In the morning I got it straight with her, and she stayed with me in Kumanni until the summer came and we sought the cool breeze of Hattusas’ scarp.
CHAP TER 23
By the time I turned thirty-five, the marriage of Amenhotep to Tushratta’s daughter was an attested fact.
So, also, was the marriage of Niqmad II, young king newly acceded in Ugarit, to an Egyptian girl. Now whether, as Hatib said, the girl was of less-than-noble birth, or whether she was a royal princess, she was still Egyptian, and I did not like it. In my mind, Ugarit was mine, and like a man courting a woman I was disturbed at Egypt’s interest even though I had half-expected it, even though it showed that some few moments of sanity were granted those ‘Living in Truth’ in the City of the Horizon.
And thence, also, was effected the safe arrival of the goddess Istar of Nineveh to the sickbed of old Pharaoh. Since he was well enough to wed the Mitannian princess, it was generally assumed that the goddess still favored the god-king of Egypt.
She certainly seemed to have made the King of Upper and Lower Egypt “exceedingly well” once more. The whole of the southern lands expelled a breath of relief so heartfelt that we heard it in Hattusas: the whole of the Two Lands had waited like citizens huddled in a besieged city to find out if their destiny was henceforth to be determined by the “Criminal of Akhetaten” who sought to cast down the venerable gods of Egypt from their temples and to starve the priests of Amun and Set and Thoth and all the rest, showing favoritism only to his beloved Aten, ruler of the solar disk.
“If he wants to give up being a god-king and demote himself to a steward-king like us barbarians of ‘Upper Retenu’, what is wrong in that?” I asked Hatib.
My erstwhile Sutu had a full head of hair that season, the locks over each ear gathered into Libyan side-braids, the rest hanging down between his wide-set shoulder blades.
“Nothing is wrong with it as far as we are concerned, any more than there is anything wrong with them sending me up to Hattusas on embassy business. It is wrong for them though, and if you were as close to it as I, you too would be filled with pity at what is becoming of the Two Lands.”
“The most precipitous cliffs soften under the winds of the years.”
“Exactly. But the people of Egypt are huddled under the fractured cliffs of thousands of thousands of years of tradition, waiting for them to fall. They are not like Hittite people. Egyptians have not risen up against a solar king in anyone’s memory. The love of their living god is so deeply planted in their hearts that they grieve as must Akhenaten’s own mother. And yet they do nothing, say nothing, think nothing… it is the priests of Amun the ram-headed god who have named him ‘the criminal,’ and that is being said only in the temples whose lands have been taken away and given to the sun-god Aten, whom the young king loves… but the people do not love the Aten … the people, they just weep.”
“Enough, or I will be weeping too. Do you wish release from my service? Is your heart not with me any longer, but with this poor afflicted young pharaoh instead?”
The Sutu’s hissing laugh gusted forth like a mountain wind.
Caution, I told myself, as I came round the white gift horses I was sending down with Hatib to Egypt. Caution, for this is no panderer nor powdered priest, and as I came abreast of him I tried once more to delve beneath the paint obscuring his eyes. What scheme or temper lurked there, I must this day determine, or by dint of my own suspicions Hatib would become as useless as a hand severed from its owner’s wrist.
I reached out and fingered the braided hank dangling against his bull’s neck, saying, “I need a better answer than that. I am waiting.”
Now, I have said I am not small. But Hatib had not shrunken any over the years, and king or not there were just us two by the pink-eyed white steeds in the stableyard. I had wanted no prying ears. In the palace, one never knows who may pass by.
“My friend, I am still spending Hittite shekels.” He looked down his nose at my fingers, and then back to me. “Therefore I am still in your employ. Therefore,” as he stepped back I let the braid slip out of my grasp, “I will take no offense. Kingship is known to make men change.”
“Almost to your death are you pushing me, old warrior. Take a moment and recollect to whom you speak, and what disaffection between us must come to mean.”
