No Woman So Fair Read Online Free

wouldn’t be like him!”
    â€œWell, you’d better make another offering, because he sure doesn’t show any sign of coming out of it. You’ve got to do something about him.”
    â€œAll right, I will.” Terah’s jaw set firmly, and he nodded emphatically.
    â€œWhat will you do, Father?”
    â€œI’m going to tell him right out that he’s spending too much time in the temple, and he’s got to settle down and act like a man.”
    â€œYou ought to make him get married.”
    Terah laughed shortly. “It’s a shame when a man has to make his son get married. I didn’t have that problem with you and Haran.”
    Nahor laughed loudly. “No, you didn’t. But Abram’s different from us. I think he’s lost his mind over religion, but if we all work together, maybe we can make something out of him yet.”
    ****
    For Abram, leaving the crowded streets of Ur and coming into the magnificent temple area was like entering another world. The streets swarmed with the sounds of barking dogs and braying donkeys as they pulled their burdens, of people talking and shouting, of children screaming as they played their games—a world of busy activity. But now as Abram mounted the steps and entered the temple complex, the raucous noises faded and the smells and sights of the bustling city passed away for him. The huge temple area sprawled out over acres of ground, much of it in a level courtyard paved with stone hauled, at considerable expense, from the distant quarries of Akkad. To his left were two flat-roofed buildings that housed the numerous priests who served the gods of Ur; a third building was devoted to the multiple activities of the temple, including the lucrative temple prostitution business.
    Dominating everything, however, was the huge ziggurat that rose high into the air. It was the highest structure Abram had ever seen, and he always felt a sense of awe as he approached it. He paused for a moment, looking up at the huge steps and remembering what he had been taught—that this ziggurat was relatively new. It had been built upon older temples, which time had eroded, and the remains of which had gradually grown upward in a mound. The steps had been added, and now the sunbaked bricks of the structure glistened as they caught the rays of the sun.
    Abram stopped beside the god of water, Enki. He bowed low before the shrine and then dropped down to his knees. He prayed fervently to the stone god, which stood six feet high with wings spread as if they were arms. On top of the god’s head was a sharp-peaked hat, and he was clothed in a garment made from the stalks of rye that filled the fields around the city. Because the Chaldees lived in fear of both prolonged drought and severe floods, Enki was one of the more important deities, often glorified in sculpture and sacred verse. Abram opened his eyes and read the inscription on the base supporting the idol: When I draw near unto the yellowing fields, grain piles are heaped at my command . Abram prayed aloud, “Oh, most powerful Enki, send no floods to wipe our fields away, and yet send rain so that the crops may grow.” He continued to pray for some time, and his voice rose unconsciously as he worshiped this stone god of Ur, in the manner that he had been taught by his parents.
    Finally he rose and made his way past other gods, each occupying their own shrines. The temple contained no fewer than three thousand deities; almost every element—including rain, sun, and wind—was represented by its own god. The gods, however, were not considered equal. The most powerful was An, ruler of the heavens. Often considered his wife, and queen of the universe, was the fertility goddess, Ishtar. It was to this idol that Abram now made his way.
    When he entered the interior of the ziggurat, he was impressed, as always, by the magnificence of it. Artists had covered the walls with paintings, and