Thinking Way Too Much About Trees
so Neathy Treesmas had me consider trees. Cedars, specifically.
because Cedar Is Important but we are never directly told why it is important, I had to go on my own Jericho Library-esque research project (which I absolutely love)
and it eventually led me to this book:
I have just finished reading the entirety of this book.
it mostly focused on ships which was less relevant (though not irrelevant! we'll come back to that), and even when it came to the wood it was less about the cedar tree and more about the cedar forests. it wasn't just the Mesopotamians who loved themselves some cedar, everyone in that area was interested in it; including the ancient Egyptians. we can therefore postulate the Trials of Cedar were known to the First and Second Cities, and only became more obscure after the Third fell.
I also learned there while there are, of course, cedar forests, there is only one capital C capital F Cedar Forest: The Cedars of God, last of the old growth cedar forests in Lebanon. Since we have a bunch of historical sites down in the Neath due to all the Cities being bought, it might be likely that this is in fact the Hinterlands' Cedar-Woods; after all, Gilgamesh is said to have "conquered" them when he went there with Enkidu.
About what was historically thought of the tree itself and the wood it produced - turns out it was basically the arboreal equivalent of gold. why? because it is just Extremely Good Wood. it was relatively light but extremely strong, incredibly long lasting, beautiful to behold both when worked and in natural form, and its sap confers phenomenal protection from rot. to have something made of cedarwood would've been a mark of royalty, sanctity, immortality: if you have something made from cedar you
a) travelled a long way into the wild untamed liminal wilderness of the western Levant mountains,
b) chopped down a HUGE tree (35 meter high and 12-14 meter trunk, or 115 feet high and 40-46 feet trunk for you yanks), and
c) hauled that huge tree to someplace it could be worked on.
to ancient peoples and also a sentient piece of land like the Creditor (and maybe others, if we assume the Creditor isn't unique among Earth's tectonic plates or planetary crust bits) it makes sense cedarwood would've been an embodiment of order and honor, before the advent of laws. it was a sign of enduring solidity, of permanence beyond human life, and expanse, domain and dominion - since it did enable building large and sturdy ships (told you) for marine travel, turning seas from insurmountable barriers to crossable borders
so, cedar. I get why it's a big deal now. Wonder if the Bazaar ever ate an especially old one, maybe the Summer Schoolmistress has a relative somewhere
