The Royal Ontario Museum - Toronto, Canada - January 2020 CE

Professor Maria Lorenzo looked nervously around the room after see glanced at her watch. She was standing behind a podium in front of a least two hundred people but she only wanted to see two people. 

"Five more minutes." She muttered to herself as she went though her lecture notes to make sure they were in order. Even though Maria was a professor and did public speaking on a daily basis, she never done something this high profile.

Maria was looking for her two kids, Jose and Sofia. They knew how much this day meant to her. It was the grand opening for the exhibition she was hosting - Babylon Revisited. Maria spent months working over time at the museum and the university so this exhibition could be opened as soon as possible. Since Maria was chosen to be director of this exhibition she spent every waking moment for the last few months making sure this event was going to be perfect. Even though she was spending less time with her kids, Maria knew her hard work would pay off. Besides, Jose was twenty two and Sofia was eighteen. They were practically adults, still living under her roof though, in her tiny two bedroom apartment. 

Regardless, even if her kids didn't show up. Most of her students and faculty from the University of Toronto were there to support her. They helped her with this project as much as they could. Which warmed Maria's heart. 

As Maria scanned the room, she still couldn't find her kids but the saw the smiling faces of everyone who helped her with this project. Maria's heart was beginning to beat fast. In a matter of minutes people would be listening to her lecture on the latest discoveries from Babylon. With Iraq being more stable in recent years there were students and archaeologists from the University of Baghdad excavating the site of Babylon. There were many priceless artifacts uncovered in recent months but the most valuable was a clay tablet that was found under the ancient Temple of Marduk. After countless months working with her team at the university. They were able to translate the ancient tablet which Maria was going to make note of in her lecture.

The two students who discovered the tablet were Labib and Amira from Baghdad. They were actually among the crowd with many others. Maria could see them beaming at her, dressed to the nines. They flew in all the way from Baghdad for this classy event. 

Maria clutched her lecture papers close to her chest. People were now all seated and ready to listen to her lecture on the recent discoveries of Babylon. Maria looked all over the crowd again. She recognized more faces. The head of the faculty was there - Sylvester Greene, various donors to the museum and the university and the director of the museum - Jessica Golding. With all these important people waiting, Maria had to begin her lecture.

Maria sighed put on an involuntary smile and began to start her lecture.

"Hello everyone, welcome to the grant opening of the Babylon Revisited exhibition. I would like to thank everyone who made this project a reality." Maria said happily. Maria then thanked a long list of names. The most notable being Labib, Amira and directors of various academic institutions.

The crowd smiled, showing their interest. Considering it was a Friday night most of the people at this event were more of the intellectual type. The kind of people to spend a Friday night with a glass of wine and a book.  They were obviously going to enjoy this event. It was the kind of event to make you look "cultured".

Maria proceeded to talk about the various items featured at the exhibition. She was only going to go into detail on a few artifacts. Since the exhibition was a whole hall. Maria wanted to give the visitors a chance to see some of the exhibits themselves. Of course, the were student volunteers from her class to help with the tour after the lecture.

"Babylon was always a focal point for civilization. The area that it is located in has been inhabited for millennia known as Mesopotamia . Babylon has always captured the hearts and minds of people though out the ages. Since it has been mentioned in various religions and it is apparently where humanity all split into many nations with many languages because of the Tower of Babel. Whether you look at Babylon as a religious center piece or an ancient lost city. We cannot deny that Babylon is an ancient civilization that we should study, when given the chance. So we have more of an understanding of what we learned from them. Also we can uncover how those myths were formed so long ago and if there's any truth to them." Maria said with her most professor like tone.

As Maria read this introduction, she went on to present the artifacts she was presenting her research on. Maria was focusing on three main items. First, an arrow head. Said to be used during the destruction of Jerusalem. Second, a small statue in shape of the deity Marduk. Third, a tablet from a Priestess from the temple. All these items were found recently during the new excavations of Babylon.

Maria talked about the first two items for about an hour. During that hour, Sofia and Jose thought it would be a appropriate to walk into a high profile lecture late. Covered in late January snow. Maria shot them a look while she was presenting her work. As much she appreciated her children coming. It was a disappointment that they came so late. At least they followed the dress code - to an extent. Jose was in a tux with his large circular glasses and Sofia was dressed in a short red dress with a low neck line that was way to low and was also wearing glasses. Only difference was that Sofia wore her glasses to make herself look more intelligent. 

Maria made direct eye contact with Sofia for a second and Sofia knew her mother didn't approve of her clothing. Sofia was an Instagram influencer so she didn't dress to her mother's Cuban Catholic standards. But at least she was making money from lots of sponsors. Her mother would always tell her to get a real job or go to university and Sofia would reply with.

