CHAPTER TWO: We Know What's Best

continued from 5/7/05

Life in general had been good to Thorat and Merka. They had four healthy and responsible children. The eldest son, now taller than his father, was thinking of joining the village militia. Merka and Thorat had some misgivings about this idea; they'd hoped he would take over the wheat and barley fields in a few years, but they believed their son had a right to choose his own way. The eldest daughter had her mother's instincts for plants and was assuming more and more responsibility for the gardens, allowing Merka to tend their experimental plot and advise the villagers.

Thorat had been a member of the Council of Ten for a short time, but left when he felt he could be more productive taking care of his fields. He was more interested in doing something rather than merely talking about it. He was also having some doubts about the growing influence of the Council in deciding what was "best" for the community, but he'd kept most of his feelings to himself. As one of the more influential and respected members of the community, he had originally supported Crug's proposal for the storage shed, but his misgivings increased as he saw the growing and arbitrary influence of a small handful of people, led by Crug.

Different plants were springing up from the soil around the community, and Merka was kept busy identifying them. One day she discovered a plant with ribbon leaves that was long and a clear green color. The stalk was about six inches in height and had little white flowers. We can not be sure if Merka or any of her contemporaries learned its usefulness, but we know that four or five thousand years later it was well known that the bulb of this plant was valuable. After it was dried it could be eaten, and it proved to be a lifesaver during periods of famine. This plant was known as Dove's Dung.

Perhaps someone in Merka's community stumbled across what would prove to be one of the most sought after plants in human history, both a blessing and a curse to humankind. This plant grew up to a person's waist and had a beautiful flower that was white or lavender with a rich purple color at the base of its four petals. The plant came to be named Gall. Gall is the juice of the opium poppy.


Truth was about to make its first serious appearance in our community in southern Iraq. With the early beginnings of "rules and regulations," Crug may have understood intuitively that he could not always count on informal alliances to insure his permanent influence. In fairness to Crug he genuinely believed he knew what was best for the community, not unlike many of our contemporary world leaders, corporate CEO's and religious advisors. He had to still establish some legitimacy.

What motivated Crug? Possibly some inner voice spoke to him or he'd had a vision on a hot Thursday afternoon. Certainly one of the good things about a revelation is that you don't have to prove it, only convince others that you had one ... ideally one which shows the "correct" course of action for everyone else. We do, however, have some basic information, which may help us to understand what drove Crug.

Several years before, Crug and two of his companions, quite by accident, discovered the cave that had been part of the village's tradition for as long as anyone could remember. No one knew when or how the tradition got started, but it had been part of the village's cultural life seemingly forever.

Like the famous Chauvet Cave discovered in France in 1940, our cave in Iraq was covered with awe-inspiring wall paintings depicting bison and other large animals in various poises, giving us a shadowy inkling of Paleolithic man. The Chauvet Cave in France may be some 30,000 years old.

This cave had a powerful influence on Crug, who said later he'd felt the presence of the spirits. Crug's two companions readily confirmed that something had indeed happened in that cave, which frightened them a great deal. Crug told this story many times and perhaps without realizing it, added certain embellishments each time he recounted it.

The natural world elicited both awe and dread among our ancient ancestors and was never separate and apart from the daily lives of the people. The forces of light and dark, unseen spirits, and strange gods needed to be appeased constantly. It was essential that an equilibrium be maintained in the world if humankind hoped to have any chance of peace and tranquility. Crug, as well as most everyone else, believed this with all their heart.

At the same time, Crug was a practical man who measured success in concrete terms. His meeting with the nearby village, two years before, had been incredibly successful. He'd convinced the smaller community that a permanent trading arrangement would benefit both villages. Above all, the other village offered Crug's delegation ten sheep and one of their young sheepherder to watch over them for fourteen complete days, until an individual from Crug's community could be trained properly.

Both communities did benefit. The smaller village increased its agricultural production and the larger community developed a sizeable herd of sheep. Merka and Thorat also developed some friendships with several people from the other community, which proved to be important some time later.

Crug was now one of the two most important members of the Council of Ten. It was not uncommon to hear people in the village ask, "What does Crug believe?" It was Crug who got the community to support a permanent meetings place for the Council. On any given day now you could find villagers out in front of this building waiting to speak with one of the Council members--often with some token of thanks, such as a basket, jewelry, or sometimes food.
to be continued....

