h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Balaam: Donkey Abuser or Rescuer of Civilisations? The Deir Alla Puzzle - A87858850
Author: Dmitri Gheorgheni - U1590784

If you sell a movie treatment based on this Guide Entry to Hollywood, h2g2 wants a finder's fee.

This is intriguing. And makes me feel a bit sorry for Balaam, being pestered by gods and goddesses.

If you're going to speculate, I suppose you could guess this was a time when religion was developing, becoming more sophisticated. So out of the confusion of minor gods and goddesses emerges the idea of a Supreme Being. And maybe there was a natural disaster, like a period of darkness caused by a volcanic eruption, which eventually cleared.

On the whole, I like the irreverent tone, but I'm not sure why you've chosen 'Fool's Names...In Public Places' as the header to the section on the Deir Alla text.

I am chagrined. That should have been 'fools' names...' and I misspelled it. I was going for the saying 'Fools' names and fools' faces are often found in public places.'

But if you didn't get it, that's probably too obscure a reference to be interesting.

So I rewrote it with probably even more useless wordplay.

Thanks for reading it.

And for letting me know that the general idea I was trying to convey - about the development of religious understanding in the Middle East - was getting across.

If you do a bit of reading about the gods of ancient Mesopotamia - their favourite food was pancakes - you'll understand a lot more about the Book of Genesis, especially the antediluvian bit.

I'm trying to imagine these gods wading through floods, with plates piled high with pancakes in their hands!

And drinking date wine, their favourite...

There's a legend about how Marduk of Babylonia became Head God in Mesopotamia. There was politicking involved, and a banquet with pancakes and date wine. Of course, he still had to destroy the evil monster, but first he mellowed out the selection committee...

The new header is fine.

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