Mrs. Ashkara was quite fed-up. She had likely spoken time and again to her neighbors, the Ashmiehs. Maybe the Ashmieh children or goats wouldn't stay out of her garden, maybe Mr. Ashmieh looked at Mrs. Ashkara a little too longingly, or maybe Mrs. Ashkara was looking to improve her property before selling it and moving in with one of her kids. No matter what the reason, Mrs. Ashkara decided the time was right to build a wall between her home and that of her neighbors.
I would love to ask Mrs. Ashkara just why she felt a wall was needed. She spent a lot of money to get the job done. Maybe her late husband left her enough money, maybe she had money of her own, maybe she had saved years to improve her property. Whatever the reason, the time was right.
That time was 3700 years ago and her home was Assyria.
Mrs. Ashkara, the Ashmiehs, and the wall are now all gone. All we have left is a clay tablet recording the contract between Mrs. Ashkara and the contractor to whom she paid 25 grams of silver. It's just a record of a common transaction during the ordinary lives of ordinary people living much we do now.
I hope the wall and the improvements were everything Mrs. Ashkara wanted.
I would love to ask Mrs. Ashkara just why she felt a wall was needed. She spent a lot of money to get the job done. Maybe her late husband left her enough money, maybe she had money of her own, maybe she had saved years to improve her property. Whatever the reason, the time was right.
That time was 3700 years ago and her home was Assyria.
Mrs. Ashkara, the Ashmiehs, and the wall are now all gone. All we have left is a clay tablet recording the contract between Mrs. Ashkara and the contractor to whom she paid 25 grams of silver. It's just a record of a common transaction during the ordinary lives of ordinary people living much we do now.
I hope the wall and the improvements were everything Mrs. Ashkara wanted.
