Nahid: Part Seven of the Late Bronze Age Stories

By Joan H. Parks

The Late Bronze Age Stories part seven, Nahid, continues the story of this family who are descended from Thutmose, the eighteenth dynasty Egyptian artist.

It is unsafe for the kin to remain in northern Mesopotamia for a tribe led by an ambitious man threatens their very existence. Petros the Wise and Kaliq have devised an intricate strategy to move the outnumbered kin to a safer place, but because they have a traitor in their midst, they can tell no one of their plans. Nahid, a young jeweler, sets out along the trade route to locate and bring back lapis. Will his great gifts for jewelry be damaged by the violence he sees?

Much is changed during the course of the adventures. Nahid matures as a man and as an artist. The Bedouin and Serena thrown together by his injury become closer, their lives forever intertwined. The kin have to decide whether to honor the traditions of their kin or succumb to the surrounding violence and chaos.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Jul 11, 2017
• ISBN: 9781532027864

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 © 2017 Joan H Parks.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Certain characters in this work are historical figures, and certain events portrayed did take place. However, this is a work of fiction. All of the other characters, names, and events as well as all places, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

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ISBN: 978-1-5320-2785-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5320-2786-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017910903

iUniverse rev. date: 07/12/2017

Dedicated to:

Jared Lehr

Artist, Inspiration, Friend

Historical Note

The sea peoples menaced the eastern coast of the Mediterranean during the late Bronze Age. The movement of tribes and peoples has left a confusing and scant archeological record. The palace cultures of Minos, and most of the cities along the Mediterranean were destroyed—by whom is still a matter of conjecture. Egypt barely escaped and the destruction did not extend to Mesopotamia. Ugarit, a port city (present day Syria) where the trade routes for Crete, Cyprus, Egypt, Mesopotamia and Afghanistan converged, was destroyed in 1190 BCE and never rebuilt. The remains were found by accident in 1929 and archeological excavations have continued except when interrupted by war, so that maps of the city now exist. Cuneiform tablets were found in the oven during excavations. Whether it was internal corruption, changing climate that provoked tribes to move, or technological advances in weaponry that caused the destruction is still hotly argued in books and articles.

Contents

Cast of Characters

Glossary

Chapter 1 - Prologue - Kaliq and Nahid Speak

Chapter 2 - The Traitor is Exposed

Chapter 3 - Serena Resists

Chapter 4 - The Great Migration Starts

Chapter 5 - The Bedouin Among the Enemy

Chapter 6 - Nahid Among the Enemy

Chapter 7 - The Bedouin Leaves.

Chapter 8 - The Bedouin Attacked

Chapter 9 - Bakiri Arrives

Chapter 10 - The Healers

Chapter 11 - They Leave

Chapter 12 - Kaliq Plays a Dangerous Game

Chapter 13 - Nahid Escapes

Chapter 14 - The Long Journey

Chapter 15 - Nahid Speaks

Chapter 16 - Another Great Migration is Completed

Chapter 17 - The Bedouin Dreams

Chapter 18 - Nahid Recovers from His Adventures

Chapter 19 - The Bedouin and Serena See Each Other

Chapter 20 - Serena Thinks About the Past

Chapter 21 - The Kin Meet

Chapter 22 - Petros the Wise and Bakiri Relax

Chapter 23 - The Story Continues

Chapter 24 - Lukenow and Diripi Return

Chapter 25 - Serena Mourns

Chapter 26 - Nahid Prepares

Cast of Characters

Thutmose: Master sculptor to the Pharaoh Akhenaton

Hasna: Thutmose’s beloved, gifted in languages

Abba: Master craftsman with whom Hasna takes refuge

Yunai: Abba’s son; master negotiator and salesman

Arina: Abba’s daughter; Hoval’s beloved

Hoval: Son of Thutmose and Hasna; gifted in gems and gold

Children of Arina and Hoval:

Petros: Warrior and protector; met Thutmose and grew up around Hasna

Sardow: Gifted in pottery and frescoes; has the far-seeing eye

Serena: Gifted in languages, disguises and the telling of stories

Lukenow: Man of the sea from Crete; bonded with Sardow before they grew into their adult bodies

