Love Beyond Time

By Mehmet Tanberk

Long before the universe is created, there is no concept of time or place. In this ocean of absolute wisdom and existence, the Lord contemplates creating a planet where humans will not only know him, but also be respected and loved by the angels. As the creation unfolds, one of the angels is so enchanted by the process that he desires to be a part of human evolution. It is not long before the Great Angel is born in ancient Nubia to a mother who makes the ultimate sacrifice. As he takes his first breath, his mother diesbut not before she makes his brother, Kumma, promise to look after the baby, who is named Semneh.

Fifteen years later, Semneh and Kumma have grown into men. After Kumma saves the life of an Egyptian prince, he and his brother are taken to the princes palace, where they begin a new life. Kumma joins the Egyptian army, and Semneh becomes an artist. But when both brothers fall in love with a beautiful princess, their lives change forever. Semneh commits an act that he will carry with him for the rest of this life and beyond.

In this visionary tale, ancient Egypt and Anatolian civilizations collide as a soul is reincarnated through multiple lifetimes in the quest for salvation.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Jul 10, 2013
• ISBN: 9781475994230

Mehmet Tanberk

Mehmet Tanberk worked as a finance manager for multinational companies like Singer, Philips and Roche. After retirement he has published two books; Turkey Beyond Preudice and Love Beyond Time from Iuniverse. Mehmet and his wife live in Istanbul. They have three children and three grand children.

Book preview

1

The Legend of Coming into Existence

I n the realm of divine light the Great Angel was excited. An absolute force was attracting all the angels. Long before the creation of the universe, the angels were like drops on an ocean of divine light, which was an infinite source of energy. Because of its homogeneity, there was no concept of time or place. In this ocean of absolute wisdom and existence, God easily communicated with the angels. The angels were nothing but divine light drops; they were differentiated by the size of their glowing spots. The Great Angel was coming after this reality. When the divine call attracted the angels, they were ready to perceive the message of the Lord:

Oh my angels, you should know I’m a treasure of the unknown.

Although I am almighty, my passion is to be known.

I’ll put into existence therefore new universes.

I wish to share my power of creation with humans.

There will be a planet that I simply call earth.

It will be dominated by mankind from their birth.

I will create them by destiny of evolution.

To change the earth, they will be equipped with divine notion.

You are the creature’s ocean of the divine light.

You will witness the birth of the universe from first sight.

The angels were curious about humans. The Lord instantly replied to their thoughts. He made them aware of human shapes. They were enchanted by them from the first time they saw their shapes. They begged the Lord to take a human appearance—even spiritually. The Lord intended to make humans loved and respected by the angels. Their wish was answered immediately. In the meantime, the Lord ordered the creation of the universe.

A magnetic field appeared in the ocean of light with the Lord’s passion. This field started to suck energy from the ocean and turned into a black hole. Vibrations created by the pressure in the black hole transformed the energy into particles. The angels heard a huge sound, and radiating colors burst out of the accumulated energy. The energy scattered particles that created electrons and protons that would last forever and formed matter. With the assembling of these particles, a new universe was born. The angels were confused. They had never perceived sound or colors before, so they were curious. The Lord explained.

Colors are divine decors of a finite world at best.

They hold the reality of creation’s secret.

Mankind will learn from them the story of beginnings

Colors will also define the essence of all things.

Colors will make the world beautifully artistic.

They will make the planet entirely unique.

If humans had never been my beloved creatures,

Would I bother to decorate the world with colors?

Who creates anything that resembles this beauty?

Colors are the real proof of the Lord’s unity.1

The angels questioned the sound after the colors.

The sound is the hallmark of my will for new happenings.

For a finite world, it is permission for new beginnings.

Vibrations in the universe will form all about matter.

Vibrations in the world make sounds for us to hear.

With sounds, my creatures will understand each other.

Many species will make sounds to come all together .

Sounds will contribute to the evolution of humans.

It will also ease for them to get the earthly notions.

Sound is the way that mankind will find divine beauty.

The Lord will use this language to speak humans directly.2

During the divine communication between the angels and the Lord, the creation of the universe progressed. The formation was taking place in an environment where divine wisdom and energy (spirit and divine light) existed everywhere. In other words, the universe was overlapping with the ocean. All the protons and electrons were scattered into the universe after the big bang. In spite of the huge distances among them, they acted the same way and turned out to be the helium and hydrogen atoms by the will of the Lord.

Later on, the planets and galaxies came into formation—and the universe started to expand because of the gravity of the ocean of energy surrounding it. The Great Angel was enchanted by this progress and desired to be a part of human evolution. After a while, he would find himself in a finite world without even noticing that the Lord had granted his wish.

