by H A CULLEY
BABYLON
DAWN OF EMPIRE
by
H A Culley
Part Two of the Story of Hammurabi, the first Babylonian Emperor
First Kindle Edition 2014
Text copyright © 2014 H A Culley
The author asserts the moral right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.
All Rights Reserved. This book may not be reproduced in any form, in whole or in part, without written permission from the author.
Cover design by Pete Zelewski. © Pete Zelewski
For Roy and Barbara
Other books by H A Culley
The Normans Series
The Bastard’s Crown
England in Anarchy
Caging the Lyon
Seeking Jerusalem
Babylon Series
The Concubine’s Son
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Historical Note
List of Principal Characters
Chapter One – First Blood to Elam – 1770 BCE
Chapter Two – The Battle of Upi – 1770 BCE
Chapter Three – Preparations for War – 1769 BCE
Chapter Four – The Siege of Hiritum – 1769 BCE
Chapter Five – The Battle of Hiritum – 1769 to 1768 BCE
Chapter Six – Eshnunna Regained – 1768 BCE
Chapter Seven – Treachery –1766 BCE
Chapter Eight – The Invasion of Sumeria – 1764 BCE
Chapter Nine – Balshazzar – 1764 BCE
Chapter Ten – War in the North – 1764 -1763 BCE
Chapter Eleven – Sumeria – 1763 to 1762 BCE
Chapter Twelve – The Fall of Larsa – 1762 BCE
Chapter Thirteen – King of Kings – 1761 BCE
Chapter Fourteen – The Last Battle – 1750 BCE
Historical Note
This historical novel is set in ancient Mesopotamia at the time of the First Amorite Babylonian Dynasty in the second millennium BCE. At this time Mesopotamia, the land of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in what is now Iraq and part of Syria, was a land of city states. To put the period into a historical timeline, the Hittite Empire in modern day Turkey was in its infancy, Assyria in northern Mesopotamia was a third of the way through its two millennia existence and what we think of as the ancient civilisations of Greece and Rome lie about a millennium in the future. In Egypt, the other great civilisation of the time, the twelfth dynasty of pharaohs was coming to an end and the period known as the Middle Kingdom was about to descend into instability and chaos.
The name Babylon is a Greek corruption of the Akkadian Babili, meaning gate of the gods according to some sources. Others believe that it stems from Babel which is mentioned in the Old Testament (as the Tower of Babel). The city’s origins are unclear, some scholars believing that it could date back as far as the twenty-third century BCE. By the nineteenth century BCE, nomadic tribesmen from the north west called Amorites had moved into Mesopotamia and ruled the land previously owned by Akkadian farmers.
The first Babylonian king was an Amorite chieftain named Su-abu who declared independence from Kazallu, another city state. However, Babylon controlled only a few other towns and a small part of the surrounding country until Su-Abu’s descendent Sin-Muballit came to the throne a century later. He brought three other city states under his rule. His son, Hammurabi, built on this when he succeeded him in 1792 BCE (Middle Chronology*). By the time he died in 1750 BCE, Hammurabi had expanded his domain until he ruled over all the land between the Euphrates and the Tigris rivers from Mari in the north (modern Tell Hariri in Syria) to Ur (the probable birthplace much later of the Hebrew patriarch Abraham) and the northern shores of the Gulf in the south.
Hammurabi was undoubtedly a gifted commander and a cunning diplomat, but he is best known as a great administrator who developed the Code of Hammurabi, a set of two hundred and eighty two laws, each with a specified sanction. Two notable inclusions were the presumption of innocence until proven guilty and the right of both accuser and accused to present evidence to support their case. It also enshrined the principle of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. Hammurabi’s code formed the basis for codes of law in many succeeding civilisations, including those of the Hittite Empire and the Hebrews.
Hammurabi died three thousand seven hundred years ago but, such was his reputation as a law giver, that he is commemorated as such in the United States on friezes in both the House of Representatives and in the Supreme Court Building.
