The Etemmu Within - Episode 3B: The Black Oasis

This post continues my examination of how the classic WFRP campaign, The Enemy Within, can be re-skinned to be played in Mythic Babylon. This study was adapted from the first edition of Death on the Reik, published by Games Workshop and written by Phil Gallagher, Jim Bambra, and Graeme Davis, This edition can be found for sale by Cubicle 7 . Mythic Babylon is published by The Design Mechanism.

DILBAT

At last the PCs arrive in Dilbat, having been led here by the Aruru-harug letter that was discussed in Episode 3A. This section corresponds to the Red Crown/Grissenwald/Black Peaks sections of Death of the Reik.

When the PCs arrive, they discover that the mood in Dilbat is tense. The citizenry seem haggard and pressed, eyeing all newcomers with suspicion. Food is scarce, so if the PCs bring supplies they are willing to sell, they can make some grudging friends. A group of Kassites have camped along the riverbanks, which is creating tensions with the locals. The Kassites had previously been settled in a fertile oasis south of the city where they raised cattle and kungas. This oasis, known as The Well of Damu, is a piece of fertile land they had leased from the local E-ibbianu temple. But the Kassites have since been chased out by Suteans. They now huddle like refugees along the river bank with what's left of their herds.

This has created some tension with the locals, who are now having to share access to the river with the Kassites and their kungas. Several farmers have complained about their lands being trampled. To make matters worse, a number of farmers have disappeared and are assumed to have been murdered. There are rumours of black warriors having appeared in the night to take people to their doom. The Kassites are under suspicion, but so are any travellers. The governor, a Yaminite named Addu-amuti, has done little to resolve the tensions, being far more interested in tending his collection of exotic plants in the palace gardens.

The E-ibbianu temple belongs to the city god, Uraš and his wife Ninegal (an aspect of Ištar). The temple says they can do nothing to restore the Kassites to the oasis because they sold it to Aruru-harug, a priestess of the cult of The Red Crown of Erra, for quite cheap. They have tried to convince the Kassites to move on and leave the community. Aruru-harug was last seen heading out to the oasis with a posse of Mutebal warriors, planning to clear the Suteans out. If the PCs wish to pursue her from a position of strength, they may find a number of Kassites willing to hire themselves out in exchange for food or livestock for their families.

Source: https://idsb.tmgrup.com.tr/ly/uploads/images/2021/01/27/88852.jpg

THE WELL OF DAMU

The steppe between river and the Well of Damu is a desolate, but not an empty place. PCs may encounter ghosts or desolation spirits, or Sutean or Mutebal tribesmen. The Suteans are a desert tribe who inhabit the steppe west of the Purattu river. They control many of the oases in this region, which they use for grazing in the dry season. Some of this land is contested by Mutebal Amorite herders, who are mainly settled along the river's edge but have also traditionally used some of the nearer oases for camping and grazing. Currently, these tribes are in conflict and if members of either tribe are travelling with the PCs, it might make them a target of the other. If they are travelling alone, they may be able to thread the minefield, but will be met with suspicion by either group. Other steppe encounters with wild animals are also possible.

Eventually, the PCs will find the Green Well, a green oasis. It's currently under the control of a rough and bloodied gang of Mutebal warriors, having just reclaimed it from the Suteans with the help of prayers and incantations of Erra, god of war, voiced by Aruru-harug. She is not currently in the oasis, but if asked where she is, the questioner will be told that she has gone further west with a handful of the remaining Mutebal to the Well of Damu, also known as the Black Oasis. There is an old shrine there that the priestess wishes to restore, they will explain. The PCs will be discouraged from following, though, for the way is fraught with danger.

If the PCs ignore this advice and persist in following, they will encounter a group of scorpion men in an isolated valley between dunes, engaged in a pitched battle with some Mutebal. This should serve as an indication they are crossing from the land of humans into a realm governed by other powers. Assuming the PCs help rescue the Mutebal, they will be grateful and willing to lead the PCs on, or offer directions.

Finally, the PCs reach the Black Oasis, first spotting it's sickly looking date palms and grey foliaged Prosopis shrubs on the outskirts. It will soon become obvious that the Well of Damu is no watering hole, but a bitumen pit, and the viscous black liquid bubbles to the surface here. On it's edge lies a small walled compound (the E-SAGMENSU, House of the Red Crown), with a 3-room shrine within. The sound of a woman's voice, raised in chant, can be heard from within.

If any of the PCs speak Sumerian, they may recognize some of the words as being part of a RI'MES, a dark ritual of imbuing blackness. Indeed, Aruru-harug is inside and bringing the corpses of the recently slaughtered Mutebal warriors to life again by ritually rubbing them with bitumen from the black oasis. As they approach the compound, several black humans come shambling out and attack. These are the GARRADUM-GIGGI – “black warriors”. Use the stats for Mummies from Mythras, but give them 3 points of armour from the hardened coating. Unlike mummies, these undead are not susceptible to fire. If set alight, they will burn, and while burning attempt to grapple their foes in a very warm embrace!

Source: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03120/oilhands_3120840b.jpg

Upon defeating the black warriors and Aruru-harug, the PCs may either question her (if she's alive) or find the following information among the letters and tablets in her personal effects. They will learn that she is indeed a priestess of Erra, and experimenting with ways to bring the bodies of the dead to life to fight in battle. Her researches in the ancient cities of Kish and Eridu led her to understand that the Well of Damu ('Well of Blood') is no ordinary tar pit, but a remnant pool of the Blood of the god Qingu, who was said to have been slain to create the essence of life in the creation of humanity. She later found a RI'MES ritual that would allow her to bring these bodies to life, but before she could attempt the ritual, she was chased from the land by the Suteans. Now that the Mutebal have helped her win back her shrine, she plans on making an army of black warriors by luring various nomads and travellers out here and murdering them. She has started with the very Mutebal warriors who accompanied her! She has composed, but not yet sent, a draft letter (unaddressed) inviting Red Crown members to join her here.

Also among her letters is one received from a certain Immum-Ištarat ('A Mother is Ištarat' ), Lagar Priestess of the Temple of the Seven, demanding a sample of the Black Blood for her own purposes of 'binding the blood and the clay in the name of Nergal'. An appropriate lore roll will reveal Ištarat is a goddess local to the Mari region, and a divination (or questioning of Aruru) will reveal that a temple to the Seven has existed in the Mari area for some time and even escaped destruction at the hands of Hammurabi when he ravaged the area. The Seven are a group of demons, previously discussed in Episode 2 of Death on the Purattu.

