This storybook was created by Emily Wellham for MLLL 3043-995 at the University of Oklahoma. Image credits: Inscribed brick: dedicatory inscription of Adad-shuma-usur; Processional Way, Babylon - Google Art Project.
If people study the mythology of Ancient Mesopotamia, it is usually because they read the Epic of Gilgamesh. This storybook will tell the tales of some of the Babylonian gods and goddesses, such as Marduk and Inanna. The author is the god of scribes and writing, Nabu, who I have supposed to be still alive in the present day, retaining his godly powers. He explains his inspiration in the introduction.
The first story introduces the goddess Inanna, but places her in history as a human woman. This tale reveals a ruptured family and as such is fittingly placed just after the War Between the States. The queen of the dead, Ereshkigal, wants revenge on her sister, Inanna, for the death of her husband.
The second story moves the story of the world-wide flood to a localized version, where the gods are human and the humans are grasshoppers. The god Enki is an entomologist who must save an endangered species of grasshoppers from multiple disasters.
The third story retells a poem that laments the tragedies that have befallen the narrator despite his faithfulness towards the gods. The modern version diminishes the role of religion while maintaining the struggle of upright citizens who do not deserve their fates.
The fourth story is a post-apocalyptic retelling of the creation myth. The goddess of the deep, sometimes a woman, sometimes a dragon, sometimes the sea itself, is portrayed as an oceanographer. Her adversaries, the sky gods, have returned in space ships. Nabu narrates the story and appears in it as a minor character.