Acts of Faith

Just following a path of curiosity. I had fun, though it was a lot harder to put together. Hope you like it. Thanks for reading.

*****

The House of Heaven

1

Mesopotamia, 2271 BCE

It was in the mighty city of Uruk, the first city ever, built on the sandals of the great Goddess Inanna and the land of the first kings, where Ninkurra served in the temple of the Goddess. She was young, beguiling, a free woman who was wise enough to know that there would always be a new king, but greatest Uruk and the magnificent Temple at its heart would stand forever. The Temple, stood gloriously, high and gleaming white upon the Ziggurat that had been built by the long ago King, Enmerker. Taking dominion over the entire city, the Temple could be seen from well beyond the city's defensive walls, gleaming like a precious jewel worth keeping intact for the ages or plundering for its richness.

The Ziggurat upon which the Temple stood, raised through the toil of over a thousand slaves, had been dedicated by the founding King, Enmerker, to Anu, the Sky God and Grandfather to Inanna. The structure was a massive rectangular flat topped pyramid of red clay bricks, its exterior tiered with recessed bands which served both for visual effect and for practical use. The sides of the ziggurat were very broad and sloping and the tiered recesses made a striking pattern in morning and afternoon sunlight. Otherwise, they served as spaces in order so that further work could be completed, administrative oversight could occur or so that certain sacred ceremonies could be held.

As it had always been in Sumeria, the Ziggurat was the seat of the power that ruled and governed the city. In Uruk, Inanna had come to rule and everyone of authority in the Temple and its Ziggurat, from the High Priestess, her Priests, the administrators, to the warrior monarch and his armies, operated officially on the behalf of the Goddess. So, when an outsider beheld the towering Temple and its Ziggurat from as far off as two thousand hectares, he or she would know instantly that Inanna reigned over all Uruk and was the city's political authority.

And, as it was in matters of politics, Inanna required a worthy High Priestess to lead on Her behalf, to administrate with good judgement and to aid the Priest council and Temple astronomers to interpret the signs in the night sky. Ultimately, just such a woman, a Princess, had risen from the court of Akkad, early in the reign of Sargon the Great, conqueror and rightful King over all Sumer.

Given his trust in his first daughter, Sargon appointed the Princess of Akkad to the role of En Priestess of Ur, in the Temple of the God Nanna. It was a clever move, spoken of among the people to have been ordained in the night sky, that was made by Sargon who, in his wisdom, understood that to unify a peoples, to convince them to call their Gods and Goddesses by their Akkadian names and to interpose his native Semitic language of Acadian into the tongue the Sumerians had been speaking for generations, he had to get to the hearts of the people, and the heart of Uruk beat for the Goddess Inanna.

Consequently, the Great Sargon's plan had worked well beyond his original imagining.

The High Priestess, having been trained in the recognition of the Gods' patterns in the night sky, been made proficient in the reading and scribing of tablets, and possessing a natural, arresting, beauty, intellect and warmth, installed an administrative council of High Priests and Priestesses she was certain would serve her father, the city of Ur and Nanna well. That having been done, Enheduanna, as she would be known thence forth, journeyed to the great Uruk to serve Inanna, the Goddess under whose aegis the High Priestess, like her conqueror father, believed her Enship, and Sargon's reign, were blessed.

Subsequently, Ur's visiting newest High Priestess had won the hearts of nearly all of Uruk's eighty thousand citizens. The people trusted Enheduanna just as her father Sargon had trusted her. And it was because of that trust, and because of the people's love for their patron Goddess, as well as their love and respect for Her highest mortal emissary, that no one questioned Enheduanna when she claimed the sanctuary atop Anu's Ziggurat for the continued devotion to the Goddess Inanna rather than to the worship of the Sky God for whom the Temple had been intended.

Enheduanna's decision had been prompted by her reasoning that if Uruk's patron Goddess was truly Inanna, beloved by all Her people, then the ceremonial observance's held in Her name, should be conducted in the much grander of the two Temples of the city. The astronomers had not seen the change in the stars, but that did not mean to them or the Priests that Inanna or Anu did not disagree, so the change was made. It was only Rimush, son of Sargon and brother of Enheduanna, who had reservations about what seemed to him a very obvious transfer of power.

