Mesopotamia Stories, Part 2

Hilimaz

By Coco

My name is Sagmi. I am my name. Slave girl. I live within the immense palace of the king of Mesopotamia, Sargon. 

My mother is a farmer. She works in the agriculture district. Her name is Uli, which means herbs. That’s what she specializes in. 

My mother left me alone when my father died. My father, Urbarra, was a great hunter. His name, wolf, was given to him for hunting so many wolves. Sadly, he was killed by another tribe while hunting outside the walls surrounding our great civilization. I was given to the king as it said in my father’s will.

Before the death of my father, my family was a religious one. Everyday, we would travel from our hut to the stone temple dedicated to the moon god Nanna and his wife Ningal. 

My mother told me to pray very hard to Nanna.

“Why?” I asked, for I was curious, and I wanted to learn the ways of a farmer so I could be one too.

“Because when Nanna looks down on us from his bed of stars, he thanks us for worshiping him by casting his magic down on the crops we need and he showers them,” she whispers softly in my ear.

“Why does he shower them?”

“So our crops can grow thick and rich with moonlight.”

When she sees I still look confused, she laughs and says “You will understand when you become a farmer like me, Hilimaz.” 

Hilimaz. Beautiful. My name and what I was before I became covered and dirt and before I became Sagmi.

Now I don’t worship the gods. They don’t let me. Then one day a messenger from the farming district comes with startling news. 

“The crops are dying!” he shouts “We might not have enough food for winter!”

“Nanna is mad,” I mutter so quietly that no one can hear me. “I must help.” 

Then I am gone. Like a flash of lightning, I bolt through the castle to the servant quarters to my straw bed. I grab my blanket and run out of the palace, through the city, and into the abandoned temple. I light a crackling fire on the sacrificing tablet and place my frayed blanket on top of it. 

“Nanna, I hope now you are warm in your bed,” I say, watching the blanket explode into a frenzy of flames and ashes. 

My pruned, dirt covered knees rest peacefully on the stone floor. Then I hear something that I haven’t heard in a long time. 

“Hilimaz,” someone says behind me. 

I whip around. Who has called me by my old name? The guards? No. The other slaves? No.  It could only be one person… mother. Her dark hair swirls around her tan face and brown eyes. 

“Hilimaz,” she whispers again. 

I know this is not real. Nanna has just sent me an illusion. But as I walk towards the exit of the temple the illusion does not fade away, it comes closer. Closer and closer. And the illusion of my mother hugs me. But it is not fake, it is real. A real hug that I have not felt in so many years.

“Mother, you came back for me,” I say, letting the tears slither like snakes down my cheeks. 

“Yes I did my darling Hilimaz,” she says still holding me tight “I regret leaving you with the king. But now I have come back for you. I beg you to forgive me. Please come with me Hilimaz! Leave this retched city!” 

“Of course,” I say. “Of course of course of course.”

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Untitled

By Bowen

It was night time in the city of Ur and and Adamen was looking up at the stars. Although there were not many he still loved to look up at them and wonder how they got there. Adamen was an 11 year old boy who lived in city of Ur. He was the son of one of the high priests, Garza, who performed many sacred ceremonies and sacrifices to the moon god Inanna. 

In the morning Adamen had to get to work, for he was a priest in training and that was a very important job. Every morning he would follow his father to the great temple. Once he was there, he would listen to the daily lesson, usually it was about how he would perform sacrifices, then at the end of the lesson he would ask Adamen to tell everything he just said. Sometimes though on a special occasion he would tell Adamen how to perform a ceremony. 

After the lesson, he would watch as his dad would sacrifice a cow or bull up to the gods to keep them happy. For, if they didn’t the gods would give them plagues, or their crops wouldn’t grow, or a bunch of other bad stuff. Their gods were ancient. They were there when the world was created, and they were the ones who gave us agriculture so we could eat and not starve to death. 

Adamen loved his city and he loved his family. And eventually he would perform the sacrifices on his own.

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Flood Season

By Lilly

My mother shook me awake. I rolled over in my soft straw bed and then I remembered. It was almost flooding season! Today was the day that the whole town gathered to build a big, strong wall to keep the surplus of water from destroying the town.

My family lived in a small village on the outskirts of Ur. It was great for agricultural purposes because the nearby river kept the soil fertile. The only problem was the flood season. I quickly got dressed and ran out of my straw covered house.

On my way to the river, I passed house after house, each one very similar but no two exactly the same. Each house was made of clay and mud with an outer coat of straw. Everyone had a ladder that led to a door on the roof because unlike most big cities, we didn’t have large walls protecting us. 

As I passed the center of town, I spotted a crowd heading toward the river. I joined them as we wound down the path that would take us to the edge of town. Finally, we reached the farming grounds. I slowly picked my way through the field of rice and made it to the river bank.

Most of the members of my village had already begun working by the time I had filled my large, wooden pail. I quickly found a spot in between my uncle Utu and my friend Anunit. I grabbed a large rock and a handful of gooey clay. I set the rock on the bit of wall in front of me and filled each crack with clay. 

We worked for hours, and by the time the sun had reached its highest peak, I was exhausted. I followed the group and eventually made it back to my house. From there I went straight inside and fell fast asleep.

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Flow

By Christopher

I wake to a huge crack. My dad, Han-lu, comes running in and is shouting.

“Get out, GET OUT!”

It is pitch black outside and very windy. I could see nothing, absolutely nothing. I don't know where I’m going.

“AHHHHH!” I yell. “I’M SO SCARED!”

I hear screams, shouts, and cries of pain.

“Ja-Li, Ja-Li, where are you?”

“I don't kn...” 

I fell into some water, it was flowing at extreme speeds. I went under and came back out, under again and right back out. I went under one last time and when I tried to come up I kept on running into something. A rock, or the tube. 

I was stuck in the irrigation system, I was heading to the Euphrates River. I tried one more time to get up and I broke through the surface. I was alive. Scared, but alive. 

The sun was coming up and I could see enough to find my way to land. I was looking around and I saw that our city-state was under attack by Sargon and his army.