Long-Distance Communication. Until writing was sufficiently well developed to convey accurately the spoken word, a message had to be memorized by a courier and, it was hoped, delivered verbatim to the recipient. In the Sumerian-language poem Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta—written near the beginning of the second millennium B.C.E. but set at the period of transition from the Early Dynastic I to the Early Dynastic II period (circa 2750 B.C.E.)—a messenger is central to the ongoing contest between two city rulers vying for the attention of the goddess Inana. Enmerkar, the ruler of Uruk, chooses a messenger from among his troops, one who is "eloquent of speech and endowed with endurance." The messenger is told to go quickly to Aratta, a legendary city set far to the east of Uruk, and deliver Enmerkar's demands to...