“My lord, I bow down before you. On my back, on my belly, I sing the praises of the Sun.” He was still standing, and his big teeth gleamed between his mobile lips as he spoke. “You think Hatib does not know that death drives the chariot of the Sun’s displeasure? You think, perhaps, that Hatib has forgotten all that his employer has demanded in the way of treachery to those others I serve? One word from you and Hatib is no more. One whisper in the right ear, and I and mine will be blotted out from the earth, from the very memory of man. Of course, as my lord must see, a certain scribe in Akhetaten would be heartbroken unto perishing if any ill befell me.”
“By the Storm God, man, think what you are saying!”
“I am saying, dear lord who is now a king, when you were but a desperate princeling singled out for the offering block; you could not afford to question my loyalty. You gave me a great sum of money on the eve of our first meeting; you did not distrust me then. And when the oft-lamented Queen Daduhepa went up to Arinna with your boy Telipinus in her womb, it was Hatib who delivered her there safely, and came back to fight with you against your enemies.”
“Hatib… reassure me, do not pressure me. I cannot let you go down from here until I am free of questions, at the least.”
“It is said that a king does what he will. I believe it. What you have in your heart is there already; what could I do to change it?”
“Change it.”
“I cannot, my lord. I stand between the Eagle of Hatti and the Sphinx of Egypt, and both of you have eyes on Amurru, and of both I am a servant. Now, how can I serve two masters whose wishes do not coincide? If Amurrite hostility to Byblos, Tyre and the other coastal cities continues, there will be retribution upon the rebel Abdi-asirta and his sons, whom you the Sun would protect. Now, if I am ordered by Egypt to strike down the Amurrite, I must strike him down. And if I am ordered by you, the Sun, to lift him up, then I must lift him up…” He spread wide his hands and smiled broadly, so that his beard speared the air, “and I cannot do both those things. Though my person resides this moment in Hattusas, down in Thebes rest my wife and my seed… kill me here if you wish it, lord Hittite, for that will be better than having my family subjected in my stead to Egypt’s wrath.”
“That is the extent of your problem?”
“It is not a small thing in my eyes,” he said; and I thought I saw something like relief in him.
“Nor, I am afraid, in mine. But if that is all of it, I will tell you what we will do.”
“It is the whole, my lord.”
“Then hear this: in the matter of the land of Amurru, do what your Egyptian masters tell you. If Amurru cannot stand against its enemies, I have no need of Amurrites. Only keep me informed as you have in the past.” I punched him playfully where his belly had fattened, allaying his suspicions still further. “And all else will remain as it has been, both the service you do me and what it is worth.”
“My lord, your astuteness and your circumspection will surely triumph!”
I was trying to see if it was real relief, or only a sham. I could not tell.
But thereafter, I used Hatib only for certain kinds of information: things I wished others to know. And I took no action against him, none at all. Within Hatti, we do not keep hostages to insure the loyalty of our servants without. Most other nations make it a practice. Hatib, assigned to the Honorable Hani, Mouthpiece unto Foreign Lands for Egypt, dwelled in Lower Retenu among the retinue of the Egyptian commissioner; his family dwelled in Thebes, the flesh of his bond.
I cannot say I was pleased. But when I had lost the war I had learned a thing that elsewise I never might have understood: they serve themselves, all of them; o
nly to the extent that their leader exemplifies their own thoughts and desires, and no further, will they follow. That is why god and king become close when rulers seek total power: only if faith is involved can a regent demand more. And though my own people seek the gods through me and make me their effigy and the surrogate who enjoys all the luxury of which they can only dream, through me they have it, every one. In Hatib’s case, no consideration of pride or destiny applied, only a chance acquaintance and a Sutu’s oath bound him to me, and at that point in time it seemed that it was not going to be enough.
It is a lesson I was to learn many more times before I came to act as if I believed it: I always give a man a second chance. Much later, I would show leniency to others who more flagrantly violated my trust, and for the same reason: a man’s skin is dearer to him than the Thousand Gods of Hatti; the only way he will offer it up willingly into your service is if you have made him sure beyond question that your displeasure is more to be feared than all the lesser enemies he has closer to hand. If have not, whose fault is that? In the matter of Hatib and those others he served, Lord Hani and his Egyptian masters, I had not yet proved it. But I was almost ready.