Also among her tablets is a letter from an unnamed En-Priest of the Red Crown in the city of Aššur, informing her that the twins are no longer conjoined.

We'll learn more about all of this future episodes, beginning with EPISODE 3C – THE TEMPLE OF THE SEVEN

The Etemmu Within - Episode 3A: Death on the Purattu

This post continues my examination of how the classic WFRP campaign, The Enemy Within, can be re-skinned to be played in Mythic Babylon. This study was adapted from the first edition of Death on the Reik, published by Games Workshop and written by Phil Gallagher, Jim Bambra, and Graeme Davis, This edition can be found for sale by Cubicle 7 . Mythic Babylon is published by The Design Mechanism.

When we last saw our PCs, they were hightailing it out of Bad-Tibira, having been blamed for a series of fires in the city and possibly having foiled a ritual by Nergal cultists to raise the dead (all of them!) for a day.

During the course of that adventure, they picked up one key lead to future adventure – a letter from a certain Aruru-Harug to Samuh-Tammuz, the cult leader in Bad-Tibira:

To the Captain of the Crucible of Life, thus says Aruru-Harug:

I have received your gift of strong copper crucibles and will put them to good use. But I am unable to supply you with the product that you have requested. For one, it seems our lords have parted paths; who once were twins are now adversaries for the heart of Arali, and the Red Crown has it's own concerns in The Land. It would be unseemly for me to assist you.

Even were I willing, the Well of Damu has been overrun by Suteans and I am unable to approach. I must seek Mutebal allies in Dilbat before I can return. I have also had to turn down your divine sister in E-Sebittu (The House of the Seven.)

In gratitude for your gift, I send a fine wool garment from Dibat, and a box of candied locusts. May we speak again after the nuptials.

This letter is one of the few clues to PCs have to go on for further adventure, but it should point them upriver to the city of Dibat, at the very least. The City of Dilbat is located just south of Babylon on the Purattu (Euphrates) River. The Suteans are a nomad tribe of the western desert, and it may well be inferred that the Well of Damu (Well of Blood) is one of their oases. The Mutebal are their Amorite rivals in the Dilbat area. The name Aruru-Harug (“Aruru May Increase!”) references Aruru, is an obscure birth goddess of fierce and frightening aspect. It is probably an adopted name. The reference to the separation of twins is a reference to the new rivalry between Nergal and Erra, and 'nuptials' to the hoped-for marriage of one of them to Ereshkigal. This could be elaborated on should the PCs seek a prophet or diviner. Mention of Red Crown and the House of Seven will likely provoke some curiosity, and will be dealt with in the next instalment of this series.

MESSING ABOUT ON THE RIVER

Armed with the letter above, the PCs decide to head north to Dilbat to investigate. If they have a boat, they will most likely take the Iturungal Canal northward toward Zabala and Nibbur, or westward to Larsa, and then up the Euphrates to Uruk, Isin, and Marad. The encounters below assume the western route, but GMs should feel free to relocate them as needed to suit whichever route the PCs eventually take.

A Ripple on the Stream

If the PCs left Bad-Tibira by foot, then this is a useful early encounter, as it can provide them with a boat.. If they already have a boat or are still travelling with Gishbare, this encounter can be run anywhere.

While walking on a reed-choked path close to the Iturungal Canal, the PCs hear a commotion from nearby, and some cries for help. A dying boat-hauler stumbles from the reeds, his clothes soaked with blood and his arm mangled. He pleads with the PCs for help for his crew before collapsing in death. Investigating the PCs find a river barge on the shore in the reeds, it's crew being attacked by a pair of Mušhuššu. The PCs chase off the dragons and find there is very little left of the crew.

One dying trader, clutching a gored belly, asks the PCs to take news of his death to his mother in Kutalla, along with the cargo of fish oil, turtle eggs, and other delicacies and medicines from the southern marshes. He then gasps his last breath and the PCs find himself with a boat and a reasonably lucrative cargo. If the PCs do not respect is last wishes, they will likely find themselves haunted by an etemmu! Among his possessions are his cylinder seal (his name is Erah-gamil) and a bill of lading identifying the cargo, taxes paid along the way, and the name of the cargo's owner, his mother Rapi-Hayyatum, in Kutalla.

ENCOUNTERS ON THE RIVER

The Murex Hand

While travelling upstream toward Kutalla, the plot continues to thicken with the Cult of the Murex Hand, who are now back on the scene. You can run the events described on pages 6 to 8 more or less as is.

EV1 Just Passing Through takes place in Larsa.

EV2 Keeping Tabs can be set in Isin or Nibbur as the PCs pass through.

EV3 The direct Approach can take place in Babylon.

EV4 A Lock of Hair in Sippar.

EV5 could take place again in Sippar, after the adventures in Mari (see below). In this episode, any reference to Middenheim should be replaced with 'Assur'. This is an important clue to Episode 4 – The Power Within.

News and Rumours

These kinds of things are a nice way to foreshadow new future adventures and to enliven the setting.

1. The King's expedition to Arrata (as mentioned in Episode 1) has been waylaid in Eshnunna.
2. King Rim-Sin has returned from the dead and was spotted in Larsa
3. A worker's strike in the south is leading to delays in repairing the walls of Uruk
4. Priests are being taxed in Assur, which can't be good for relations with the gods.
5. A caravan belonging to the governor of Kish disappeared on the way to Malgium
6. Crop fires have been reported northeast of Babylon.
7. King Samsu-iluna has cancelled the Abu festival this year because it will interfere with his annual ostrich hunt.
8. A new plague is reportedly spreading in Upper Suhum, causing merchants to attempt the northern route to the west. As a result, prices for imported goods will be going up.
9. Tax collectors in Babylonia are skimming even more than usual off the top.
10. Strange corpses have been see floating in the river near Hit, prompting a wave of donations to the river god.

The Living Dead

To play up the theme of the dead returning to life, or at least refusing to die, the GM should stage a few encounters along the river as they head north. These could include:

• A farming village near the banks is in distress; some of their cows recently died when grazing near the banks, but a day or two later they came back to life. There is something seriously wrong with them, and they feel they've become victims of sorcery. If fact, the cows drank poison that flowed downriver from Mari.
• In a city, human zombies have been reported haunting the brick-making district. Some of the locals claim they recognize the faces of people who disappeared after falling in the river years ago. They blame ghosts, but these are the animated bodies of the dead, infected by the same poison mentioned above. The source of the poison should not be known at this stage, but such encounters should increase as the PCs continue upstream toward Mari. Use the Zombie stats in Mythras for these.
• Some encounters with genuine ghosts, wasteland, and animal spirits can be held in remote places along the river, especially near ruins.
• Bad News Demons will likely be spreading rumours in various communities the PCs pass through along the way.

