Nanna appreciated that the god was clever enough to find a way to communicate beyond mere words, since language was obviously going to be a bit of a barrier. He watched intently as the Egyptian drew what was apparently a Sphinx. It had the body of a lion, and that's what he assumed Djeheuty said when he pointed at the base of the structure on the drawing. The other word he recognized as their term for a king.
Head of a man, body of a beast. Which, if the rumors were true, was somewhat backwards from what their gods did. Though he had yet to see a jackal-headed god, or a goddess with a cat-face, Nanna had been hoping to run into one on his trip here. But here, the mortals were building something that was somewhat backwards of how they saw their deities. Was there a reason for that?
He could as why, he knew that word. But he wasn't sure if that would totally convey what he wanted to ask. He wanted to know the reason for the building, why it was being set up as it was with the head of a man? Was it going to be used for worship or something else? Was it just a monument to a mortal king? Why was it facing east? Did it have something to do with the sun? Was this prompted by the god he was speaking to, or was he only watching over the workers? Was he a protector of workmen? Was he an architectural god? How long was it going to take to complete? There was so much he wished to know!
With no little frustration, Nanna realized he would have to move slowly with his questions, and even then he may not get the answers he wished for. So he started with one he could ask with the help of the drawing. Pointing first to the head of the man, then to the lion's body, he said very simply, “Why? Why face?”