The Concubine's Son

by H A CULLEY

  Bashaa had listened to the conversation so far without saying a word, but now he felt he needed to say something.

  ‘I may be quite wrong, lord king, but I seem to remember an Assyrian merchant telling my father years ago about the people of the steppes. They live beyond the mountains that lie between two great inland seas and occasionally raid the border villages of Assyria. They all ride small horses and can shoot from horseback with great accuracy. But I think they are trained to do so from boyhood.’

  Tarhunda nodded. ‘I too have heard these tales. The two seas are probably the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, but I dismissed the stories as fanciful.’

  ‘Perhaps horses might have a use but there aren’t any in Mesopotamia, whereas camels are far more plentiful and easier to train.’ Hammurabi concluded, dismissing horses from his mind.

  ‘Can I see your long dagger?’ Bashaa pointed to the bronze weapon hanging from Tarhunda’s belt in a scabbard made from wood wrapped in leather.

  The Hittite laughed. ‘It’s called a sword. We use them for close fighting where a spear is of no use and a dagger hasn’t got the reach that this has.’ He pulled the bronze sword out of its scabbard. ‘It is more of a cutting weapon too, whereas a dagger is really only useful for stabbing.’

  Bashaa took the weapon and examined it, then hastily handed it to the king, who was peering at it in a thoughtful manner.

  ‘Who would carry such a weapon in your army?’ Hammurabi wanted to know.

  ‘Everyone, lord king; even our archers, who use them to defend themselves if the enemy gets in amongst them.’

  ‘Show me how you would use it.’ He handed the sword back to Tarhunda who demonstrated several cuts and ripostes with it.

  ‘We’ll talk of this later but such a weapon may give us an edge over our enemies here in Mesopotamia.’

  While they waited for the camels to arrive, a group he had sent for from Babylon reached them, including a number of boys who were to be trained as camel drivers. Once the haggling was over Hammurabi left Bashaa to take the herd south just as soon as the boys were able to manage the camels. He himself headed downstream to where he could cross over the Euphrates, together with Tarhunda, an escort of ten chariots, a mixed force of infantry and archers plus a number of builders.

  Once they were all on the far side of the river again, he headed north to the approximate point where the road crossed from Babylonian territory into that of Mari, then found a point where the road ran close to the river.

  ‘I’m going to build a border fort here,’ he told Tarhunda, ‘and man it with infantry and a few camel mounted archers. I can then collect a tax from those using the road and send out patrols to keep an eye on the border.’

  ‘How will you garrison it in the long term?’ the Hittite asked. ‘Men stationed in the middle of nowhere will soon tire of it, especially those confined to the fort.’

  ‘I expect a small town to spring up around it in due course and I’ll start to irrigate the land so that it can be farmed, but we’ll rotate the garrison here, and at the other border posts I intend to construct.’ Hammurabi invited Tarhunda to enter the tent that had been set up as soon as they had halted. The two men sat on a carpet spread on the ground.

  ‘I want to discuss with you how to build up a strong army. Perhaps if I explained how we organise it at the moment?’ The Hittite nodded and the king continued. ‘The only permanent forces are my palace guard and the city and town watches. I suppose that, all together, they might number eight or nine hundred men but their state of training varies. I have also established a special school to train future leaders for the army.’ He paused whilst both men were handed some refreshments. When the servants had left, he continued.

  ‘All free men between the ages of seventeen and thirty must serve in the militia. I suppose that, in total, we might be able to raise between twenty and twenty five thousand men. They are meant to train for one week every year but this isn’t really sufficient for them to do more than form up into a defensive block. The archers vary from those who can barely send an arrow in the right direction to those who are proficient hunters.’ He paused and looked at the Hittite. ‘How is your army organised and trained?’

