The Man in the Cistern
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About this ebook
Set about ten years after the conclusion of the full-length novel In a Milk and Honeyed Land, this short story follows Damariel and Nepheret, seers and priests of the town of Kephrath, as they tackle a new challenge to the four towns. A group of migrants has set up an encampment just down the trackway towards Shalem. What are their intentions? Do they come in peace or war?
“They are more of a threat to themselves just now. But two things might happen. One is that men might join, and stay, who have some weapons and some real aggression. Then they might start to intrude on surrounding towns including this Kephrath. Or, and maybe more likely, they could bring a plague of sickness into the area. These are not men who know how to live outside, not for the most part. A few have been slaves, but most of them are workers who have always been told what to do. They are used to living in houses. The main thing that protects Kephrath is that they do not know how to act in concert as a group. They are just like a rough heap of gravel. But perhaps someone could turn them into a rock and start to pound others around them.”
Richard Abbott
Richard Abbott lives in London, England and works in IT on professional technical contract quality assurance. He also develops mobile/tablet apps with a focus on the ancient world. His first book, 'In a Milk and Honeyed Land', explores events in the Egyptian province of Canaan at the end of the Bronze Age, around 1200BC. It follows the life, loves, and struggles of a priest in the small hill town of Kephrath. A follow-up, 'Scenes from a Life' is in progress. The short story 'The Man in the Cistern' is set in the same location but around ten years later. The short story 'The Lady of the Lions' is set in the same location but around one hundred and fifty years earlier. 'Triumphal Accounts in Hebrew and Egyptian' is the ebook version of his PhD thesis which, for those who want the technical details, supplies academic underpinning for some of the ideas and plot themes followed up in fiction. See the website http://www.kephrath.com for more details and background information. When not writing words or computer code, he enjoys spending time with family, walking, and wildlife, ideally combining all three pursuits in the English Lake District.
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The Man in the Cistern - Richard Abbott
The Man in the Cistern
DividerRichard Abbott
Copyright
© Copyright 2015 Richard Abbott.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.
Publication details
ISBN numbers
ISBN: 978-0-9545535-1-7 (Kindle mobi)
ISBN: 978-0-9545535-4-8 (general epub)
Matteh Publications
mattehpublications.datascenesdev.com/
www.kephrath.com
Matteh Publications logoDedication
For Roselyn, for family
The Man in the Cistern
They are more of a threat to themselves just now. But two things might happen. One is that men might join, and stay, who have some weapons and some real aggression. Then they might start to intrude on surrounding towns including this Kephrath. Or, and maybe more likely, they could bring a plague of sickness into the area. These are not men who know how to live outside, not for the most part. A few have been slaves, but most of them are workers who have always been told what to do. They are used to living in houses. The main thing that protects Kephrath is that they do not know how to act in concert as a group. They are just like a rough heap of gravel. But perhaps someone could turn them into a rock and start to pound others around them.
Also by the Author
Historical Fiction set in the ancient near east
Novels:
In a Milk and Honeyed Land
Scenes from a Life
The Flame Before Us
Short stories:
The Lady of the Lions
Science Fiction
Novels:
Far from the Spaceports (November 2015)
Cover information
Cover artwork © Copyright Richard Abbott
Original Matteh Publications logo drawn by Jackie Morgan.
Original photographs taken in Israel and elsewhere.
Preface
This short story takes place about ten years after the end of the full length novel In a Milk and Honeyed Land. Most of the characters in this story - and of course the setting of Kephrath itself - will be familiar from the novel. A small glossary at the end will help readers who are not familiar with the novel to orient themselves in this world.
Briefly, Kephrath is one of four towns linked by custom, tradition, and a common religious and cultural leadership. Local stability in the village is in the hands of Damariel and Nepheret, serving their community as priests and seers. Similar couples fulfil this role in the other three towns. The towns are grouped together in the hill country, close to one of the main routes down into the lowlands. Overall leadership in both peace and war used to be provided by a chief from one of the families in the towns. One of the changes brought about by the events described in In a Milk and Honeyed Land is that this leadership is now in the hands of the Ibriym, a formerly nomadic group now settling in the hill country to the north of the four towns.
Maps
The region
The RegionKephrath in the time of In a Milk and Honeyed Land
KephrathContents
Title
Copyright
Dedication
Preface
Maps
The Man in the Cistern
In Kephrath
The scout's report
The camp
Ramoth Hurriy
In Kephrath
About the author
About Matteh Publications
Background and Glossary
Specific glossary for this story
The background
Short glossary of words and customs
Poetry
Towns
Later history of the Gibeonites
The Man in the Cistern
O Highest One, restore us,
shed the light of your face and set us free.
In Kephrath
The Mitsriy were withdrawing from their outpost up at Ramoth Hurriy. Damariel the seer had first caught rumour of the move nearly a year ago, but had waited to see if there was real substance in it before taking the news seriously. These days, there were always stories of this place or that being abandoned, and so many of them were either scare-mongering or wishful thinking, depending on who was talking.
Now, for sure there would be little impact on Kephrath and her three sister communities, the four towns Damariel cared for. Ramoth Hurriy was south of Shalem, up on the heights overlooking the southern edge of that town, and Damariel was not sure he had ever met anyone who lived there. So far as he knew, there was only a shrine to the goddess Hathor served