CHAPTER TWO: We Know What's Best

continued from 4/12/05

Crug was a boyhood friend of Thorat. But unlike Thorat, Crug had been only an average hunter, lacking Thorat's physical strength and stamina. But as the community grew and got, well, just more complicated, the two primary talents that Crug possessed became very important. He had a way-with-words and, to use a modern term, possessed outstanding organizational skills. He would have likely been an ideal candidate on one of our "reality" television shows, desperate to become the "winner."

Crug was now the youngest member of the Council of Ten, a group of men who met informally about once every full moon to discuss community issues. They had no authority to set rules, but the village increasingly listened to what they had to say. Their ideas often made sense, and many of their suggestions improved life within the community. Crug, however, thought some changes needed to be made; he had a number of specific proposals to make to the Council.

Crug's first proposal was that the community ought to establish formal trade with the nearby village that was successfully raising sheep. This animal could be a dependable source of meat as well as clothing. An older member of the Council asked what would their community do if the other village was not interested in closer trade or wished to teach them the finer points of sheep raising.

Crug waited respectfully while two or three members discussed his proposal and then he said, "What is the Council's most important responsibility?"

"To give good advice is important," someone replied. Other members nodded in agreement.

"Yes, good advice is important," Crug agreed. He paused. "But what good is advice if there is no community to listen to it?"

An older man with a crooked leg, respected by everyone, squinted over at Crug. "What do you mean?"

"I think our most important responsibility is to make certain our village remains strong and continues to grow."

"Crug, you are telling us what we already know. We must always give good advice."

"Even if it's not listened to," another member said with a smile.

"Ah." Crug looked around the circle. "This is what I want to talk about. I have a plan, which will guarantee our community will prosper." He had their attention.

Crug proposed that the village establish a permanent group of hunters who would search for wild game throughout the season. After only a few minutes of discussion everyone agreed that this proposal made a lot of sense.

Crug's next proposal stirred some debate. He wanted the community to have a small--but permanent--militia to "protect" the village in case of attack. Crug pointed out that there had been two large roving bands of hunters sighted within the last twenty days. As their community prospered, Crug suggested, these bands might decide to take food from their community. In the end the Council reached a compromise. They'd establish a small contingent of soldiers to watch over the fields.

Crug next proposed that within five full days a delegation should go to the nearby village to discuss trade and sheep. He offered to lead the delegation, if the Council agreed. The Council concurred without hesitation.

Crug's final proposal caused the most debate and at times heated disagreements erupted. He wanted the community to build a storage shed for grain and vegetables. This would be by far the largest structure in their community. The purpose, as Crug explained, was to insure that sufficient food always be available; no one could know when a harvest might be bad. What if the farmers did something wrong? He reminded them what it was like when a number of their friends had starved to death, not that long ago.

No one could doubt Crug's persuasive ability or for that matter the logic behind his proposal. At the same time, several Council members knew instinctively that if they built this community food shed something would change in the village. Perhaps not for the best.

First of all the proposal would have to be brought before the entire community. Who was going to build the shed? Who would determine how much food would be placed in the shed? Who would decide who in the village needed what? These were a few of the questions that were debated.

By the time the meeting ended for the day, Crug believed that the community would eventually go in the direction he wanted. He knew he could count on at least five members of the Council for support. He also had some proposals he'd not brought up, but in time he would raise them as well.

Another two full seasons passed. Even to a casual observer the village looked different. There were more permanent structure, and in the center of the community was a large shed, by far the biggest building in the village. Beside this shed were two other structures completed only a short time before. In front of one of these smaller building something new was being constructed.

As well ... whereas two years before most everyone in the village dressed about the same, now there were distinct differences in attire. Several men in the community walked around with long wooden spears and had shields made from animal skins hanging over their shoulders. Other people, both men and women, wore colored beads around their necks, and a few had on strange looking headdresses of various sizes and shapes.

What had been happening of course over the past two years was "civilization." Crug was the primary instigator of these changes, but close to two-thirds of the community thought it was the right way to go. Crug, like any good politician, had built alliances and formed coalitions with different factions in the community. And left unspoken was the fact that the growing militia was siding with the group with the most influence--the one Crug was now leading. Of course Crug had been the person who'd proposed the militia two years before. On two occasions since then the soldiers had been used to drive off groups of hunters who threatened the community. Crug still had one final goal to achieve.
to be continued....