Complexities
ruk; seventh year of the reign of Utulkalamma
Inanna looked at Uruk from outside as she walked towards it. It was her city, dedicated to her. She entered through the Ur gate on the south. She wanted a man from here. The last man she chose from here was Gilgamesh and he had spurned her, but Gilgamesh is dead now.
Inanna drew stares from all who saw her. Her garment was a beautiful spun fabric and she was decorated with much gold, carnelian and lapis lazuli. She was going to the her ziggurat in the Eanna.
She was distracted by the crowd of men she saw near her temple. They immediately noticed her. She recieved looks of surprise that such an obviously wealthy woman had no one with her, husband or servant. She looked them over. They were all well dressed, and had some financial backing, except one. His hair was unkempt, his beard was knotted and tangled. His once white kilt was full of dirt, and the wool tufts, what remained of them were just as knotted as his beard. He was also the one who caught her interest the most. She walked up to him, and he turned away.
"What a beautiful woman!" one exclaimed.
"Is she from Uruk?" another asked.
She kept her eye on the wild man but said, "Who is that?" For the man of the land. The men were surprised how well she commanded Emegir, the dialect of kings, priests and gods, with no accent from any other city. "Does Enkidu stand before me?" she asked the wild man. All she heard was the laughter of the other men behind her. The man ran away when she looked back at the others.
"That is Shunagal, and he speaks to no one, since his wife died six months ago he has not even bathed," the leader answered, as he stepped closer to her. "Forget about him." He laughed again. When he grabbed Inanna by the arm she struck him, hard. He fell and did not rise again. The others felt something was wrong and quickly dispersed. Inanna went off looking for the wild man, Shunagal.
He was not hard to follow, she found him in the southern part of the city. "Shunagal, forgive me if I offended you back at the temple." He nodded and was gone moments later, but he had fascinated Inanna. "He will be mine."
As the days went by, Inanna watched Shunagal more and more, to learn his daily life. She knew that if she wanted him, she would have to seduce him, for he was like Gilgamesh in his intelligence. If she was to just appear in front of him as Inanna, he would reject her. She must be secretive, and seduce him.
Inanna waited for Shunagal in the Kullab, where he lived. When he came in he gave no sign of knowing her, so she walked up and introduced herself to him. "Hello Shunagal, "she said. "My name is Agal, we met a few days ago in the Eanna." He showed no sign of recognizing her and simply went on his way. Thirty yards from her he met a scribe, a man with many sacks of grain, and they started a barter. "I must be persistent," she thought. Inanna watched the barter and when the grain man and the scribe left, she again approached Shunagal, who now had two sacks of grain. "Shunagal, I want to know you," she said, "what must I do to get you to listen to me?"
Finally he turned to her and said, "If you want to know me, then carry one of these sacks back to my house," he said, fully not expecting her to do so. She picked it up and hefted it over her shoulder, and followed him. Shunagal's face was expressionless, but his eyes betrayed his surprise.
As they walked back to Shunagal's house near the Eanna, they saw looks of surprise on the faces of all the people who saw them. For it appeared that both Lady and slave were sharing the workload, when they knew Shunagal could have carried both sacks.
Only when they reached Shunagal's home did he take the second sack and place it in the corner of the room. "I am thirsty," she said. "Have you anything to drink?" Shunagal picked up two stone cups, and filled them from a large vessel of ale he had on the table. He handed one to her and sat in the chairs at the table.
They sat in silence for several minutes when Inanna finally spoke. "Why do you not speak?" she asked, feebly hoping for a conversation.
"I have no desire to speak. If you wish to speak of anything, you may," he told her.
"Why do you live like this Shunagal, like a wild man, if you want to be a wild man like Enkidu, you should leave the city and live among the animals in the forest.
"I cannot live there like Enkidu, for I have lain with human women and they would not accept me. I used to be a sculptor, now I shape millstones," Shunagal said. He poured another cup of ale, sat down and drank in silence.
