Petros: Part 3 of the Late Bronze Age Stories

By Joan H. Parks

After the great destruction which obliterated the palace cultures of Minos, Ugarit, and many cities along the Mediterranean coast, the trade routes that connected the late Bronze age cities were disrupted.

Part 3 continues the stories of the descendents of Thutmose, the founding Egyptian artist. Little Petros grows into a man who loves adventures and the life of traveling. He comes upon the nomadic Bedouin and their cherished war-mares and loses his heart to them. He cannot live with them for he owes duty to his kin.

He and his brothers are sent to Egypt to purchase gems, gold and linen and discover if the old trade routes remain. They come upon an Arabian war-mare, and her companions; a girl disguised as a boy and a man who might be her father who are also on their way to Egypt. Nothing is as it appears, and surrounded by old animosities, old grudges, and old feuds, the three brothers barely escape Egypt with their lives. They are pursued to their new home by distant kin and old grudges.

Petros grows into his manhood, discovers in himself the ability to innovate in an uncertain and changing world, forges new friendships and embarks on a tender love story.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Mar 4, 2014
• ISBN: 9781491727447

Joan H. Parks

Joan H Parks lives in Chicago, IL, and after a career in clinical research refreshed her life by becoming a fiction writer. Her undergraduate degree was from the University of Rochester in Non-Western Civilizations, her MBA from the University of Chicago. She studies poetry, including Yeats and the Canterbury Tales (in Middle English); has an interest in the ancient world which she has gratified by studying at the Oriental Institute of The University of Chicago; is an aficionado of The Tales of Genji, which she rereads every year or so. Her family regards these activities with amusement, for she also listens to Willie Nelson and Dierks Bentley. She can be contacted at joanhparks.com

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Copyright © 2014 Joan H. Parks.

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ISBN: 978-1-4917-2743-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4917-2744-7 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014904028

iUniverse rev. date: 02/27/2014

Contents

Chapter 1   Jewels from the Desert

Chapter 2   The Brothers Set Sail

Chapter 3   Arudara Is Surprised

Chapter 4   The Brothers Tarry

Chapter 5   At Last We Reach the Land of the One River

Chapter 6   The Three Brothers Leave

Chapter 7   Serena Has Her Say

Chapter 8   The Thin Girl Talks to Serena

Chapter 9   The Kin Meet

Chapter 10   An Emissary Is Sent

Chapter 11   The War Horses

Chapter 12   Petros on Yet Another Journey

Chapter 13   Salama Tells Her Story

Chapter 14   Return to the Kin

Chapter 15   A Journey’s End

Chapter 16   Another Unexpected Visitor

Chapter 17   The Story of the Learned Men

Chapter 18   Salama Shows Petros Other Talents

Chapter 19   Petros the Wise and Salama

Chapter 20   Salama and Petros

Chapter 21   Another Visitor

Chapter 22   Petros the Wise and Petros the Younger Confer

Chapter 23   The Kin Meet and Plans Are Made

Chapter 24   The Plot Is Set in Motion

Chapter 25   Dalil Proves Himself

Chapter 26   Petros the Wise Considers

Chapter 27   Petros the Warrior Acts

Chapter 28   Salama and Nakhti Have Their Say

Chapter 29   Salama Has Ideas

Chapter 30   The Kin Make New Plans

Cast of Characters, Dead and Alive

Main Characters from Thutmose, Lukenow and Petros

Terms Used

Historical Note

Chapter 1

Jewels from the Desert

Let me do it, Mother, you look after the others. They need you. They are upset that someone they thought was their friend tried to kill Father.

I carefully cleaned out any fibers and debris from the wound and then stitched it, put a clean pad on it, and tied the pad in place. Lukenow was content to be in my hands, for he knew how clever I was with them. We were well away from where blood had been spilled, well away from those whose treachery could have ended in his death. My mother’s brother, Petros, was the one who had insisted that my father wear a cowhide garment under the usual linen ones. I can learn much from this other Petros, for he sees into men’s hearts in the same way I do. Petros the Elder, impressed with my quickness at taking care of the wound, watches me with a considering gaze. Good.

After my mother, Serena, saw how neatly I cleaned and then put stitches in to the dagger wound of my father, Lukenow, she never again referred to me as Little Petros. Nor did anyone else.

My brother, Diripi, has Lukenow to teach him the tricks of sailing on the great green sea and not becoming the prey of the men of the sea or of any others who wish to seize what has been gained in trade. I was not for the sea, as my father and Diripi are. I have not that desire that haunts them. I do not suffer the unhappiness that comes to them if too far from the sea, any sea. My brother, Arudara, with his bright eyes and his talent for gems, is on the way to the kin of my mother to learn from her father, Hoval, all that he needs to become a master gem and gold-worker. So they will be with those whom they can learn from.

Now that I am known as Petros the Younger, I am looked at with new respect. They see that I am good with broken bones and infections and illnesses that are not well understood, and that sometimes I am able to save those who otherwise would go to join their ancestors. I learned of herbs from Serena, and I became interested in the other problems on my own. It interested me to figure out how to make the broken whole, and then it pleased me when I could. When I couldn’t, I thought how to do better or wondered why I couldn’t.

Petros, the one for whom I am named, was sometimes known as Petros the Protector and has lately been referred to as Petros the Wise. I knew when we were newly met that I could learn from him what I needed. Arudara could make beauty with the gems and gold; I could see the beauty and sell it, but I could not make it. Diripi needed the great green sea as much as his father, Lukenow. He, like I, could see the beauty that Arudara made and could sell it and return with other goods, but could not make it. Little Sardow is already making beauty and will be better off with the kin who have many such beauty makers for her to learn from. Petros the Protector originally earned his name by protecting the first Sardow, who needed constant protection, just as her son, Arudara, needs protection. She needed more than he because she was female and lovely to men’s eyes. Her fate claimed her, and I believe Petros grieves still. All who knew her grieve still. Sometimes when Lukenow looks at little Sardow, I realize that he, too, grieves for his mate, who was with him for such a short time.

Petros the Protector took me with him as we went on a journey to the land of two rivers, searching for those who would buy what our artists could provide. We found palaces that contained kings, whose eyes gleamed at what we brought with us, and also merchants who saw they could make a profit with our goods. We sold everything we had with us, the bright greedy eyes letting us know that we should come again. They negotiated, as is traditional. We negotiated. All ended up satisfied. We were careful to let all know that the artists were not with us, were well hidden from the greed of those who would like to own them. Petros taught me discretion.

He said, We will keep quiet about your gifts for healing, so as not to tempt those who would control them by controlling you.

I saw many broken bones that I would have liked to set straight, but sometimes it was not wise to let those in power know that I was gifted with the healing arts. It hurt something in me to keep these talents only for our own kin, but I could not expose my companions to the greed of the rulers to seize whatever they might find useful, and my healing talents were useful.

Petros the Wise taught me that when we entered a town, even if we thought we knew it, the first task to quietly learn all the alleys and back ways; to always have an escape plan from those who would seek either to rob us or entrap us for their own ends; how to defend against treachery with quick words and when needed, a quick dagger; to negotiate while knowing the value of what we were seeking to trade; to read men’s hearts, which I found easy and always had. Petros taught me to use that knowledge without drawing danger on myself and my kin.

It was near this land of two rivers that we heard of the desert dwellers.