KUTALLA

Arriving in Kutalla, the PCs will naturally be looking for Rapi-Hayyatum, whom it turns out is a well known Asu (physician) who lives in a prosperous country house. Heading to her country house outside the city, the PCs find that she isn't home. However, they do hear faint calls coming from a well on the property. A little girl is hiding inside, but unable to bring herself up. Her name is Matur (Little Fig), and Rapi-Hayyatum is her mother.

Matur tells of how her mother was kidnapped by Sutean Nomads after she failed to heal one of them of a pox. They came as a posse and claimed they knew she was an escaped slave. Matur hid in the well when she saw them approaching, but was unable to help her mother. She heard them say something about taking her to the Granary of Dumuzi – a local grain depot among the fields - until a ransom if paid.

Speaking to local farmers, the PCs can either pay the ransom (using the loot from the barge) or fight, in which case the Suteans will flee after a number have been injured. They rescue the physician and take her back to her home. Once there, they naturally inform her of the demise of her son, and in gratitute for all they've done, she gifts them the barge.



That's it for this instalment. Stay tuned for EPISODE 3B: THE BLACK OASIS!

The Etemmu Within - Episode 2: Shadows over Bad-Tibira

This post continues my examination of how the classic WFRP campaign, The Enemy Within, can be re-skinned to be played in the Mythic Babylon setting. This study was adapted from the first edition of Shadows Over Bogenahafen, published by Games Workshop and written by Graeme Davis, Jim Bambra, and Phil Gallagher. This edition can be found for sale at DriveThru RPG. Mythic Babylon is published by The Design Mechanism.


EPISODE 2: SHADOWS OVER BAD-TIBIRA

The PCs arrive in Bad-Tibira at the beginning of the Taklimtu festival and they enjoy the various sights of the festival (buskers and wrestlers, gaming and pageantry). If the PCs look for the shrine of Manzat, they will find no sign of one and conclude the whole 'rite of divestment' letter was a hoax to lure their look-alike to Bad-Tibira.

However, there much talk among the attendees of one travelling merchant who has a collection of curious exotic animals, including a pure white monkey which is much the talk of the festival. So that draws their attention.

Just as the PCs are arriving to see the pure white monkey (which they may assume to be a good omen) it bites the hand of it's keeper, Nanna-mene, (actually a bad omen) and it runs off and ducks into an open drain in the ground. The keeper raises a commotion and the watch arrives with a judge in short order. The judge, who goes by the name Atkalšum (literally “I trusted him”) asks the PCs to speak as witnesses. The owner of the monkey claims it actually belongs to Sin-Iddinam, governor of Sumer, and he was only transporting it from the lands of the Elamtu to the governor's palace in Larsa. He has been capitalizing on it to earn some cash (and defray his costs) over the course of his journey, and Bad-Tibira is his last stop. Seeing an opportunity to please his king, and with local districts being responsible for covering merchant losses, the judge offers the PCs 30 shekels in silver if they can retrieve it. The drain it crawled into is connected to a larger network of catacombs and drainage tunnels beneath the city.

The PCs enter the catacombs, where they are subject to random spirit encounters like lavatory haunters, bad news demons, or ghosts. In the tunnels they stumble across the body of a dead copper-smith (as determined by his obvious dwarfism) – his heart has been removed. They also find a hidden shrine, guarded by an Ugallu underworld demon which they must fight off.

 

Ugallu (Wikimedia Commons)

They don't find the monkey, though, and so they return to the surface world where the Taklimtu festivities are growing in attendance. Crowds are starting to throng the streets.

When they go to find Judge Atkalšum, who is holding public trials at the festival, he informs them that the monkey has since been found, killed, in a granary by the river. The judge denies them any reward, and tells the case is closed. Furthermore the judge doesn't seem interested in their hidden shrine story.

When they return to Nanna-mene, the monkey's owner, he understands that it has been killed and accepts his loss. However, he explains; he asked for the body so it's pelt could be recouped and presented to the governor, and his request was refused. He doesn't understand why, unless the judge wants to remove evidence of a crime. He agrees to keep an ear to the ground for reports of a missing copper-smith.

Later, the PCs overhear talk of a prophet in the square who claims that the Anunaki gods are displeased with the city and it's fate will be revealed in the face of Sin, the moon. Sure enough, that evening, the PCs are surprised to see the moon is almost full, rather than a crescent as might be expected. They suffer the effects of a bad omen.

The next day they encounter the prophet himself, who proclaims “I see the Seven, and I see the Nine; all they had will be mine! Mine! Mine! A star within the crucible is the sign of death; beware the man who is not a man.”

The Babylonian student will of course recognize the threat, for The Seven are a group of dangerous demons bent on mischief. The Nine, presumably, are the cultists.

"They are seven!
They are seven!
They are seven in the depth of primeval water,
They are seven adorned in heaven,
They are not male, they are not female,
They are drifting phantoms,
They have no spouse and never bore a child,
They do not know the result of their actions,
They do not pay attention to prayers and offerings.
They roam about the streets to cause trouble,
They cruise the canals to cause mischief.
They are seven,
They are seven."

Source: Daily Life in Ancient Mesopotamia by Karen Rhea Nemet-Nejat.

Events and investigations eventually lead them to several businesses and warehouses, then to the Crossed Boat-hooks tavern, and finally back into the catacombs. They get the sense they are being watched, and may even be victims of sorcery (yet another bad omen). On the second night, a group of thugs approaches them to deliver a threatening message to keep out of other people's business.

That evening, a leering face appears in the full moon.

Eventually the PCs catch wind of a meeting to be held at the house of the wealthy Amorite merchant named Samuh-Tammuz. They stake the place out and uncover a plot restore the god Dumuzi the throne of Bad-Tibira, supplanting the current city god Lulal (Ištar's son). Samuh-Tammuz claims that their plans will entrap Ištar herself in a crucible of copper to be offered to her sister, Ereškigal, queen of the underworld, as a betrothal gift by the god, Nergal. Returning Ištar to the underworld will free the god Dumuzi from the underworld permanently, and allow him to overthrow Lulal, who will be weak without his mother's protection. The crux of the plan hinges on an important sorcerous ritual to be performed the next night in an undisclosed location.

