If you were to hold an ancient shepherd’s staff in your hands, you would feel more than just the smoothed grain of almond or oak. You would feel the ridges of a life story. In the quiet hours of the night watch, a shepherd would take a small knife to the wood, carving the milestones of his journey into the very tool he leaned upon.   There might be a notch for a narrow escape from a predator, a symbol for a year of plenty, or the initials of a father and grandfather who carried a staff...