  ‘Well, we have a standing army directly under the command of the king; they are used as garrison troops in every town and city. They are much like your city watch but, from what you have told me, ours are more numerous and better trained,’ Tarhunda began. ‘Those wealthy enough to own a chariot are required to train with their driver at least once each week and to be skilled with the bow. There is a small force mounted on horses which are used for patrols and messengers, much as you intend for your camel riders. The infantry are found from the less wealthy citizens, like yours, but they have to train for one month each year. They can then be used in an offensive, as well as a defensive, role.’

  ‘Thank you. You have given me a few things to ponder on.’

  ‘I will be able to advise you better once I have seen your troops for myself.’

  Hammurabi nodded a dismissal and Tarhunda left him with his thoughts.

  Chapter Four – Eshnunna – 1789 BCE

  In the time since Tarhunda had become the commander of the Babylonian army great progress had been made. More forts had been built on the road between Borsippa and Isin and the Sumerian cities in the south and the south east. He had also built a second fort in the north, on the other road between Eshnunna and Sippar. The camel force had become well established and now numbered over two hundred animals, plus a further forty for breeding. Each camel was looked after by a boy and carried a trained archer when on patrol.

  Every free male had to report to the large new fortified barracks that Hammurabi had built to the south of Babylon for two months training as soon as he reached seventeen. They had to return, on rotation, for two weeks refresher training each year. The barracks was surrounded by a defensive wall with gates facing the city and the road to the south. Like the city walls, this was constructed of large clay bricks held in place by mortar. The training ground lay outside the south gates and was large enough for a thousand infantry to learn various manoeuvres, including defending against chariots and attacking in formation. Inside the camp there were various buildings which housed the senior officers, the trainers and the standing army. The militia lived in tents woven from goat hair during their annual visits. The stables for the camels were built against the inside of the perimeter walls and consisted of wooden poles supporting a roof of dried palm fronds called barusti. The camel boys lived in rooms next to their particular stable. A few further permanent buildings housed the stores, granaries and a large room manned by scribes. This served as the headquarters and the meeting room for senior officers. Tarhunda lived in a number of private rooms adjoining the headquarters.

  The infantry were organised into groups of a hundred men under an officer and ten groups made up a phalanx commanded by a captain. Two phalanxes were provided by each of the cities – Babylon, Kish, Sippar and Borsippa.

  A further two thousand men were trained as archers, again organised into two groups commanded by a noble from one of the cities. These were further sub-divided into sections of a hundred each. Unlike the infantry, who were unpaid, archers received pay every time they reported for training. This was considered reasonable as they had to train for several hours once every week.

  Rounding up the orphans and homeless boys that infested Babylon and the other cities had provided a ready source of camel boys but that still left another thousand to be gainfully employed. Tarhunda had suggested training them as slingers and this had worked well. When they weren’t training they served the men as servants.

  The number of foundries in Babylon had grown too. They produced goods for trade to generate income but their main purpose was to make helmets, spears and swords for the army. The Hittite had convinced Hammurabi to arm everyone with swords and so far about a tenth had been equipped with them and had started training in their use. The copper-smiths were also k
ept busy producing arrow heads.

  Babylon’s military preparation hadn’t gone unnoticed. Eshnunna had become alarmed and had strengthened its ties with Elam and Mari but, as they were also threatened by Assyria, they hadn’t challenged the two forts that Hammurabi had built so far. Babylon had placated Sumeria by offering their king an alliance; this was accepted and there had also been hints about further strengthening their ties through marriage.

  ‘It really is time that you thought about taking a wife, Hammurabi,’ his mother told him again. He loved Ashlatum dearly, but he was beginning to resent her interference in his personal life. A year ago she had decided it was time that the harem was populated again. Hammurabi was no innocent as far as sex was concerned; he had had no trouble in finding willing partners amongst the slaves and servants ever since he was twelve. As his carnal desires were being gratified, he was far from certain that he was ready to have to meet his partners’ needs in other ways as well. He loathed the thought of women competing for his favours and he couldn’t stand being nagged; he got enough of that from his mother.