Inanna knew this conversation was dead, so she rose and started towards the door. "Thank you for the ale," she said. He waved her off downed the last of the ale in his cup.
The next day, Shunagal went to the Eanna where he met Inanna again. "What must I do to stay away from you?" he asked. "how do you constantly know where I am?"
"The Agigi told me," Inanna smiled, thinking of her family and friends On High. He smiled back, but sarcastically.
For the next few weeks Shunagal and Inanna would meet this way and say these words to each other, as they slowly became used to each other.
Finally Shunagal said something different to Inanna. "I am going to walk along the bank of the river," he said, "would you like to come with me, Agal?" Inanna smiled at this idea. They left the walls of the city, and walked along the river under the scorching sun. They could see the sweat rolling of their faces.
"I think it would be nice to swim," she said. Shunagal smiled. Inanna was many things, but she was not modest, not around men she loved anyway. She threw off her clothes and jumped in the Euphrates. Shunagal stood on the banks and watched her "Shunagal!" she called to him, "Come and join me the waters are cool and refreshing. Shunagal laughed threw off his kilt and leaped into the water. "I feel like I am with Dumuzi again," she thought happily, of those long ago times.
The two of them frolicked together for what must have been hours, until the afternoon sun was low in the sky, giving the walls of Uruk an almost golden tinge.
It was sunset when they returned to Shunagal's home. Once there, Inanna first pulled her hair out of the bun, letting her long braids fall about her. Shunagal also combed out his hair, giving it a certain luster, that held Inanna's attention. His beard was so knotted he simply shaved it off. Now Inanna beheld his full beauty for the first time and almost felt her heart stop. "By the gods, there was only one man who ever made me feel like you do," she said, "and he was in my youth a long time ago."
"I would like to comb out your hair," he said. Inanna seemed surprised by such a strange request, but let him proceed.
As he combed the braids loose, he said, "My wife would love it when I would do this for her."
"You do not miss her as much now."
"Being with you softens the pain. Inanna help me, but I love you."
These words took Inanna totally by surprise. Her mouth dropped open. Suddenly she thought of how much it would hurt him after she had him and left him, and the thought hurt her. It's just like it was with Dumuzi, she thought. All she could do was stand up and walk up to him. "I love you too," was all she could say. Her arm tingled as she felt him touch her.
Together they drank his ale, between them, they did not get truly drunk, just lightheaded. They found their way to the bed where they made love. In her mind, Inanna felt pure pleasure, before she drifted off to sleep atop Shunagal's body.
The next morning Inanna awoke alone in the bed. She looked for Shunagal, and he was no where to be seen. Finally she called his name and he came to her. In his cleanliness he looked glorious even in the morning light. "Are you alright?" he asked. She nodded.
"What are you doing?" Inanna asked.
"Get dressed, there is something I want to show you," he smiled. Inanna obeyed and quickly dressed. When she finished, Shunagal lead her out of the city.
"Are we swimming again?" she asked.
"No," he smiled. They went far enough that they could see the whole of Uruk clearly. Its brilliant copper glow was blinding. "I only brought my wife here, it was almost sacred to us."
At those words, Inanna felt as if she was violating Shunagal in some way and had to struggle to keep from weeping. Finally the sun rose high enough that the glow faded. Shunagal got up and started back to the city. "Are you coming?" he asked.
"Yes I just want to watch a while longer." Shunagal nodded and started back to the city, knowing Agal could take care of herself. Once he was out of sight, she flew straight up to High Heaven to speak with her father.
An, the great King of Heaven saw the state his daughter was in. "What has happened to you, my daughter?" he asked.
"I have lain with Shunagal, the wild man," she explained.
"What have you turned him into?" An asked.
"Father how could you say this?" she cried.
"I remember your former lovers, Dumuzi, you had to retrieve him from the underworld. The lion and the stallion have not benefited from your love, and you turned my gardener to a mole."
