by H A CULLEY
By the time that the relief column arrived over five thousand Elamites had been taken prisoner. The other three thousand were either dead or close to it. Arishaka mounted his horse and rode to greet the horsemen with the blue banner. To his amazement he recognised Uktannu. Both dismounted and they embraced each other.
‘Where did you raise another army from?’ Arishaka asked in amazement.
Uktannu grinned broadly. ‘If you can’t beat them using fair means, then trick them using foul,’ he replied, quoting one of the mantras that Arishaka was fond of.
Arishaka frowned in puzzlement then, as the supposed army came closer, his brow cleared and he laughed loudly. He and his men had been saved by four hundred and fifty slingers followed by the other half of the horsemen towing branches cut from stunted trees to raise the dust cloud.
Hammurabi had been delighted and wanted to reward Uktannu by giving him a better command. He suggested captain of the camel archers to replace the unfortunate Dadanum but Uktannu declined, saying he would prefer to remain with his boys. For a moment Balshazzar thought that he was going to accept, which would leave him in charge of the slingers. He had killed Dadanum in cold blood, but he told himself that it was in self-defence; if he had then profited by it he felt that the gods must have approved of what he had done.
The following day Hammurabi returned to Diniktum, which threw open its gates in welcome; the Elamite garrison having joined the routed army in its flight back into Elam. The Elamites had now been driven out of all of Eshnunna and they had lost so many men that Hammurabi didn’t think that Elam would be in a position to invade anywhere for some time to come. Furthermore he knew that Abilkisu would be pleased by the influx of money into the treasury, once the Elamite prisoners had been sold into slavery.
A month later he heard the news of Siwe-Palar-Hupak’s death. He had assumed that Atta-Merra-Halki, King of Susa, would succeed him but it seemed that there were other claimants to the throne. Internal strife made it even less likely that Elam would be in a position to interfere in Mesopotamia, which meant he was now free to tackle Sumeria without having to look over his shoulder.
Chapter Seven – Treachery –1766 BCE
Hammurabi returned to Babylon to find the city in mourning for Iseratuu. His faithful friend and chief minister for so many years had died peacefully in his sleep a few days before. Instead of the joyous celebration of his victory over Elam and the liberation of Eshnunna that he had planned, his first public occasion had been the old man’s funeral.
Both he and Adiar felt a personal loss at his passing and they went into public mourning for a month, but the business of running Babylonia had to go on and, after they had returned to the palace following the cremation, Hammurabi raised the matter of Isiratuu’s successor with Adiar.
‘I know you have given some thought to the replacement of both dear old Iseratuu and of Sin-Bel-Alim, though I hope the wily old fox will continue to live for a while yet.’
‘Mmm, yes, I was intending to speak to you about that on your return in any case. I know you won’t want to lose Abi-Maras from the army but I had thought of Isiratuu’s second son, Ipqu-Api. However, he may be more suited to take over from Sin-Bel-Alim as foreign minister in due course.’
‘Yes, I think that’s a good choice. He can deputise for the old man and get to know the job as well as learning about his network of agents which he keeps secret even from me; they would be lost to us if he suddenly died like Iseratuu.’ He smiled at Adiar. ‘I knew you would have given the matter some thought, but what about chief minister?’
His wife thought for some time as they sat on the balcony overlooking the Euphrates, then she seemed to reach a conclusion.
‘No-one knows the business of government better than Ibbi-Addad.’
‘Isiratuu’s chief scribe?’ It wasn’t the suggestion that the king was expecting. ‘But he’s not even a member of the city council and doesn’t have the status.’
‘No, but he has the experience and we need someone who can do the job now, not someone who will have to learn the ropes. If you appoint someone else – an unknown quantity – what happens if he’s no good? We can’t afford to have an inadequate man in that post.’
‘Hmmm. There will be a lot of disappointed members of council and city governors who thought that they might be in the running.’
‘That’s another reason to appoint Ibbi-Addad. Whoever you choose is going to make the rest very unhappy. At least there is a logic in the choice of Ibbi-Addad.’
Hammurabi sighed. ‘You’re right, I suppose. But we had better consult the inner council, or at least be seen to.’
That settled, Hammurabi turned his attention to the army. They had suffered a lot of casualties in the campaign against Elam. Whilst he could now field an army of perhaps fifty thousand in the defence of Babylonia, most of those were militia who couldn’t be used for a prolonged period outside of the kingdom. The standing army would have to be expanded. He knew that Abilkisu wouldn’t be happy with the expense involved but that couldn’t be helped. He needed a large enough permanent force to undertake the subjection of Sumeria. He was no longer prepared to live with the constant worry of a powerful and untrustworthy neighbour to his south. It would take time to recruit and train what he needed, so the sooner he started the better. The first step was to take his brother into his confidence and to discuss the details with him and Adiar.
Arishaka had other things on his mind. After years of satisfying his sexual needs with a series of mistresses and whores, he had finally fallen in love. The problem was that he was thirty and she was only thirteen. Whilst it was quite usual for older men to marry younger wives in Babylon, he didn’t want a wife who didn’t love him for himself. He was looking for a love match such as his brother and Adiar enjoyed, stormy though that was at times.
