Meet Didi and Miu, courtesans from Inanna’s temple in this excerpt from the chapter, Uruk:
“You can rest here, Lilith. This is the courtesan chamber where all the girls stay. Your donkey will be stabled and brought fresh straw. Tonight we will be servicing guests. It would be educational for you to attend and see how things work here. We eat in two hours. Relax until then, and I will send someone after you when it is time.”
Inanna squeezed Lilith’s arm and was off. Lilith sat on the mat and set her things by her bed. Several of the girls came to greet her.
“Hello. First day at the temple?”
“Yes.”
“There are services tonight. Will you be joining us?”
“I’m not sure. I think Inanna plans for me to watch. She said it would be educational. My name is Lilith, by the way.”
“Hello, Lilith. I am Didi and this is Miu. Why have you only come now, and not earlier?”
Lilith was confused. “What do you mean?”
The girls looked at each other and giggled. “I don’t mean to sound rude, but you seem a few years older than most.”
Lilith thought about it. Age? Who knows what happened when I said the ineffable name? I could be hundreds of years old by now. Time had become so abstract after my visit to the firmament. She eyed the girls, “Yes, I may be a few years older than you. Is there a specific age girls come here?”
“You don’t know? Where are you from?”
“I’m from far away. I started out in a place called Eden, but now I live on Mount Hermon.”
The girls had never heard of either place. “Here in Uruk, it is customary for all girls to serve Inanna when they come of age.”
“Come of age, what does that mean?”
The girls giggled again. Didi bent down and whispered, “You know, when you get your first period.”
“Period? What is that?”
The girls are shocked. Miu leaned in, “You know, when you bleed. Down there.”
Lilith finally understood. “Oh, that happened to me during my vision.”
Now the girls were confused. Miu asked, “Vision, what do you mean?”
“Oh, it was like a dream,” Lilith answered.
Miu and Didi exchanged looks. “No wonder you have not come to the temple. You are not a woman yet.”
Lilith felt insulted. “I am a woman! I’ve had children, many children in fact! I bled a little after I gave birth.”
“Oh, that explains it. After pregnancy you skip your period for a while, and if you get pregnant again, then you skip it some more. How odd. I’ve never met a girl who has never had her period before.”
Lilith wanted to change the topic. “When you come to the temple, how long do you have to serve?”
The girls looked at each other and giggled again. “That depends!”
Lilith wondered what was up. “Depends on what?”
“You really do not know, do you?”
Lilith began to get annoyed. She really wanted to be working on the key to her grimoire. These silly girls were using up her free time before supper.
“I think you may be confused. I’m not here to serve the temple. Inanna is helping me work on a project, and then I’ll be going. I have a lot of work to do, so if you don’t mind…”
The girls seemed disappointed, “But you are so pretty, Lilith. You’d have no problem serving the temple.”
“Why, what is it that you do here?”
The girls looked at each other.
“You tell her.”
“No, you tell her.”
“Okay, I’ll tell her. When a girl comes of age we have to serve the temple until a patron pays tribute to have sex with us. After we have completed this task we are free to go. We can stay if we want, but we cannot leave until we attract at least one paying patron.”
Lilith was intrigued. “You mean every girl must come here and can’t leave until she fucks someone?”
“Basically, yes. Most girls leave after their first patron, but some of us love it here. Some want to make riches. The temple keeps all of your first patron’s offering, but if you stay everything is split in half from then on. I think many stay for the sex. Some like the food and shelter. Others want the education. This is the only place for women to learn to read and write.”
Miu butted in, “And then there are the girls who are trapped here because no one wants to fuck them. That’s the saddest thing.”
“Oh, you’re horrible.”
“I know, I’m a catty bitch.”
Lilith found herself amused by the young girls.
“So you’re stuck here if no one wants to fuck you?”
“That’s right. The men come as our audience. We put on a little show, dance and sing. When we are done, we line up and they choose. Many times there are more girls than guys. Of course, the pretty ones are chosen first. The plain, ugly, and fat girls don’t stand a chance if there aren’t enough men.”
Miu raised her arms dramatically. “Trapped here forever, sad and unfuckable!”
“I can’t believe you.”
“It’s true!”
Lilith shook her head and smiled. “How long have you two been here?”
Miu answered first, “I’ve been here four months. It’s fun. I like the party atmosphere. It’s so boring back on my parents’ farm. I’m having a great time, and I have made many talents of gold for the temple.”
Didi rolled her eyes, “You have not! Do you know how much a talent of gold weighs? More than you!”
Miu gyrated her hips, “Oh, come on, this pussy brings them in the door, sister. All my patrons are repeat customers! Line ‘em up!”
Didi made herself comfortable next to Lilith. “I have been here about eight weeks. I’m not sure what I am to do. My aunt takes care of me, but other than that I’m an orphan. The food and opportunity here is better than what I have at home. I may end up staying until I find a husband to take me. If no one marries me, then I will save up enough gold to live well.”
Lilith had a million questions now. “Do the girls often find husbands?”
“It all depends. If you are looking for a husband you tell them so. You tell them how much you look forward to them visiting. How you want them to take you away and rescue you from this place. Make ‘em feel like a hero.”
Lilith was amazed. “I have only come to use the library. That is why I am here. But I have to admit, the party sounds pretty good too. I could use a good fucking.”
The girls giggled. Didi leaned over and stroked Lilith’s long black hair. “You’ll be right at home then. Plenty of fucking for everyone here. You say you’re here for the library? You know how to read and write?”
“Yes, a good friend has tutored me. I can read and write cuneiform, Akkadian, Hebrew, Egyptian hieroglyphs…”
“Wow, Lilith! It is rare for a woman to be trained as a scribe. Only here in Inanna’s temple do they allow women to learn such things.”
Lilith seemed confused. “What does gender have to do with it?”
Didi wasn’t sure. “I don’t know.”
Miu spoke up. “Men want all the power. Reading and writing is very powerful.” Miu paused thoughtfully. “We should spend more time in the library.”
Didi shook her head and sighed. “It’s true. I hardly ever go in there. Too busy eating and fucking!”
Miu laughed. “Didi, you are crazy!”