Little do the PCs or these conspirators know, though, that this is all part of a larger plan by the god Nergal to scourge the earth in an effort to help his matrimonial suit with the queen of the underworld. The ritual will also open the gates of the underworld and release the dead for one night, and when they return they will take as many of the still-living as possible back with them as gifts to his queen. Nergal has sent an underworld demon, Neti, to see his plan through. He is currently disguised as Samuh-Tammuz's slave servant, 'Gabiri' ('Mountain'). Tammuz thinks that he controls the demon, but if anything the opposite is true.

As they explore the house of Samuh-Tammuz, it's important they they find this piece of correspondence, as it will lead them into the next section of the adventure:

To the Captain of the Crucible of Life, thus says Aruru-Harug:

I have received your gift of strong copper crucibles and will put them to good use. But I am unable to supply you with the product that you have requested. For one, it seems our lords have parted paths; who once were twins are now adversaries for the heart of Arali, and the Red Crown has it's own concerns in The Land. It would be unseemly for me to assist you.

Even were I willing, the Well of Damu has been overrun by Suteans and I am unable to approach. I must seek Mutebal allies in Dilbat before I can return. I have also had to turn down your divine sister in The House of the Seven.

In gratitude for the gift, I send a fine wool garment from Dibat, and a box of candied locusts. May we speak again after the nuptials.

The next morning, the face in the moon is now visible during the day and leers down on the city. Early in the day, one of the of the cultists named Mannu-ki-Erra approaches the PCs and expresses his doubts about Samuh-Tammuz's plan. He tells them he will send a note to let then know the new location of the ritual. When that note later arrives, though, it is delivered by the demon Neti in disguise as a runner. It urgently invites the PCs to the house of Mannu-ki-Erra. When they arrive, they find Mannu-ki-Erra dead and themselves framed for his murder!

Neti also sets a building on fire while disguised as one of the PCs, and the party sees this exact copy of the player-character in question fleeing from an angry posse of citizens. So, both the watch and the townsfolk are after them as they race through the night to disrupt the ritual.

Eventually they find the warehouse that belongs to Samuh-Tammuz (it bears the symbol of a star inside a crucible) over the door. The ritual is underway – can they stop it in time? The adventure ends either with the ritual being completed and the dead being unleashed, or with the ritual being foiled and the PCs hunted by every able-bodied citizen in town. Either way, they must leave Bad-Tibira in a hurry.

What happens next will be covered in EPISODE 3: DEATH ON THE PURATTU

A Mythic Babylon Campaign? It's Already On Your Shelf!

I've been reading a number of excellent reviews lately for the latest edition of The Enemy Within campaign for Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying game. This got me thinking back to the time I ran this myself for a group of college friends back in the late 80's. We had an amazing time, and I have very fond memories of the players riding barges up and down rivers while being chased by evil cultists and foiling the machinations of chaos demons.

Of course, it immediately occurred to me that these are very much the kinds of things one might do in Mythic Babylon, and that The Enemy Within could be very handily adapted to Mythic Babylon with only a few conceptual changes.

There's no force of Chaos in Mythic Babylon, of course, but there is, in a sense, a dark and light duality in the form of the Anunaki (the gods of heaven & Earth) and the Igigi gods (the lower gods, or gods of the underworld). If we imagine a situation where, for example, where the Divine Twins (the underworld Erra and Nergal) are using the humans of the surface world as their pawns to impress the Queen of the Great Below, Ereshkigal, in competing suits for marriage, then it's easy to see how ghosts, underworld demons, and the undead could easily replace the force of chaos in the original setting of The Old World. The fact that The Old World has a chaos god called Nurgle and Mythic Babylon has an underworld god called Nergal seems to cement the deal. So without further ado, I give you:

THE ETEMMU WITHIN

An Epic Campaign for Mythic Babylon

Historical Context:

This campaign is set during the reign of Samsu-iluna, son of Hammurabi. The year is 1742 according to the middle chronology. In Babylonian parlance, this is the eighth year of Samsu-iluna's reign.

Officially, these are good times and Samsu-iluna is still standing on the coat-tails of his very accomplished father. His (rather verbose) scribes proudly declare that this is the “Year in which Samsu-iluna, the king, made royal platforms in copper with representations of a mountain and streams which bring plenty and abundance and fixed their place for the marvel of all in the large courtyard of the E-turkalama temple in front of An and Inanna.”

But beneath straw runs water – all is not as it seems; there's been a drought, and food is scarce. The people of Sumer and Eshnunna are discontent, and soon a man named Rim-Sin (the nephew of the famous king of Larsa described in Mythic Babylon) will emerge in Larsa in open revolt, drawing many other cities into rebellion with him. Samsu-iluna will fight him for four years and eventually defeat him, but not before he sacks Eshnunna and tears down the walls of Ur and Uruk.

Rim-Sin's revolt isn't successful, but it opens the doors to raids by the Elamites and, within a few years, another rebellious leader will arise in the south who will sever Sumer from Babylon and found the Sealand Dynasty.

While this is happening, the drought will continue in the south and several cities will be abandoned by their citizens, leaving only cults behind to take care of the temples.

By the end of his reign, Samsu-iluna will have lost all the territory his father gained, and the kingdom will be a ghost of its former self.

Why did all this happen? Because Marduk and the other gods of the surface world were distracted by a cold war with the underworld – a war that was largely played out on the surface world, and that pitted The Black Haired People against the the ghosts of their ancestors, who clamoured to return to the surface world. It would fall to a group of down-and-out nobodies put things right again and keep the dynasty on the throne. It all started with a case of mistaken identity...

EPISODE 1: MISTAKEN IDENTITY

The adventure begins with the player-characters in the city of Malgium. Times have been hard, and all the characters are down on their luck, with only a few little shekels to their names. When a herald from the King of Babylon arrives in Malgium to announce that the King is seeking brave adventurers for a lucrative trade expedition to the fabled City of Aratta, the characters naturally feel compelled to apply.

Luckily, a caravan heading overland for Babylon is currently hiring porters, guards, scribes, or whatever skills the PCs might have, and so they sign on to join the crew. After signing on, they are told to meet the next morning at a certain Karum on the west side of the city.