CHAPTER 24
In the small, cedar conference chamber burned a bronze brazier. There was a smoke-hole for the torches, no window. At the foot of the table sat Arnuwandas, flanked by Piyassilis and Telipinus on his right and left. By Piyassilis was Lupakki, then the brilliant young commander Tarkhunta-zalma, then my Master of Horses Hannutti, and myself at the table’s head. On my left was Hattu-ziti, bald pate shining, then the Shepherd, then Takkuri whose sister had born me the boy Kantuzilis who stood at attention by one side of the door. Zidanza, my adopted son, in Meshedi red like Kantuzilis, had the other guard post.
It was the fall of the year that old Amenhotep died: the beginning of my eighteenth regnal year, and the beginning of Naphuria Akhenaten’s sole reign from Akhetaten. It had been necessary that I write him a letter, congratulating him on his accession. So I wrote to him, saying:
“My messengers whom I sent to your father as to the desire which your father expressed for mutual relationship, let us establish it. I have refused nothing of what your father asked, and all that I asked, your father did not refuse me… Why have you sent no messages, now that you have ascended your father’s throne? Behold, two statues of gold, one sitting, one standing, two silver statues of women, one great lapis lazuli, let my brother send. Whatever you desire, write and I will send it. Behold a present for you: one vase of silver, weight five minas, and three more vases, total weight thirteen minas, I have sent.”
And indeed, I sent those things down to Egypt, to see if I might get a reaction that would help me judge this “brother” ruler. We have a fine obsidian vase in the cellar that was sent long ago when the Shepherd Kings had ruled in Egypt and debased her. The Egyptians are still trying to blot out that memory. Now, this Shepherd King’s name, so it is said, was Khyan, and on the vase was this Khyan’s cartouche. It was a copy in silver of this artifact that went innocently along with its more customary Hattian-style companions down to Egypt.
If a man wets his finger and holds it up to the wind, he does not argue with the result. I heard nothing back from the young Pharaoh.
But I had heard from other “brother” kings. I heard from the newly acceded King of Babylon, Burnaburiash, whose mighty country dominates the southeast. Now this letter was very brotherly and as much as admitted that I was now the fourth “Great King” in the arena of international affairs, and I was pleased to receive it. Babylon means Gateway to Heaven, and thence came up an offer I had not expected. This Burnaburiash was interested in giving me a daughter in marriage. I had not yet answered him. It is permissible to have many wives, but not many queens; if I took the girl it would have to be as a lesser wife, as indeed the Egyptians, first Amenhotep III, and upon his death Akhenaten, had done in the case of Tushratta’s daughter. It would be a tremendous advantage to me to have such intimate relations with the Lion of Babylon, who, after all, might still carry some Hittite blood from the Old Empire’s campaigns there. My rear would be sacrosanct, if such a thing were to come to be. But there were problems, and I had it in my mind to delay an answer until spring, while spending the winter negotiating with my queen on the matter.
There are strange things said about the Babylonians, stories told of their customs that would make a strong man shiver. What went on in their temples, in the gardens on the summits of their towering buildings, was infinitely conjectured. Talk of it was not absent from our deliberations that fall evening in Kumanni a month to the day after Festival of Haste.
But what concerned us most was unrest in Ishuwa, grown open in its surrounding towns across the river and spreading like a plague. In spring I would turn thirty-seven, and I had been fighting the wild tribes and the dissidents since five years before my accession. I proposed, that night, to make an end to this battle of bushes once and for all.
My commanders, ranked around the map inlaid into the table, were in full agreement. At my knee, Pikku, my little light-haired scribe, ground his teeth as he struggled to take the minutes as fast as we decided matters.
And I proposed, also, that Tarkhunta-zalma and thirty men of his choosing be the extent of my troops when I drove up to meet Artatama, self-proclaimed king of Hurri, in Hayasa. Though he called me brother, into the Hatti land proper he would not come. Nor was he coming into Hayasa, but would meet where he had his border with Hugganas, on the river Mala.