Although we know quite a lot about his achievements and his legacy to the world, little is known about his private life, or even the age at which he came to the throne. However, he ruled for forty three years so he cannot have been very old when he became king. For the purposes of the story I have assumed he was crowned at the age of sixteen and died when he was fifty nine, which was reasonably old for the time.
[*The Middle chronology is one chronology of the Near Eastern Bronze and Early Iron Age. This chronology, or system of dating, is based on a 56/64 year astronomical calculation determined by evidence from the Venus tablet of Ammisaduqa. There are other chronologies which date Hammurabi’s accession as early as 1933 BCE and as late as 1696 BCE. I have used BCE (before common era) rather than BC (before Christ) as this seems to becoming more usual now, but the two terms are essentially interchangeable.]
There are certain words and terms which might be unfamiliar to the reader. I list a few of these below:
Barusti – Dried palm fronds or reeds woven together, used to make walls and roofs of simple buildings.
Marduk – One of the main gods of the city of Babylon who grew in importance under Hammurabi’s rule until it became the head of the Babylonian pantheon.
Mesopotamia - Literally “the land between the rivers”, in this case the Rivers Euphrates and Tigris. This was part of the area known as the “Fertile Crescent” in the ancient world, which also included Assyria, Phoenicia and Syria on the Mediterranean coast, and the Nile valley in Egypt.
Onager – A member of the Equus family larger than a donkey but shorter legged than a horse; also called the Asiatic Wild Ass.
Ziggurat - Man made mound like a flat topped pyramid on which shrines were built. They were usually massive in size and easily defensible.
List of Principal Characters
In order of appearance
Historical characters are shown in bold type and underlined
HAMMURABI –King of Babylon from 1792 BCE to 1750 BCE.
BASHAA – Captain of the palace guards.
ASHLATUM – Hammurabi’s mother, killed by the Assyrians
ARISHAKA – Hammurabi’s younger brother. Commander of the Babylonian army.
ISIRATUU – Chief minister of Babylon.
ABI-MARAS – Isiratuu’s eldest son. Chief engineer and Head of Logistics for the Babylonian army.
SIN-BEL-ALIM Foreign minister.
IBBI-ADDAD – Chief minister of Babylon after the death of Iseratuu.
RIHAT – Captain of the Babylon city watch.
MANNUI-QIPI – High Priest of Marduk, chief deity of Babylon.
ADIAR – Queen of Babylon and sister of the King of Eshnunna.
ISHME-DAGAN King of Assyria
ZIMRI-LIM – King of Mari.
YARIM-LIM –King of Yamhad.
SAMSU-ILUNA – Hammurabi’s son and eventual successor as King of Babylon.
MUTU-NAMAHA – Hammurabi’s youngest son. Aide to Arishaka.
RIM-SIM – King of Sumeria.
IBAL-PI-EL –Adiar’s brother, King of Eshnunna.
SIWE-PALAR-HUPAK – King of Elam.
KUDU-ZULUSH – Sub-king of Susa, subordinate to Siwe-Palar-Hupak.
DADANUM – Captain o
f one thousand who led a unit of the Babylonian camel troops.
NAREM-SUEN – Elder son of Kudu-Zulush.
UKTANNU – His younger brother.
ABILKISU – Treasurer of Babylon.
ES-NASIR – Babylonian officer, later senior captain of the camel archers.
SULU-SIN – King of Eshnunna.
ATTA-MERRA-HALKI – King of Susa, later King of Elam.
IPQU-API – Second son of Isiratuu.
BALSHAZZAR – Captain of a hundred slingers and Uktannu’s deputy, later sold into slavery.
SABITUM – Daughter of a rich Babylonian merchant. Wife of Arishaka and later of Uktannu.
RIMUSH and KU-AYA – Twin son and daughter of Arishaka and Sabitum.
HABAN – Captain of a hundred camel archers. Later army commander of Sumeria.
DAHAKA- His camel boy.
HUCHITHRA – Queen of Hiritum and wife of Narem-Suen.
DARYA – Wife of Samsu-Iluna
BELETSUNU – Wife of Mutu-Namaha
MUT-ASKUR - Ishme-Dagan’s successor as King of Assyria.
