The Pursuit of
Shugat-Nergal
A story about Ancient Sumer
by James W. Bell © 2002 - 2003
16
The rooster’s crowing woke Denisha just as she heard footsteps coming up the outside stairs. “Denisha,” Nanay’s voice called, “where are you?”
“Over here.”
She heard leather sandals skritch across the pitch-coated roof, but because it was a moonless night, she couldn’t see the goddess till she was almost on her. “Watch out!”
“Relax,” Nanay said, “I’m not going to step on you.” In the dark, her eyes glowed and seemed to smolder. They peered down at Denisha and seemed to focus on her. “Get up. We need to get moving.”
“It’s still dark. Have the birds returned? Have they found Shugat?”
“No, dammit! Inanna took control of the birds.”
“The Queen of Heaven?”
“Herself.”
“My lady, what happened?”
“There’s no moon tonight so it was pitch black inside the temple. I had to use a lamp to find my way to the rookery and the light woke Inanna. She saw me and wanted to know what I was up to. When I told her about Shugat-Nergal, she decided to take charge.”
“You didn’t -”
“Inanna is Queen of Heaven. What could I do?”
“Did she order you to leave Shugat alone?”
“No, thank the gods.” In the darkness Denisha could hear the stiffness in Nanay’s voice. “But she commandeered the zu-birds and sent them out to search for Shugat.”
“Why?”
“Don’t ask. Inanna is inexplicable, like a man. Get your sandals on, Denisha. We’ve no time to waste. We have to go.”
“Where?”
“Out into the desert, by donkey train. I made arrangements on the way here. The donkey master said they have to start before dawn to avoid the noontime heat. Come on, Denisha, we need to leave.”
17
“I’m miserable!” Denisha’s muffled voice came from the robed and turbaned figure on the donkey in front of Nanay’s. She was riding her animal stiff-legged, like a city woman, her legs sticking straight out on both sides.
“Bend your knees, Denisha, and tuck in those feet. If a zu-bird patrol spots you riding like that, they’ll know something’s up for sure. And be quiet. The clothing you’re wearing is what all riders wear. So shush. If the men in this train discover we’re women, we’ll find ourselves with more than we can handle.”
“But I’m burning up,” the muffled voice protested. “And thirsty.”
Nanay was about to reply when a shout came from one of the guards riding alongside the train. “Zu-birds! Patrol’s coming!”
Nanay glanced back to see four birds coming from the west. With their lion’s heads, they were easily identifiable.
The donkey master halted the train and came walking back. “Break out sweetmeats,” he ordered. “And water. Feed the birds well.”
Denisha turned around and asked the goddess, “What’s going on?”
“Don’t know.” Nanay slid off her donkey. “I think the donkey master knows better than try to outrun a zu-bird patrol.”
One of the guards dismounted and spread a blanket on the ground. He set a large bowl on it and filled it with water from a bladder. Another rode up to place a platter beside the bowl and piled it with date meats. Finished, they waved their arms at the zu-birds overhead. The birds circled cautiously, eyeing the offering, before starting a downward glide.
As the patrol landed, the men pointed at the dishes. “Sweetmeats to eat and water to drink,” they called out. “Sweetmeats and water.”
The first bird down spoke, his lion’s head growling out the message. “Blessings be upon you, mortals. They starve us at the temple. No sweets. Keeps us fit, they say. Gods are always telling others what to do. Bah.” With a wing sweep, he indicated his companions should partake.
When the donkey master came over, the lead bird asked him, “Where’s your caravan headed?”
“To Larsa. We carry dye pigments to the textile works.”
The bird cocked his head and scratched an ear with a talon. “That’s the sole purpose of your trip?”
The donkey master shrugged. “See for yourself. Open our panniers if you wish. You’ll find pigments inside, nothing else. Speak to our riders. We’re all bound for Larsa.”
The zu-bird looked around. The ear that he had scratched, twitched, and he fastened his great feline eyes on the figure of Nanay. He pointed a wing at her. “You!” he declared, “you are a female!”