Arudara: Only child of Lukenow and Sardow; beauty maker in gems

Diripi: Child of Lukenow and Serena; a man of the sea

Little Petros: Child of Lukenow and Serena, born warrior and healer

Little Sardow: Child of Lukenow and Serena, child of beauty

Salama: Distant kin from the Land of the One River

Nakhti: Salama’s brother, also from the Land One River

Bakari: Head of the kin in the Land of the One River

The Bedouin: Blood brother to Petros the Wise and the kin

Dalil: Son to Petros the Wise; gifted in assuming the personae of others

Leila: Rescued by the kin; mated to Dalil

Kaliq: Cousin to Dalil; gifted with daggers as well as strategy

Alimah: Gifted in song and dance

Havardr (The Golden One): Warrior from Scandinavia

Kadem: Protector of the kin

Fahim: Protector, son of an Egyptian

Menes: Protector, son of Bakiri

Nahid - Master jewelry designer and maker

Glossary

Land of the Two Rivers: Mesopotamia

Land of the Bull Dancers: Crete during the Minoan civilization

The Great Green Sea: the Mediterranean

Gold of the North: Baltic amber

Cuneiform script: Wedge-shaped system of writing using a stylus on clay tablets. Originating in Sumer, it spread across Bronze Age civilizations using many languages. Used for diplomatic business (treaties, correspondence) as well as for everyday trades and commercial transactions, which were essentially business contracts. Scribal schools were established in the region. The script ceased to be used and was replaced by alphabetic systems of writing and thus became extinct. In modern times the remaining clay tablets have been a treasure to archeologists.

Arabian horses: During the period of this story, the horses were the property of the Bedouin and the mares were prized in warfare. The best stallions were kept for breeding. In modern times, the Arab horses are prized for their beauty, stamina and good natures.

Bedouin: Desert nomadic peoples, who left no written records.

Chapter 1

Prologue - Kaliq and Nahid Speak

Hardan betrays us.

Nahid, how did you know? Curiosity lights Kaliq’s face.

I speak softly, each syllable laden with disgust. He was with one of the tribe that so menaces us, and when I saw him he denied what I had seen with my own eyes. It was more than his usual lies, so I kept closer watch. He tells the enemy of the plans we make in open meetings.

Kaliq, grim, continues, You gave our old signal to meet where none could see or hear, or even know. Our secret place from our young years of adventures.

You and I, I reply warmly, Our minds have ever been in harmony. We need to talk freely, where none can hear.

Kaliq says firmly, Nahid, I will take care of it.

We clasp hands.

We meet at a small secluded oasis. Alert, we scan the broad blue sky for birds that might be disturbed by approaching people: we listen for hoof beats, or stealthy feet. Nothing yet disturbs our quiet talk.

I speak. We need the lapis, which no longer travels along the ancient trade route. Our gifted ones need it for their own work and we need it to trade for other gems. Only a skilled worker in gems can recognize the best stones. Only a skilled trader can bargain for the best stones. Only one who is wily and swift will be able to go and return safely. I am the only one fitted for the task.

Kaliq nods his understanding.

I may have to go to where the stones are dug from the caves in Badakhshan, which means I will be gone for years. But, more likely, the problem is somewhere along the trade route. Feuds, a landslide, or restless and murderous tribes may have stopped the journey that the stones must make to reach us.

Kaliq says: As you say, you are the only one with the rare mixture of gifts and experience, and so you have been picked for the task.

Kaliq walks a few paces and then turns and lays his hand on my shoulder. We both know you will be in peril. In these unquiet times your journey will be all the more dangerous.

Kaliq’s grip on my shoulder tightens. You have confirmed our suspicions about Hardan. The tribe that has been quiet is now led by a brutal and determined leader, whose ambitions grow daily. With the failure of the rains, food is scarce and all the tribes are restless and desperate. Petros the Wise and I have decided that we will move the kin and settle elsewhere. Because of the traitor in our midst only a very few of us will know our true destination.

Kaliq’s face shows little emotion, but I who have known him from our beginnings see how disturbed he is at the treachery in the heart of the kin.

He releases his grip on my shoulder. Something else, Nahid, to be aware of. The Bedouin is on his way to our enemies, who say they are interested in the war mares.

I spread my hands and look my question at him.

The desert peoples hear much. I listen closely, for Kaliq is usually thrifty with words. The words tumble out of him. The Bedouin put together the rumors that he gathered like so many bright stones to make a necklace. He alerted us to the dangers of our new enemies and also told us of the treacherous one. We were suspicious, Kaliq pauses as his face twists in disgust, but knew not that the betrayal had gone so far.

The desert peoples often know before others. If my path should cross that of The Bedouin, I will be careful. I, too, try to be thrifty with words when with Kaliq. He listens closely when few words are used. Too many words and he grows suspicious. It has always been thus.