"Father..." she started
"Gilgamesh was right, you loved none of them forever. If you want the Bull of Heaven, I cannot help you, Gilgamesh slew it. And if you smash the bolt on the door to the underworld all the dead will mingle with the living, including Shunagal's wife."
At An's words Inanna's tears rolled down before him. The King of Heaven now realized how deep his words stung. "I did not think it possible, since I did not believe you loved Dumuzi, but my daughter has fallen in love with a mortal. Will you forgive me?" he asked.
"Yes father, I forgive you, but what should I do?" she asked.
"I cannot tell you that. If you truly love him, I believe you should reveal your identity to him, but the choice is yours."
When Innanna returned to earth, she wandered through the streets of the Kullab then the Eanna, then the Kullab again until she reached Shunagal's home. "Where were you?" Shunagal asked.
"There is something I want to tell you," she said. "You may wish to sit down." Shunagal sat and Inanna walked closer to him. "I truly love you and if we are to be together, then I think we should hold no secrets. My name is not Agal, I am Inanna." There, she had said it. She looked at Shunagal, he looked confused. He looked up to her with eyes that begged to ask if it was true. She snapped her fingers and he was adorned in a new kilt and numerous ornaments of gold, lapis and silver.
He stood up and asked, "What does this mean for us?"
"I don't know, does it have to change anything?"
"Yes!" he shouted. "How do I know that you will not simply dispose of me once I have fulfilled you. Wait, we have lain together, are you telling me I will never see you again."
"That is not true!" she shouted back at him.
"Even if you stay with me, I can never fulfill you. I could carve a statue of you out of lapis a hundred cubits high and if you wished you could have fifty of them made in moments!" he yelled.
"That does not matter!" Inanna cried back.
"Does it? Then will you renounce your divinity and live and die with me as a mortal woman?" he asked.
"That is not possible," she said.
"Then I cannot help think of the words of Gilgamesh. 'And if I should be one of your lovers, should I not be served in the same fashion of those you loved before.'" He tried to calm himself.
"You already are one of my lovers," she told him.
"I think you should go now, before we find ourselves hating each other," he said calmly. Inanna was silent but agreed. She left moments later. Once she was gone, Shunagal immediately took all his remaining ale and drank it down it quickly.
For many days, Shunagal wandered around the city, not fully knowing what to do. He simply tried to keep drinking hoping to wash away the pain of his love for Inanna. Finally he returned to his home, and just sat there, not doing anything. There was a knock at the door. Shunagal opened it and was face-to-face with Inanna. Her tears poured down in front of him. Out of instinct Shunagal put his arms around her. "I do love you," she cried.
"And I love you, but we are simply too different to ever be happy together," he whispered as he held her. "I wish we could be together, but I know we never can be."
"To prove you are not as the others I will take you to the paradise of Dilmun, where you may live for thirty-six hundred sars. There are others there, who will live as long as you, and life will be pleasant for you," she offered. Shunagal considered it. There were worse things then thirteen billion years in Paradise.
"Will you visit me?" he asked.
"If you wish," she smiled.
"I would like to see my beloved city one last time," he asked of her. Together they left from the houses and went south through the Kullab and to the temple in the Eanna, where they went to the top and looked out over the city, reminiscing and sharing memories all the while. Following that they left through the north gate. "It is time," Inanna said.
An eagle swooped out of the sky and landed in front of them. It was a big bird and Inanna bade Shunagal climb on its back. He did and Inanna was in front of him. He heard the air whistle as the bird flapped it's wings and flew off.
Shunagal felt like Etana of Kish, soaring to heavan on the eagle's back. He looked below him and saw Uruk growing smaller. Eventually he could see the huge city was no bigger than his fingertip. He looked ahead and saw only stars. He looked at his side and saw Inanna in all her beauty. "The Queen of Heaven," he murmured under his breath.
Finally he looked below him and saw the island of Dilmun. It grew larger and larger until he felt his feet touch solid ground.
"The people know you are here and will meet you in moments," Inanna explained. She and Shunagal embraced one last time and she was gone.
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