The Goddess of Love walked up to the leader. “I’ve never claimed otherwise,” she asserted.
“A woman’s place is in the cool of the garden or the shade of the workshop. Why have you undertaken this arduous trip across the desert?”
“I know pigments and dyes.”
“But is it not the men who grind the pigments and mix the dyes?”
“With textiles, as produced in the workshop at Larsa, there’s much to the making of dyes. Colors. Hues. Tints. Tones. All are needed to produce the many-colored robes the Amurru love. We,” the goddess motioned at Denisha, “have come along to show the men which are the best pigments to mix for which fabrics and how best to apply them. Tell me, have you ever watched a man try to choose appropriate dyes for a fabric?”
The lead bird mewed at the cleverness of the goddess’s quip.
“I see,” Nanay continued, “you have an appreciation of aesthetics. I suspect that’s why your feathers possess such an attractive sheen. You are a very handsome bird.”
The bird looked directly at Nanay. Then it preened itself and strutted back to the bowls to join his companions. Within a few minutes, the birds took off without further comment.
The donkey master came up to Nanay. “You shouldn’t have spoken to that bird,” he told her.
“He was the patrol’s leader,” Nanay answered. “Besides, he asked me a question and I didn’t think I had the choice of refusing an answer. At least we are rid of them.”
The donkey master growled. “Damned bird patrols. Nosy. Probably sent snooping by some god,” he muttered. “The gods are too much with us. Still, you shouldn’t have spoken.”
“Tell me, sir, what harm have I done?”
The donkey master’s face turned red. “You’ve let the guards and donkey drivers know there are women in the train, that’s what.”
“We’re willing to face them and whatever danger they might pose.”
“It’s not only your safety I worry about,” the donkey master said. “The jealousies you‘ll cause among them could result in killings of drivers and endanger the well being of the train.”
“We’re near the back of the train. We’ll keep ourselves well covered.”
The donkey master shook his head. “ Sorry. I’m a simple man who likes to keep things simple. I’d rather you two weren’t with the train—at all.”
“It shall be as you wish,” Nanay said. “We’ll leave at the next sheepfold.”
18
As they passed a clutch of deserted buildings, Nanay punched Denisha’s arm. “This is it, Denisha. This is where we leave.”
Denisha looked around. All she saw was a small hut crudely built of sun-baked mud brick that had never been whitewashed. Attached on one side was a primitive, open air shed built of crooked tamarisk poles, thatched on top with bundles of reeds hauled overland from some distant river. There was desultory plant growth around the hut, clumps of gray-green desert weeds and a sprinkling of spiny desert-thorn farther out. There was nothing else in sight on the flat hardpan except small, stranded dunes of sand laying about here and there.
“Why leave here?” Denisha asked.
“Because we are not wanted. This hut and shed, my dear, constitute a sheepfold. Or did. It’s obviously now abandoned.”
“It doesn’t look like much.”
“In the desert, a sheepfold is better than nothing. It provides shade. Remember, the River Rat told us Shugat-Nergal hides in places like this.”
“He would hide in a shack like this?”
“Use your eyes, Denisha. Note the plants growing by the hut. It’s a sure sign of water nearby.”
Denisha shook her head. “I see nothing that looks like a well.”
“If there is one, it will likely be inside the hut, covered to prevent evaporation.” She watched the donkey train move off and disappear in the distance. “Go, take a look inside. See if that’s not the case.”
Denisha went to the door of the hut and peered in. When her eyes had adjusted to the darkness inside, she jumped back and screeched, “Shugat! Shugat-Nergal!”
* * *
Shugat came bounding out of the hut dressed in a robe and a turban similar to those Denisha and Nanay wore. He had a big welcome smile on his face. “Well, this is a pleasant surprise!” he said. “Fancy meeting you two out here in the middle of the desert.”
“There’s nothing fancy about it, you dog,” Denisha said. “We tracked you down, good and proper.”
Shugat looked at Nanay who raised an eyebrow.
He turned back to Denisha and slapped his forehead. “Of course!” he said. “Denisha, you are so lovely that I constantly forget you are employed by the Karum as a watcher.”
