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.