With an intense look, he says to me, I know I can depend upon you. He scans the cloudless sky, always alert to anything that might disturb the birds and cause them to fly up to safety. Your father, what does he think of this, your newest journey?

We watch our war mares refresh themselves with clear water. Kaliq and I were the smallest of those with whom we grew up, which made for an early bond. He was my leader when we were small boys playing war games. We played ‘rescue the traders’ games, we played ‘rescue the gifted ones’ games, and all the games that prepared us for our adult lives. Kaliq was the one who invented the most exciting games; when those games led us into danger he was the one who thought up clever ways to both get us out of peril and to conceal from our elders the danger we brought upon ourselves. The bonds formed from our secrets persist among all who of us who came up together.

His path was always clear: Kaliq started out as our leader. Always, he remains our trusted leader.

He knows the story of my father and myself. My mouth tightens as it so often does when I speak of my father, who never had the taste for adventure that has been in me from the beginning.

He knows not why I must make any journey. About this one he keeps asking why I do not stay and work only with him. He thinks someone else should be sent along the trade route to obtain the lapis. He will not see that it is my duty to make this journey. He refuses to admit that the life he has led is not for me. He becomes angry that I will not stay and be content. I end on a note of anguish.

When working as a trader, I am very careful of how I present myself—I casually drape gems about my person, but not so many that whomever I am trying to sell to thinks me a rival. I hold up the ropes of gems against the rulers’ fine robes and show how their magnificence will add to the power of their owner. I put myself in the background, displaying only the jewels.

With the ladies, if I am permitted to see them, I am careful not to flirt, for the rulers regard them as a possession and want no one to display more than awe. But the dark-eyed ladies can sometimes spot a gem that they would like to possess—especially if a rival in the harem desires it. I turn a blind eye to the jostling for power that the gems provoke, knowing it will increase the price and our profits, and increase the interest of other rulers for our pieces. Occasionally, I am tempted to change a piece to flatter the beauty already present in a dark-eyed woman. My fingers itch to make perfection but I try to contain myself, for it can be dangerous for her and for me. Too much attention on any one woman would make her the target of the other women and awaken suspicion in the ruler.

If a ruler knew that I was the one who made the beauty, in his greed and lust for power he would try to detain me to add to his renown. Our gifted ones have always been in danger of capture from the rulers. The traders are not in such jeopardy, for a ruler depends upon them for goods and for useful rumors.

Kaliq looks at me steadily, seeing and understanding what I tell him. He raises his hands to give me a little shake and then drops them. It’s hard. He sees how the rift with my father disturbs me, more so now that my father and his gifts are fading.

Kaliq’s anguish was hidden deep inside when he thought he had lost the singer of songs, Alimah, to the golden-haired man from the north country. But, he kept on learning at Petros the Wise’s side, and using his increasing skills in quick and wily thinking to safeguard the kin. I saw how he looked when he returned with Alimah and her golden-haired child, the child that he took into his heart and under his protection. He is no stranger to hard times.

I am certain that Petros the Wise and Kaliq will not lead our people deeper into danger in The Land of the Two Rivers. I know not what they plan. But I do know how their minds work. Petros earned his title ‘the Wise’ by devising clever and unexpected stratagems to outwit our more numerous and better armed enemies. He persuaded the kin to leave Ugarit for the uncertainties of life along the ancient trade route, just before Ugarit was destroyed. He did favors to the roaming desert peoples when they were despised by those in settlements. In return, the desert peoples became our blood brothers.

When I return and you and my kin have departed, I will go to our blood brothers, the desert people, who will know where you have gone.

Kaliq flashes a rare smile that reminds me of our adventures as boys, and says, Of course, Nahid. Clever as always.

We leave it at that. No need for more words, for we know each other’s minds. Much depends upon my returning with the lapis. It is my task, and only my task, to travel to the far places alone amidst much danger. I will not fail.

Chapter 2

The Traitor is Exposed

One amongst us has betrayed us to our enemies. Petros the Wise, grim-faced addressed the kin days later.

The women reached for their children and pulled them onto their laps. The men moved closer to their mates. The young men moved closer to their fathers.

"We, the kin, since the time of Hoval, the son of Thutmose and Hasna, have made our decisions as one. As Hoval said, we are all fingers on one hand, and we have kept to the traditions of our revered ancestors. We all know the stories and know that Dalil, my son, and his mate, Leila, have made it