“I have a reputation to maintain,” she declared coldly. “I always get my man.”
He cleared his throat. “Well, I guess you do. Since you’ve got me now, can I invite you ladies inside? It’s cooler under roof than out here in this blazing sunlight.”
“We’ve been through this bit before, Shugat … back in Kullab. Remember?”
Shugat’s eyes widened as if his memory had come flooding back. “Ah, yes, I recall. How could I have forgotten? I was tidying up the place –”
“That’s right,” Denisha urged, “go on. We would both like to know what happened.”
“You were there. You must have seen everything! My humble abode was struck by a bolt of lightning. It was a terrible blow! I was knocked head over heels across the room. When I came to, I found I had been blown out the back of the house into the alley behind.”
“Really.” Denisha frowned. “Nanay and I both searched behind your house. And the alley. Neither of us saw any sign of you.”
“Oh,” Shugat said. He took a deep breath and continued, “Now I recall. It’s coming back to me. I was in shock. I guess I must have lost my wits and wandered off.”
“And so you wandered out here into the middle of the desert?”
Shugat looked around, scanning the barren landscape of the near-empty desert. “That seems to be the case, doesn’t it?”
“Come on, Shugat, do you expect us to believe a story like that?” Denisha asked.
Shugat smiled generously and radiated additional goodwill. “Denisha, I am but a man of few talents facing two formidable women, one a Karum watcher and the other a goddess of love. What odds! Against such brilliance, my mind is producing little more than mush.” He dropped to his knee in front of her and gently took her hands in his. “I know I’ve probably done things wrong. But I couldn’t help it. You must forgive me. I think it all started back when I was a mere child, a small boy of six years in a cruel world with a –”
“Enough!” Nanay came over to him. “We haven’t come out to the desert to hear your life story.”
“Of course, Holy One.” Shugat sighed. “Whatever it is you wish, I will do. Why have you come?”
“To arrest you,” Nanay declared.
“Me?”
Nanay nodded. “Most assuredly. I came with Denisha to take you back to Uruk for trial and judgment. We are both eager to see justice done.”
“After me having been struck by lightning? Divine Nanay, look at me.” Shugat held out his muscled arms and pulled up the sleeves of his robe to show them. “See what poor physical condition I’m in. If you try to take me back across the desert during the heat of day, I might well expire along the way. And I would be difficult to carry … or drag. I warn you, Holy One, I weigh a good three talents.”
Nanay glanced at Denisha who was looking miserable.
The goddess sighed. “All right, Shugat,” she said, “we’ll rest in the hut during the day, but when dusk arrives, we start back to Uruk.”
Shugat revived and motioned at the doorway. “Then, for the time being, be my guests. Join me in the shade inside.”
19
Once inside, Shugat pulled a wood cover off a well with a circular casing of fired brick. Kneeling, he dipped a gourd and let it fill with water before pulling it out and offering it to the goddess. “For you, Holy One.”
Nanay took a drink. “Thank you. I’m surprised the water here in the middle of the desert is so sweet.”
Shugat dipped the cup back in to let it fill again. “This is Eden, the Land of Enki,” he said. “The Abzu lies directly beneath our feet, only a few cubits below the surface.” He lifted the refilled bowl and offered it to Denisha.
Denisha drank gratefully and handed it back. As she did, there came the sound of whomp – whomp – whomp from outside. Shugat ran to the door and looked out.
“Holy Nergal!” he shouted.
“What?” Nanay asked. “What now?”
“It’s a bird, but it’s huge and has a lion’s head … a zu-bird! There seems to be someone riding it. It looks like a woman dressed in a white gown.”
The goddess ran to the door to see for herself. “Bless Bes!” she exclaimed. “They’re landing.” Nanay stood in the doorway beside Shugat and turned to face Denisha. “I can’t believe it. Inanna’s here! The Queen of Heaven has flown all the way on a zu-bird.”
“Why?” was all Denisha could ask.
“I haven’t the least idea, but I’m sure we’ll soon find out.”
To Chapter 20
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