, vitality and joy will go away from the human world together.

The Sumerians did not believe in reincarnation, or immortality.

But the problem with Gilgamesh is that, as a special king who was born as a "half god and half man" but knew that he was "ordinary" Gilgamesh, everything he said to Lugabanda, even Everything in the Sumerian legends is not believed.

And he, like Yi Nan, is not a person who is good at facing death: he is young, born noble, and possesses brave skills.

Death was too distant and strange to him.

"Why don't you let me, a little man from Xipar, tell me the story of Memphis? Maybe you can understand why they think that people will go to eternal life after death?"

Inan raised the corners of his mouth and sat down beside Gilgamesh.

The young Wang didn't speak, but moved his body and nodded.

"Egypt, where Memphis is located, is also a country located by a great river, just like the territory of the Sumerians."

"It's just that the big river there doesn't run from west to east like the Euphrates. That river flows from south to north and finally flows into the sea. People there call it the Nile River."

Gilgamesh twitched his eyebrows, as if he remembered the name—Nile River.

"The Nile River has a characteristic. Its flooding is very regular. It floods once a year. Every time it floods, the river will flood a vast area of ​​land, but it will bring fertile soil to these lands. After the river recedes, these soils are the most suitable. Plowed fields—”

"This is better than the Euphrates River—" Gilgamesh finally listened, and gave Inan a feedback.Compared with the Nile, the Euphrates River has an unstable flood cycle. Over the years, the Sumerians have relied on building dams and flood discharge channels to defend their homes.

"So the Egyptians saw the sun rise from the east of their great river every day and set in the west. The rising sun in the east brought light to people, and then it sank into darkness in the far west. The cycle repeats itself."

"For them, everything is stable and regular."

"Then, they will naturally think about whether life is the same. The life we ​​are living now is just this side of the pottery plate, and there is another world on the other side where people live the same happy life as in this life ..."

When Yinan was studying the history of Western Asia, he had learned this passage: why the Mesopotamian civilization in the Mesopotamia developed a completely different view of life and death from the ancient Egyptian civilization.

From the point of view of materialism: the unique local natural environment has created a corresponding way of life, and also created a corresponding outlook on life and death.

Gilgamesh understood what Inan said, and let out a sigh of relief.

He suddenly stretched out his arm, hooked Yinan's shoulder, hooked his "good brother", nodded and said, "Duo, that's someone else."

"What do you think? Where do we go when we die?"

Yinan: "What do I think?"

She couldn't answer. People are organisms made up of cells. Consciousness and thinking actually come from brain activity, right?

After deliberating and deliberating, she said, "I guess people disappear completely after death. There is no such thing as a soul. From the moment of death, we are all wiped out and disappeared into the world. But there will still be new ones in this world." Life was born, and they took the world from us."

Gilgamesh said thoughtfully, "Do, you speak well."

Yi Nan exhaled lightly, hoping that this "reasonable" answer would satisfy Wang.

"But the king doesn't want it to disappear." Gilgamesh looked at the alabaster-paved temple floor in front of him, and suddenly said, "The king doesn't think it will be like this."

He turned his face away and asked, "If Wang disappeared, what would happen to you?"

Yi Nan: Are you... serious?

Gilgamesh was really serious. He hugged Yi Nan's shoulders closer, as if he could feel the warmth of Yi Nan's body more.

"Duo...you are Wang's best friend, and I don't want to forget you even after death."

Yi Nan's gaze suddenly stopped on his face.

Magnetic field, memory, soul...every word Daniel said came to my mind instantly. If memory itself can be regarded as a kind of consciousness, then the existence of memory magnetic field has actually negated her theory of "disappearing in ashes".

Memories about her will always be passed on in time, and the magnetic field will lead her to a special body... And this body, when the powerful hand was decisively stretched out in front of her to help her, she had already recognized it up.

2700 years is long enough, and it may be long enough to dilute the memory passed on from one generation to the next.

Gilgamesh probably hasn't remembered her - but the problem is, Gilgamesh remembers her again.

Yinan quickly shook his head, discarded these thoughts, and said flatly: "The world after death is illusory. We live well. What's the use of thinking so much? It's better to discuss how Egyptian merchants traveled thousands of miles to Uruk. What is the purpose."

"What's so difficult?" Gilgamesh had regained his composure at this time, stretched his arms and stretched his waist, and said, "Sell the king all kinds of luxury goods used in funerals. These merchants have the idea of ​​making a lot of money. .”

"Egyptian merchants first presented the precious 'Book of the Dead', claiming that they could protect the dead, pass through all the obstacles, and move towards eternal life; the next step they will sell us all kinds of treasures used to bribe the gods, 'Book of the Dead' only If you can protect the monarch of a country, and the monarch will live forever, you can't just watch the ministers get eaten and go to hell, right?"