It was common knowledge that the conquering warrior monarch was subordinate to the council of Priests, the Ensi, which was led by the High Priestess Enheduanna, and was only to be appointed at times of trouble. This, for Sargon, was not a concern. He had his armies, the spoils of war, the allegiance of over a thousand hectares of city-states and a rightful kingship to pass on to his sons. However, much to the chagrin of the latest King, Sargon's oldest son, Rimush, the institution of the High Priestess and her Priest council, did nothing but negate his notability as the new ruler of Uruk.

So as it was, Sargon and his noble daughter had ushered in a lasting peace in Uruk, and Ninkurra, like many of the city, lived simply and loved sumptuously. Matters of Temple administration were little concern for Ninkurra, though she, as first hand maiden to the High Priestess, was privy to what was most significant to Enheduanna. As the High Priestess had taught her, life was a sensual pursuit, a beautiful endeavor that was not to be soiled by the poisons of self-interest and greed.

Perspiring from the afternoon heat of Utu's holy light, Ninkurra advanced up The only means of access to the top of the high structure. She was mounting the steep stairway which led to a ramp that wrapped around the north face of the Ziggurat, and then would bring her to the temple entrance. She could see the edge of the Ziggurat's roof, a thick coating of bitumen pitch and an overlay of red clay bricks that made for a secure and waterproof foundation for the Temple. The Temple itself was as white as the clouds that passed over the city. It was washed inside and out with a solution of what the builders and artists called gypsum.

Pausing on the ziggurat steps to catch her breath, sixty or more paces from the High Priestess's sanctuary, she gazed out over the city. There were the rows and blocks of mud brick homes and their courtyards. Nin then followed her eye along the interconnected network of canals that crisscrossed the city. She observed Uruk's hundreds of street vendors and the thousands that milled around them, like threads and coils of many colored beads unraveling and tangling up again.

Beyond the city districts were laid out pastures of sheep and cattle and orchards of olive trees, all surrounded in turn by vast fields of grains and vegetables, square hectares of alternating shades of green and brown, row upon row of barley, millet, beans, cucumbers and lettuces. Further still stood the high city walls that surrounded Uruk, beyond which flowed the confluence of the two great rivers that fed the city's gardens and canals. Ninkurra drew in a great breath and sighed. The Goddess is good, she thought. Good, is Inanna? Thank You my Goddess, thank You.

A great many people were devoted to Inanna, so many in fact that She had Temples in her honor in all the surrounding settlements and cities. People in the tens of thousands came to pay homage to Her, from those inhabitants of the new walled district of Eanna, those that dwelled inside the walls of the old district of Anu and visitors from places as far and wide as the lesser cities of Ur, Ebla, Larsa, Zabalam, Urum, Arina and Nipper. Among them all, it was a known thing that the Goddess's primary Temple was in Uruk, in the E-anna district, which happened also to be the section of Uruk where the enslaved were housed until they were sold, where the animals were slaughtered and rendered, where the workshops stood and where the city's builders, craftsmen, and artists made their homes.

Those of the administration, functionary and land holding classes that honored Anu could not understand why so many deigned to enter into the E-anna district, to subject themselves to such common surroundings for the sake of worship. But Sargon understood that the region he'd conquered was inhabited primarily of common people, and his daughter, Enheduanna, having followed her wise father's will had, through the influence she exerted as a High Priestess, who happened to exemplify the very qualities of Inanna -bravery, wisdom and tenacity - had convinced the Priest council to support the appropriation of Anu's Temple for the Goddess's worship, which had ultimately elevated Inanna's status to even more auspicious height.

Hoisting a beveled edged bowl higher in the cradle of her arms, Ninkurra felt a great pride as she resumed her brisk walk toward the ramp that led up to the Temple sanctuary. She was a respected citizen of Uruk. She was the High Priestess Enheduanna's most favored novice and she was one of the highest ranking Temple Harlots charged to join the High Priestess in dispensing with the sensual anointing sacrament to the multitude of Inanna's devoted.

Enheduanna had taught Ninkurra that she and all her sisters in the Temple were the living embodiments of the Great Goddess and that their work reinforced the faith and love of many. Inanna's worship kept the people of Uruk safe from harm, kept them fed and brought them comfort in a world in which toiling seemed a ceaseless battle. Enheduanna said that life was beauty and beauty was life and praising the Goddess was the duty of all because, once death came, there would be nothing but unending cold and infinite darkness, where Ereshkigal made demons of the dead, tormenting them with the eating of clay and conspired to drag ever more of the living down to join them.

