Uruk, Sumer — c. 2700 BCE Before history had kings, it had a boy with a reed stylus. In the world’s first city, young Enmerkar watches the rivers rise and fall and dreams of capturing their voice. When flood and fire strike Uruk, and the goddess Inanna falls silent, he discovers that marks pressed into clay can outlast speech itself. From those fragile tablets, civilization begins. The Boy of the Two Rivers: Enmerkar is the first novel in The Voices of Time — Series 03: The River Kings , an epic YA historical collection tracing humanity’s awakening across the world’s earliest empires. Through lyrical prose and archaeological realism, readers witness the birth of writing, faith, and memory along the twin rivers of Sumer. Perfect for classroom or homeschool study , this novel includes: Historical timeline and glossary of key Sumerian terms - Sources & Methods section connecting fiction to real artifacts - Discussion guide for literature or world history units When a boy learns to write his name, the world learns to remember.