The girl was the daughter of a rich merchant, perhaps the richest in the city, and a senior member of the city council. The merchant had thrown a party to celebrate the victory over Elam to which all the senior army commanders had been invited. His daughter, Sabitum, named after the goddess, had been present and he couldn’t take his eyes off her. She was pretty and demure, keeping her eyes downcast as a young girl should in the presence of her elders, but occasionally her face would really come alive when something she was interested in came up in conversation. When she smiled it was if the sun shone down on Arishaka. He knew immediately that he was in love, never having even spoken to her. She must have felt his interest because her eyes occasionally flickered in his direction. As the evening wore on, the split-second glances increased.
Then he became aware that she was also flicking her glances in another direction as well. He looked to see who else had interested her and his heart sank as he realised that it was Balshazzar. At seventeen, he was only four years older than Sabitum; how could he compete with the youth? He studied him and tried to see him in the girl’s eye. He was very good looking and he had a rakish charm about him that enabled him to make friends easily. He was obviously attractive to women and Arishaka had heard that he was gaining a reputation for seducing girls, and even older married women, before discarding them as soon as he had slept with them.
He might be a promising officer as Uktannu’s second in command, but he had the sexual morals of a gutter rat. Arishaka was determined that he mustn’t be allowed to break Sabitum’s heart. He felt a deep despair at the very thought of it. The question was, how should he go about it? Then he thought of the one person who could help and the next morning he set off for the palace to see Adiar.
‘So you’re really keen on this girl?’ Adiar asked, after Arishaka had explained his problem to her. They were sitting on the balcony outside the bedchamber that she and Hammurabi still shared, despite their many years of marriage. The sun shone on the river below, reflecting flashes of light back from the little wavelets stirred up by the cooling breeze. Despite this, the day was unusually hot. Or perhaps, Arishaka thought to himself, it is just me going red with
embarrassment.
‘She is the first one to have captivated me this way,’ he admitted shyly.
‘Well, the first thing is to declare your interest.’
‘To her father?’
‘Yes, but more importantly to the girl herself. If you are besotted with her she will make a fool of you if she doesn’t feel the same way. You need to ensure that she does.’
‘How do I do that? By Marduk, this is more difficult than planning a campaign!’
‘That’s exactly what it is: a campaign.’
‘So how do I launch my attack; and breach her defences.’ He grinned at the metaphor.
‘Well, first you need to get rid of your rival without exciting her sympathy for him.’
‘Hmmm, I have an idea about that.’
‘Good. Now you need to get to know Sabitum.’ Adiar thought for a moment. ‘Perhaps I’ll invite her to a supper party and set you next to her?’ she suggested.
‘Isn’t that a bit obvious?’
‘Any other ideas?’
‘No, and of course I am grateful to you for your help.’
‘It’s the least I can do for the hero of the army,’ she teased him and he blushed again.
‘Thank you for coming to see me, Balshazzar,’ Arishaka smiled at the youth when he came into his command post the following morning, hoping his nervousness didn’t show.
‘I rather got the impression that it was an order,’ the young man replied smiling back.
‘Any request from a senior officer is an order, you know that. It just keeps things civilised.’ Arishaka could have kicked himself. He would never have snapped back if he wasn’t keyed up. Balshazzar looked surprised and then wary. Damn, his commander thought; I’m making a mess of this.
‘Now, I have some good news for you.’ He invited the youth to sit to make the atmosphere more relaxed. Balshazzar didn’t reply but took the offered seat with another smile, albeit a brief one.
‘You reached the age of seventeen and thus became a man during the recent campaign. Normally you would have been moved from the slingers then but the middle of a tough campaign isn’t the time to start re-organising the captains.’ Now he had Balshazzar’s rapt attention.
‘I want to keep you as a captain of a hundred, especially as you were the senior officer after Uktannu in the slingers. However, Dadanum’s unfortunate death has meant that one of his captains has been promoted to replace him.’ Arishaka was puzzled by the flicker of anxiety that crossed the other’s face. He was aware of Dadanum’s fury over the escape from punishment of the boys who had deserted him and thought that perhaps his death and the consequent relief that Balshazzar must have felt had resulted in a pang of conscience.
‘That leaves a slot for a captain of a hundred in the camel archers and I want to offer that to you,’ he went on.
Balshazzar knew that he was now over age at seventeen to be a boy slinger and had been expecting the move, but the most he had dared to hope for was to keep his rank in either the spearmen or the foot archers. The camel archers were the most prestigious corps, apart from the chariots. But he was the wrong class to lead a section of chariots. He had been a fish merchant’s son until his father had made a few bad deals and had lost all his money. He had committed suicide and left his only son destitute, his mother having died years before. At the age of fifteen he had joined the street urchins but, being older and less nimble, had been caught stealing food. The choice between losing his right hand and joining the army as a slinger had not been a difficult one.
