Stories About Mesopotamia

The Message

By Sylvie

Hours ago, Kishar had thought the entire city of Ur was resting in her palm. She had hope that everything was going to go her way. That she would be accepted into the world of knowledge, that she could learn how to write. 

But when she arose from an unresting slumber in the morning, her hope had shriveled up like the wild flowers when Utu is in a bad mood.

The tablet that held Kishar's entire future was sitting on the sweltering ground in front of her.

If only she had created that useful technology, Kishar thought, she would’ve been selected to be educated without even applying.

Sooner or later she would have to look at that tablet, so it might as well be sooner. On the clay was carved the only word Kishar had ever known how to write. Yes.

Finally! I can prove to my family that I am just as intelligent as my older brother, Gizzal. 

Gizzal had never been someone who was kind to Kishar. He only bothered being nice to the family to prove he was worthy of learning how to write. 

As fast as her mud stained legs could carry her, Kishar bounded up the ladder and jumped through the family’s hole. With a thump, she landed. Then, the worst sound imaginable was heard by Kishar and Gizzal. 

The tablet that had brought so much hope into Kishar’s little world had cracked into a thousand pieces.

“I swear it said yes!” Kishar said for the thousandth time. 

“Kishar. It is not ok to lie. I thought that your older brother would set an example for you!”

“He is” Kishar said, tears piling up in her eyes. 

Her parents looked at Kishar sternly, with no love whatsoever in their eyes. Kishar squeezed back the tears. 

“Fine! I don’t need you.” 

“Kishar, we love you and we want you to stay. Perhaps you’ll get in next year.” 

With that, Kishar dried her tears and climbed up the ladder to their well worn home. She plopped down on the dried mud. She was puzzled. She believed she was smart enough. 

Slowly, her dreams and hopes pieced back together, and she smiled, knowing that soon enough everyone would think of Kishar through her true name: Horizon.

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Mammoth

By Spencer

Isaac awoke with a start. His mom was calling him down for breakfast. He got out of his animal skin bed and slowly inched his way down the stairs. His back ached from sleeping on the wooden mattress his dad made him when he was young.

Isaac yawned and stretched as he walked to the table. 

“So what are we having today mom?” 

“There are some leftovers in the cabinet, you want that?” 

“Yeah, okay.” 

Isaac’s mom reached up and took down some chicken from last night's dinner. Isaac gobbled it up quickly because he knew Jason wanted to meet him at the water fountain at the seventh setting of the sun. 

“Bye mom. I’m heading out to see Jason.” 

“Okay, don’t cause any trouble!” 

Isaac raced through the market to meet up with Jason. He passed a lady who was selling some fresh baked bread, muffins and eggs. He arrived at the fountain but no one was there. He looked around but he couldn’t find him. Suddenly out of the fountain water came Jason, leaping right at him. 

“BOOO!” screeched Jason. 

“WHOA JASON!” 

"I got you good didn’t I.” 

“Yeah, I guess you did.” 

“Anyway I have a great idea for us to do” said Jason. “How about we sneak out the city walls and see our dads actually kill something, instead of just waiting for them to come home?” 

“I don’t know, Jason. Are you sure it’s a good idea?” 

“Well you can sit in here and miss all the fun, or you can join me for an adventure.” 

... So Jason and Isaac went toward the walls of Ur. They had to wait for one whole setting so they could sneak into the next hunting squad.

But then they were out of the walls and they were free. Free to do whatever they wanted. 

“Wow look at all that grass and how it sways, it’s beautiful" remarked Jason. 

“It’s even better than I imagined.” 

The two boys then trudged off to watch the squad of hunters take down something. They followed the hunters to a large cave. One gave a command and one made a loud but strange noise.

Then the fiercest roar gave everyone a jump.

And a gigantic hairy beast emerged from the cave. 

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Sacrifice

By Phineas

I awoke to my mother calling my name, saying it was time to go to the ceremony. 

My father was sacrificing a goat and a chicken today. He was always very gracious when it came to sacrificing to the gods and goddesses. 

But today, everyone was shocked when the man who had always brought a big chicken and a very plump goat brought just a chicken. 

I always thought that how the adults sacrificed the animals was weird. I wanted to ask my father how he knew that the gods got the animal we sacrificed. But he would just get mad and would talk about how we have to be extremely nice to the gods, because they are the ones who can take your life. 

When I get older I want to learn how the animals go to the gods. I also want to be just like my father.

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The Sermonk Chronicles (Part 1)

By Teddy

Otmuun was working hard in the fields of Sermonk, a small Sumerian city-state near a branch of the Euphrates River. He looked up. The sun showed it was noon-time, so he left his hoe leaning against the toolshed and went inside the walls of the city. His son, Rasson, was waiting inside for him. 

“I went to the butcher and picked up some more meat while you were gone,” Rasson said. “Beef, pork, and mutton.” Otmuun looked up from the crops he was preparing for his lunch and said, “Good. We were running low on pork.”

As Otmuun was putting the first bite in his mouth, he heard screams. Not screams of terror, but screams of battle. 

He rushed up the ladder to the door, grabbing his bronze shortsword on the way up. 

“Get in the meat closet, Rasson! You’ll be safe in there!” 

Once he got on the roof, Otmuun barricaded the door and jumped down the ladder. Then he grabbed his sword and rushed out the gates, only to find a number of other citizens, all dressed in armor with swords and spears drawn. 

Everybody was wondering what the scream was, and why everything was calm. 

Then someone realized there was a man, tired, hiding behind a rock. A man went up to him and asked him what he was doing. 

He answered in a language only one of them knew, and he translated, “I was chased by a party of about 20 men, through the fields, and they had swords, lots of swords. They screamed and screamed, and they finally relented when they saw your settlement. Thank you for finding me.”

After that, everybody returned to their normal lives. 

Until…

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Untitled

By Maya

I walk onto the cold hard rock, feeling the rough surface under my bare feet as night falls upon my home. 

As I watch the moon rise I listen to the crickets.

“Another day gone” I whisper to the darkness. 

“Nothing happens … ever. With the city-states at war it seems like life has stopped, especially for a kid.”

“I want to be able to do something” I scream. “But no, all I get to do is ... nothing, watching everyone else work, waiting by the sidelines.” 


“I wish I could just be a part of something. I don’t know, maybe at least part of building the irrigation system? Or what about the government? That would be cool.” 

I whisper, my voice barely decipherable even to me.

My eyelids grow heavy and I curl up next to a rock and drift into sleep.