The Eternal Quest on the Mediterranean Shores

A return to the first stirrings of life: fire and wood.
To the dawn of writing, where the trembling hand of a Canaanite
etched the first letters in the sands of Sinai's desert.
A return to the earliest symbols of magic,
to hands weaving spells
to ward off dangers and shield against the perils of sea and mountain.
A return to the first voyage across the sea,
seeking the eternal on Mediterranean shores.
A return to the primal quest for immortality,
the journey of Gilgamesh.
A return to algorithms and the stars,
to the first laws, the earliest circles, and Hammurabi's wheel.
A return to the first city, Jericho,
and the first civilization, Sana’a.
A return to the first monotheism at the hands of Akhenaten,
to the first rituals of worship.
A return to the origins of love, of speech,
of dance—and of the first...
A return to there,
and between there and here, now,
a thousand firsts have passed.

To the one who kindled the first spark of life within me,
to the one who taught me the alphabets of connection with the universe,
to the spirit of my father.

This work was brought to life with the participation of artists Ma’moun Shreiteh and Khalil Barakat.

Tayseer Barakat, The Eternal Quest on the Mediterranean Shores, 2024.
Pyrography on wood, 17 x 3.9 m
Courtesy of the artist.