2

Birth in the World

I n 2638 BC, during the beginning years of the fourth dynasty kingdom in Egypt, pharaohs had absolute power. They were supposed to be the sons of the sun deity. In spite of their undisputed authority, they used to rule the country with justice and rightfulness. Their main assistants in their duties, the queens, were respected by all Egyptians. This esteemed position in the community stemmed from their religious beliefs.

Osiris, the deity of fertility and benevolence, was murdered by the deity of cruelty and aridity. His wife, Isis, revived him and returned him to life. Ma’at laws, which were the essential rules of the Egyptian civilization, had also been prepared by a female deity. The pharaohs were obliged to make the Egyptian citizens happy and to find jobs and food for their subjects, according to the Ma’at rules. Criminals were punished. Building temples to endure thousands of years was another important duty of the pharaohs. These temples were not only for worshipping. The priests of the temples were educating the children to read, write, and learn the arts (music, painting, sculpture, and science) medicine, mathematics, architecture, and astrology. This social order combined with the fertility of the river Nile to be the foundation of a civilization that would last four thousand years.

Another country shared the fertility of the Nile, but it never reached the level of Egyptian civilization. Nubia was situated on the southern border of Egypt. It was no less rich than Egypt in natural resources. The northeastern part of the country, in spite of some deserts, had rich gold mines. In the southern part, there were forests with valuable timber to make ships and abundant animals for hunting. In central Nubia, two branches of the Nile met and created a fertile land for agriculture and convenient waters for fishing. In spite of these favorable opportunities, they could never establish a civilization like Egypt. Nubians had no rules to provide social order or leaders to apply them. It also lacked the teachers to educate the younger generations. Young girls were being taught housework, and boys were taught to hunt. Women had no social responsibility or much respect in their society. They used to give birth to the children and keep the houses in order. From time to time, kings and princes ruled the country, but they never had much power over the scattered and independent tribes.

Aspelta, one of the chiefs of these tribes, was getting ready for a hunting party. He woke up early in the morning. His men loaded the donkeys with hunting equipment. Aspelta was taking his only son with him. In spite of his eleven years of age, Kumma was a strong and clever boy. His father decided that he was sufficiently mature to meet the wilderness and direct the men. This hunting safari could be a good start.

When preparations were completed, father and son were riding on donkeys in the middle of the group. Aspelta’s men surrounded them for protection. Three donkeys were loaded with goats as reserve food in case they did not hunt anything. Their destination was not far from the village. Due to the last days of his wife’s pregnancy, Aspelta had not wanted to go too far. They reached the camping place at noon. A river entered the reedy land to form a natural bay; five hundred steps from the shore, there was wood. Between the wood and the shore, the tents were set up in a plain. Aspelta and Kumma sat on rugs under the shadow of a willow tree.

Aspelta said, This is the first time you have come hunting with me, Kumma. Don’t ever take hunting as a simple game. This is a fight for survival. If you underestimate the animals, you can be the hunt. If you overestimate them, you lose your courage and will be in danger. You need to watch where you are, be careful, and use your brain.

Kumma was already watching each detail very carefully, but his father’s words had a big impact on him. Aspelta was giving orders to each group of men. Some men would unload the donkeys, place the equipment properly, and set up tents. Others would slaughter the goats and prepare the meal and the fire. Aspelta preferred to watch the latter. One of the goats was brought to a hollow. A man stepped on the animal. Another tried to cut its throat, but he only succeeded after many cruel attempts. The blood from the animal’s head poured into the hole. Its rear legs were still moving. Kumma’s sadness did not escape Aspelta’s attention.

You should get used to these kinds of scenes, my son. A good hunter must be cruel. You must kill to survive. Otherwise, they may kill you. Don’t forget the nature is also cruel.

Aspelta and Kumma had a good rest under the shadow of the trees. A few hours later, the meal was ready. After a delicious lunch, Aspelta started to give new orders. Some men were sent to dig a deep hole close to the shore; others went fishing with spears. Suddenly, one of them threw his spear into the water. Kumma ran toward the shore. When the spear was out of the water, there was a fluttering fish at its sharp end. A few minutes later, other men started to catch fish. Kumma liked fishing. He took a spear and tried to catch one. He failed each time he tried.

He said, Dad, can I catch fish like your men? Can you teach me how to do it?

Aspelta said, You should find out how to catch a fish by your own observations. We mostly stay alone in the wild and cannot always find someone to ask. Find your own way, son.

