Within the walls of ancient Uruk on the bank of the Euphrates, more than fifty thousand people live, love, work, and play, ruled over by King Gilgamesh and protected by their patron goddess, Inanna.
But civilization is precarious. At any moment, the armies of other cities could fall upon them, a spring flood could wash away the city, famine could strike, or, the Sumerians believe, the capricious and vengeful gods could punish any or all for the sins of a few.
Although the tall, strong, and handsome Gilgamesh epitomizes manly physical perfection, in other ways he falls far short. His subjects fear him, and for good reason, because he has become a bored and restless tyrant.
The people cry out to the gods for relief. The elegant, sophisticated priestess Shamhat fears Gilgamesh's growing wildness will attract the wrath of the gods. She wants to protect Inanna and her temple, as well as free the people of Uruk from Gilgamesh's oppression, but she fears the repercussions for her and her son if she acts against the out-of-control king.
Then word comes to Uruk of a wild man living in the desert, a man the equal of Gilgamesh in size and strength. The king thinks the wild man can relieve his boredom and restlessness and sends someone to bring him back to court. But the person he has chosen, Shamhat, has her own agenda: She believes the wild man can humble the arrogant king.
Enkidu the wild man becomes a pawn in the struggle between Gilgamesh and Shamhat, and the future of Uruk hangs in the balance.
Like Mayflies in a Stream is a historical novel set 4,700 years ago in Sumer, in what is now southern Iraq. It will be published by Hadley Rille Books in fall 2009. You can purchase it then at Amazon.com or at Hadley Rille's Website at http://www.hadleyrillebooks.com.
I am happy to meet with book clubs in Southern California in person and with others by phone. I'm also available for speaking engagements. Please contact me at ShaunaRoberts@ShaunaRoberts.com if interested.
Image is an impression of a cylinder seal from Uruk circa 3000 BCE. The cylinder seal currently resides in the Louvre Museum.
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License". The license can be found at http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:GNU_Free_Documentation_License.
