Set in the unrecorded centuries of the fifth millennium b.c., the narrative tracks the heavy labor of hauling incense and timber to a high elevation. The mountain air is thin and cold. Sethite families move heavy stones to reinforce their settlements. A constant, guarded unease surrounds the southern paths leading downward. They endure severe physical exhaustion simply from surviving at this altitude. They find ultimate consolation only in the sealed rock holding the bones of their dead.
The descendants of Seth live on the rocky summit of the Holy Mountain. They refuse to travel down to the lower valleys. The children of Cain occupy the fertile dirt below. The Sethites maintain a strict physical barrier to protect their bloodline and laws. They enforce this boundary as a matter of daily survival. Walking down the mountain means abandoning their agricultural isolation and their covenant with the Creator. They watch the lower camps and keep their own fires burning.
The Cave of Treasures serves as a massive stone anchor for an isolated camp. Ancient records use extreme elevations to map a closeness to the Most High. In plain physical reality, forcing a community to live on a steep summit creates a fierce tribal loyalty. The daily work of grinding myrrh, wrapping the dead, and sealing corpses in deep caverns binds the living to the stones beneath their feet. A proper mountain burial required over forty pounds of crushed tree resin, costing roughly three months of a laborer's wages in the lower settlements.
Men only build their houses on steep rock when they are terrified of what wanders the easy valleys.
The crude stone altars eventually crumbled into the dirt. The fierce isolation of the mountain tribes left behind nothing but empty caverns and scattered animal bones.