The Pursuit of
Shugat-Nergal
A story about Ancient Sumer
by James W. Bell © 2002 - 2004
20
Inanna dismounted from her Anzu bird and turned to face the sheepfold. With knuckles on hips, she shouted at the hut, “What in kur’s going on here?”
Denisha felt fear. She had never been confronted by an angry goddess before and shrank back into the hut, looking to Nanay.
Nanay brushed Denisha and Shugat aside and strode out the door to face the Queen of Heaven. “Why have you come?”
“You dare question me?”
“I am a goddess, Inanna, as fully immortal as you.”
“Ah, but a much lesser one. Remember, it is I who am supreme.” Inanna flung her hand down and the Earth shook as if she had struck its very foundation. The desert floor trembled, then split open, leaving a crevasse a cubit wide. As the ground rumbled and shuddered, the mud brick walls of the hut twisted and partially collapsed.
Shugat-Nergal came running out, pulling Denisha behind. “By the gods, is this any way for ladies to act?” He let go of Denisha and jumped the gap.
Inanna turned to Nanay. “Is this who I think it is?”
Nanay rolled her eyes.
“Aha.”
Shugat pointed at the hut. “Look at that sheepfold. Damn! You’ve wrecked it. And might have killed us.”
“I know you, Shugat-Nergal,” Inanna replied. “But you, apparently, are not aware of who I am.” She straightened the cap of divinity she wore so that all four pairs of horns showed.
When Shugat saw the regal rack on her head, he immediately dropped to one knee. “My lady, forgive me. Have mercy on a devout pilgrim at his wit’s end.” He got down on all fours and crawled forward, on elbow and knee like a begging dog. “O, Holy One, I bow a thousand times before your wisdom and power. Have mercy, have mercy,” he started chanting. He stopped when his forehead touched the toe of her sandal.
Inanna looked down at the lean, lank creature with thick black hair groveling at her feet. Handsome. A remarkable mortal. “You are the one called the Thief of Uruk.”
Shugat looked up and smiled for her. “My lady, I am called by many names. The one I would most prefer is Devoted Servant of the Queen of Heaven.”
Inanna returned his smile. “You would first have to prove yourself.” She pressed on. “I’ve heard tales about you, Shugat-Nergal. Certain indiscretions committed by you in the marketplace at Uruk.”
Shugat rose to his feet. “Rumors,” he said. “The result of envy.”
“Why do you claim envy?”
“Because, my lady, I am rich, rich beyond belief.” Shugat gestured, spreading his hands far apart. “So certain people try to belittle me.”
“Hah. If you were rich, I would expect to find you lounging in the shade of a palm on an extensive plantation along the river. But, no, I find you here out on a barren desert in this wretched sheepfold.” She made a face.
“My lady,” Shugat answered, “I can explain. I have a plantation. It’s not by a river because rivers are too busy. There are too many boats going up and down. And riff-raff. Tow boys asking for handouts. Derelicts sleeping on the riverbank.” He shook his head and eyed her slyly. “But, my lady, in Chaldea, at Kutallu –”
Inanna perked up. “Yes? What’s at Kutallu? Go on.”
Shugat smiled. “Paradise.”
“Hah!” She made a face again. “What’s this you’re feeding me? Mortal meal? Every child knows that Paradise is on Dilmun. You blaspheme, Shugat-Nergal.”
“Me blaspheme?” His face twisted, exhibiting pain mixed with sorrow. “You accuse me … without looking? I say it’s Paradise and you immediately charge me with blasphemy. I cannot believe Inanna, the holy sister of Shamash, would do such a thing.” Shugat stretched his arms up towards the sun. “O Glorious Shamash, come down and witness this injustice wrought by your sister.”
“Stop it, Shugat! Let’s not bring my big brother into this.”
“Then,” he glanced at Nanay and Denisha, “I call on the Goddess of Love and Denisha-Ishtar to be my witnesses. My lady, they saw you accuse me out of hand.”
Inanna gave them both the eye.
Denisha trembled but Nanay bit her lip. Shugat-Nergal had a point and she decided to speak for him. “It does seem, Inanna, you might at least take a look at this place Shugat calls Paradise before you accuse him of blasphemy.”
“By definition,” Inanna replied, “there is only one Paradise. And that is on the island of Dilmun.”