Narem-Suen had soon picked him out as a suitable captain of a hundred and awarded him the coveted blue headband. When Uktannu had taken over he had been the eldest of his captains and the boy had relied on Balshazzar for advice. The youth knew that he was a good soldier but he was also aware of his one failing. He had a strong libido and needed sex as much as he needed food. In Babylon, he spent his energies seducing any female he could, though he drew the line at those with children. They just made life too complicated.
On campaign, there were few women available, and he developed a taste for the boys in his hundred as a substitute. He knew that this had led to tensions and jealousies amongst the boys but he couldn’t help himself. That was what had prompted him to plead for leniency when those who had deserted Dadanum had faced beheading. One of those accused was his latest lover. He suspected that Dadanum knew about his omnivorous tastes and had guessed at the real reason for his intervention with Hammurabi. That was why he was so angry; it wasn’t just their desertion that had riled him so much, it was the escape from justice of one boy just because he was Balshazzar’s catamite.
Arishaka was ignorant of all this, though there were those amongst his senior officers who suspected. Dadanum had confided his suspicions to his senior captain and, although the latter had no inkling that it was Balshazzar who had killed Dadanum, he had been less than pleased when Arishaka had told him of his intention to transfer the lad to him as one of his junior captains.
Naturally Balshazzar accepted the offer; to do otherwise would have aroused suspicions. He was furious, however, when he found his hundred was to be sent to one of the outposts on the border with Sumeria for three months. He was particularly loathe to leave Sabitum. Normally he wouldn’t have been interested in an inexperienced young girl, but somehow the way that she had fluttered her eyelashes at him the one time he had seen her had remained imprinted in his memory. He just couldn’t forget her and was working on ways to get close to her.
Of course, he had been aware that she was also using her eyes to flirt with Arishaka but he had written him off as being far too old to be a rival. However, as soon as he heard about his detachment to a fort in the middle of nowhere he started to suspect that he was being deliberately removed from the scene. He was also worried about getting his usual sexual release. There were no women where he was going and not even any boys. Most of his hundred were several years, if not decades, older than he was and they didn’t appeal to him in the least. As the day approached for his departure he got more and more morose.
Then his resentment of Arishaka started to grow until it became an obsession. He decided that if the army commander was to meet an unfortunate accident then the way to Sabitum’s heart would lie open and the next commander wouldn’t have the same incentive to get rid of him. He made his plans and set off to put them into action three days before he was due to leave.
He followed Arishaka to the palace as night was falling and then waited in the dark for him to return to camp. As usual, the commander had ridden in from the army camp to the south of the city accompanied just by Mutu-Namaha. He didn’t think that a fourteen year old boy would be much of a problem if he decided to accompany him on the return trip as well. His plan was simple: to rush out of an alley spear in hand, grab the horse’s bridle and stab upwards into Arishaka’s chest before he could react. If the boy tried to interfere he would have to die too. Then, on reflection, Balshazzar decided it would be wise to kill him in any case so that there weren’t any witnesses.
~#~
Arishaka was feeling nervous. The supper party tonight would be his first proper meeting with Sabitum. He told himself that he was being ridiculous; either she would like him or she wouldn’t. He just had to be himself. He would be surrounded by friends and relatives; it was Sabitum who would be anxious. It would be her first visit to the palace and, apart from her mother, she wouldn’t know anyone else there.
Adiar had decided to keep the meal intimate. Hammurabi wouldn’t be present as she was anxious not to overawe the poor girl. Apart from Sabitum and her mother, it would just be Adiar, Arishaka, Mutu-Namaha and Uktannu. The king was dining with Samsu-Iluna and the two new members of his council, Ipqu-Api and Ibbi-Addad, so that they could get to know each other.
As hostess, Adiar sat at the head of the table with Arishaka on her right and Mutu-Namaha on her left. It was a pleasant change to have her son sit by her for supper; she didn’t see as much of him as she would have liked these
days. Next to Arishaka sat Sabitum with her mother opposite her. Uktannu, as the youngest there, apart from Sabitum, sat at the other end of the table.
Once they were seated servants brought in a selection of food which they set on the table in wooden platters and bowls made from rushes for the diners to help themselves. It was an informal meal so there were no fancy dishes, just melons, plums, prunes and dates, unleavened bread made from barley, fried locusts and goat, beef and fish dishes cooked with onions and garlic. This was washed down with beer made out of barley.
Arishaka sat beside Sabitum in silence desperately trying to think of something to say to break the ice. The girl sat with her eyes downcast, obviously feeling shy and uncomfortable. Then Adiar leaned over and whispered in his ear.
‘For the love of Marduk offer her something to eat and say something, anything.’
Arishaka picked up the dish of fried locusts and offered them to the girl. ‘Do you like locusts? Help yourself.’
She looked at him in distress. ‘No, I can’t stand them. I think they’re revolting.’ She said with some vehemence, giving a glimpse at the strong character that lay underneath the demure exterior.
Arishaka smiled and relaxed. ‘No, I can’t stand them either. Marduk knows why they are considered a delicacy. What’s your favourite?’ He waved his hand over the various dishes laid out over the table.