The next day, the caravan convenes at the karum and departs for Babylon. There's an unseasonal rain, and in the midst of the downpour, the caravan is attacked by habiru bandits. One of the PCs recognizes an old acquaintance among the bandits who fell on hard times not to long ago – a fellow fishmonger from Dilbat. Rumour had it they had become a habiru, and here they are, in the middle of nowhere, sickly and necrotic looking and desperate for food. As the PCs fight off the bandits, a yell from one of the caravaneers draws them to the bush nearby and they discover one of the habiru feeding on the corpse of a person in the back of a ruined chariot! They kill or chase off the impure thing and examine the remains.

The PCs find the corpse has two arrows in it. Surprisingly, the corpse looks just like one of the PCs! A letter on his person identifies him as one Kush-taklatum, and informs him that he is one of a select few citizens of the Kingdom of Babylon that has been selected by divination performed on the liver of a white bull. The letter invites the bearer to take part in the great Rite of Divestment in the city of Bad-Tibira. Candidates must present themselves at the shrine of Manzat in that city by the end of the Taklimtu Festival in order to partake in the Great Divestment of the god Adad. The Rite of Divestment will see the opening of the great copper vessel at the end of the rainbow, and it's golden treasures given to the participants, as is done every seventy years.

Soon some baliffs from the city of Kissatu arrive and question the PCs about the attacks. After this, though, the caravan continues on its way.

Eventually they arrive in Babylon and almost as soon as they do, some strangers approach them and make a curious gesture involving a wiggling of the hands and tugging of ears. This gets repeated a few times, each time more exaggerated. The strangers look confused when the PCs don't respond. Then, suddenly, they look relieved and rush past the PCs to meet a strange man at a door, which they enter.. The PCs will eventually learn this man is named Adad-karabisti.

The PCs head to the palace to join the advertised Expedition of Aratta, but learn it has already left and they are too late. They moon about for a bit in Babylon before one of them sees a familiar face – the barge-master Gishbare-kiramu. He takes them to a tavern and shares some local rumours, including that there has been a plague of people being possessed by Etemmum recently. These possessed people have been eating other people, and thus making yet more etemmum.

They head to a tavern beside the Karum and Gishbare tells them he's going to attend the Taklimtu festival in Bad-Tibira and is looking for some people to help him handle his barge. The PCs agree to help. A fight breaks out in the tavern between some burly farmers and some poncy tax-collectors over the measure of a sar of grain, and the PCs become embroiled. Gishbare suggests a quick exit afterward.

As they head back to the boat, one of the PCs notices they are being followed by the two strange ear tuggers from earlier in the day. They flee back to the boat, trying to lose them in the alleys. But when they arrive they find the two strangers have arrived ahead of them. They are slumped over the boat, both dead from arrow strikes. Searching them, they find only a few shekels and a murex coloured tattoo of a purple hand over their hearts. Gishbare and the PCs decide to leave town in a hurry.

They head off in the barge along the Iturungal Canal to the town of Kiritab. In that town, they spot the man that they had previously seen in Babylon, Adad-karabisti. He sports a composite bow over his shoulder, and is watching them. He turns and walks into a tavern, but then slips out a back way before they can find him. The PCs ask around the karum about this stranger and the trail leads to another tavern, where they find him speaking softly to some thugs, instructing them to watch the PCs. When the thugs leave, the PCs confront him and he again escapes into the alleys of the town.

That night, the PCs are attacked on the barge by Adad-karabisti and his thugs. During the attack, the barge is set afire. While Gishbare puts out the fire, the PCs attack their assailants and are presumably victorious. Searching the body of Adad-karabisti, they discover a letter on his person – a letter from a sender only identified as Gunu (which means speckled, hatched, or anointed, depending on the context.)

The letter says:

To Adad-karabisti, thus says Gunu

You will recall the conversation we had in the Saparu and Zahatu tavern in Nibbur in the month of Nisanu. At that time you mentioned your interest in a certain brotherhood whose name I shall not mention to this scribe. At that time, you were most interested in the whereabouts of a certain overseer known as the Manzu-Gal (Great Drum).

I have since made some researches and can confirm all of your suspicions. The Manzu-Gal is indeed named Kush-taklatum. He will be travelling along the Arali road from Babylon to Bad-Tibira at the end of the month of Simanu.

Herewith I enclose an impression of his seal, which bears his likeness.


And so the PCs learn that their look-alike is an official in a mysterious cult, and that this assailant has been looking for him. He has ties to Bad-Tibira, where the characters are currently heading. What could all of this mean, and what will the adventurers find in the City of the Coppersmiths? 

Find out in Episode 2: Shadows over Bad-Tibira.

This Year, Don't Forget About Lamashtu!

It's Halloween again. Here in North America, the date is marked with costumes and candy. The yards of our city are littered with the symbolism of fear. On my walk earlier today, I spotted Styrofoam tombstones, inflatable undead, plastic dismembered arms, spray-on spider webs (a spider's deathtrap), carrion crows and rats, dancing skeletons, and pumpkins carved with the faces of evil so as to ward it off.

But nowhere did I see an image of Lamaštu, that most feared of Babylonian evils.

Image Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamashtu

 

Lamaštu was one of the most dreadful beings of the Ancient Near East. She was sometimes called a demon, but like all Babylonian demons she defies easy classification in modern terms. She was the daughter of Anu, the father of the gods, but she was an outcast and a hybrid. She was often ranked among the Utukku (evil spirits) - not because she was born before the ordering of the universe like they were, but because her evil and rebellious plan to eat mankind for dinner put the gods in mind of evil spirits. For this, she was demoted from the rank of goddess to the rank of utukku, given a canine's head by Enlil, and thrown out of heaven.

There is no catalogue of her activities on earth, though she is quite famous for sucking the breath of newborns from their young bodies, thereby causing crib death. She could be turned away by showing her her own image, or that of the demon Pazuzu.

Those who could afford such things could hire an exorcist to ward her off with an incantation. Several such have been immortalized on clay tablets. If you haven't place a likeness of Lamaštu on your front yard this year, you might consider lighting a few candles, offering up a pure white lamb, and reciting one of these incantations for protection. These first two incantations against Lamaštu are quite old and come from early Aššur:

“She is singular, she is uncanny,
She is a child born late in life, she is a phantasm,
She is haunt, she is malicious,
Offspring of a god, daughter of Anu.
For her malevolent will, for her base counsel,
Anu her father dashed her down from heaven to earth,
for her malevolent will, her inflamatory council.
Her hair is askew, her loincloth is torn away.
She makes her was straight to the person without a god.
She can benumb the sinews of a lion, she can still the sinews of a youngster or infant.”