Kumma realized he wasted his time by trying without observing. He watched the men more carefully. They were holding the spears very close to the surface. He had thrown his spear from a distance and scared the fish. He tried some more times, more carefully, but still failed. He came closer to the hunters and noticed they were throwing the spears a little bit in front of the fish. Other fishermen were walking out of the water. Kumma was up to his knees when he saw a moving shadow beneath the water. Without any rush, he brought the spear as close as possible to the surface and threw it in front of the fish. He could not believe his eyes when he raised the spear out of the water. He had caught the biggest fish of the day.

Some men were cooking the fish while others were placing sharpened sticks vertically into a hole. They covered the top of the hole with wooden sticks, reeds, and grass.

Kumma asked, What are these men doing, Father?

Aspelta replied, Early in the morning—before sunrise—some animals come here to drink water. If we are lucky, we can catch one with our trap.

When dinner was served, they brought Kumma the fish he had caught. It was so tasty. Kumma gained confidence after his catch. He was dreaming of being a good hunter who was capable of hunting anything. After the meal, they set a big fire where everybody would sleep. Some men would stay awake and patrol.

Kumma said, As you can see, my son, in order to be a good chief, you must think of every detail in advance. You must explain and delegate each the duties you expect from your men.

Kumma gazed at the sky when his father finished talking. He had never realized there were so many stars in the sky. After falling asleep, he dreamed of being torn apart by wild animals. He woke up in a panic. He heard howling. He woke his father and asked about the wild sounds coming from every corner.

Aspelta answered, The howling is coming from jackals. They should have smelled the blood of the goat we slaughtered. They must be the dark ones that can be found in this area in singles, pairs, and herds. With so many howls, it must be a rather big herd. They do not attack humans if they are not very hungry.

What if they are very hungry?

Then they can be wilder and attack everything.

Do you mean it’s our final hours, Father?

Aspelta tried to calm his son. Don’t be afraid, my boy. A good hunter must be clever and brave.

After a short break, Aspelta turned to some of his men and told them to take the hide and remaining meat of the goat with them. He chose four of his best archers and gave them bows and plenty of arrows. The other group would stay with Kumma near the fire.

After lighting some torches, Aspelta and his men walked toward some nearby acacia trees. Kumma could see them under the light of the full moon. They hung the hide and the meat on the branches of three tallest trees. Four archers climbed into the trees. The rest returned to the camping site. It did not take long before Kumma noticed the jackals. They were trying to reach the hide and the meat by pushing and pawing each other. A few jackals jumped up and fell down together. The others reached the hide and the meat by trying to eat as much and as quickly as possible. The ones that could not find anything to eat were staring at the camp.

In the meantime, the archers started to shoot the jackals from the trees. The jackals that could not get sufficient meat attacked the wounded members of the herd. Now they were the hunt. The men in the camping area had difficulty keeping the donkeys from being scared by the howls. One of the archers fell slowly from the tree, and the jackals attacked immediately. The scream of their friend froze everybody’s blood. Kumma felt as if his dream had come true. The other archers tried to shoot as many jackals as they could, but they could not save the life of their friend.

Kumma was very scared and affected by all the things he had witnessed. His only consolation was to be near his father.

Aspelta said, After I pass away, my son, you will be surrounded by humans who will be more dangerous than the jackals. In order to overcome your rivals, you should divide them by throwing separate food in front of them. Wait behind the traps as we did tonight. At your earliest convenience, kill them one by one without leaving any breathing creature behind. Don’t forget how it happened tonight; your first and only mistake becomes your last before dying.

Kumma was not ready to hear that much cruelty. He said, I do not want to be the chief of the tribe after you, Father.

Aspelta smiled bitterly and said, That will not save you from death, my boy. Because you are the son of the former chief, nobody would believe you—even if you had wanted to renounce. They will always see you as a threat.

Kumma was about to accept his destiny.

Aspelta said, Not only that. Neighboring tribes can attack you in animosity. You must be superior to them as well. You can gain most of the instincts and abilities needed to survive during safaris. The jackals we killed tonight were superior to us in quantity and strength, but we won against them with our courage, carefulness, shrewdness, and tricky traps—all which we gained in hunting.

In the morning, Aspelta and his men woke to the voices of messengers from their village. Kumma’s mother, Nitokris, was about to deliver her baby. Kumma, his father, and some of the men rode on donkeys and hurried back to the village. When they entered the home, a doctor was waiting for them in front of Nitokris’s room. In one corner, a doctor’s assistant was preparing hot water. When Aspelta and Kumma reached the bed, Nitokris smiled. She had been encouraged to know that her husband and son would be with her during the birth. Kumma held his mother’s hand. She was suffering