A Sister's Grief

I invite you, oh reader, to step back into the time just after the American Civil War and hear my tale of mayhem. May Damu the healer make my words soothing to your souls and heal all strife amongst you.

May 20, 1865. New York Times. New York, New York.

Reports of a young woman aiding the Union Army and leading our troops through dangerous rebel territory have at last been substantiated. Our nation owes a great debt of gratitude to Inanna Ishtar for her aid in our course to victory. General Sherman corroborates that his march to the sea through Georgia would not have been possible without her assistance.

May 20, 1865. Daily Intelligencer. Macon, Georgia.

John 'The Bull' Gugalanna, beloved husband renowned for his strength, has died of wounds sustained in the service of the Confederacy during the battle of Griswoldville. He is survived by his wife, Ereshkigal, their unborn child, and his sister-in-law Inanna Ishtar. May his soul rest in peace.

Washinton, D.C.

"Butler!" Inanna called. She listened for an answer before calling again. "Ninshubur!"

"Yes, madame, how can I be of service?"

"I intend to visit my sister, who is in mourning for her husband."

"As you wish, madame. I will hire a coach."

Griswoldville, Georgia.

"Ma'am, there's some one here to see you."

Ereshkigal looked up from her accounts, her head swimming from numbers that refused to add up to anything other than bankruptcy.

"Your sister, ma'am."

"Inanna?"

"Yes ma'am."

Ereshkigal winced as the child in her belly kicked out. Presumably he shared her anger at her sister's betrayal. "Thank you, Netty. Tell my sister that she may not enter in any of her finery spun from Southern cotton or wearing any jewelry stolen from the houses she has looted." She turned back to her books.

"Greetings, sister! What a fine welcome!" Inanna, fully naked, flounced into the office.

Ereshkigal's anger could not be contained. "A fine welcome! After you have killed my husband and laid waste to my land? After not a single crop has been left to feed this town throughout the winter and our industry has ground to a halt? After you have burned down Atlanta? What welcome were you expecting?" Her eyes sparked with rage.

"Wrong side of history, sister. Why don't you come up North with me?"

"I'd rather be queen of the dead then live under your gloating."

"Well, the dead do seem to be all y'all have got left."

Snarling, Ereshkigal leapt out from behind her desk and throttled her sister. "I will have justice for my husband!" She loosened her hold only as sudden and premature labor pangs gripped her.

Inanna fell to the ground clutching her throat. "Fine! What do you want from me? I'll still be a hero to the rest of the country!"

"As much money as will keep Gugulanna Manufacturing from going bankrupt and keep me and my child alive."

"Fine, I'll wire Dumuzi."

Georgetown, Washington, D. C.

Dumuzi, Inanna's husband, stood in their elegant home in Georgetown surveying the luxuries around him. While some might have thought of him as an upstart, nouveau riche fellow who had made money during the war, the Washington elites were able to forgive him all his flaws in their eagerness to know more about Inanna. Since he neither knew nor cared too much about her exploits, he was able to tell them exactly what they wanted to hear. However, he was none too pleased to get a telegraph requesting money. He supposed she wanted to stay down South to keep playing the hero, while he needed her back in town to cement his social status. He would just have to go get her himself.

Griswoldville, Georgia.

Dumuzi pulled up to the Gugalanna house in a carriage which he had obtained from the Union army stationed nearby in Macon. He was surprised to see Inanna carrying a newborn infant. "And who is this?"

"Enki, Erishkigal's child. He's named for our father."

"All well and good. Why don't you come back to DC with me?"

"Do you have the money for Erish?"

Dumuzi laughed. "I think Erish has got what she deserves."

"And Enki?" Inanna looked tenderly down at her newborn nephew, who had fully overcome her pride.

"Alright, alright." He pulled out a check, signed it, and handed it to her. "Take as much as you need. Just come back to DC with me. The world awaits us."

Inanna went inside to pack her things. She handed both the baby and the check to Erishkigal. "Fill in the amount for however much you need to keep everything going. Goodbye, sister."

"Goodbye." As Inanna and Dumuzi left, Erishkigal smiled to herself. She would take as much as money as she needed to utterly ruin that untrustworthy Inanna's worthless husband. After all, hadn't she taken her beloved from her and left little Enki fatherless?

May Utu's allseeing light reveal the justice of Erishkigal's actions and shine his truth into the lives of my readers.

Author's Note: In the original story, Erishkigal is the queen of the underworld. After Inanna sends her husband into battle, where he is killed, Inanna descends to the underworld to visit her sister. Erishkigal humiliates and kills her. Some demons come down to bring her back to life and free her, but she must be replaced by someone else. They try to take her servants and children, but they are mourning for her. Her husband, Dumuzi, is not, which enrages Inanna and he is doomed to life in the underworld. What time in your history, oh reader, have brothers turned against brothers and sisters against sisters as during your civil war? Even the gods are not immune to such division. Here I have represented the underworld with the South and the world of the gods with the North, not from a lack of respect but from the sense that Inanna would be on the side of the victor. It is from Inanna's dual nature as a goddess of love and war that I have drawn her involvement with the Union. I have changed the desire for justice so that it can be fulfilled monetarily instead of by the death of the characters. While I gave Inanna some sympathy for her sister, she still lacks remorse for the death of her brother-in-law.

Bibliography:

"Ancient Akkadian Cylindrical Seal Depicting Inanna and Ninshubur." Link.

"Battle of Fort McAllister." Link.

"City of Washington from Beyond the Navy Yard by George Cooke, 1833." Link.

"Daily Intelligencer." Link.

"Damu." Link.

"Griswoldville." Link.

"Inanna's Descent: A Sumerian Tale of Injustice." Link.

"Utu." Link.