by Brian Godawa
Nimrod could not kill Terah without losing his kingdom, but he would lose it anyway, when this son of his grew to fulfill the astrological prophecy.
There was only one thing Nimrod could do.
When Terah entered the throne room, Nimrod sighed. He made sure that Semiramis would not be here to jeopardize the men’s ability to negotiate more freely. They shared a connection through the experience of war and rule together that no woman could understand.
“Terah, my prince,” said Nimrod.
“My lord and savior,” said Terah, bowing cautiously. He had come knowing full well what this was about.
“I will not play games with you, Terah. You have been loyal for too long, and you deserve honesty. The astrologers and wise men told me of the heavenly omen and its meaning. Your son is foretold to multiply his seed and overthrow my kingdom. What would you suggest I do with such a prophecy hostile to my reign and the reign of my son?”
That was a clever move for Nimrod. Rather than lash out and make threats, he pretended to ask Terah to put himself in his place and admit his own decision would be the same. How could Terah deny such a dilemma to his king, his emperor?
“I would have any child who laid claim to my throne executed,” said Terah with a resigned sadness.
“Exactly,” said Nimrod. “So you can appreciate my decision as being not a personal one, but rather a royal one, devoted to a higher cause of dynastic integrity and devotion to the gods.”
Terah said, “Yes, my lord.”
Nimrod sat staring at Terah with a look of difficulty that said he did not want to make this command that he was forced by all the gods and the universe to make.
Nimrod said, “Hand the child over to me, and I will grant you a house full of silver and gold in compensation for your dutiful sacrifice to your king and your gods.”
Terah stood looking at the floor for what seemed like an eternity of decision. Then quietly, humbly, he said, “Yes, your majesty.”
Nimrod sighed with relief. It was easy after all. This sandal-licking toady would give up his son as easy as he gave up his own soul.
Yes, he did prefer this to a man with a conscience.
But then Terah added, “I only ask to have three days with him before I release him to you and say goodbye.”
“Of course, my prince,” replied Nimrod. “You deserve it. You remain my most trusted servant. And this proves your character. I grant you your desire with all my heart.”
“I beg your leave, lord,” asked Terah.
“You may go,” said Nimrod.
And Terah turned to leave the room with his head held low. But he stopped and turned before he walked three paces, and said, “There was one matter of economic detail I have been meaning to take care of with you. It would only take a moment of your time for a decision.”
“Of course,” said Nimrod. “Anything for you, my noble liege.”
Terah explained, “Remember the royal stallion you bred and gave to me, my king?”
Nimrod nodded. It was a supremely majestic horse fitting of the highest commander in the kingdom — beneath himself of course.
Terah continued, “Well, the other day, Ayon, son of Mored, approached me and offered some money and a percentage of his harvest in exchange for the stallion. Would you advise me to make the trade?”
“What?” exclaimed Nimrod. “Have you been enchanted or turned moronic? No, I do not approve of your exchange! That is the finest warhorse in the kingdom. Of what value is even a house full of money or crops compared to such an invaluable animal? There is none like him. You can never replace such a creature.”
“You mean, like a son?” asked Terah.
And then it hit Nimrod. Terah had tricked him, had led him into a trap of his own making just to throw it back in Nimrod’s face. The thought of strangling Terah right now crossed his mind, but he thought better.
“Terah, do not vex me,” said Nimrod. “I will slay your family and extended relatives, your entire bloodline if I so desire.”
Terah immediately submitted. “My lord, all that I am and all that I have is in the king’s power. Do with me what you will. I will give you my newborn as well as my other two sons for no exchange whatsoever.”
“Your newborn is all I require, Terah,” said Nimrod. “Go take your three days and return with him as an offering of loyalty to your king.”
Nimrod was relieved that he would not have to muster up a house full of gold and silver after all. This fool would give him up with no recompense. Terah was a man without a conscience or a soul.
“Thank you, your grace,” said Terah, and he sulked out of the room with bent over shoulders and a deep sadness that permeated his entire presence.
After the three days were up, Terah arrived with his newborn son wrapped in swaddling clothes and presented him to the king.
Nimrod saw a redness in Terah’s wet eyes, no doubt from hours of weeping with his wife and children over their offering. But Nimrod also saw a resignation in Terah that showed he knew his station in this kingdom and he knew what he had to do to survive.
Nimrod sighed in relief. He had triumphed in this most difficult situation. He had skirted the loss of his army, the danger of a coup, and he maintained the loyalty of a man whose use for his kingdom was not yet done.
Nimrod received the child and held him in his arms.
“What did you say his name was?” asked Nimrod.
“Abram,” said Terah.
“Abram,” repeated Nimrod, as he looked into the little child’s eyes and tried to imagine how this helpless little babe could have the favor of the stars to rise up and become a conqueror one day. How strange and incomprehensible were the ways of the heavens and their portents. Marduk had told him about the promised Seed of Eve that would be at war with the Seed of Nachash. He explained that the prophecy had survived multiple generations before and after the great deluge had swept over the land.
Nimrod wondered how astounding it was that this little creature nestled in his arms was truly that Chosen Seed so prophesied. And now he had the power and might to crush that prophecy.
He thought, How like the power of a god.
“If it pleases my lord,” said Terah with a bow.
Nimrod was lost in his thought. He looked up. “Oh, yes, it would be best for you to leave.”
Terah turned to leave, but Nimrod stopped him.
“Terah, I will not forget this supreme act of sacrifice and love that you have offered this day.”
“Yes my lord,” whispered Terah painfully and he left the room.
As soon as the door closed behind Terah, Nimrod lifted the baby high and dashed his head against the marble floor with all his might. The sickening crunching splat of the child’s skull was like music to Nimrod’s ears, the music of a triumphal entry into a mighty city, his city, his kingdom, Babylon the Great.
Chapter 16
A few miles to the west of the city of Ur, there was a freshwater lake surrounded by rocky shores. Large buttes interwove with each other, creating a small maze of cliffs and streams.
Two cloaked figures, carrying reed baggage on their backs, trod around the lake and into the maze of rock. They turned down trails and pathways with navigational precision until they came to a secret cave within the labyrinth of sediment and sandstone.
At the cave entrance stood a very old man and his wife, evident residents of the cave awaiting their visitors’ arrival with much anticipation.
The cloaked figures came to the entrance and pulled back their hoods. It was Terah and his wife Amthelo. She was a beautiful woman of dark skin and black hair, about ten years younger than Terah.
Terah looked at the old man and his wife. They appeared ancient, though not decrepit. There was an otherworldly quality about them.
Terah said haltingly, “Noah ben Lamech?”
“In the flesh. Not dead yet,” Noah responded. “And neither is my wife Emzara. And you are Terah ben Nahor?”
Terah smiled, “And my
wife Amthelo.”
Terah walked up to Noah and embraced him, proclaiming, “Do you mind if I call you Grandpappy? There are too many “Greats” to put before Grandfather.” Terah had calculated about seven, but he was not sure anymore. All he knew was that he was in the direct lineage of this heavenly man and his angelic spouse.
“Only if you call her Grandmammy,” teased Noah. Emzara slapped Noah playfully.
Terah had never met his distant forefather before this. He had heard the legends surrounding him. How they had settled after the great flood and how there had been some sort of terrible incident, and he and Emzara had left for some magical island on the distant sea. But he had only recently discovered from his great great grandfather Peleg that Noah had returned to hide out in these caves. It was a family secret that was kept from the public because they thought Noah was engaging in another enterprise called by a god.
“Are you building another ark?” asked Terah.
Noah burst out laughing, which ended in a coughing fit.
Emzara said, “My dear, Elohim promised to never again flood the earth as he did the first time. We can be sure he keeps his promises.”
She noticed Terah’s look of confusion and realized what was going on.
“Oh dear, you are not very familiar with Elohim are you?” she concluded.
Terah said, “I am well acquainted with the pantheon of gods. I study the occult, astrology, divination, and all manners of the mysteries of the heavens. But I have never heard a mention of this god, Elohim. Who is he?”
Noah and Emzara glanced at each other. Sumer had been heavily fortified against the knowledge of Elohim. They were surprised at how quickly suppression of the truth happened after the flood. They had better deal with this later. Emzara changed the subject.
“Amthelo, you look so lovely.”
“Thank you,” said Amthelo.
“How old are you?” Terah asked Noah.
“Far into our nine hundreds. We stopped counting decades ago. But we are still alive and kicking.”
Amthelo said to Emzara, “May I say you do not look a day over five hundred.”
Emzara shooshed her with a wave of her hand.
They all chuckled and the four of them became aware of the need to immediately address the reason for their coming.
“Well, you have a precious little package for us?” said Noah.
Amthelo smiled and lifted off her reed basket on her back. She opened it up and pulled out the squirming little baby boy who was cooing and drooling.
“Ohhhhhhh my!” exclaimed Emzara. “Come to Grandmammy, you little cuddly bear cub!”
Amthelo spoke to her infant as if he could understand, “Abram, meet your ship of refuge, Grandpappy Noah and Grandmammy Emzara.”
Emzara held him with glee, and felt life returning to her old bones as the little infant stared at her in open-mouthed wonder.
When Terah brought the child to Nimrod for execution, he did not actually bring Abram, but another newborn child from one of their servants in the household. Nimrod never found out that the child he killed was not Abram. Fortunately, Marduk had not been with him that day as he usually was, because he would most likely have sniffed out the deception.
Terah said, “We want you to raise little Abram and teach him your wisdom. We could not keep him in our household without the truth eventually getting to Nimrod. The king would kill our entire family bloodline in revenge.”
“He is the Chosen Seed,” said Noah looking into baby Abram’s scrunched little face.
Then he added with a wry smile, “It takes one to know one.”
Emzara said, “So this is why Elohim called us back to this infernal land of evil.”
“You see, woman,” said Noah. “And you accused me of having bad hearing.”
“Yes, dear,” said Emzara, rolling her eyes.
Noah mused to her, “I wonder if this means an old friend will be showing up. You know — of the guardian angel persuasion?”
Emzara smiled with fond memories. Noah was alluding to Uriel, the slightly smaller sarcastic archangel who had been the guardian of Noah before the Flood. He had been annoying to Noah, but eventually grew on him and the two became best of friends through a lifetime of adventure and danger.
Emzara shook herself out of their reminiscing and said to Terah and Amthelo, “You two must be famished.”
They shared a meal together as was the custom of hospitality. As they ate, Noah and Emzara tried to explain to Terah and Amthelo about the call of Elohim on his son Abram’s life. They tried to explain that Elohim was the Creator God who required complete and exclusive loyalty to his kingship over all creation. They said that the gods were actually fallen Watchers, rebels from Elohim’s divine council in heaven, playing roles of deception to accomplish a diabolical war against God’s chosen seedline. And this little child was the seed through which an anointed king would one day come and achieve victory over the gods of the people, and bring back all the nations under the allotment of Elohim.
But Terah stopped them. He did not want to hear such blasphemy. He was too entrenched in his world of the pantheon, sorcery, magic, astrology and the occult. He even started to physically tremble at the talk of an anointed coming king of the seedline.
When Terah threatened to take Abram back with him if they continued in their proselytizing, they stopped.
Noah concluded by saying, “We only love you and want to see you on the right side of the war that is coming.”
“Coming?” said Terah. “You have really been cut off from civilization out here in these caves. The war is already here. And if what you say about this War of the Seed is true, then the General of this Elohim’s enemy is Nimrod of Babylon.”
They finished their meal with some uncomfortable tension. But Terah and Amthelo filled their water skins for the secret journey back to Ur before returning to Babylon upriver. Terah had come down to the region under the pretense of spending a vacation in his old hometown of Ur. He had maintained his previous domicile for such visits.
Terah and Amthelo spent a minute with their infant, hugging him and kissing him. They would probably never see him again.
Amthelo could not stop crying. Terah had to pull her away. She grasped the little blanket in her fingers.
Emzara was empathetic to Amthelo’s pain, having lost her own family. She assured her, “We will guard him with our lives and will raise him to be a mighty man of valor.”
Amthelo whispered, “Thank you,” and Terah led her out of the cave and back onto their pathway home and to a new life without their precious son.
Chapter 17
A generation passed.
Through these years, Nimrod used his mighty army of Stone Ones to strike terror into the hearts of the entire world. And the city of Babylon had become the center of that world. Everyone spoke one language and worshipped in one religion under the supreme empire of Nimrod the Mighty Hunter.
The time had finally come to consecrate the temple tower as Marduk had planned. In only a few months, the planets would be aligned, the climactic cusp of the Age of Aries would have arrived, and the gods of the pantheon would all be present to open the portal of heaven and establish this as the new cosmic mountain of the gods.
They would perform the ceremonial ritual during the Akitu New Year Festival, the twelve-day extravaganza that celebrated the arrival of spring during the vernal equinox. This was the point at which the sun ascended through the constellation of Aries. On the final day, a great processional of the gods through the city would culminate in their ascension into the temple and its portal opening to connect heaven and earth.
So much had happened in a single generation. While Nimrod was focusing on military expansion abroad, Semiramis was concentrating on the administration of the city of Babylon. It was a mammoth task to make the government of so vast a kingdom run smoothly. And Semiramis had done so with obsessive detail.
Nimrod did not want to be bothered with the minutia of bureaucracy.
He was a man of action. He would leave the petty worries of controlling citizens through taxes, regulation, and dependency to his queen and their son Mardon. He would busy himself with asserting his military prowess and kingly presence to maintain the fear and awe required to control so vast an empire. It was not easy being the world’s first potentate.
But that would prove to be Nimrod’s biggest error. While it was crucial for a ruler to maintain his status in the eyes of the people, Semiramis had come to see that the real power over the people was in the mundane details of controlling every aspect of their daily lives. A king could evoke fear with his military display, but a queen could evoke devotion and dependency through control of shelter, food, and income. It was the latter that was more primal in human nature, and therefore of more importance to the exercise of true power.
Semiramis had schooled their son Mardon in the craft of government details and political diplomacy. He had become shrewd and cunning in manipulating the system to his advantage. Queen Mother and Prince had together turned the majority of their kingdom — the peasants, workers, and slaves — against the wealthy members of society. They encouraged hatred of the rich for their ostentatious conspicuous consumption. All the rich, that is, except for the royal family, whose wealth was needed to rule beneficently.
Then they confiscated most of the wealth of these “greedy” rich through excessive taxation in the name of spreading the wealth around, so that “all would be equal.” But the rich were ruined and could no longer afford to employ the poor and the commoner in their fields and storehouses. The government then had to confiscate the means of production and place all citizens in their care as wards of the state. So commoners ended up not much different than slaves. They were dependent upon the government for their daily bread, their shelter, and even their health. The daily survival of the citizens was completely in the hands of Semiramis and Mardon.
Sometimes the queen and prince would even go to the granary and oversee the handing out of daily grain to the citizens so as to be personally equated with their daily sustenance. They would withhold the purse strings from any sector that became belligerent in performing their duties to the state or late in their taxes. And they controlled the funding of all governance, including the military, through a convoluted labyrinth of financial accounting that Nimrod could not begin to understand. More and more funds were siphoned from the military in order to “remodel” or build up broken down sectors of the city, and provide food for the inhabitants. It seemed the plans of building a glorious city of Babylon would never be completed, as a perpetual stream of money poured into sinkholes of unending construction and remodeling. And this is what caused Nimrod the most concern because the power of armed forces was quenched through strangled funding. The queen had even manipulated Sinleqi away from Nimrod and to their favor through blackmail regarding his personal use of government funds for temple orgies.