“She is furious, she is terrifying,
She is uncanny, she has an awful glamour,
She is a she-wolf, the daughter of Anu,
Her dwelling in is the grass,
Her lair is in the weeds.
She holds back the full-grown youth in rapid progress,
She yanks out by the breech the premature child,
She brains little babies,
She makes the witnesses swallow the birth fluids.
This spell is not mine; it is a spell of Ninkilim, master of spells.
Ninkarak cast it so I took it up.*"

[Source: Before the Muses: An Anthology of Akkadian Literature

Benjamin R. Foster, Third Edition 2005 CDL Press. 1044 pp.]

*Here I think this refers to Ningirin, goddess of incantations, as the composer of the spell, rather than Ninkilim, goddess of mice and rodents. Ninkarak was a name for the healing goddess, Gula. These lines mean that Ningirin composed the incantation, Ninkarak cast it, and the scribe recorded it.

This third incantation is a little younger and comes from Akkad.

“Anu begot her, Ea reared her,
Enlil doomed her the face of a lioness.
She is furious. She is long of the hand, longer still of the nail.
Her forearms are smeared with blood.
She came right in the front door, slithering over the door frame
She has caught sight of the baby!
Seven seizures has she done him in his belly!
Pluck out your nails! Let loose your arms!
Before he gets to you, valiant Ea, sage of the magical art,
The door frame is big enough for you; the doors are open.
Come, then, begone into the open country!
I will surely fill your mouth with sand, your face with dust,
Your mouth with finely ground mustard seeds!
I exorcise you by Ea's curse: you must be gone!”

[Source: Before the Muses: An Anthology of Akkadian Literature
Benjamin R. Foster, Third Edition 2005 CDL Press. 1044 pp.]

Image Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamashtu

 

Another juicy spell can be found in Karen Nemet-Nejat's wonderful introductory book: Daily Life in Ancient Mesopotamia.

“She comes up from the swamp,
is fierce, terrible, forceful, destructive, powerful:
(and still) she is a goddess, awe inspiring.
Her feet are those of an eagle, her hands mean decay.
Her fingernails are long, her armpits unshaven...
The daughter of Anu counts the pregnant women daily,
follows on the heels of those about to give birth.
She counts their months, marks their days on the wall.
Against those just giving birth she casts a spell:
“Bring me your sons, let me nurse them. 

In the mouth of your daughters I want to place my breast!”
She loved to drink bubbling human blood,
(eats) flesh not to be eaten, (picks) bones not to
be picked. (From Lamaštu series, Tablet 1)"

[Source: Daily Life in Ancient Mesopotamia

Karen Rhea Nemet-Nejat, 1998 Hendrickson Publishers. 346pp.]

OK, let's face it: it's probably too late for you to protect yourself for Halloween this year. But if you're still around next Halloween, why not throw up a likeness of Lamaštu on the front lawn? You'll be well protected, and who knows? Maybe even, like the local woman who last year strung headless Barbie dolls like garlands from tree to tree over her front walkway, become the talk of the town!

A Mythic Babylon Bibliography

Many people have commented on the quality of research in Mythic Babylon, but lamented the fact that we didn't include a bibliography in the book. The reason we didn't was purely for space, and a bibliography is the kind of thing that can easily be published on a forum or a blog just like this one! So, for those who were asking - here's the Mythic Babylon Bibliography. I've broken this down by subject matter, and the books are listed title-first rather than author-first. The list is annotated with my commentary. If a book is listed without comment, it's because it didn't move me enough to remember what I like about it!

ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN VOICES

When writing Mythic Babylon, we distilled the historical and societal information into what we think is a neat package. We didn't have room to include very much in the way of the Babylonians own voices, though, and so the very first I think of when people say they like to further their reading - to the  writings of the ancients themselves. The corpus of literature is rich. Really rich! Rabbit-hole Warning Rich!

But that's where I think you should go first. Here are some fine books that will take you back to the very distant past.

The Ancient Near East: Historical Sources in Translation
Edited by Mark W. Chavalas, 2006 Blackwell. 445pp.

This very fine volume introduces you to the voices of many eras. There are letters, decrees, hymns, and much more. This is real slice of life type stuff, and each piece is richly annotated and introduced.

The Literature of Ancient Sumer
Black, Cunningham, Robson, and Zolyomi, 2004 Oxford University Press. 372pp.

This book includes translations of key texts – a scribal curriculum, really – written in Sumerian. It probably the gold standard for Sumerian texts in English. The book deals with 'literature', which is spends some efforts to define. Letters and other more worldly correspondence are not included here.

Before the Muses: An Anthology of Akkadian Literature
Benjamin R. Foster, Third Edition 2005 CDL Press. 1044 pp.

This cinder block of a volume does for the Akkadian language what the above does for Sumerian, but it's divided up by period so you can see changes over time. Again, a gold standard.

From an Antique Land: An introduction to Ancient Near Eastern Literature
Edited by Carl S. Ehrlich, 2009 Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 506 pp.

An entertaining volume with some fun commentary from the author. This book covers a spectrum of writings by different people in different languages, with sections on Sumerian, Akkadian, Hittite, Ugaritic, Canaanite, Aramaean, Hebrew, and Egyptian. It's not quite complete (no Hurrian or Elamite, for example) but a rewarding read all the same.


Mesopotamian Chronicles
Jean-Jacques Glassner, 2004, SBL, 365pp

Prophets and Prophecy in the Ancient Near East
Martti Nissinen, 2003 SBL, 296pp

These two books from the Society of Biblical Literature explore particular writings in some depth. The first explores the chronicles of Mesopotamian kings and reveals something about how they viewed their own history. The second explores records of actual incidents of ecstatic prophecy in various time periods and tells us a little about prophets in general. Both recommended if you'd like a deep dive into something specific, but maybe not for the casual reader. Both are reviewed in more depth elsewhere on this blog.


MYTHS

Also in the category of primary voices, we weren't able to include Mesopotamian myths in all their glory – there just wasn't room. And we figured that curious readers could easily look these up online or in books. Here's a collection of publications that feature translations of myths. Some are general, others specific to a particular cycle.

Myths from Mesopotamia
Stephanie Dalley, revised edition 2000, Oxford University Press. 342pp.

Sumerian Mythology
Samuel Noah Kramer, 1972, University of Pennsylvania Press, 130pp

Jealous Gods & Chosen People: The Mythology of the Middle East
David Leeming, 2004, Oxford University Press, 150pp

The above are general studies. The first is a good overall collection for the general reader. The second is an older work by a very important and influential author, now somewhat out of date. The third didn't make a huge impression on me.


