"We can see that the most significant ideas preserved in Sumerian language are mainly related to religion. Both the city of Ur and the city of Uruk nurtured many of these ideas."
Academic lectures certainly do not just analyze the epic itself, so Liang En habitually broadened the discussion from this epic to wider topics, such as the influence of ancient Sumerian civilization on modern society.
"We can observe how these ancient myths and ideas evolved into other religions in the Near East between 2000 BC and 1000 BC."
"Although these ideas evolved in ways imperceptible to ordinary people throughout history, their influence has spread worldwide over 4000 years."
"For instance, in the Epic of Gilgamesh, there is an idealized natural being, a giant named Enkidu. He possesses immense strength and can bond with various animals."
"But later, he was seduced by a 'sacred woman' from the temple, leading him from innocence to corruption. From then on, although he became civilized, he lost the joy of connecting with nature."
"The core message hidden in this story, like many others, illustrates the relationship between humans and nature. In the eyes of ancient people, the price of becoming civilized was completely breaking away from nature."
"Of course, today we know that living in harmony with nature means learning to coexist. However, in that early era, being able to transform nature was indeed a symbol of civilization, which was an important step for humanity."
"This is the significance of the texts we found. Five thousand years ago, the flourishing civilization of the Mesopotamian region and human wisdom were passed down through these Sumerian cuneiform writings."
"For us, the greatest significance of this exploration lies in discovering the city of Uruk, the origin of civilization. This city will be forever remembered and depicted in human history."
At this point, Liang En, who was emotionally stirred, thought of all the legends about this city he had seen in both his past and present lives, and made his final conclusion.
"Indeed, this city has completely vanished in history, and the Sumerian civilization has been extinct for thousands of years. However, as long as human civilization continues, there will always be successors."
Applause erupted after Liang En finished his speech, as it had resonated deeply with everyone, especially his analysis of the historical significance.
"Well said, Mr. Liang." As the person in charge from the Iraqi side, Warda stood up and applauded. "Please allow me to transcribe your speech for use in our museum's exhibition."
"Ah, thank you very much." Liang En bowed with a smile. To him, having his work displayed in a national museum was indeed a matter of pride and joy.
Although Iraq, being a war-torn country, was not in the best condition overall due to past conflicts, its national museum was still first-rate.
Especially after the war, these ancient museums were revitalized after long periods of reorganization. Leaving his mark in such a museum was certainly an honor.
Undoubtedly, their discovery was very important. For the Iraqis, it could indeed awaken a sense of national pride.
Although sharing the same religion, unlike other Arab countries, Iraq is a secular country. Besides religion, nationalism is the core unifying force.
Thus, for this country, the findings that possibly originate from their ancestors have a significant impact on their national self-esteem and confidence. The meaning naturally extends beyond the academic value recognized by scholars like Liang En.
Of course, this is not to say that these artifacts are unimportant. On the contrary, even from a purely historical academic perspective, this discovery is one of the most significant in the entire West Asia region in the past century.
However, for this country, the value of these artifacts is certainly not limited to academic value. Hence, the day after Liang En's speech, a team from Baghdad was dispatched to transport these items.
"Isn't this a bit too much?" Liang En turned to Warda, looking at the massive convoy. "Is such a scale necessary?"
Liang En's surprise was understandable. The convoy not only consisted of 12 trucks for transporting goods but also included two eight-wheeled armored vehicles, two trucks full of soldiers, and two anti-mine ambush vehicles.
"Of course, when you were excavating, our national TV station came to film the important artifacts we unearthed and your records written in Arabic," Warda explained softly.
"These items made it to our news and sparked a strong reaction. To ensure their safety, the Green Zone issued orders to transport these items securely."
"So you sent a whole platoon along with armored vehicles?" Looking at the armed convoy, Liang En still felt it was overkill.
"No choice. After gaining fame, there will always be extremist forces wanting to destroy everything," Warda sighed helplessly. "To prevent them from acting, we had to transfer these items heavily guarded without prior notice."
In fact, the reason given for this military deployment was to transport a batch of important weapons. They received a notification en route to also transport the artifacts.
"And what you see is just part of it." Watching the soldiers and archaeologists packing and loading the artifacts, Warda whispered, "We have two drones above ready to provide ample fire support."
"Additionally, there should be extra air support, but I'm not clear on those details. What I do know is that we are fully prepared for this transport."
Due to the ample manpower, they completed all the loading and securing work within half an hour. After a final check, they set off northward towards Baghdad.
For the next day, to ensure the safety of this crucial transport, they were all required to cease external communications and were not allowed to leave the camp.
Fortunately, everything went smoothly. That evening, they saw on the news that the artifacts were successfully delivered to the Iraq National Museum.
"We almost encountered an attack on the way," Warda mentioned to Liang En during their evening chat, after receiving a phone call.
"A group of armed men tried to ambush the convoy. Fortunately, the drones spotted them in advance and, along with subsequent air support, destroyed the group."
"We were quite lucky. The terrorists had two car bombs. If we hadn't discovered and prepared for them in advance, the artifacts would not have been preserved."
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