Arthur arrives in the vil­lage of Zêrav in 1872, greet­ed by the vil­lagers with curios­i­ty and warmth. Chil­dren run eager­ly to meet him, while elder­ly men observe his arrival, one of whom is a dis­tin­guished sheikh dressed in white robes and hold­ing an intri­cate­ly designed cane. Arthur express­es his sin­cere grat­i­tude for the hos­pi­tal­i­ty extend­ed to him, and he and his guide are led to the sheikh’s home. There, they are offered goat’s milk and a lav­ish din­ner that includes tra­di­tion­al dish­es like chick­en biryani and kub­ba Mosul. The sheikh explains that every guest is viewed as a gift, a sen­ti­ment that res­onates with Arthur, mak­ing him feel more con­nect­ed to this unfa­mil­iar place and its peo­ple. His appre­ci­a­tion for the hos­pi­tal­i­ty grows as the evening unfolds, and he is touched by the gen­uine kind­ness shown to him.

Dur­ing the din­ner, Arthur observes his guide’s reluc­tance to par­take in the meal, which caus­es Arthur’s own appetite to flare up unex­pect­ed­ly. Sens­ing that the vil­lagers might be cau­tious about out­siders, Arthur express­es his sym­pa­thy towards the sheikh regard­ing the neg­a­tive per­cep­tions oth­ers may have about their vil­lage. The sheikh, how­ev­er, responds with resilience, acknowl­edg­ing the strug­gles they face but empha­siz­ing the strength of their com­mu­ni­ty, which has endured hard­ships for gen­er­a­tions. Arthur, inspired by the sheikh’s per­spec­tive, lis­tens intent­ly, feel­ing a deep respect for their abil­i­ty to with­stand adver­si­ty with pride and uni­ty. The dia­logue leaves him reflect­ing on the dif­fer­ences between his own life and that of the vil­lagers, bring­ing into focus the con­trast­ing ele­ments of priv­i­lege and strug­gle.

After the meal, the atmos­phere becomes more inti­mate as Arthur enjoys cof­fee with the sheikh. In this qui­eter moment, the sheikh warns Arthur about the local Pasha of Mosul, sug­gest­ing that the Pasha may view Arthur’s arrival as an oppor­tu­ni­ty for prof­it. Arthur, how­ev­er, clar­i­fies his true pur­pose in vis­it­ing the area—he is not seek­ing wealth, but rather, he is deter­mined to uncov­er an ancient poem relat­ed to the Great Flood. The sheikh, sens­ing Arthur’s sin­cer­i­ty, reas­sures him that he is indeed in the right place. This region, rich in his­to­ry and steeped in leg­end, is linked to the Ark and the Del­uge, rein­forc­ing Arthur’s con­vic­tion that his research here could yield sig­nif­i­cant find­ings.

As the evening pro­gress­es, the sheikh begins to ask more per­son­al ques­tions about Arthur’s life, prompt­ing him to reveal that he has a fiancée back in Eng­land. How­ev­er, Arthur’s emo­tions are con­flict­ed; he feels a strong pull toward the ancient land and its mys­ter­ies, which seems to dis­tance him from his per­son­al ties. He con­fides in the sheikh about his inter­nal strug­gle, describ­ing the sense of being drawn toward a “ghost riv­er,” a force that seems to call him away from his life in Eng­land and his engage­ment. Just as the con­ver­sa­tion becomes more per­son­al, Arthur meets the sheikh’s adopt­ed daugh­ter, Leila, a faqra who pos­sess­es a unique spir­i­tu­al con­nec­tion to the world. Leila’s pres­ence adds a lay­er of mys­tique to the evening, and Arthur feels intrigued by her insight, which seems to tran­scend the ordi­nary.

Lat­er that night, Arthur’s rest is dis­turbed by strange rustling sounds com­ing from out­side. Curi­ous­ly, he glimpses Leila sleep­walk­ing, an unset­tling but intrigu­ing sight that makes him won­der about the deep­er truths she may pos­sess. The next morn­ing, Arthur wakes to the sound of children’s laugh­ter and dis­cov­ers that his guide has left. In his absence, Dis­han, the sheikh’s son, steps in to assist Arthur as his new trans­la­tor, and they begin the day with a renewed sense of pur­pose. The vil­lage, vibrant with activ­i­ty, pro­vides a warm and wel­com­ing atmos­phere that encour­ages Arthur to feel more con­nect­ed to this strange land.

Eager to begin his work, Arthur express­es his desire to start exca­vat­ing near the archae­o­log­i­cal site of Nin­eveh. The sheikh, dis­play­ing immense gen­eros­i­ty, invites Arthur to stay with him dur­ing his research, empha­siz­ing that shar­ing food and shel­ter enrich­es any endeav­or. This invi­ta­tion offers Arthur not only a place to stay but also a deep­er con­nec­tion with the peo­ple of Zêrav, who have accept­ed him as one of their own. Encour­aged by this warm recep­tion, Arthur looks for­ward to explor­ing the Kouyun­jik mound, where he believes lay­ers of ancient his­to­ry await him. The sheikh’s hos­pi­tal­i­ty and sup­port strength­en his resolve, and Arthur feels opti­mistic about the work ahead, hop­ing to uncov­er insights that will deep­en his under­stand­ing of the ancient world and its mys­ter­ies.