Seven Dreams of Inanna

About 100 miles northwest of the modern Iraqi City of Basra lie the ruins of the ancient city of Ur. It was in this city that the prophet Abraham, father of the great religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, was born. Four thousand years ago, this city was a thriving metropolis so ancient even then that it had existed for over 1000 years, one of the first cities on the face of this Earth. It was a center of culture for the peoples of Sumer, whose cities and farms stretched along the Euphrates and Tigris rivers for hundreds of miles; the land now called The Fertile Crescent.

The Sumerians were tremendously gifted peoples. Intelligent and creative, they are generally credited for inventing farming, the wheel, writing, and may have been the first to use iron for weapons and tools. Not surprisingly, they also invented the city, of which Ur was their finest.

The Sumerian pantheon included many gods but the goddess Inanna was one of the most favored. Inanna, the goddess of love, was eventually adopted by other cultures, as Ishtar by the Babylonians, Isis by the Egyptians, Artemis by the Greeks and Venus by the Romans. Inanna is recognized today as an early avatar of "The Goddess," about whom much has been recently written.

"Seven Dreams of Inanna" is a story about the Sumerians and their relationships with each other and with their gods. It tells of love, intrigue, politics and war, familiar subjects but in an unfamiliar setting. Amid the clay-brick structures of ancient Ur, the princess Klori finds a lover and, allied with him, strives to save her father, King Mesan, from a plot to usurp the crown.

Colorful characters share the adventures of Klori and her lover, Kesh. There is Enkidu, the wily thief without whose help Klori would never have succeeded. And the Herbalist, whose knowledge of healing and spells aided the pair on many occasions. An-ki, the beautiful woman whose lust for Kesh brought her to a horrible end. And the strutting captain of the guards, Lugul, who fancies the princess for his own.

Throughout the story, the goddess Inanna brings undying love to the hearts of Klori and Kesh, and brings hope and optimism to the couple, even through the darkest times.

The story unfolds in the narrow streets of Ur, in the desert which surrounds the fertile "Land Between the Rivers," in the royal palace of the city of Lagash and finally, on the steps of the immense unfinished ziggurat, the culmination promised by Inanna is fulfilled.

It is an adventure set in the dawn of history but it resonates down the ages, a timeless story as relevant today as it was in 2500 BC.