From: "What They're Up Against".

By John Hunton.

"The Kurdish scout lay motionless next to the hummock of dirt and sand that crowned the ancient tell. Out before him, where the aurora met the ground, the thought he could make out the wavy outlines of a darkening shape. The shape danced on toward the scout, while to the west, behind him, an orange glow crept up the flickering sky. He had washed himself with sand and turned toward the Kaaba for the evening prayer when the sun went down, like the crest of a pillar of flame, below the black rim of the world."