Shortly after noon. Changed the oil in Carol’s car this morning along with daily chores. You are curious as to how this next scene is going to go and wonder if you can use your near death experience at the Grand Canyon as an element of it. Which works well as it is desert, rocks, scrubby bushes and a river nearby. Check your notes as to where Ezekiel is supposedly buried to get a sense of the place, perhaps via Goggle Earth. Let’s see what’s out there.
"Al Kifl, Iraq is near the Euphrates River and I will have to invent the location along the Euphrates where I will have him die. Let’s say, between the Euphrates and a synagogue, later becoming legendary tomb of Ezekiel. At Kefil near Birs Nimrud.
Ezekiel’s Tomb is located in Al Kifl, Iraq. The Jews believe it to be the tomb of Biblical Ezekiel. Up until the mid-20th century, up to 5,000 Jews used to come to the tomb during Passover. Muslims believe this tomb to be that of an unspecified personality named Dhul-Kifl. It had been protected by the Saddam Hussein as a holy site.
The traditional burial-place of the prophet Ezekiel, around which many sagas and legends have gathered, is shown at Kefil near Birs Nimrud; for centuries it has been a favorite place of pilgrimage for Mohammedans as well as for Jews. The mausoleum, dating probably from the time of the califs, was regarded already in the twelfth century as the work of King Jehoiachin, who is said to have erected it when he was liberated from prison by Evilmerodach. The Sefer Torah found there is alleged to have been written by the prophet himself; and he is said to have lighted the lamp which was burning on his grave and had never gone out, as the oil was constantly replenished. In the twelfth century the mausoleum contained a large Hebrew library, and it was said that many of these books dated from the time of the First Temple (Benjamin of Tudela, “Itinerary,” ed. Asher, i. 67; comp. also in Schechter, “Saadyana,” the letter of Sherira, p. 123, line 45)."
Above from the ‘Bible Discovered’ website.
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The Holy Qur'an mentions a prophet called Dhul-Kifl. This prophet is most commonly identified with Ezekiel. . . . The shrine of Ezekiel was there, and the Jews came to it on pilgrimage." This theory reveals that Dhul-Kifl could indeed have been Ezekiel, and his Qur'anic description as being a man who was "patient" and "outstanding" matches Ezekiel's stories in the Old Testament. - Wikipedia
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The above holds enough suggestion that can be used in our plausible fictional setting. So, yes, for drama’s sake let us have Ezekiel die at dawn on the bank of the Euphrates River looking west towards Israel and his body is found that same evening and he is buried near the ancient nearby synagogue to the east of the river. – Amorella.
Home from a late lunch at Panera where you saw an old student Gretchen G., a vet, who is married to another former student. You mostly chatted about Kim and Owen as Gretchen’s Dayton friend, a fellow vet, had her thirteen month old named Ben with her for lunch. Errands followed lunch as is the usual.
Time for bed, getting on midnight. Ezekiel must have been a very interesting person in real life. It is written that his personality was patient and outstanding. I don’t know in what context he was outstanding I keep wanting to project ‘understanding’ in its place, but that is not as he was. Patience is a very good virtue. I would like to find out an example of his outstanding(ness), other than wanting his fellow Jews to stay true to their own ways now that they were in a more challenging and in some ways, better Babylonian environment than they had had in Israel. I hope I’m thinking this right. I don’t see how Ezekiel is going to easily accept his condition and situation after death. And, how he is going be won over by Takis to help the cause. I assume the Supervisor will have something to do with this broader philosophical ‘conversion’ as it were but I cannot imagine what. The more I get into this, the more I can see my romantic idealism showing itself. I know better. I know what fiction is. I am writing out a dream in my head. One that is impractical and not at all human in terms of people, living or dead, getting along.
In real life people would need a gun at their throats to evoke a change towards a truly better world for their children. It is depressing to think on mostly because the world is as it is and human nature is as it is. We are not a very civilized species, not really.
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