"God gave me good looks, so I use them."

"That logic will make you a hooker." her mom would reply angrily back.

As much as Maria would hate it to say it. She was favored Jose over Sofia. He actually decided to go to university to be an archaeologist. He has always been inspired by his mother and wanted to follow her foot steps. Ever since Jose and Sofia's father died in car accident seventeen years ago, Jose looked at his mother as his sole role model. As for Sofia she followed the steps of Kim Kardashian. Something her mother despised. 

As Sofia and Jose hung their jackets, they took seats in the last row of the event since the lecture was almost half way done. All the good seats were taken. If it weren't for Sofia taking forever to get ready, they would have made it on time. 

At least Sofia and Jose made it for the most important and interesting part of the lecture. Their mother was finally going to be talking about the Tablet of Babylon a recently translated clay tablet from over two thousand years ago.

"If look here, you can see the Tablet of Babylon written in the ancient script of Akkadian. It was written in 539 BCE when King Cyrus conquered Babylon. It was written by a priestess named Anatu who lived in the Temple of Marduk. We were able to translate the tablet with the help of the Chicago Assyrian Dictionary published back in 1956." Maria exclaimed with great confidence in her voice.

The audience grew wide eyed. They were going to get a glimpse into the inner most thoughts from someone living over two thousands years ago. Out of everyone in the crowd, Jose was the most excited to know what the tablet said. Jose knew his mother was translating an ancient tablet months ago. Being the history buff himself, he wanted to know what the tablet said but his mother said he would find out when the exhibition was ready. After months of waiting the answer was here.

Maria cleared her throat and began the read the tablet written by Anatu. Maria was the first person to read this tablet out loud for over two millennia.

"To future generations of Babylon, D'mt and Athens. I use this stone to remind you of the Temple of Marduk ,a place with the art of holy incantation and souls devoted to serving the deities that provided us blessings and hope. I, Anatu High Priestess of Babylon am one of the devoted worshipers here.

Our temple should have lasted centuries more if it were not the greediness King Cyrus and the laziness of our King Belshazzar. I have sent two Priestesses to spread our message. Priestess Shala to Athens and Priestess Kissare to D'mt. If they are to make to it to those lands. This tablet will just be a reminder of our trials but if they do not. I'm afraid this is all that that remains of our Temple."

Anatu of Babylon.

The intellectuals and history buffs of the audience were in awe as Maria spoke more on the Babylonian tablet. They just heard of the oldest translation ever in person. For the audience members that came for "culture" they sure got it. How many people can sat they got to be first for the reading of a two thousand year old tablet. Jose was elated. It was worth waiting all those months for this. Jose was a nerd when it came to ancient languages, so much in fact that he was going to get his masters in Egyptology at the American University of Cairo. When he told his mother that she was proud of him, just like Jose was proud of his mother for doing this exhibition. Jose was always a mama's boy. He looked at his mother in admiration as she continued her lecture.

"As you can see, Babylon was much more interconnected to other civilizations than we previously thought. The tablet mentions that two Babylonian priestesses traveled D'mt and Athens. Hopefully in the future we can to more research on this and bring those findings to light. This proves that history can used to unify us not divide us. We usually see history as a series of battles and injustices but we forget that history was also the exchanging of cultures and ideas. But most importantly history is the story of all of us." 

The audience stood up clapping. Cheers were shouted and Maria beamed. Her months of hard work paid off but her work wasn't finished yet. She just had to answer some questions and then the guests were free to view the exhibition with the help from student guides.

"Any questions or suggestions?" Maria asked as she looked at the intrigued audience.

"Where's D'mt?" asked one of the guest.

"It's in east Africa in modern day Ethiopia and Eritrea." Maria replied.

The audience asked questions for about twenty minutes. Mostly of basis of when and where. Once the questions were cleared up. The audience got up from their seats and looked at what Maria and her team prepared for months.

Jose and Sofia got up also and wanted to congratulate their mother before they saw the priceless artifacts from Babylon.

"You were amazing!" chimed Sofia. Even though Sofia didn't care much for history, she respected her mother's dedication for her work. 

The exhibition continued to run smoothly. People were learning and having a good time. Maria caught up with her kids and introduced them to various co workers and friends. This event took a lot of Maria's free time during the previous months but now she was networking and rubbing shoulders with some of the museum donors. People who could fund an excavation. As Maria shook hands and received compliments, an elderly man approached her. Maria extended her hand to greet him but he put his heart to his chest.

"I'm not much of hand shaker." the man said in a rough but kind voice.

Maria nodded awkwardly and said "I hope you're enjoying the exhibition, sir."

