9 minute read

Chapter 2

Next Article
Introduction

Introduction

Dear Mother Asherah, save my soul. I know you and Father Elohim are just. I should’ve never gone against your will with Inanna. My love for dearest Inanna will never end, despite my knowing how wrong it is to love her. I should never have judged other humans based on what we had. Please, end this eternal torment. If it is what you desire, I’ll never see Inanna again. I can’t end this love, but I’ll give her up. For you and Father, I’ll give her up. No matter how painful, I’ll return to Shamayim and never seek her out. Amen. 930 P.D.

Case after case. Accusation after accusation. It just never seemed to end. Though most of the cases were mediocre, a few had various body parts removed when found guilty. Those, I must say, were the more interesting ones. Most of the others had more to do with handing out fines (or overdue ones) and unpaid loans. Once I felt satisfaction that I had a good understanding for human justice, I started to leave that courtroom behind. The courtroom of the city of the first fair king in history. The next case was of a young woman accused of adultery. Turning around, I smirked. The tables were now turned. It

Advertisement

would turn out alright for them, but not for her. So, I watched as the judges debated for a few minutes. As I approached, I heard them announce the death penalty if she was found guilty. It was going to be a swift trial, it seemed. So, knowing I wasn’t allowed to, I whispered in their ears. “Toss her into the lake!” They all said as one. She looked up in shock and was carried down the hill. They were all shouting the same thing and looked more like a crazy mob than a court of justice. It was wrong of me to not allow the trial to go on as it should’ve, but there was a good chance she was innocent and they weren’t going to allow that. Her accuser may have been nothing more than a jealous husband. Carrying her to the lake, they cheered. At that, they tossed her in. Just as I suspected, she was unharmed and the river washed her ashore. Though angry that the river had proved her innocent, the mob let it go and carried on. After all, their river god, Enbilulu, had spoken. And they couldn’t defy a god. Evil things would happen to those who did so, and they were never spoken of again. Scenes like that one weren’t uncommon, unfortunately. Though, the women usually would drown, but not because they were guilty. The men would often float right up to the surface, making them believe men were more likely to be innocent than women. The idea of it made me laugh. It wasn’t their fault they didn’t know about how human bodies were made; I wish Father Elohim would grant me permission to tell them. After all, the thing was beyond reason and was laughable. How could a river tell them who was guilty and who wasn’t? When the mob swarmed up the hill to see the next set of cases, I went the other way, back into the city. For once, a human came close to Shamayim paradise. I chuckled to myself and passed through the crowd of merchants and customers. Though he had been dead for almost two centuries, Hammurapi got it right, or at least, close to it. Guilty only when proven so. Though some punishments and trials were over the top, I didn’t complain. At least humans could judge each other based on innocence now. The city, once so beautiful, was falling into ruins beyond repair. The Hittites were advancing. They were coming. After living in Babylon for several centuries, I could see the end of the end. Over the next few years, the Hittites arrive. As the battle rages on, I can see it happening all over again. As the invaders entered houses and dragged out screaming women and children, I remembered Inanna and I asleep in our home. We were dreaming of the calm before the storm;

