I am already so excited – in that hyper-nerdy, über-intellectual sort of way – about my trip next week to Houston. First on the list of things to hit is the “Royal Tombs of Ur” exhibit at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. Ur was one of the main city-states of Sumer, a region considered to be the Cradle of Civilization in ancient Mesopotamia and site of the world’s first written language (cuneiform) as well as the world’s first alcoholic beverages. (Is Ur the origin of the drunk author?!?!) The Sumerians were also the first people to dwell in permanent settlements and the first to use the 60-second minute and 60-minute hour because of their sophisticated mathematical systems. The region has been settled for at least nine thousand years. In 1922, British archaeologist Charles Leonard Woolley excavated Ur, discovering Queen Puabi’s unlooted tomb filled with all sorts of nifty items.

Ur is also considered the (traditional) site of the Garden of Eden and home to Abraham, revered patriarch of Jews, Christians, and Muslims.