  Each of Babylon’s three satellite cities had sent a young girl to live in Hammurabi’s harem and for a time he had enjoyed their company. His mother and council had made it clear to him that, as king, it was not a good idea to bed every female in the palace: they could be spies or even assassins. But now he was bored with the harem. Their interests were exclusively to do with their appearance and the fripperies of life. Consequently their conversation was rather limited.

  The only person he could talk to properly was Ashlatum. He was always guarded when talking to his council. Although he trusted most of them, up to a point, they each had an axe to grind and their own agendas to pursue, except perhaps Isiratuu; the only one to put the interests of Babylon above his own. But even he was engaged in a struggle with the others for influence with the king. Tarhunda was the only man he felt able to talk to freely, but he was mainly concerned with military matters. Hammurabi was only interested in using martial force as a means to achieving his diplomatic and political ends.

  The king’s thoughts returned to what his mother had said and he sighed. ‘So you keep telling me, mother. And my reply is still the same. Find me a beautiful woman who is good in bed and to whom I can discuss my life’s ambitions and I’ll make her my queen, whatever her background.’

  ‘Huh,’ she said with some impatience, ‘you know you will have to marry to strengthen some diplomatic alliance, whatever the girl is like. If you want someone to keep you happy sexually and be your soul-mate, make her your favourite concubine, if you can find one, that is.’ She sniffed to show what she thought of the odds of doing so.

  ‘Father found you,’ he countered.

  Ashlatum smiled sweetly at him. ‘But I’m one in a million, my son.’ The facetious smile faded and his mother looked serious again. ‘Now, I have compiled a list of possible wives for you to consider.’

  Hammurabi resigned himself to listening to the improbable virtues of all the eligible daughters and sisters of the rulers of his neighbouring states. None of them sounded remotely possible to him.

  When he eventually managed to escape by promising to think about a short list, he went to find Bashaa and Tarhunda and sent a slave for a flagon of wine so he could drown his sorrows with them.

  ‘Of course, my king, until you produce an heir and he grows up sufficiently to be able to rule after you, your throne will always be vulnerable to challenge by Zuuthusu and his sons.,’ Bashaa pointed out unhelpfully.

  ‘Sons, what sons? What have you heard?’

  ‘We learned today from one of Sin-Bel-Alim’s agents that Zuuthusu plans to marry the daughter of the King of Eshnunna. Presumably this is to ensure good relations with them, and therefore with Elam. In return they must expect him to …. ’ Tarhunda’s voice trailed away, not knowing how to express what he was about to say diplomatically in a tongue that was still strange to him.

  ‘Replace me as king,’ Hammurabi finished for him. ‘You’re right. This isn’t about what I want; it’s about what is best for Babylon. I’ll have to give my mother’s wretched list serious consideration.’

  ~#~

  Two months later he still hadn’t reached a decision about a wife. He was sitting in judgement over a complicated land dispute when Tarhunda entered the throne room and went and whispered in Hammurabi’s ear. The king immediately adjourned the hearing and summoned his council.

  ‘Tell everyone what you told me,’ he ordered his army commander.

  ‘A messenger arrived from the border fort on the Eshnunna to Sippar road half an hour ago. The fort has been attacked by a large force which the fort’s commander estimated at ten thousand strong. Consequently, we must assume that the fort has been destroyed and that this army is on its way to besiege Sippar.’

  ‘Zuuthusu I assume?’ Ibbi-Addad asked.

  ‘Or the Eshnunnans supporting him, more like,’ Isiratuu replied, giving the chief minister an annoyed look. ‘He is hardly likely to have managed to recruit such an army himself. I am just surprised that we never received word that Eshnunna was preparing to invade.’

  ‘Such matters can be investigated later,’ Hammurabi said brusquely. ‘Tarhunda, send word to Kish and Borsippa; tell them to mobilise and call out Babylon’s militia. How long before we are ready to march to the relief of Sippar?’

  ‘Two days if we don’t wait for the other cities, perhaps four if we do, lord king.’

  ‘Hmmm,’ Hammurabi thought for a moment. ‘We march at dawn the day after tomorrow. Tell the other cities to send their men to meet us three miles to the east of Sippar.’