A Dictionary of Ancient Near Eastern Mythology
Gwendolyn Leick, 1991 Routledge. 226pp.

Gods, Demons, and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia
Jeremy Black and Anthony Green, 1992 The British Museum Press. 192Pp

Both of the above are dictionary type books with various entries in alphabetical order. They don't always agree with one another. Each has entries that the other lacks, so I suppose you'll want them both.


Epics of the Sumerian Kings: The Matter of Aratta
Herman Vanstiphout, 2003 Society of Biblical Literature. 176pp.

The City of Rainbows: A Tale from Ancient Sumer
Karen Foster, 1999, University Museum, University of Pennsylvania, 28pp

The first of the above is a brilliant deep dive into the collection of myths that feature the distant, and perhaps imaginary, city of Aratta. The author provides translations and discussion. The second is a small picture book that tells one of these myths in story-time fashion. It's cute and a labour of love, but there isn't much there to excite the researcher.


The Epic of Gilgamesh

Andrew George, 1999, Penguin Books, 228pp

Gilgamesh: A New English Version

Stephen Mitchell, 2004, Free Press, 290pp

There are many translations of Gilgamesh on the market. The translation by Andrew George is very highly regarded. The retelling by Mitchell is well written and accessible, but not as scholarly.


Inanna: Queen of Heaven and Earth
Diana Wolkstein and Samuel Noah Kramer, 1983, Harper & Row Publishers, 227pp

This collection by the esteemed Sumerologist Samuel Noah Kramer and foklorist Diana Wolkstein deals with the cycle of Inanna myths. It's somewhat dated, but still very enjoyable and worth a read.



RELIGION

Religions of the Ancient World: A Guide
Sarah Iles Johnson, general editor, 2004, The Bellknap Press, 697pp

This is a huge tome of comparative religion, dealing with a wide variety of specific topics and comparing the Sumerians, Akkadians, Hittites, Canaanites, and many more.


Religion in Ancient Mesopotamia
by Jean Bottero, 2001 The University of Chicago Press. 246pp.

A very good overview of the subject.


Ancient Goddesses
Lucy Goodison and Christine Morris eds., 1998, The University of Wisconsin Press, 224pp

More specific to goddesses, with some nice juicy bits for the historical detective.


The Treasures of Darkness: A History of Mesopotamian Religion

Thorkild Jacobsen, 1976, Yale University Press, 273pp

A very interesting and influential work, though perhaps a bid dated now. This offers a more theoretical framework for the religion, rather than a look at the practice. The author has some interesting and compelling ideas.


Gods in the Desert: Religion of the Ancient Near East
Glenn S. Holland, 2009, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Inc., 309pp

Religions of the Ancient Near East
Daniel C. Snell, 2011, University of Cambridge Press, 179pp

Penguin Handbook of Ancient Religions
Edited by John R. Hinnells, 2007, Penguin Books, 610pp

Three more generalist books to round out the list, all of which have something to offer.




DAILY LIFE

Daily Life in Ancient Mesopotamia
Karen Rhea Nemet-Nejat, 1998 Hendrickson Publishers. 346pp.

This is my favourite 'daily life' book for the Old Babylonian period, and the one I usually recommend.


Handbook to Life in Ancient Mesopotamia

Stephen Bertman, 2003 Oxford University Press. 396pp


Everyday Life in Ancient Mesopotamia

Jean Bottero, 2001 Johns Hopkins University Press. 276Pp

Both of the above are good. The first is broken out by topic, which makes browsing it easier. Unfortunately, it doesn't separate the time periods, so one gets the idea that life never changed over the 4000 year history of the culture. This makes it less useful for research. The second book is a more conventional read and is fine, but not as good as the Nemet-Nejat book.


Ancient Egyptian, Mesopotamian & Persian Costume
by Mary G. Houston, 2002 Dover Books, 190pp.
(essentially a reprint of the original second edition from 1954)

Somewhat dated now, but still has some use for this very specific topic.


Law Collections from Mesopotamia and Asia Minor
Martha T. Roth, 1997, SBL, 283pp

Probably the gold standard book on Ancient Near Eastern laws in English. It covers the known Mesopotamian collections, as well as that of the Hittites. The excerpts of Hammurabi's code in Mythic Babylon do not come from this book, though. For those we turned to The Oldest Code of Laws in the World by C.H.W. Johns, 1903, available on Project Gutenberg.


The Marsh Arabs

Wilfred Thesiger, 1967 Penguin. 233pp.

This is a wonderful travelogue about Thesiger's time living in the southern marshes of the Sealand. It's all to easy to imagine that not much changed between the times of Lugalzagesi and Thesiger.



HISTORIES

King Hammurabi of Babylon
Marc van de Mieroop, 2005 Blackwell Publishing. 171pp.

One of two biographies of Hammurabi that I'm aware of, and the only one I've so far been able to lay my hands on. The other is by Domenic Charpin, and affordable copies have finally come to the market – I anxiously await mine.

 

A History of the Ancient Near East ca. 3000-323 BC, Third Edition
Marc Van de Mieroop, 2015 Wiley Blackwell Publishing. 432 pp.

An excellent survey of Mesopotamian History from 3000 to 323 BC, now in it's third edition..


Mari and Karana: Two Old Babylonian Cities
Stephanie Dalley, 1984 Longman Group Ltd. 218pp.

This book looks at the relationship between the kings of these two cities who were joined by marriage. It's a bit old and possibly hard to find, but I thought it was an excellent little book for revealing some of the politics and events of Subartu.


Letters From the King of Mari
Wolfgane Heimpel, 2003, Esenbrauns, 657pp

This huge book provides a detailed look at the last 12 or so years of King Zimri-Lim's life. It tries to piece together a very complex sequence of events from (usually undated) letters from the Mari archive. It covers some of the same ground as Mari and Karana, but unlike that book, this one is not for casual readers.


The Age of Agade: Inventing Empire in Ancient Mesopotamia
Benjamin R. Foster, 2016 Routledge. 428pp.

This book deals specifically with the Akkadian period of history and with the legacy of that city. If you'd like to use Mythic Babylon but shift the action to the Akkadian period, then I definitely recommend this book.



WEAPONS AND WARFARE

Of the books below, the only two I really recommend are the ones by Hamblin and Howard. The Hamblin book is really comprehensive and covers our period, but stops at the end of the middle bronze age. The book by Howard looks a weapons in detail, from the eye of a re-enactor and re-creator. It's rather dry and has some odd bugaboos, but has information you won't find elsewhere. Both of the Osprey books tend to skirt our period, and the Wise book is now somewhat out of date.

