In the land of Sumer (modern day Iraq) there lived a gardener called Shukalletuda, a mortal. He was extremely unhappy because his garden was bare as the sun and the wind destroyed all his plants. He tried and tried but with little success. He grew weary and despondent until one day the idea of a tree divined upon him.
A tree called the sarbatu conjured itself up in his head, with its roots spreading deep into the soil and its trunk rising up to meet the gods in the sky. He planted the tree; and soon a garden bore fruit, spreading its shade and fragrance for miles and miles. Shukalletuda tended to his patch of green with pride and love and he never forgot to thank the sarbatu which had helped create a paradise on earth.
One hot summer’s day, the great goddess Inanna was drawn to the cool shade of the garden. She was taken in by its wild and unruly spread and the calm that lay within. She stepped into the garden, promising to leave after a few moments of rest. But she sank into a divine sleep and forgot all about her godly duties.
While she slept Shukalletuda came to attend to his garden. He saw Inanna sleeping under the trees and fell headlong in love with the goddess; the queen of heaven, of love and human fertility. He was mesmerised.
He could not resist but steal a few moments beside her. He was careful, he was gentle and he left quietly before the goddess woke up and discovered his impudent intrusion.
However his love left its languor behind. It stamped a sticky soft fragrance upon the goddess who, on waking, knew without doubt that a mortal had been close to her. And her anger burst forth in torrential fury. She sent strong winds and storms to destroy the world of men, filled the wells and lakes with blood and sent her armies out to hunt down the guilty one.
But Shukalletuda could not be found. He hid in the cities where the people had learnt to protect themselves from storm and hurricane. He ran away every time her men drew close and he slipped into the dark shadows where the sun and the moon would not be able to find him. And despite Inanna’s best efforts he stayed hidden.
Baffled the goddess went to Enki, the god of wisdom for help...
This Sumerian myth was found on a broken tablet. It is unfinished and leaves the end of what is commonly believed to be a fertility myth (or, according to some a myth about the hero, Shukalletuda) to the imagination. We could make up the rest of the story any which way we want to. I have put down one possibility but there could be hundreds of thousands and we could all be as far from the truth as we are from finding out about what came first, the chicken or the egg. But that is no reason to stop trying, is it?
Now what if....
Enki was waiting for Inanna. The gods had approached him for his help in bringing the goddess under control. Inanna’s unbridled anger was threatening the order of the universe.
Enki spoke to her gently, like a friend and not as a god to his queen. He told her that she had to stop looking for him. Shukalletuda’s love, he said, will bring him to Inanna. All she had to do was to wait for him to come to her.
So days rolled into months, and months into years; until one day, a lovelorn Shukalletuda could hold out no more. He went back to his garden and surrendered to the wind and the storm gods, he prayed and pleaded with them to take him to his love.
Word reached Inanna and she rushed to see the mortal who dared fall in love with a goddess. Her army of dust storms and hurricanes in tow, she was determined to break this man into minuscule particles of dust so that there would be no trace left of him and of his audacious deed.
But love can sway the best made plans of all, even furious goddesses. When Inanna saw this man waiting for her beneath the sarbatu, her anger turned into tears. She wept out of joy and sadness and out of love and helplessness. She wept so much that the water filled up all the lakes and the rivers and the oceans. Her tears rolled down the leaves of the trees, reviving all the plants that had curled up into the earth in her fear. The garden rose again, shedding the cloak of dust and destruction and displaying in full splendour, its rich green glory.
Shukalletuda prayed for forgiveness. He knelt in front of his goddess, begging for her love as she descended upon his garden in a shower of abundance and prosperity.
