Gilgamesh was a hero in ancient Mesopotamian mythology and the protagonist of the Epic of Gilgamesh, an epic poem written in Akkadian during the late 2nd millennium BC.  He was possibly a historical king of the Sumerian city-state of Uruk, who was posthumously deified.  His rule probably would have taken place sometime in the beginning of the Early Dynastic Period, c. 2900–2350 BC, though he became a major figure in Sumerian legend during the Third Dynasty of Ur (c. 2112 – c. 2004 BC).  Tales of Gilgamesh's legendary exploits are narrated in five surviving Sumerian poems.  The earliest of these is likely "Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Netherworld", in which Gilgamesh comes to the aid of the goddess Inanna and drives away the creatures infesting her huluppu tree.  She gives him two unknown objects, a mikku and a pikku, which he loses.  After Enkidu's death, his shade tells Gilgamesh about the bleak conditions in the Underworld.  The poem Gilgamesh and Aga describes Gilgamesh's revolt against his overlord Aga of Kish.  Other Sumerian poems relate Gilgamesh's defeat of the giant Huwawa and the Bull of Heaven, while a fifth, poorly preserved poem relates the account of his death and funeral.  In later Babylonian times, these stories were woven into a connected narrative.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilgamesh   

Nearly every major city was built near the convergence of many rivers.  As cities grew with the Industrial Revolution, these rivers became conduits for disease and pollution.  The 19th-century solution was to bury them underground and merge them with the sewer systems.  These rivers still run through today's metropolises, but they do so out of sight.  https://icarusfilms.com/if-lr    

Keep believing in yourself; your life will be remarkable.  Found in fortune cookie.  

“In this world, a good time to laugh is any time you can.”  Linda Ellerbee, journalist   https://www.passiton.com/inspirational-quotes/8051-in-this-world-a-good-time-to-laugh-is-any-time    

We can't take any credit for our talents.  It's how we use them that counts.  Madeleine L'Engle, author  https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/madeleine_lengle_392392   

Pistacia terebinthus also called the terebinth and the turpentine tree, is a deciduous shrub species of the genus Pistacia, native to the Mediterranean region from the western regions of Morocco and Portugal to Greece and western and southeastern Turkey.  At one time terebinths growing on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea (in Syria, Lebanon and Israel) were regarded as a separate species, Pistacia palaestina, but these are now considered to be a synonym of P. terebinthus.  The terebinth is a deciduous flowering plant belonging to the cashew family, Anacardiaceae; a small tree or large shrub, it grows to 10 m (33 ft) tall.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pistacia_terebinthus#

A deciduous, dioecious tree with unisexual flowers, the terebinth, which is a type of pistacia, has compound feathery leaves composed of four or five pairs of leaflets, usually ending with a single leaf.  Its pods are small and spherical, flattened, weakly kidney-shaped (smaller than al-sarris); the red ones are sterile, while the purple ones have a fully formed seed inside.  In spring, terebinth trees blanket the hills in red, for most of the tree’s parts are red in colour. Even in autumn, its leaves have a reddish hue.  Terebinth is widespread in the mountains of Upper and Lower Galilee, Carmel, Jerusalem, Nablus, Hebron, and the coastal Galilee areas.  Alongside oaks, terebinths form a forest cluster.  Further, this type of terebinth is one of five wild varieties that grow in Palestine.  Al-sarris and the Atlantic terebinth are two others.  Some botanists consider terebinth a subspecies classified as P. terebinthus.  Terebinths live for hundreds of years.  They are usually found as small shrubs due to grazing, but they can reach a great height when protected, as can be seen near some Muslim shrines in Palestine.  Terebinth has many uses. Palestinians use it to make their famous doqqa (a Palestinian thyme mixture).  Palestinian farmers used its wood to make farming tools.  The wood was also used to produce incense and make implements for grinding coffee.  The resinous sap is extracted by tapping the bark.  The resin contains turpentine (a name derived from terebinth) which has many uses, including as a paint thinner.  

The berries were used to treat stomach-ache and toothache.  They can also be eaten raw, roasted, or even be used to make a specific type of thin crackers called dakadik or garagish al-butm.  https://palmuseum.org/en/support/tree-sponsorship/terebinth   

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2934  April 25, 2025