NICKANUUR – Babylonian army commander after Mutu-Namaha.
ABI-ESHUH – Eldest son of Samsu-Iluna.
Chapter One – First Blood to Elam – 1770 BCE
Mutu-Namaha woke up suddenly. Normally he got up at dawn when the rest of the camp arose and had breakfast with his uncle, but today there seemed to be a lot of shouting and bustle in the middle of the night. For a moment longer, he lay in the narrow bed in the small room that had been allocated to him two years ago when he had come to live with Arishaka, his father’s brother. His uncle was the commander of the armies of Babylon and the boy had been his aide since he was ten.
At first he had envied his elder brother, Samsu-Iluna, who was understudying their father, King Hammurabi, in the same way that he was being taught by Arishaka but, on balance, he thought that he had got the better deal. Whilst his brother was learning about politics and diplomacy he was getting to grips with the art of war.
Finally, his curiosity got the better of his lassitude and he dragged himself out of bed, quickly got dressed and asked a servant what was going on. The man didn’t know, but he said that Lord Arishaka was in the central courtyard of the house issuing orders. He ran outside and skidded to a halt to avoid colliding with two horses that were being brought out from the stables. His uncle brusquely told him to mount and follow him. The boy kicked his horse into a gallop in a vain attempt to keep up, but he was still a hundred yards behind him when they rode in through the city gates of Babylon and clattered through the wide main street that led up to the royal palace.
Both man and boy were sweating despite the cool night air as they made their way to the council chamber. The guards swung open the doors as they approached and then shut them behind them. Mutu-Namaha quickly glanced round the room, nodding to his mother, Queen Adiar, and his brother. Apart from the king, to whom both he and his uncle bowed, there were three old men present: Isiratuu, the Chief Minister, Sin-Bel-Alim the Foreign Minister, and Mannui-Qipi, the High Priest of Marduk. All of them were out of breath and looked as if they had got dressed in a hurry. A soldier stood a little apart from the rest looking uncomfortable, if not positively fearful. From his appearance, he had just ridden a long way in a hurry. The boy suspected that he was a messenger who hadn’t brought welcome news.
Just as Hammurabi and Adiar had sat down on two chairs on a small raised dais, the doors opened again to admit Bashaa, captain of the palace guards, and Rihat, the captain of the city watch. The latter two were there as old companions of Hammurabi, rather than because of the positions they held.
‘Good; now that we are all here I have something to share with you. It isn’t exactly a surprise but, well, I’ll let the messenger from Upi tell you what he told me’.
The man cleared his throat uncertainly. ‘My lord king, my lady, my lords.’ The man paused then went on with more confidence. ‘Two weeks ago we began to get reports at Upi that the Elamites had crossed the border into Eshnunna in some force.’ He stopped and looked apprehensively at the queen, who had gasped at what he had just said. He remembered, somewhat belatedly, that Adiar’s younger brother was the King of Eshnunna. He started to apologise when Hammurabi interrupted him impatiently.
‘Get on with it man, or you won’t finish before sun-up.’
The soldier licked his lips nervously before continuing. ‘A messenger was sent to Babylon straight away but I understand he never arrived. Well, we don’t know what happened exactly, but apparently Eshnunna didn’t put up much of a resistance and the Elamites swept on, capturing the rest of their cities and towns very quickly. We thought that they would stop at the Tigris but, when I left, they were preparing to cross the river and we feared that they intend to lay siege to Upi.’
The man paused, evidently relieved to have delivered his message.
‘I don’t understand how Eshnunna fell so quickly; it is a well-defended city, as are the rest of the cities and towns in the kingdom. Ibal-pi-El must have had plenty of warning about the attack.’ Arishaka looked at his brother in the hope of enlightenment.
‘I think that Siwe-Palar-Hupak has caught us all napping. I can only think that Ibal-pi-El was betrayed and that a pro-Elamite faction in the city must have opened the gates to the enemy.’ Hammurabi grasped Adiar’s hand. She might not have been close to Ibal-pi-El as he had only been a young boy when she had left to marry the King of Babylon, but he was still her brother and he feared the worst. He might well have paid with his life for trying to sit on the fence between Babylon and Elam.
