Chapter 28 - Civilization
City of Anna. SW Asia
Ittidu conceded that Tabell and his nomadic brethren couldn’t stay in the City. Their tribe and flocks demand a return to the margins of the desert. What is Ittidu to do?
She could join Tabell and his shepherds to return to their wilds. The sheer beauty of the sand dunes beneath that night sky. Their freedoms could be seen as attractive, if you're a man. Ittidu knows Tabell himself couldn't ever offer to her a fairy tale romance, and she herself was never raised to be a wandering shepherd’s wife. Tomorrow Tabell must leave Anna. This evening, Ittidu dines with two ophidian cousins. It is the matriarch of this prestigious house who presents Ittidu a choice,
‘Dear Ittidu, you must remain here in the City and in my own house. I’d like you to work for me’.
At first Ittidu is reluctant to consider this offer. She’s aware Šamkat’s weaverwomen form a strict guild dedicated to the spider goddess, and their apprentices start at an early age,
‘But Šamkat, I am afraid I don’t possess the skills of weaving. Neither do I have the youth with which to learn’.
Šamkat laughs out loud at Ittidu’s reaction, ‘I don’t seek to employ you to work the yarn! You’re the lion slayer, and a daughter of the martyr of Nammu. Too popular with our citizens to waste on any loom. I wish to teach you the more diplomatic arts of conducting trade on the plaza. I want you as my own apprentice in business’.
Tabell leans forward offering encouragement, ‘Ittidu, my civilised cousin, makes you a most generous proposition. This would be a great opportunity for you. First you slay the beast with your pebble, and Šamkat will teach you to slay the fierce markets of Anna with your charm’.
The two cousins sense Ittidu’s indecision and join forces to convince her to stay here with Šamkat as her mentor. Ittidu is to be dazzled by a barrage of cousinly cooperation. First it's Šamkat who slithers in with a temptation of civilisation,
‘Your famous father was a chieftain and spirit-talker of the marshlands. You’ve grown up in a temple. Religion has always existed in Anna. Even before, small shrines dedicated to the pig mother grew into the great sanctuary of Inanna. Who wouldn't desire to live close to the divine favour and protection offered by the gods of this successful city?’
With a forked tongue, Tabell encourages, ‘My cousin speaks the truth. Who wouldn't wish to quench their thirst for the ritual ceremony and pomp of a great house of Anna?’
To which Šamkat exclaims, ‘and what merchant wouldn't desire the profitable contract of a lucrative religion? Here the cleverest citizens may prosper and grow fat on success. Gaze upon my wonderful house! See my jewellery and my fine clothes. For it's only those barbarian paupers who are stupid, who populate Anna’s shanties, almshouses and brothels’.
Tabell introduces another temptation, ‘It's rumoured that Anna presents many more earthly pleasures of civilisation.’ His smile is dirty. He and Šamkat break out laughing to infect Ittidu with a fit of giggling.
It’s true these citizens of a brave new world believe it a sacred duty to enjoy all mortal gratification. They believe their afterlife to be eternally dire in comparison. This regardless of any sort of life lived. For in this prehistoric world these locals have invented a compulsory hell for themselves. No optimist has yet enticed them to better behaviour by forging a heaven. Consequently who could criticise the citizens for their enjoyment of living flesh? Where better to carry out such a hedonistic duty than in a city where the party never ends? This civilisation has been built to surround a sanctuary dedicated to a goddess of libido.
This revelation might surprise a child of the future. To learn that the art of orgy birthed your civilised progress. The age when religions frown on such fun as immoral, has yet to arrive.
Šamkat herself is a queen of pleasure. She introduces another, more practical incentive for joining the citizenship,
‘Our great city has more pleasures than any tent of the nomads. It provides security against hunger. Our temple grain stores bulge with the golden produce of Eden’s alluvial soils. Barbarians of the countryside fade in the face of famine. Here the gods demand their sacrifice. Inspired by old traditions defended by your own father, the priests of Anna wisely share this spoil as commonwealth of citizens’.
Tabell promotes the refuge value of a city, ‘Not only security from hunger. Many who join the new citizenship arrive as refugees. Civilisation offers a powerful herd protection. Here the citizens escape all predators of other wealthy sanctuaries upon their ancient communes. No militia of any Guruš is mighty enough to bite into Anna’s great population without choking to death. Here in civilisation the citizens find safety in numbers’.
Through cobra eyes, Šamkat sees Ittidu’s resistance weakening.
She spits out more of this venom, ‘Anna’s caravans roam far and wide, free of Uguli’s taxation, and challenges any mandate of Engur’s Me. This city is now prosperous enough to corrupt any army of Guruš that Engur sends’.
This resistance against Engur and its arrogant sanctuary resonates deeply with Ittidu. Perhaps the enemy of her own enemy is her friend? She studies the dining room of this grand compound. Šamkat herself had arrived in this burgeoning civilisation, no more than a poor nomad. Anna has elevated her to be the affluent matriarch of this house.
Ittidu’s resolve is reached, ‘Šamkat, I’m no more than another of those poor refugees fleeing from the aggression of Uguli’s Engur. I gladly accept your kind offer. I surrender to your will as my new mistress’.
The two reptilian cousins smile at one another. Their efforts of temptation have borne fruit. The serpent spirit of Anna senses Ittidu’s submission. It rushes to absorb another barbarian into the next stage of degeneracy. A world where humanity further divorces from its true nature. Where the distant plunder of trade will empty the forests of trees, the oceans of fish, and the mountains of ore. Where the cities of empires will compete against one another in the arms races of horrific wars. A world where people are bred like grazing sheep to be dictated by the powerful few.
I find it most interesting that while Ittidu is spirited into the ranks of the citizens, in a faraway world, her moon-sister is being forced by pioneer barbarians to renounce her free and wild savagery. The prejudiced historians of a future world, observing through the eye-glasses of their advanced civilisations will pronounce these changes to belong to a forward march of progress.