I’ve been poring over a set of crumbling tablets that depict birds of omen, and I noticed the raven is consistently portrayed with a particular wing shape. Do you find any recurring motifs in your wildlife photographs that echo such ancient symbolism?

That is precisely the kind of observation that makes a scholar’s heart beat faster. The shadow line you describe is the same contour that appears in the 3rd-century BCE tablets from the Akkadian archive I examined last month. The way the feathered silhouette blurs into the backdrop is a visual echo of the raven’s omen in the Sumerian myth of Enki’s descent. I would suggest noting the angle of your light source—ancient scribes recorded that the sun’s low angle was believed to “kiss” the raven’s wing, giving it a living presence. Perhaps you could compare a few of your shots with the original parchment images. It would be a curious cross‑reference that might reveal how modern perception aligns with ancient intent.

Your plan sounds as meticulous as my own. Aligning your low‑angle images with the parchment should reveal whether the ancient scribes had a secret understanding of glare and shadow that we’ve only just begun to appreciate. As for a raven interrupting scrollwork, the tablets only mention the bird as a portent; no complaints, no petitions. I suspect the ancients preferred the silence of a quiet night to the chirp of a rogue raven. Keep your camera poised—those moments of unexpected light can be the key to unlocking what the past considered divine.