The City of Ur

I was thinking about the term "Ur Text" and why it sounded so familiar to me at the time Dr. Sexson mentioned it. It didn't hit me until tonight, as I was sitting in my creative non-fiction class, listening to a classmate read his essay of place. The city of Ur in ancient Babyon, now modern day Iraq is the site of one of the oldest civilizations in recorded history. Therefore it is considered a birthplace of civilization and knowledge, and that all we know has sprung forth from this ancient city. This is why the term "Ur Text" means a source text, a text from which all others have sprung forth. Just like Dionysis sprung forth from Zeus' thigh and Momotaro sprang forth from the peach, each was created from essentially nothing. All that has been uncovered from the city of Ur is the Great Ziggurat and the royal tombs. These structures remain only as foundations. The Great Ziggurat seems to me to be the foundation of the Egyptian pyramids, a mere stepping stone in human history. Just as Ur texts are the foundation, the source of our myths, fairy tales, and children's literature.