Deleted Chapter – The Crow

A Crow watched Sagar and Enki as they walked back through the city gates. The bird was waiting for the approaching dark. It was the best time to hunt. The crow’s eyes could still see. Humans didn’t seem to notice much at this time of day which made it safer.

Its feathers ruffled as a breeze moved up the mound of the city. Enough to take flight. The creature spread its wings and allowed the evening wind to lift it up effortlessly into the evening sky.

As the crow circled the city, catching the air currents, it looked down, observing the city at dusk using its predator mind to find food.

Far underneath its body were the two temples, next to each other. The white temple a place of the spirit, and the Enanna compound a place of trade and goods, the City Square next to the compound.

Stretching out from the temples to the port next to the river were the workshops and houses of the artisans who worked them.

The port itself had a fleet of round cargo boats and straight boats of bundled reeds. On the dock were neat rows of baskets and goods. It was a busy port and order was essential for its operation. A temple worker stood on vigil to protect the wares until dawn.

Immediately next to the port, inns and accommodation for traders by the temple.

To the southeast were the city orchards. Around these were the houses of the established families of Uruk. The orchard trees either in full bloom or showing the first signs of fruiting. Pomegranates, figs, apricots, plums. Young olive trees growing down the middle.

To the south and east the Crow could see the slow-moving spread of housing onto the plain. Around the city, darkness was claiming its territory for the night. Inside the city, lanterns, torches and cooking fires held back the blackness, extending the day. The humans had worked out a way to change their world.
The Crow had seen all this before. Its business was with the workshops and it began circling down closer.

The deep red glow of the potter’s kiln could be seen as it lit the potter’s workshop. Work had finished for the day and the potter’s wheels had stopped spinning. The pots and gourds still waiting in rows for the kiln. The pits where the clay would be mixed for tomorrow’s throwings, covered with straw for the night.

The crow flew on.

The Leatherwork tannery had its animal skins stretched out on racks, the strong smell of urea rising up to the night sky. Finished hides were being graded and passed on to where they would be made into ropes, clothes, shoes and leather furnishings.

Across from there, the Carpenter’s yard. Wood was precious in Uruk. The only local wood available were palm trees which were cut to make beams for houses and furniture.

Lately, this wood had become precious to the point it was being bought in from other cities as trade. Roofs and second floors in Uruk houses were important. A date palm log, cut lengthways, gave two flat planks that could be further improved with matting.

Lately demand for materials to build a house seemed endless.
Reeds were piled up against a wall that would be thatched to make many things. Reed thatchings were needed as a floor for the city’s granaries. They were used for bedding, to make baskets and woven around gourds for protection and transportation.

Exotic timbers like the Teak table in the Enanna compound were too rare to be stockpiled In the yard, they would be sawn and shaped immediately on arrival with many back orders waiting for the next shipment.

Next, the Weavers workshop came into the crow’s field of vision.
Wool was stockpiled at one end. The weaver’s looms and yarn-spinning spindles occupied the middle of the yard and finished work stored in mud brick sheds at the end. Simplest to manufacture was tufted wool fabric, a simple weave of netting, finger widths apart, had tufts of wool inserted. A finished garment was quick to produce. Properly weaved garments took much longer and widths varied from loin cloth for workers to body length for priests and officials.

At last, the crow glided down to the Brewery.
Vats of beer were stockpiled in rows, ordered by the different stages of fermentation, so popular was the product, demand was enormous.
The smell of the boilers rose pungently in the air. The resulting wort was placed into vats with a yeast starter and then sealed while allowing air to escape. After 2 weeks honey was added and it was ready to drink, the seal being opened and drinkers congregating around bringing hollow reeds to imbibe the contents, leaving the mash floating at the top.

What the crow was looking for was the mound of castings formed when the brewer took back the vats and emptied what was left of the mash. If the crow waited until the yard was empty, then the mash was easy food.
Tonight’s celebration at the temple meant that the Vats had been moved yesterday so they would settle before drinking. The yard was empty. The crow landed silently, walked across to the mash pile and started to feed.