All visitors to the Temple had three entrances to choose from when accessing the main interior, none of which faced the Temple ramp directly. The design was as such to allow the devotee or emissary to take in the bright façade of the Temple, the immensity of the ziggurat beside them and the grandeur of the sight of Uruk beyond as they walked up and around the structure. To gain access to the interior, Ninkurra had to follow an angled path, a bent axis approach, and had to enter the sanctuary from a right angle. In that manner, Ninkurra was in line to face the Temple's alter.

The alter was a wide circle of white washed clay bricks, its basin stained with the remnants of years of ceremonial fires. To the left of the alter, northmost in the hall, stood a podium atop a short staircase. Fixed centrally in the wall behind the alter stood a tall statue of Inanna, artfully carved from a block of cedar wood, with lapis stones set in her eyes and gold foil molded to her nipples and upon her sacred gal-la. Approaching the alter and the figure behind it, Ninkurra bowed her head. Stopping a cubit or so from the alter, Nin set her bowl down, and immediately laid herself prostrate, her forehead and open palms against the smooth white floor. As she hummed a hymn to Inanna, Ninkurra breathed in a comforting mingling of aromas, the ash of spent fires from ceremonies past, the smell of sun and ancient dry clay, cinnamon and saffron incense, cedar oil and crocus flowers.

Getting quickly back to her feet, Ninkurra retrieved her bowl, and then turned right. Before her was a wide, rectangular hall. To the northwest and east, stair cases rose to the higher floor of the Temple. Central in the hall's floor lay a basin, the Temple abzu. Built into the Temple was a system of shallow bitumen-coated conduits. They ran from the southeast and southwest of the topmost of the Ziggurat's terrace edges and entered the temple through the southeast and southwest doors. On the rare occasion that it rained or when a ritual required the abzu to be filled, it would have naturally flowed in or slaves would be charged to pour buckets of water from the canal into the openings in the terrace so that it collected in the basin.

Off either side of the main hall were narrower galleries which led in turn to a series of suites. Ninkurra passed through the adytum, the inner chamber where sacred meals were shared with another bejeweled, gold-leaf-covered wood representation of Inanna, to which she also bowed and uttered her praise. Within the northeast suite was where she knew she would find the High Priestess, in her personal chamber or in the library, dictating to her scribe, Sagadu, consulting with one of the Priests or Temple administrators, searching the thousands of tablets on the library shelves or simply resting while her hair dresser, Ilum Palilis, beautified her tresses for the evening.

Ninkurra listened, but heard nothing. The better part of her harlot sisters were surely sleeping the hot afternoon away, as they were want to do before a new night of ritual and celebration. Arriving at the Priestess's suite, she turned around and pressed her back against the pivot stone. Then, still pushing with her back, Ninkurra passed through the door, and then closed it again behind her. Cautiously, she passed through, peering into the furnished rooms on her left and right, all of which were empty, save for the customary candle stands, wood chairs, sofas and cushions.

A few more steps and Ninkurra arrived at the library entrance. She smiled. Enheduanna had been busy. The great wooden shelves were in disarray. Tablets were lined up across the long cedar planked table, and then, once there wasn't any more room, the High Priestess had arranged them on the floor. Sixty or more candles illuminated the library, burning and dripping from bronze stands or in clay bowls set on every possible place Enheduanna could get them to fit. In the silence, Ninkurra studied the High Priestess, who had, as she'd done a hundred times before, gathered cushions from other rooms around her, in the farthest corner of the room, sat herself, naked, with her legs beneath her, the bottom end of a tablet before her knees and the top end gripped in her left hand, the fingers of her right hand having raised her necklace of gold and lapis to her mouth as she absently sucked beads of precious stone and gold while she read.

The cushions were not so much for Enheduanna's comfort. Ninkurra knew all the Priestess needed was a tablet she had yet to read. The cushions were there for her cats, or rather, her lions, three females Enheduanna had collected from a hunt with her King father, Anunit, Gesthinanna and Lahamu. Each dozed peacefully, sprawled, stretched, each sister touching the other, surrounding the glorious woman that had been caring for them since they were cubs. It was Lahamu who sensed Ninkurra's presence first, though it was more accurate that it was she who caught first scent of the contents in Ninkurra's bowl.