‘We will know soon enough. Speculation now won’t get us anywhere. Our priority must be to relieve Upi and drive the Elamites back across the Tigris.’
He turned to his brother. ‘How soon can we mobilise the army here?’
‘I can probably get ten thousand men on the march within a week.’
‘Do it; and faster if you can. Send messengers to Sippar, Borsippa, Kish and Kid-nun and get them to mobilise too.’ He transferred his gaze to his eldest son, the sixteen year-old Samsu-Iluna. ‘I am sending you as my ambassador to Mari to ask them to come to our aid.’
The boy swelled with pride at the confidence that his father had showed in him by picking him for this mission. There was nothing that Samsu-Iluna desired more that the approval of Hammurabi.
As the king finished speaking, Arishaka turned to Mutu-Namaha and sent him to summon all the senior commanders to a meeting at his headquarters in the training camp. As the boy ran from the council chamber he heard Adiar protest to his father that his elder brother was too young to be sent off on a dangerous mission. He knew that at the back his mother’s mind was the fate of their eldest son, Samuditana, who had died when he was only twelve. He was returning from a secret ambassadorial mission with their grandmother when they were ambushed and killed.
He just heard his father retort that at Samsu-Iluna’s age he had overthrown Zuuthusu, his half-brother, to win the throne of Babylon for himself. He didn’t hear any more as he sped down the corridor and out of the palace.
Hammurabi had been expecting Elam to make a move soon; he just hadn’t expected Siwe-Palar-Hupak, the King of Elam, to have hidden his preparations so well. He also wondered if this war was really his doing. He ruled his vast kingdom from Ashnan in the Zagros Mountains and rarely stirred far from his mountain fastness. He thought that it was much more likely that Kudu-Zulush, the sub-king in Susa who governed the more fertile western half of Elam, was behind this invasion; in which case it might be possible to sow dissention between the king and his vassal.
Once the immediate steps had been taken to put Babylon on a war footing, Hammurabi sent Sin-Bel-Alim on an embassy to Rim-Sim, King of Sumeria. His kingdom lay to the south of Babylon and, like Hammurabi’s realm, was bordered by Elam on the other side of the River Tigris. His hope was that Rim-Sim would send troops to help him against Elam, but he suspected that was being unrealistic. Rim-Sim would want to keep his army re
ady within Sumeria in case Elam struck across the Tigris into his lands next. The most he could hope for was to agree a treaty whereby Rim-Sim agreed not to encroach on Babylonia whilst Hammurabi was engaged elsewhere. He suspected that wasn’t likely as there was nothing Elam would have liked more than conflict between his two neighbours so that they could pick up the pieces afterwards, and Rim-Sim would be well aware of this.
Mutu-Namaha tried to contain his excitement as he raced around the houses of the senior commanders with his message. It didn’t do for the king’s son to behave like the young boy he was; princes were supposed to behave with dignity. Most of the commanders lived in their own houses in the city. Only Arishaka and the commander of the chariots, Warad-Sin, had houses in the training camp. The boy was the first one back to the headquarters and he waited impatiently for the briefing to start, greeting the various commanders as they arrived before gathering in groups to speculate amongst themselves.
Finally Arishaka arrived. He was a man of twenty eight and had been the army commander ever since Tarhunda the Hittite had retired seven years previously. Tarhunda had been a Hittite general before he was forced to flee for his life during a palace revolution. Hammurabi had discovered him when he was employed as the head guard of a caravan and, impressed by his prowess during a fight, had offered him the job of building up the Babylonian army. It was Tarhunda who was responsible for the concept of using horsemen in a military role.
The old soldier had retired to an estate on the border with Sumeria, from where he ran a network of agents who kept an eye on Babylon’s neighbours to the south. So far there didn’t appear to be anything happening which need cause the Babylonians any concern, but then the same could have been said of Elam before the surprise attack on Eshnunna.