[The Healer, the S 01] • Mesopotamia - The Healer, the Slave and the Prince

From the first chapter, Rukha the slave remembering the writing of sounds as he helps his friend prepair for flight to freedom:

"...his father used to sit with him on the banks of the irrigation channels and tell him stories about kernels of wheat as fat as olives and as sweet as crab apples, and about the snowy mountains of the northwest. when he thought that no one was watching, he would lay a lump of mud in his palm and rukha would knead it until it was sufficiently dry. then he would secretly teach him the great wonder of the ugaritic language -- script of sounds. he meticulously drew the symbols: a bull's head for aleph, a hut dwelling for bet, and so on. Rukha invented new symbols for the sounds: symbols made of lines and wedges like the script of his Sumerian masters, pressed into the clay with a reed stylus. He felt a recurring thrill as he recalled the trust his father felt in him when they shared this dangerous and illegal activity.

“Shamash is particularly red today,” Rukha remarked in hopes of diverting the taskmaster's attention from Timin, who was running to their hut.

“Shamash is especially glorious this evening. this is a sign that the netherworlds are bustling with activity. It's best if we don't stick our noses out too much tonight, Rukha.”

“What activity, my master?” inquired Rukha, feigning ignorance.

“the Gods of the netherworlds are conducting a ceremony tonight and require human blood to flavor their wine,” the taskmaster replied smugly. He had fallen into rukha's trap of flattery and was eager to show off his knowledge.

“If that's the case, my master, then we must make haste.”

with affected urgency, Rukha opened and then retied his daily ration, a modest sack of barley and a jug of liquor. Only after the taskmaster rushed out of the plot of land did Rukha follow timin into their mud hut.Since the time when Utnapishtim, son of Lamech son of Methuselah, returned and rebuilt the kingdom of Uruk after the great flood which had washed away everything one hundred and seventy four years before then, and certainly since the ascent of Meskiagasher, king of Uruk, almighty on his throne, twenty years ago, not even one order had been written endorsing the freeing of a slave. Stories about fugitive slaves almost always ended in death by torture by the hands of soldiers, who conducted slave hunts during periods of peace. Rukha's attempts at dissuading Timin from escaping were futile. When he understood that he could not stop him, Rukha offered to help, but Timin refused.

according to the original plan, Timin intended to wait until the beginning of the third watch and to run with his body hunched for the remainder of the night, making his way through the reeds along the banks of the irrigation canals. He planned on hiding in the reeds for the duration of the day and then continuing to run the following night until he was out of the range of immediate danger..."