To this my sons made loud and vociferous objections, each feeling it was his place to be my courier. But I was adamant; though I remembered days when I was as anxious to volunteer for dangers that bring places on the heroes’ roll, I could not trust so crucial a negotiation to princes, nor would I want to risk having them with me, should something go awry.
In the silence I demanded as a simple end to the matter, my eye caught young Tarkhunta-zalma, who slouched with bowed head and the ghost of a smile on his face, toying with the tassels of his belt. He was the only brown-haired Hittite in the room, though it happens; my girl-child twin has fair hair like Khinti’s father. To him I said:
“As Lupakki’s protégé, you are expected to be taciturn, but not unduly. Great things are said of you; I will see for myself if they are true on this sortie. That is, if you are pleased to accompany me…”
“Great King, my lord, I am overwhelmed… I am unworthy.”
“Overwhelmed by mere words, are you? How worthy you are, we will see presently. It is lucky that a man does not have to talk to fight.”
He mumbled something, and I recollected that he had trained with Lupakki’s half-wild scouts, and then with my now-disbanded thirty, who were no better mannered.
“Are you apprised of the matter fully? Have you requests or questions?”
He sat up, put heavy forearms on the table and craned his neck to look at me around Hannutti. “I could drive up there in my sleep, my lord. I know what men I would put together: I have thought about it enough. They will be worth their strength twice over acting in concert. You will be pleased. I know it.”
“And your gear is adequate?”
“What I need I can get from Hannutti, can I not? I want for nothing, but some of mine may.”
I was wondering how this brash fellow could be the same youth who was hesitant to drive for me down into Syria.
Lupakki had his fingers to the bridge of his nose. Piyassilis, beyond him, shook his head when he caught my eye. Arnuwandas, turned away and whispering in Telipinus’ ear, was otherwise concerned.
“Shepherd, this is no laughing matter. You, Takkuri, wipe away your smile! Yes, young commander, you can get what you need from Hannutti. Or from Hattu-ziti if your requirements are extensive. But if you cannot improve your manners, I will be forced to take action.”
“My lord,” the young commander half rose, sank back, and simply bowed his head.
“That is it! I know of only one remedy for such bold insolence in the presence
of the king! Shepherd, do you concur?”
“Most heartily, my Sun.”
“Then, if you will…
“Pikku, come here.”
Up with a little groan came the scribe, and scuttled over to the Shepherd’s side.
The young commander sat absolutely immobile, pale. Lupakki had a hand on his arm and was trying to spear me with urgent looks. All others, my boys and my high officials of the army, had realized what I had in mind. The low buzz of the Shepherd’s instructions and the scribe murmuring over his writing scratched in the silence. When it was done the Shepherd sealed it and handed it to me. I put my seal into the tablet and handed it back.
“Congratulations, Tarkhunta-zalma, general of the armies of Hatti,” said the Shepherd, pushing the frame of wet clay across the table to the youth, whose brown head was yet bowed. Lupakki let out a yelp and began to laugh.
Up very slowly straightened Tarkhunta-zalma, and read the matter over, and pushed the tablet back, nodding as if to himself. Then with slitted eyes he regarded me and said, “You will not regret this, my Sun.”
“I have a feeling that you are right. Now that is done and no one can feel resentful of you, then let us see if we can do the same for Telipinus on the morrow.”
“My father, you know that a troublemaker held forth in the temple yesterday, and that the guards were tardy apprehending him,” said Arnuwandas. “This morning, mother, holding judgment in your stead, ruled that the guards only haul water three days, naked, as their punishment. I would have had them slain. We cannot afford the cost of a gentle hand, right now. Not with tomorrow’s ceremony, and the incendiary mood of the Ishuwans. I would feel better if we cleared the temples of all the refractory peoples. We do not want any interruptions.”
Crown Prince, without doubt, I thought. I said: “As for the judgment Khinti made, I would have done it the same. Guards in the temples have to concern themselves with fine gradations in “allowable madness” and ecstatic frenzy. And they are too few, and they stand understandably always in the shadow of the gods’ wrath. But I agree that any untoward occurrences must not be allowed to mar the assumption of Telipinus’ duties. What has the Priest himself to say? What see you with those far-gazing eyes?”
I, the Sun Page 34