Shugat shrugged. “As you will,” he said. “In spite of the gods, the Earth changes. Else, I ask you, what brought about the Flood? However, if you insist on not knowing and remaining uninformed ...” He let his statement die a poignant death.
Inanna turned back to Shugat. “Alright. Kutallu, you say. Your plantation is on which canal? I’ll go down and have a look.”
“From the sky?”
“Do you imagine my Anzu bird and I are going to walk?”
“My lady, my plantation can’t be seen from the sky. You won’t be able to find it.”
“And why not?”
Shugat let out an exasperated sigh. “Because. I told you, it’s Paradise.”
“Are you telling me Paradise makes things invisible?”
“No, my lady. It’s that the vegetation is exceedingly lush in Paradise. My plantation is crammed with palms. And shade gardens filled with fruit trees that grow beneath their canopy. It’s all green and unbelievable. It’s Paradise. But then, I’ve said that before.” He paused. “Of course, if you’d invite me to ride with you, it’s possible I could spot it for you.”
The Queen of Heaven scowled. “Allow a mortal mount my bird of Heaven?”
“My lady, I did not mean to offend,” Shugat said and put his hand to his forehead as if in thought. “Perhaps there is another way.” He paused, waiting for a response. There was none. “I could travel to Kutallu by foot and meet you there.”
“Meet me there?” Inanna burst out in a gale of laughter. “After telling me I couldn’t find the place? What do you think I am, Shugat-Nergal? Some flighty little household goddess you can hoodwink and put back on the shelf when finished?”
“My lady!” Shugat exclaimed and immediately prostrated himself again. “A thousand pardons. I am not used to speaking with one so mighty as the Queen of Heaven. I have seldom had the chance to socialize, even with common household goddesses. I am also unused to the company of women. Forgive me.” He looked up at her. His eyes beseeched forgiveness.
“For Heaven’s sake, Shugat-Nergal,” Inanna said, “stop that and get up. You make a spectacle of yourself.”
Shugat stood again. “I get carried away, my lady. I only seek opportunity. A chance to demonstrate, to prove to you.”
Inanna’s eyes narrowed. “Are you so sure of yourself?”
“My lady, would I try to deceive a goddess as mighty as you?”
The Queen of Heaven glanced at Nanay and Denisha. “He wants to show me this plantation at Kutallu.”
Nanay shrugged. “Shugat always wants to show something. It’s best you don’t look.”
“He always has a trick up his sleeve,” Denisha concurred.
“Ladies, please!” he shushed them. He turned to Inanna. “See? Envy at work. My life is filled with misunderstandings. If what I say is not the truth, may I be struck down.”
“If it’s not,” Inanna responded, “you will be.”
Shugat extended his arms, waiting to be struck.
“For Heaven’s sake, put your arms down,” the Queen of Heaven told Shugat. “I have decided to see for myself what’s at Kutallu. You two,” she pointed at Nanay and Denisha, “accompany Shugat-Nergal to his plantation. When you arrive, have a one of the plantation workers put a strip of white cloth atop one of the palms as a signal. My zu-bird patrols will spot it and notify me. When I receive notice, I’ll fly down.”
“But, my lady,” Nanay protested, “we’d planned to take him back to Uruk for trial.”
Inanna shook her head. “Not now. He has interested me in what I might find at Kutallu. As I’ve instructed, you are to go down there with him. Let the trial wait.”
“Holy One, I must warn you,” Denisha said. “Shugat-Nergal’s reputation is well earned. He’s as slippery as an eel.”
“Then watch him like hawks. I give you leave to bind him if necessary.”
Nanay bowed to end the discussion. “My lady, it shall be as you wish.”
Inanna whistled for her Anzu bird and mounted it when it came. With a wave, she took off and flew back towards Uruk.
* * *
Shugat jumped the crevasse and came back to Nanay and Denisha. “Well, that took care of her.”
Nanay’s eyes popped open. “What do you mean, ‘that took care of her?’”
Shugat shrugged. “We got rid of her—the Queen of Heaven.”
Nanay shook her head. “You did, Shugat-Nergal. We warned her. We even tried to dissuade her. You were witness. Whatever happens will be on your head.”
Shugat grinned. “But, ladies, I believe it’s going to be your problem too. You are to accompany me down to Kutallu.” He hiked an eyebrow. “Tonight. In the dark.”