"Besides, since your king needs the 'Book of the Dead' so much, why don't the elders and officials not need it?"

Once this guy spoke sarcastically, he was extremely pungent and merciless.

"Okay, then these are funeral objects for nobles and powerful officials, and they are guaranteed to bribe the 'God of Justice' who is in charge of the trial." Although Gilgamesh did not understand the Egyptian language, he was able to send the caravan just now. The tone of the leader was imitated vividly.

Yi Nan almost laughed, and it was indeed possible after thinking about it.

"As for the Amorites who sent interpreters to follow them, they probably wanted to demonstrate to the king—even if there is no Uruk, there is still Memphis; if the king doesn't value them anymore, they will turn to do business with Memphis."

Gilgamesh continued.

Inan thought, Gilgamesh's deduction is very reasonable, he guessed the motives of the Egyptian businessman and Amori's interpreter in one fell swoop - but he didn't know how to prove it.

Unexpectedly, after the celebration on New Year's Day, the Egyptian businessman secretly asked someone to contact her, wanting to meet her.

At the beginning of the meeting, the leader of the caravan kept insinuating and inquiring in every possible way, wanting to know whether Yi Nan was born in "Egypt".

After listening for a long time, Yinan realized that the other party regarded him as a victim in the struggle of the Egyptian royal family, an exiled prince.She could only shake her hands in denial, and then told the merchants the rumor about the "Enkido" that Sister Shahat had mentioned—she was actually an "indigenous" made out of clay.

The merchants were very discouraged when they heard this, and probably felt that they always encountered all kinds of "half-gods and half-humans" and "sons of gods" in Sumer... But they were merchants after all, so they were discouraged, but they were still mysterious. He quickly took out a box and sold the luxury goods inside to Yinan.

Inan saw that everything was as expected by Gilgamesh. The box contained a scarab ring made of turquoise, a heart-shaped amulet inlaid with amethyst and ruby ​​in gold, and an owl icon carved from obsidian...

"These... can protect you from entering the underworld, and pass the trial of the 'God of the Underworld' smoothly." The head of the caravan lowered his voice and persuaded Yi Nan.

It seems that the Egyptian businessmen did do a little homework after suffering a little bit from Gilgamesh; However, the core inside is still Egyptian.

Faced with such a business experience, Yinan is also very convinced.

"Why don't I put it this way." Yinan persuaded, "Actually, there are many such things in Uruk, just look at me."

The Egyptian businessman looked at Yi Nan with all his eyes, and he could see the necklace she was wearing around her neck. The golden neck ring was inlaid with crystal clear and colorful bloodstones. All with gold tassels.

"It seems that the king is really fond of you!" The merchants sighed together when they saw it.

Yi Nan immediately put his hand on his forehead—why did Wang favor her?

Gilgamesh didn't know this, all these decorations were dressed up by the holy sisters of the temple.It's really thanks to their patience that they haven't revealed her true "gender" to Gilgamesh until today.

She had no choice but to use others as an example: "Uruk is celebrating the New Year these two days, and you should have seen Uruk girls and wives in their costumes. I'm afraid their clothes are not worse than what you have prepared?"

All the women in Uruk are the "jewelry showcases" at home. No matter they are old or young, married or not, they like to wear all the jewelry at home and show off when they go out, especially during festive occasions.

The Egyptian merchants suddenly realized: they finally understood that the Sumerians preferred to wear jewelry for a few more days while they were alive.

In addition, the skills of the Sumerian jewelry craftsmen were not inferior to those of the Egyptians, and they understood the aesthetics and preferences of the Sumerians better.

Yinan persuaded with good intentions: "Everyone, it's not just Uruk. The entire Sumerian region has a great demand for ores and precious metals. Copper ore, iron ore, of course, precious metals such as gold and silver. Merle people are also welcome...Of course, I know that these profits may not be large enough to attract you."

Several Egyptian businessmen looked at each other and nodded.Egypt has gold mines, but lacks silver and other materials.It is obviously much more profitable to process various foreign materials into jewelry through Egypt's mature jewelry processing industry, and then transport them to other places for trade.

In general, the Egyptians and Sumerians were more like competitors in business, and there were not many places where they could complement each other.

However, Yinan was so frank and told the whole truth about Uruk that the merchants from Egypt were also very grateful.They looked at each other and finally decided to tell Yinan an important "secret".

"King, you guessed right. The Amorites sent an interpreter to accompany the Egyptian businessman this time, and it was indeed for demonstration."

After Inan got solid evidence from the Egyptian merchant, he quickly told Gilgamesh the news.

