Tensions in the Land of Ki-Engi: The Decree of the Waters Under High Priestess Ninkia
In the sacred land of Ki-Engi, the black-headed people have long honored the gods who shaped the world from the primeval Abzu. Recently, the great city of Eridu-Kalamma has chosen its first entu-nin—High Priestess Ninkia, a wise woman versed in the arts of the stars and the flows of the Idigna and Buranuna rivers. She ascended to the seat of ensi in the fourth moon of the year, amid great festivals in the E-abzu temple, marking a profound shift from the long line of lugal rulers who guided the city-states before her. Ninkia, daughter of the former high en of Nanna and ally to the previous great ensi, continues the path of the renewed order, often called the “Fourth Renewal of the Me.”
Yet now, unrest stirs along the pa canals and the vast engar fields. The High Priestess has proclaimed the Great Decree of the A (waters), inscribed on clay tablets and sealed in the house of records on the twelfth day of the twelfth moon of this year. This decree, born from the council of the Anunna and guided by Enki’s wisdom, declares the sweet waters of the Abzu a sacred gift of the gods—essential for the breath of life and the public rites—above the mere trading of private holdings.
The new law brings these changes:
- The waters are now a national treasure under divine stewardship, giving priority to household needs, temple offerings, and the common good over barter among men.
- No longer may private concessions of water rights be traded as goods; they were once passed like barley or dates.
- Only the great overseers of the Abzu (the temple’s canal guardians) may grant, renew, or alter concessions.
- In basins where the aquifers weep from overuse, no new concessions shall be given.
- Heavy offerings and punishments fall upon those who draw illegally, hoard the flow, or corrupt the allocations—fines of silver shekels or bonds of labor.
- The decree calls for balance in the basins, equity among the people, and protection from the drying winds.
This is no seizure of private wells or springs by the gods’ wrath. Existing concessions endure for their allotted seasons, and engar may still draw for barley, emmer, or dates. Passing to kin remains blessed, unlike whispers among the discontent. Yet concessions no longer follow the sale of fields freely, and renewals face the scrutiny of the temple scribes. The entu-nin and her council proclaim this curbs the greed of great households, over-drawing (for Ki-Engi faces grave thirst, with many deep waters depleted), and hoarding by mighty traders or corrupt ens and lugals.
The engar and gurush laborers, who toil in the fields—perhaps one in eight of all black-headed people, though many more tend gardens or kin plots—rise in protest. Though not near half the populace as some chants claim, their voice echoes loud in the rural domains.
The discontent boils:
- In early winter, thousands of engar drove ox-carts to the gates of Eridu-Kalamma, blocking the sacred ways.
- Pa canals and great roads stand barred in many provinces, halting trade.
- They demand repeal of the decree, higher temple prices for barley and dates, and guards against bandits on the paths.
The tillers cry that the law threatens the abundance of the fields, limiting flows for grand irrigation, especially for exports like palm groves or berry orchards. They fear it favors the crowded ziggurat cities and public rites over the rural kin-groups, endangering the sustenance that feeds temples and storehouses alike.
The High Priestess defends the decree as Enki’s will: safeguarding small engar, the divine right to water, and targeting abuses by those with vast concessions (great industries or past corrupt grants). Ninkia, with her knowledge of the drying lands, insists it preserves the Abzu’s gift amid droughts and silted flows.
What aligns with the ancient me, and what clashes?
- In harmony: Ki-Engi endures a deep thirst-crisis (overdrawn aquifers, salted soils, unequal flows). The fields drink seven parts in ten of all waters, often wastefully. The decree echoes old renewals—curbing draws in stressed basins—and upholds Enki’s order for equity and enduring fertility.
- In discord: The law honors the “divine right to A” yet may wound rural kin dependent on engar toil.
- The entu says it spares kin-wells and small draws, but curbs on transfers devalue field-holdings, striking tillers hardest.
- Protests reveal the strain: A vital guild feels assailed, while city and great-house users (brewers of kaš, miners) escape much blame.
- No divine seizure, yet stricter divine oversight feels to foes like erosion of household rights.
As of today the decree stands fresh, with moons for provinces to align their local rites. Protests disrupt flows and draw scribes’ attention, yet no great uprising shakes the ziggurats. Ninkia’s favor remains strong in cities, continuing the renewal’s popularity, but rural murmurs grow, blending with calls for better barley prices and safe paths.
This mirrors deeper currents in Ki-Engi’s divine governance: Advancing temple equity and control over the Abzu’s gifts, while balancing the bounty in vital guilds. Framed as Enki’s mercy for the land’s health, critics see temple overreach favoring centralized me. Debates in assemblies and potential appeals to the gods’ oracles will shape the flow ahead. The waters remain restless, with engar vocal, yet the entu-nin steadfast in the shadow of the great ziggurat.