"I'm fond of your work, Maria. It brings a good light to Iraq. Instead of viewing Iraq as a war torn country, you showed my home country as the birth place of civilizations." the man went on.

"I like to look at the world as different chapters of my history. Who knows, perhaps I had an ancestor from Babylon. Like I said earlier, history is the story of all of us." Maria replied.

"Exactly!" the man exclaimed.

The man then shook his head and laughed.

"I'm so sorry for not introducing my self earlier. My name is Nasser Awad." 

Maria heard the name before. It rung a bell in her head but she didn't remember.

"Its my pleasure to meet you." Maria said with a large smile.

"I would like to give you request for something." Nasser said as he handed Maria an envelope and a business card.

"I love to stay and chat but I need to get going. I hate the cold winter nights. If you're interested in my request, give me a call when you get the chance." Nasser added as he began to walk off.

Maria shrugged, confused by the quick and abrupt nature of the man. He seemed friendly enough to Maria. So Maria put the envelope in her suit jacket and continued to stroll around the exhibition receiving praise and questions.

Over the course of the night, the crowds began to weed away. Hoping to beat traffic. Once the time reached 9 pm - a hour before the museum closed, most of the guests were gone and only a few people remained. Mostly the student volunteers, some members from Maria's faculty and museum employees.

Maria was beginning to feel sleepy and was ready for a relaxing weekend. After months of nonstop working, Maria could finally go to the spa tomorrow and treat herself to an all inclusive package. She also made plans with Jose and Sofia for lunch at "Richmond Station" a trendy restaurant in Toronto co-owned by a top chef Canada winner. They reserved seats there for this Sunday since Maria was having her spa day on Saturday.

Maria's mind dozed off to a relaxing weekend when she felt a tap on her should. Maria turned around and saw Jessica Golding, the director of the museum with the head of her faculty Sylvester Greene with a large grin.

"Were you speaking to Mr. Nasser Awad?" asked Jessica in a giddy voice.

"Yes, he also gave me this envelope." Maria replied as she pulled the envelope from out of her suit.

"Do you remember who he is?" Sylvester asked.

"His name does ring a bell but I have no idea who he is." Maria answered.

"He is one of the museum's largest donors. He was the one who was funding the excavations in Babylon. He's originally from Baghdad and is extremely rich and affluent Iraqi national. He owns an oil field in the middle east somewhere. I mentioned this to you before have I not?" Sylvester exclaimed.

Maria didn't remember Sylvester mentioning the name Nasser. She only remembered Sylvester saying that some rich middle eastern man moved to Toronto and was donating large sums of money to the University's archaeology faculty and the museum. Maria was so engrossed in her work she totally about this conversion from weeks ago.

"I must have forgotten, I've been so busy." Maria said sheepishly. Sylvester was her boss so didn't want to seem like she was not aware to detail.

"Well it looks like it paid off. If Nasser is interested is interested in your work. He could fund an excavation for you." Sylvester said excitedly towards Jessica.

"Iraq has been stable for the last little bit. We could uncover so many artifacts for the museum!" Jessica added happily. 

Maria was over joyed by this news, ever since she got her Master's she always wanted to be part of an excavation. Unfortunately, Maria has been stuck teaching at the university for the last eight years. Maria loved her job but she yearned for the adventure of an archaeology dig.

"This is all amazing news but I could've have done it without the help from everyone involved, the students from the faculty, the students from the University of Baghdad and you guys. Maria said with a shining smile towards Jessica and Sylvester. 

"Do mind if you open the envelope now?" Sylvester asked.

"It's late now and I'm tired. I just want to relax this weekend and not think about work until Monday. I'll open the enveloped with you this Monday." Maria answered.

Maria also wanted to know what was in the envelope but she didn't want any extra work to do this weekend. All Maria knew about the envelope was that it contained a request which most likely meant work. Most donors who gave away large amounts of money to institutions like universities expected a favor from them such as accepting their kid into a certain program. Maria didn't want to do any favors or deal with entitled people who thought their children deserved to be in a university because they were rich this weekend. This weekend she was going to relax and spend quality time with her kids.

"Fair enough." Sylvester sighed, disappointed that he had to wait.

"Well, you deserve the break. You broke the record! This exhibition was the most popular one we had in terms of ticket sales." Jessica said with a genuine smile.

Maria smiled and thanked Jessica for her kind words.

"Just tell me what the envelope says when you get the chance. I also very curious on what it says." Jessica added as she waved good bye and walked off with Sylvester.

It was now also 9:30 pm, the exhibition was now empty except for Maria, her kids and some cleaning staff for the museum. Maria waved her kids over and told them they were heading home.

The exhibition was a major turning point and high note for Maria's career but the next few months would change Maria's life forever in ways she never expected.