11 thoughts on “The Lament for Ur

  1. “Bite the dust”, apparently, dates back a long, long time. Homer uses the phrase as well (or “bite the earth”, anyway).

    How much changes with something as simple as the advent of “floors”…Report

    1. Yeah, I really liked the piece too but was waiting until I had a chance to really read the source material to comment; I still haven’t gotten there due to time constraints, but Rufus needs to know these posts are read and appreciated.

      In particular, two things jumped out at me from Rufus’ piece that I wanted to see whether they were supported by the source.

      1.) WRT the gods just don’t care about us and He has abandoned his cow-pen and has let the breezes haunt his sheepfold – though I understand the latter to refer to the people of Ur, this juxtaposition made me think of the concept of God as “caretaker of the herd of humanity”, having abandoned His charges to slaughter.

      2.) she is asked repeatedly “How do you exist?” and “How long will this last?” – I can see these being questions specific to her situation (survivor guilt – “why did *I* live, when so many died?”) and more general in the face of such horror (“why do ANY of us live/what’s the point?”)Report

  2. A herd of Sumerian cows walk into a bar. The bartender screams at them “Get out! We don’t serve Ur kine in here!”Report

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