and in both that time centuries ago, and in this attack, I could see the storm over our heads. The Hittites were murdering and raping anything in their way; how could the Babylonians be ready when they didn’t know it was coming? Suddenly, I was dragged out of sleep in that cold memory; I could hear Inanna’s screams as she struggled to break free from their grasps; I tried to break free to save her. The city is being burnt down, in both the present and the past, and I was unable to save either city. I loved that city; it brought me pain to see it fall into ruins at the hands of those who hated it, who longed for it. I watched it happening before my eyes over and over again as the men, women, and children were brutally executed or shamed in some other way that I couldn’t possibly describe. Inanna being slaughtered before my very eyes, her spirit dragged away by my brethren angels to the depths of the Fallen Angel’s fiery realm. Her punishment was for loving a benei; for loving me. The Babylonians’ punishment was only because of human nature. Why did I want to be one with humanity? It was nothing but bloodshed and violence. I could only relive those horrid memories as the city fell-to me, it happened again and again. Back amongst the battle of humans, I pray to my father above as the chaos ensues around me: “Help them. They may fail to recognize you as the One, but don’t ignore this plight. If I could I would help them. As the centuries go by, I fall weaker, but you are steady. Please save them, or allow me to save them.” Yet, I knew. We were the ones who taught the human beings to fight. For those of us who were banished to Adamah during these centuries, we were to blame. We had to live with the price. I knew later that He wouldn’t answer my prayer simply because I prayed it. He had no way to hear me. There was no way He could’ve. That connection was dead. Now, I had to watch as countless problems of war and pain happen over and over again. This battle just seemed to go on. Flames rocked the city and the Hittites had placed their aim carefully. Arrows bloated out the sky and it was nothing but a bloodbath. Screams of terror from both adults and children echoed through the night. The days went by as I watched them die one by one. This battle was longer than anything I had ever seen. Life was filled with such hatred that overshadowed the good. I remembered when life had no problems. All I had to do was my job and life would have mundane and happy, both for me and for the people of Adamah. This was my fault. I took all the blame. As the dust cleared and the fires died, I was the only thing that remained. I was alone, and would be forever. In the aftermath of the bloodied ruins, the invaders walked about the battlefield

in a sort of victory march. The battle was over. Hundreds of Babylonians were dead, and amongst the pile of bodies, there were other animals that had been slaughtered as well. It was a slaughterhouse, though not the first that I had seen. It was my fault. I was among the angels that betrayed my post and taught violence to humanity. I wanted to teach them how to defend themselves, but they only used it for destruction. All of it was my fault; every single unnatural death. It was our fault that humanity descended into chaos; we had fallen for our parents creation, and ended up destroying it. Now, there was only one way to save it, and They wouldn’t go to the planet until times seemed hopeless. How was that not now? How could this time of darkness and blood not be considered hopeless? Yet I knew. It had to be hopeless for the people who understood who They were. They were the descendants of the prophet Abraham through his sons. They stopped on bodies as they watched the scene before them. It didn’t matter that these were human beings. Like most conquering peoples, they didn’t care about the victims butchered around them. I would’ve been surprised if they did. “Well,” said the one. “That was an interesting battle.” He looked around him and smiled. His companion laughed and shook his head. “You know empires don’t fall in a day.” He suddenly grew bitter. “There shouldn’t have been this much carnage. If only they had listened to our warnings before.” “Eh. What can you do?” Out of the corner of my eye, I saw some soldiers digging through the wreckage. Without warning, they dragged a young woman out by her feet as she clawed at the stones around her. As she screamed in terror, I realized it was the same woman I had saved before. If I hadn’t said anything all those months ago, she would have faced a less gruesome fate than the one I believed was now before her. Was it always her fate to end up with a horrible death, and I interfered, only to bring about an even more horrible one? Was this what I had done to this poor, defenseless woman? Was it my fault? “Bring her here.” At that, I felt panic. I didn’t want to watch what they would do to her. Yet, I knew I deserved this for interfering with her death before. Like the snake from the garden, it would only come back to bite me. I saw only Inanna in her place. Scared and damaged Inanna, who had a fate worse than death. Since I couldn’t save my only love, I would do everything to save this woman. Inanna deserved it, even if it was through a nameless woman.

“Touch her and I will break your neck.” He stumbled back. His men looked at him in confusion. “Which one of you threatened me?” When everyone simply stared at each other, he screamed in absolute terror. “Which one of you did it? I will rip your guts out!” With that, the group of men began infighting. Once an organized unit, they became enemies over simple things. Something I saw most men do after the flood. While they were distracted, I whispered in the poor female’s ear to run. She did as I suggested. As the men killed each other, she ran across the former battlefield. I watched her run: to her freedom; to a new hope. The one survivor finished off his brothers without a thought, and though he was weak from the onslaught, he still managed to call out to his would-be victim. Then it happened. Just as it did centuries before, I watched as another soldier grabbed the poor girl. Without a thought, he slowly began slicing her head off. She was dead and it was my fault, again. “INANNA!”

This article is from: