The Concubine's Son

by H A CULLEY

‘Only a few weeks but I wasn’t certain until now. But I’m fine to travel.’ Hammurabi wasn’t so certain but Adair was adamant, so he reluctantly agreed.

  ‘More importantly, Humusi is now eighteen and it is getting rather late to find her a husband,’ she continued.

  Hammurabi sighed. ‘We’ve looked at all the possible suitors for a diplomatic marriage and agreed that Babylon shouldn’t tie itself to Sumeria or Assyria. Elam is out of the question; sooner or later we will find ourselves at war with them. Yamhad might have been a possibility but Yarim-Lim is already married and I wouldn’t want my sister to be a lesser wife or a concubine.’

  Adiar then surprised him by suggesting that he go and discuss the problem with Ashlatum.

  ‘Ummm, I need to go and visit Kid-nun in any case to see how Abi-Maras is getting on; and talk to my mother about another project I have for her.’

  Adiar looked at him enquiringly. They were a team and discussed everything important. Even if she and Hammurabi ended up disagreeing, he found the exercise helped him to clarify his mind. He smiled.

  ‘It was your suggestion in the first place. It was just that the time wasn’t right then; it is now.’

  ‘Oh? Remind me.’ Adiar couldn’t think what project he was referring to.

  ‘Upi, remember?’ Upi was a village on the River Tigris further upstream from Kid-nun near the border with Eshnunna. ‘You can clear the project with your brother whilst you are there.’

  ‘I thought you had decided against it? What made you change your mind?’

  ‘You won’t like this, but I want to strengthen the border in case of attack against Eshnunna by Elam. It will provide a springboard for us to counter-attack.’

  Adiar drew her breath in sharply. ‘You’re planning to use it as a base from which to attack Eshnunna?’ Her eyes flashed dangerously.

  ‘To help your brother to repel any attack on him by Elam,’ he explained patiently. ‘If Zuuthusu wants to attack Babylon with Elamite help, he either has to come through Eshnunna or through Sumeria; I know which route I’d choose.’

  Adiar continued to suck her lip pensively. ‘Yes, I can see the sense in that; but I intend to be perfectly open with my brother.’

  ‘Fine by me. Look, Adiar, I wouldn’t be offering my sister’s hand in marriage if I had some devious purpose in mind.’

  His wife smiled. ‘No, of course not. I’m sorry; please forgive me.’

  Hammurabi didn’t reply but took his wife in his arms and kissed her long and passionately. She put whatever doubts she had had out of her mind and started to respond.

  When Hammurabi reached Kid–nun he marvelled again how a barren patch of scrub had been transformed into a large fertile expanse of agricultural land, surrounding a walled city of some fifteen thousand people, in just a few short years.

  As he entered the city he found a surprise awaiting him. His mother stood on the steps of the governor’s palace with Abi-Maras and Humusi, as expected. What he hadn’t expected to see was the latter two holding hands. He said nothing at the time, but tackled his mother about it as soon as they were alone.

  Ashlatum smiled. ‘Yes, Abi-Maras was going to speak to you about it as soon as he had the opportunity. He and your sister are in love and want to marry.’

  ‘But they hardly know each other!’ The king was astounded.

  ‘They first met six years ago when his family sheltered us from Zuuthusu. I noticed then that they couldn’t keep their eyes off each other on the few occasions they were together, but I put it down to a childish infatuation. However, when Abi-Maras arrived as governor a couple of months ago, their interest in one another seems to have been rekindled.’

  Hammurabi didn’t say any more and changed the subject to other things, such as the prospect of a new baby and the progress that Ashlatum’s two grandsons were making. Later, when he was on his own, the king thought about Abi-Maras as a suitor. He was his chief minister’s heir and, whilst he didn’t need to bind Isiratuu and his family closer to him, he had no-one else in mind for his sister. He wished Adiar was here so that he could discuss it with her, but she was now in Eshnunna with Ettu. He wasn’t prepared to make some excuse and put off the decision; his mother would know that he wanted to talk to Adiar first and his pride would suffer. Eventually he sent for Abi-Maras, his mother and his sister and gave the happy pair his blessing. Once the celebrations were out of the way he sent for Ashlatum again.

  ‘I’m really proud of what we have achieved here,’ he began. Ashlatum bristled slightly at the “we”. She felt it was her hard work that had made it all possible; her son had merely had the idea. She also felt that he was being a bit patronising. ‘Would you be prepared to do the same for Upi?’

  The question took her by surprise. She was now in her late thirties and planned to settle down in a separate wing of the place in Kid-nun and watch her grandchildren grown up. Her fraught relationship with Adiar meant that she had hardly seen Hammurabi’s children and she was looking forward to spending time with her elder daughter’s family.

  ‘Upi?’ She knew vaguely that it was a village some thirty miles further up the Tigris.

  ‘Yes, I want to build it up as a city to defend our northern border and to use as a base to intervene in Eshnunna if the Elamites invade.’

  ‘Are you expecting them to?’

  ‘Not at the moment, no; but eventually I expect them to try to replace me with Zuuthusu on the throne of Babylon.’

  Ashlatum sighed. ‘I thought that we had heard the last of that monster.’

  ‘I’m not concerned about him as such, but I have reason to think that Elam is casting covetous eyes in our direction again and Zuuthusu is the perfect instrument for them to use.’

  He didn’t add that he had intelligence that Elam was recruiting and training tribesmen from the Zargos Mountains. The plan could be to aid their fellow tribesmen in their struggle against Shamshi-Adad further north, but he didn’t think so. To date Elam had shown no interest in the territory controlled by the Assyrians.

  Ashlatum nodded slowly. ‘Yes, I’ll develop Upi for you, but only in terms of size and its economy. You’ll have to find someone else to design and build the defences.’

  ‘Understood. I promise that this is the last time. I won’t ask you to do it again.’ He smiled at his mother.

  ‘I won’t do it again, not even for you, my son.’ She smiled back. ‘I wouldn’t go to Upi for anyone else, either.’

  ~#~

  Ever since Tarhunda had returned from Ascalon he had been trying to capitalise on all that he had learned there. Hammurabi was interested in the improved bronze chain mail armour and the swords used by the Hyksos but he was dubious about using light chariots pulled by a pair of horses in battle. He felt that they would lack the shock value of the heavier chariots pulled by a team of onagers. He was even more unconvinced by the six spoke wheels. He was certain that they would break much more easily than the solid wheels currently in use.

  Both Tarhunda and Arishaka were annoyed by his scepticism and were determined to prove the king wrong. The Hittite had set up a horse stud on the farm that Hammurabi had given him when he appointed him commander of Babylon’s army. It adjoined the new barracks that had been built to house the small standing army of a thousand men and the training school for the militia. This stood a mile to the south of the city surrounded by fifteen foot high walls made of clay bricks with a tower at each corner and two gatehouses: the Main Gate in the north wall facing the city and the Water Gate beside the river.

  The farm lay between the road south to Borsippa and the river. Over the past three years Tarhunda had used his slaves to irrigate the land and prepare the soil to grow wheat and oats. Now he had turned several fields over to pasture and grew grass for the horses to graze on. In the year that followed his return with the initial thirty mares and five stallions, his herd had grown to over sixty strong. He kept the best of the stallions and most fecund of the mares for breeding and started training the other thirty. Si
xteen were destined to pull chariots and fourteen for riding.

  He hoped to double this number the following year so that he would have thirty pairs for chariots and a troop of thirty horsemen. Arishaka proved an adept pupil and could soon ride a horse almost as well as Tarhunda himself. He proved particularly skilful in breaking in young horses and so Tarhunda put him in charge of this important aspect.

  The Hittite designed a new chariot using a similar but lighter version of the platform and axle of the present two-onager model. Instead of the current heavy wooden frame with wicker panels, he used a lighter body made by the basket weavers. The problem was the wheels. Carpenters could make the spokes and the hub easily enough. They even perfected the outer rim; carved in two halves and held together with bronze pins. However, the wheels soon fell apart in use.

  Tarhunda found Hammurabi’s smug reaction when he reported on progress infuriating. It wasn’t until Arishaka suggested using a bronze rim, heated and fitted and then cooled so that it shrunk to bind the wheel tightly together, that the problem was solved. In the months that followed selected mares were trained to manoeuvre the new light chariots. Eventually, after eighteen months hard work, the army commander was ready to give the king and queen a demonstration.

  For this he lined up six of his new prototypes and a mixture of two-onager and four-onager chariots. The two lines charged each other. The new chariots were demonstrably much faster but, instead of crashing into the opposing line, as was normal in battle, the line of horse drawn chariots split and three ran past the flanks of their opponents, firing blunted arrows and throwing javelins as they went. The line of onager-drawn chariots was left in confusion whilst the new type turned quickly and charged back past them, firing at them again. The archers in the heavy chariots tried to fire back but the light chariots were too fast and most of the blunted arrows fell behind them.

  The heavy chariots withdrew to be replaced by a troop of camels. The two sides were more evenly matched for speed but the light chariots were more nimble and, as they carried an archer and a javelin thrower, they could outmatch the single archer on the jolting hump of the camel.

  Tarhunda had been sitting beside Hammurabi and Adiar and watched out of the corner of his eye as the supercilious look was wiped off the king’s face to be replaced by a thoughtful expression. Adiar’s reaction was less inhibited. The queen clapped her hands together, turned to the Hittite and gave him a warm smile. At the end of the demonstration the chariot in which the leader of the light chariots had ridden trotted over to the dais where the king and queen sat. The somewhat diminutive figure was clad in a vest of the new bronze chainmail armour with solid bronze plates strapped to his lower arms. His copper helmet had a peak which cast a shadow over his face but, even before he swept it off and bowed to him and Adiar, Hammurabi knew it was Arishaka.

  The king didn’t say much at the time, except for uttering the expected words of congratulation but he couldn’t wait to discuss the demonstration with Adiar as soon as they were alone. She had no doubts and felt that they should stop production of the old onager-drawn models and concentrate on the new light chariots. Hammurabi wasn’t so sure.

  ‘I agree that they are much more manoeuvrable and swifter in battle but they still appear flimsy to me.’

  The queen shrugged. ‘Then send them on a long journey to test their reliability,’ she suggested.

  ‘Good idea,’ he replied, but she could still detect opposition in his voice and demeanour.

  ‘Look, this will give us an edge in the next battle we fight. I don’t understand why you are opposed to them. You haven’t been against innovation in the past; after all, you were the one who came up with the idea of the camel troops.’

  He didn’t reply and then it suddenly dawned on her.

  ‘It isn’t the chariots or the horses, is it? You are opposed to the idea because Arishaka has been the key in developing them! You’re jealous of your thirteen year old brother.’

  ‘I’ve been betrayed and hunted down like an animal by one brother; Arishaka is far too popular with the people and the army for my liking. He needs keeping in his place or he will become a rival, surely you can see that.’ Hammurabi glared at her defiantly.

  ‘Most of the time I think you’re the cleverest man that has ever lived, but on occasion you behave like an utter idiot. Zuuthusu is only your half-brother and has always hated you, from what you’ve told me. Arishaka worships you. He’d do anything to please you. He would no more think of betraying you than he would of killing himself. If there is one person you can trust with your life, it’s Arishaka. If you can’t see that, you’re not the man I thought I’d married.’

  ‘What makes you so sure?’ her husband asked uncertainly.

  ‘As a judge of character, have you ever known me to be wrong?’

  ‘No, but that doesn’t mean you’re infallible.’ He refrained from mentioning Kinau as he didn’t think that reminding Adiar of her debacle would help.

  Adiar uttered an expletive to express her frustration with her obtuse husband. ‘I’ve seen how he is with you. He hero-worships you and would do anything for your approbation.’

  ‘Huh, he’s only thirteen. That could all change as he gets older.’

  ‘It might well do if you continue to regard him with suspicion, even dislike. Look, you and I make a good team, don’t we?’

  ‘You know we do. I couldn’t do without your advice and support.’

  ‘Well then, make Arishaka part of that team. Cultivate his love for you, don’t reject it. If you treat him well you will never find a more loyal follower; if you spurn him, he may well grow bitter and resentful. It’s up to you.’

  ‘I’ll think about what you’ve said,’ was as far as Hammurabi would go.

  ~#~

  Evidently Adiar’s words had the desired effect because her husband started to show more affection towards his brother and when he reached fourteen he invited him to attend the royal council meetings. At first Arishaka was delighted by the honour being shown him but, after the first few sessions, he realised how tedious and boring they could be and began to find excuses not to attend. The boy’s real love was the army and he was never happier than when he was in the barracks or training new horses.

  When he was sixteen Hammurabi appointed him as deputy commander of the army. Tarhunda was now in his fifties and slowing down quite noticeably. The king had long ago acknowledged that his wife was right: Arishaka was devoted to him and only desired his brother’s approval. He had no other ambitions in life. By now the new force of light chariots numbered fifty and there were a hundred horse riders. They had replaced camels in the royal messenger service and the latter were now used for the baggage train. However, he had retained sixty in the standing army as mobile platforms for archers.

  In total Babylon could now muster a maximum of forty thousand men under arms. Most of these were militia, but the week’s training each year made them much more effective than the rabble that most city states fielded in time of war. The standing army now numbered two thousand. Half of these were stationed in the border forts and four hundred were used as mobile patrols in chariots, on camels or on horseback. The remainder were the trainers for the militia recruits. A few were archers or slingers, but the majority trained the infantry.

  By now Babylon was attracting the interest of Rim-Sin, the King of Sumeria. He had sent a delegation of four, led by the sub-king of Ur, to discuss a treaty with Hammurabi.

  ‘Why is the king of Sumeria, the most powerful kingdom in southern Mesopotamia, interested in a small kingdom like Babylon?’ Isiratuu asked when the four emissaries were shown into Hammurabi’s throne room two days after their arrival. Sin-Bel-Alim wanted to keep them waiting for longer before they were seen, a traditional ploy in the game of one-upmanship that characterised such meetings, but Hammurabi was too curious about what they wanted.

  ‘Babylon may have been small when Hammurabi came to the throne eight years ago; indeed only Kish, Borsippa and Sippar
owed him allegiance then. But now he has built two new cities on the Tigris, is a close ally of Eshnunna, Assyria and Yamhad. Only Elam and Sumeria are outside of your king’s sphere of influence.’

  ‘And does this worry the great Rim-Sin?’ Sin-Bel-Alim asked. ‘After all, he is lord of Larsa, Ur, Uruk, Isin and a dozen other cities.’

  ‘Nothing worries Rim-Sin,’ the King of Ur replied, offended by the implication. ‘However, you must be aware that Elam is recruiting an army of barbarians in the Zagros Mountains. It is only prudent for the two kingdoms who might be threatened to band together.’

  ‘So Rim-Sin would bring his armies to my aid if Elam attacks me, would he?’ Hammurabi spoke for the first time.’

  ‘Provided he wasn’t threatened himself, yes.’

  ‘And how many men would he bring to my aid?’

  ‘That would depend on the situation, lord king.’

  ‘No, if we are to make a binding agreement I want to know how many men I can depend on from Sumeria and what sort of troops they are. There is a world of difference between five thousand untrained men, poorly equipped and badly led and five hundred well trained chariots.’

  ‘Equally importantly, how many men and of what sort are Babylon to provide in the case of an attack on Sumeria,’ Adiar spoke into the silence.

  The Sumerian delegation were affronted at being questioned by a woman, even a queen, and made their feelings about her impertinence plain.

  Hammurabi’s eyes narrowed. ‘You will treat my queen with due respect, as you would me, if your mission is to stand any chance of success. You are plainly ill-prepared for this meeting. I suggest you seek further instructions. I will send for you again in a month’s time.’

  The delegation turned and left the throne room without another word.

  ‘I suppose I might have been a little more diplomatic,’ Hammurabi said to Adiar later, ‘but I won’t be treated like a fool.’

  A month later he sent for the delegation again. This time the King of Ur was missing.