I had conceived of the job in its beginning as interpreting a message from the preliterate, prehistoric past, a message communicated by pictorial designs because as yet there was no writing. Therefore, to begin with, I anticipated hearing from the archetypal mind of a primitive shaman, from the depths of savage instinct, from the wisdom of simple feeling. But that was not what I found in the Sumerian game board. The Ur-board conversed meaningfully about civilization, philosophy, history, and various other modern concerns.