  Hammurabi stood in his chariot on a hillock south of Sippar and surveyed the besieging army camped in front of the city. There were a lot more than ten thousand, more like twenty thousand. That had to be most of the armed men that Eshnunna could raise. Most were infantry but there would be foot archers and chariots as well. As he watched the enemy trundled a battering ram forward towards the main gates in the south wall. The men pushing it were protected by archers shooting at their counterparts on the city walls. Each archer was protected by an infantryman holding a large shield to cover both men, except when the archer popped up to shoot, of course.

  As the battering ram neared the gates the men pushing it picked up speed and it crashed into the gates, which shuddered under the impact, visible even from where Hammurabi was watching. Then the defenders pushed large rocks over the top of the wall and they smashed down onto the Eshnunnans and their ram below. Several men were killed or suffered broken limbs but, best of all, one of the ram’s heavy solid wheels was broken. It was useless.

  ‘We need to dig a deep ditch around Babylon which the Euphrates can fill. We can build wooden bridges across the ditch for access through the gates, which we can then destroy if the city is attacked.’ He remarked to Tarhunda, who had ridden up alongside his chariot.

  ‘Good idea, lord king. It would stop them trying to scale the walls too.’

  He pointed at the mass of infantry rushing up the western wall carrying wooden ladders. For a while it looked as if the attack might succeed but then the enemy gave up and fled away from the walls, leaving several hundred dead and wounded behind.

  Hammurabi watched for a little longer but it seemed that the assaults were over for the day, so he told his driver to return to where he had left the vanguard resting. By nightfall the Babylonian army was encamped astride the road from Eshnunna to Sippar, effectively cutting off the enemy from their supply base. Unlike the inhabitants of Sippar, who could be supplied via the river which ran alongside the eastern wall, the Eshnunnans depended on supply carts from their capital. Camels, onagers and donkeys could go around the blockading army but, as far as Hammurabi knew, the Eshnunnans had few camels and you couldn’t keep an army of twenty thousand men supplied using a few onagers. Any large caravans of the beasts would be spotted by the Babylonian camel patrols. Patrols were also sent to keep an eye on the besiegers, just in case they r
ealised that Hammurabi was behind them and attacked him. As they outnumbered him two to one, he wasn’t quite ready to take them on; not yet at any rate.

  The second morning after his arrival he received two messages, one from a patrol to say that the enemy had broken off the siege and were preparing to march towards him and the second saying that the second half of the Babylonian army would be arriving by midday. Hammurabi quickly dictated a reply to Hunzuu, who commanded the contingents from Kish and Borsippa, telling him what he wanted him to do.

  By the time that the Eshnunnans came into view the Babylonians had drawn themselves up ready for battle on a slight ridge. Their right flank rested against the edge of an escarpment which fell away to a valley a hundred feet below. The left flank was secured against the banks of a tributary of the Euphrates. It was an ideal defensive position as the Eshnunnans couldn’t use their superior numbers to outflank the Babylonians.

  At dawn Hammurabi prayed with the high priest of Marduk and confirmed with his diviners that the omens were auspicious. He feared the gods and always paid them the respect due to them, but he wasn’t convinced that the diviners could predict the future. Nevertheless, he was punctilious in observing the conventions; just as long as the diviners and the oracles knew that their lives depended on the acceptability of their prophecies.

  The battle started in the traditional way with nearly a hundred chariots charging straight at the Babylonians. As the ground shook under hundreds of hooves and heavy wooden wheels, Zuuthusu, or whoever commanded the enemy, waited expectantly for Hammurabi to send his thirty chariots forward in response. Instead, a hundred and twenty camels appeared down lines which opened in the ranks of infantry, and then closed again behind them. The archers on the camels had been given one simple instruction. ‘Kill the onagers, one in each chariot team.’ This they proceeded to do with ruthless efficiency, ignoring the men in the chariots who tried to throw their spears up at them.