Yawning, revealing her long teeth, Lahamu sat up. Her motion caused a chain reaction of awareness and movement that roused Anunit and Gesthinanna out of their sleep, which there by nudged the High Priestess into an alert, discomfited state. But, seeing Ninkurra and her lovely smile, Enheduanna relaxed once more and smiled in kind. Her beautifully red skinned body had been obscured by the tablet, but, as Enheduanna lowered the slab, Nin observed the gentle sway of her full round breasts and their wide russet nipples.

"What say you, my little karkid?" asked the High Priestess as her lions quickly padded their way to Ninkurra.

"The world is well, my Lady." Ninkurra Answered as she raised the bowl higher and removed the woven reed lid.

The smell of roasted lamb suddenly filled the room and Anunit and Gesthinanna began to growl with hunger while Lahamu waited patiently by. Suddenly, Gesthinanna, the most aggressive of the three, stepped forward, still growling and, rising to Ninkurra's very height, was on the verge of pawing the bowl from the young woman's hands. But, taught by her Lady to never show anyone or anything fear, Ninkurra held fast and stared into the great lioness's eyes.

"Gesthinanna come!" the High Priestess shouted abruptly, causing the big cat to drop immediately back on all fours.

"Come." Enheduanna repeated, "You have shamed yourself before your Queen and your sisters. Come to me now and wait for the little treat the kind and beautiful Ninkurra has brought for you."

Her head lowered, though not in shame, her great tawny shoulders rolling with her steps, Gesthinanna sauntered to her mistress's side and sat. Enheduanna then began to stroke the big cat's head with one hand while she lowered her tablet to the floor with the other. With that, she looked up at Ninkurra and gestured for her to feed Anunit and Lahamu their treats. Eyeing Ninkurra with the noble severity of all cats, the lionesses took their roasted lamb in turn and went to find uncluttered spaces of library floor upon which to eat.

Unperturbed, Gesthinanna looked on. Seeing this, the High Priestess leaned her face in close to her lioness's muzzle and whispered:

"Give me a kiss, my proud sister."

Gesthinanna turned and, with the gentleness of love, pressed her long sandy tongue to her mistress's lips.

"Ah, then my mighty one," Enheduanna said, "Go and partake of your gift."

Rising back on her feet then, Gesthinanna returned to Ninkurra and waited before her. Taking a moment, not to add insult to injury, but to remind the big cat of the respect she too deserved, Ninkurra paused before kneeling to face the lioness and asking for her own kiss. This, Gesthinanna gave and, eyeing the great cat soberly, Ninkurra finally gave her the last, largest, shank of lamb.

"You spoil them karkid." Enheduanna remarked.

Karkid was the designation in Sumerian for both a temple prostitute and a free woman who happened to have carnal knowledge of a man. The women that served came to Temple Harlotry by way of either the matrilineal line, having been conceived through the Sensual Sacrament, or because their lives led them on a pilgrimage to Uruk, which ended in life long service inside Inanna's temple. Ninkurra was an initiate of the former, her mother having died in child birth, her care having been happily attended to among a host of wet nurses inside as well as outside the temple.

It was as the teachings of the High Priestesses had maintained: All women were daughters, sisters, mothers and aunts to each other, to their children and their children's children. So was the word, long written down on the tablets in the Temple library. Those with the skill to decipher could read for themselves the stories and teachings scribed through the generations of priestesses and priests. Ninkurra had not been formally taught how to read, not until Enheduanna became Inanna's High Priestess.

The High Priestess had been charmed by Ninkurra's youthful frankness, whit, tenacity and devotion to the Goddess, and so took it upon herself to teach Ninkurra the finer arts of reading and writing as she taught her the language of Acadia, its mechanics and nuance's. They were alike, she and Enheduanna, Ninkurra knew, just as the greatest High Priestess and her patron Goddess were alike. It was tenacity each woman shared, though Ninkurra would never ever speak the comparison of herself to the Goddess or to her High Priestess aloud. As for her level of devotion, Ninkurra was a pious as any of her sister harlots. But, by day, she enjoyed her free status from time to time, leaving the temple, dressed in the customary wool tunics worn by most women of Uruk, to labor among the slaves and free folk in the fields under Inanna's beautiful blue skies, to shop among the stalls to find lovely things or sweets for her Priestess or sisters or to watch Utu's sun die its beautiful red glowing death at the end of another day.