"The Amorites are very dissatisfied with your rejection of their marriage request, and want to take this opportunity to establish trade relations with Egypt. In the future, the Amorites will be between the Sumerians and the Egyptians, and they will benefit from both sides."

Gilgamesh looked proud: "Didn't the king think of this long ago?"

This guy always looks unpredictable in front of outsiders, but he doesn't hide it in front of Yinan. He is proud when he judges right, and annoyed when he makes a mistake. This is in line with his age of less than 20 years old.

"What is the king going to do?" Yinan smirked, "Why don't you consider marriage again?"

Gilgamesh quickly stood up from his seat, and glared at her: "I want to see the king back and forth, it's a good idea!"

"What the king has to do is to subdue this duplicitous Amori, beat them into obedience, never dare to disobey the king's orders, and never have the intention of betraying the king."

"This……"

Yi Nan was dumbfounded: She did not expect that it was the trade dispute that led to the war between the Sumerians and the Amorites.

Yinan is not a warlike person, but she is familiar with the history of Mesopotamia. There have been countless wars in this land from ancient times to the present, and it is absolutely impossible to stop the war with one's own strength.

But she didn't expect the war to come so easily——

Was Gilgamesh's decision to send troops so hasty?

Uruk is still recruiting a large number of civilians to build their own city;

A large part of the raw materials for building the city still depended on the supply of Amori.

Unexpectedly, before she persuaded Gilgamesh, this resolute king not only made a decision, but also made all preparations to send troops to Amori.

The House of Elders quickly "voted" on Gilgamesh's war request.Among the seventeen elders, nine opposed and eight agreed, and Gilgamesh himself had two chips. In the end, the decision was narrowly passed by "one chip".

Gilgamesh immediately proceeded to prepare an "army" of 2000 people, of which 1000 were civilian husbands, 200 were the king's honor guards, and the remaining 800 were the king's personal guards.

Yinan: "Are you going to take such a team to attack a city-state like Amori?"

Gilgamesh: "Why, look down on the king?"

Inan thought to himself: I have no right to look down on Gilgamesh's plan, after all, she has no experience in participating in conquests between ancient city-states—now Uruk is the largest city in the entire basin, with a population of 5 at its peak.Perhaps Gilgamesh's "army" was enough to attack a small city-state.

"Duo, are you going to Amori with the king?" When the preparations for the "war" were coming to an end, Gilgamesh came to ask Inan for his opinion.

Inan was not optimistic about this "battle" at first, but seeing Gilgamesh's expression at this moment, she suddenly realized: Is it really because of trade disputes that Gilgamesh suddenly wanted to attack Amori?

So Yinan nodded, wanting to see what kind of medicine was sold in Gilgamesh's gourd - after all, her task was based on observation, and the mutual attack between ancient city-states was also one of her observation contents.

Gilgamesh immediately beamed with joy, stretched out his arms to hug Inan, and said with a smile, "You really are the king's good brother!"

At this time, the saints of the temple came to divination and see the king off.The oldest of the priestesses immediately accompanied Gilgamesh to the temple and prayed in front of the icon of Inanna, hoping to get the guidance of the goddess Inanna.

The other priestesses surrounded Yi Nan.These "sisters" asked Yi Nan in a hurry: "Duo Duo, before the king goes out, do you want us to help you tell the king that you are actually a girl?"

"Won't it be good for you, a little girl, to go out with Wang?"

Yinan: ...Don't!

She knew in her heart that Gilgamesh had always regarded her as a "good brother", and when this straight brother faced her, he never thought of being wrong.

"No, no!" Immediately, another priestess spoke for her, "You have never seen Dodo's strength. If she really went to the battlefield, Dodo must be the king's best helper."

But this caused other people to worry, and one of them said in a complaining tone: "The king said that only a woman like you is worthy of the king. But where can I find another woman like you in this world?" Bravery, do you have a face like yours?"

"This..." Yi Nan had no choice but to use the "delay" method, "When the time is right, I will tell him personally."

"Duoduo is right, the king will take her on an expedition, and she will be a good helper for the king. It would be bad to say it now." Finally, the priestesses reached an agreement.

"What is not good?" Gilgamesh's majestic voice sounded, "Duo, is it possible that you are hiding something from the king?"

His pair of eyes stared at Inan earnestly, even slightly annoyed, until Inan flatly denied it, and Gilgamesh became happy again.

"The divination in front of the goddess just now yielded a good omen." Gilgamesh said excitedly, "Go here, and the king will get the desired result."

"In addition, there is another oracle, saying that the king will want to understand one thing, a very, very important thing in the territory of Amori." Gilgamesh happily repeated this important thing he got in front of the gods. "Guidelines".