“By the gods!” Nanay swore.
“He’s a tricky devil,” Denisha said. “I think it’s his nature.”
“The hut’s wrecked,” the Love Goddess said. “It might collapse at any moment. We can’t go back in so we might as well start for Kutallu now.”
Shugat shook his head. “During the heat of day? You yourself admitted it’s too hot on the desert for even the gods. What about a man like me who has been sorely tried and finds himself exhausted?” He pointed at the open-air shed of tamarisk limbs and roofed with bundles of reed thatching. “Why not rest in the shed? It won’t be as cool as the hut but we would have shade.”
Nanay flushed and clenched her fists. Her appearance alarmed Denisha. But the goddess held herself under control and started for the shed. “I don’t trust you,” she told Shugat-Nergal.
“The Queen of Heaven commanded you to accompany me to Kutallu and you promised her it would be done as she wished.”
“By the gods!” Nanay picked up one of the reed bundles tied with palm cord that had fallen from the roof of the shed and stripped off the cordage. “Put out your hands, Shugat.”
“Why?”
“Because –” she said and flashed him a special smile.
Denisha was surprised to see Shugat meekly offer his hands. Nanay wrapped the rough twine around his wrists and tied it, binding them together.
Then Shugat recovered his wits. “Hey,” he protested, “that wasn’t a friendly thing.”
Nanay flashed him a consolation smile.
21
The burning heat of day gave way to nighttime chill as dusk fell over the barren desert. While Denisha and Nanay pulled their robes more tightly about themselves, Shugat could do little but huddle in his. As the sun disappeared beneath the horizon, they arose and started the long trek to the south across the Arali Desert, heading towards the Iturungal Canal which separated Eden from Chaldea.
During twilight, Shugat and Denisha stayed in front while Nanay followed close behind. They went on like that in silence until it became quite dark. Like the night before when Nanay lit an oil lamp to find the rookery, there was no moon. As the last hint of daylight disappeared, Shugat said, “Ladies, a moment. I have to stop.”
“What now?” Denisha asked.
“I’ve been holding it in all day,” Shugat replied. “I have to go. You know. Won’t take but a minute.”
Nanay came up from behind, her voice filled with exasperation. “Being with him is more of a problem than looking for him.”
Denisha nodded. “With Shugat-Nergal, it’s one thing after the other.”
“Hey,” Shugat asked, “don’t goddesses ever have to go?”
“Don’t push your luck,” Nanay snapped.
“How am I to know?” Shugat asked. “Me, a mere mortal.” He edged away. “Anyway, I have to go. I’ll just go over here.”
“Where?” Nanay asked.
“Over here,” Shugat answered out of the darkness.
Several minutes went by. “Are you through, Shugat?” Nanay asked.
No answer.
She raised her voice. “Shugat?” Then she shouted, “Shugat-Nergal?”
Still, no answer.
“Has he - ?” Nanay asked Denisha.
“The bastard,” Denisha said. “Why didn’t you flash him another smile?”
“It’s night, he couldn’t have seen it. Besides, he can’t have gone far. His hands are tied.”
“Don’t count on it, my lady. He’s good at sleight of hand. I warned you, Shugat’s slippery. He’s likely escaped us again.”
“Damn!” Nanay swore. “Inanna will have my head.”
“You won’t be the first one he’s tricked.”
Nanay snorted. “Perhaps not, but I’m a goddess.”
“Lighten up. Look at it like this. Shugat was able to put one over on Inanna and she’s the Queen of Heaven.”
“Do you think she’d ever admit it? Hah! Inanna’s a major goddess. She claims to be infallible.”
“I guess.” Denisha ground her teeth.
“Denisha, Shugat’s going to keep on acting like this until he has everybody looking for him. You won’t be the only one. Gods and mortals alike will all be coming for him with blood in their eye.”
“Oh!” Denisha gasped as if she had just realized that for the first time.
“It worries you?”
“Sometimes, he seems so friendly …”
“It’s not your doing, Denisha. He’s caused you and everybody else no end of trouble.”
“Yes, but –”
“You know he keeps acting up. You even anticipate he will. Someday, Shugat-Nergal’s going to get it. When he does, my dear, just remember, he will damn well deserve every bit of it.”
To Chapter 22
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