Warfare in the Ancient Near East to 1600 BC
William J. Hamblin, 2006 Routledge 517pp.

Bronze Age Military Equipment
Dan Howard, 2011 Pen & Sword Books. 169pp.

Bronze Age Warfare
Richard Osgood, Sarah Monks, and Judith Toms, 2000 Sutton Publishing Ltd., 165pp

Bronze Age War Chariots
Nic Fields, 2006 Osprey Publishing, 48pp

Ancient Armies of the Middle East
Terence Wise, 1981, Osprey Publishing, 40pp



BOOKS ABOUT CITIES

Mesopotamia: The Invention of the City
Gwendolyn Leick, 2001, Penguin Books, 384pp

The Ancient Mesopotamian City
Marc Van de Mieroop, 2004, Oxford University Press, 269pp

The two books above are generally about Mesopotamian cities and look at them very differently. The book by Leick is one of my favourite history books ever – it gives a detailed look at 7 cities that were prominent at different times in the history of the culture and explains what as unique about them. This gives the effect of one of those 'history of the world in 100 objects' books, where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Quite a remarkable piece of writing, really. I'd love to see a sequel with 7 more cities!

The Van de Mieroop book is more a tradition survey of city life, organized by topic.

All of the books below are about specific cities. They vary in scope and some are pretty cursory (Erbil) while others more detailed (Ebla), but they all have something to contribute. Three have been reviewed elsewhere on this blog

Ur: The City of the Moon God
Harriet Crawford, 2015, Bloomsbury, 146pp

A City from the Dawn of History: Erbil in the Cuneiform Sources
John MacGinnis, 2014, Oxbow Books, 128pp

Ebla: An Empire Rediscovered
Paolo Matthiae, 1981, Doubleday & Company Inc., 237pp

Ugarit: Ras Shamra
Adrian Curtis, 1985, Lutterworth Press, 125pp




SPECIAL TOPICS

Philosophy Before the Greeks: The Pursuit of Truth in Ancient Babylonia
Marc Van de Mieroop, 2016, Princeton University Press, 312pp

A book about Babylonian systems of learning which I've reviewed elsewhere on this blog.


The Heavenly Writing: Divination, Horoscopy, and Astronomy in Mesopotamian Culture
Francesca Rochberg, 2004 Cambridge University Press, 331pp

This is mainly about astrology, and mainly about times after the OB period. I don't thin it's for the general reader.


Women in the Ancient Near East
Edited by Mark W. Chavalas, 2014, Routledge, 319pp

This one was a bit disappointing for a rather pedestrian treatment of a subject matter that deserved more.


The Horse, The Wheel, and Language
David W. Anthony, 2007, Princeton University Press, 553pp

A lengthy and detailed look at the cultures of the Pontic steppe and the origins of chariotry.



ATLASES AND GAZETEERS

The Routledge Handbook of The Peoples and Places of Ancient Western Asia
Trevor Bryce, 2009, Routledge, 887pp

This massive tome lists hundreds of Ancient Near Eastern cities with encyclopedic entries, telling where they were, when they were inhabited, and often offering some anecdotes and other information. The book is alphabetical, and there is no chronological index, so if you just want Kassite cities, you have to scan all the entries to find them. It was a hugely useful book for me, and yet despite it's scope, still missed a few rather obvious cities.

Several atlases are listed below. The two best are Roaf and Hunt, probably in that order. Both are large, picture-book type affairs that will have broad appeal. The atlas by Bryce is meant to be a companion to the Handbook mentioned above, but it makes some errors and I found the treatment to be too cursory. The Haywood atlas is a broad survey and lighter than the Roaf and Hunt books.

Atlas of the Ancient Near East from Prehistorical Times to the Roman Imperial Period
Trevor Bryce and Jessie Birkett-Rees, 2016 Routledge. 318pp.

The Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient Civilizations
John Haywood, 2005, Penguin Books, 144pp

Cultural Atlas of Mesopotamia and the Ancient Near East
Michael Roaf, 1990, Andromeda Books, 238pp

Historical Atlas of Ancient Mesopotamia
Norman Bancroft Hunt, 2004, Thalamus Publishing, 190pp


SURVEYS AND COMPENDIA

The Babylonian World

Edited by Gwendolyn Leick, 2007, Routledge, 590pp

A Companion to the Ancient Near East

Edited by Daniel C. Snell, 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 538pp

The Sumerian World

Harriet Crawford, 2013, Routledge, 659pp

This category is for broad spectrum histories where the author covers the whole shebang in a single book. The three listed above are compendia, collecting a variety of articles on specific subjects and by different authors, then organizing them in a cohesive fashion. These types of books are better for filling in the corners than as a starting point because the big picture often isn't complete, but each article can give a deep dive into something specific. The effect is rather like what you get when you try to use a pellet gun to cut out the shape of a red star at a carnival midway.

The books below generally make better introductions. I think the first three are the best. The Kriwaczek book surprised me for its quality as it's written by a journalist instead of a historian. These books are listed more or less in order of their utility to a general reader. The ones closer to the bottom cover more specific topics. The Ascalone book is largely a picture book, which some people might find useful.

 

Babylon: Mesopotamia and the Birth of Civilization
Paul Kriwaczek, 2010, Thomas Dunne Books. 310 pp.

The Rise and Fall of Babylon: Gateway of the Gods
Anton Gill, 2008 Metro Books. 192pp.

Early Mesopotamia: Society and Economy at the Dawn of History
J.N. Postgate 1992, Routledge, 367pp

Civilizations of Ancient Iraq
Benjamin R. And Karen Polinger Foster, 2009, Princeton University Press, 297pp

Babylon, John Oates, 1979
Thames & Hudson Ltd., 215pp

The Babylonians: an introduction
Gwendolyn Leick, 2003, Routledge, 182pp

Mesopotamia: Assyrians, Sumerians, Babylonians
Enrico Ascalone, University of California Press, 2007, 368pp

Ancient Mesopotamia
Susan Pollock, 1999, Cambridge University Press, 259pp

Sumer and the Sumerians, Second Ed.
Harriet Crawford, 2004, Cambridge University Press, 252pp

Civliization Before Greece and Rome

H.W.F. Saggs, 1989, Yale University Press, 322pp

This was the first book I read on the subject - the one that started it all. A chance find pulled from my father's large shelf of much more modern history.  

The Ancient Orient: An Introduction to the Study of the Ancient Near East

Wolfram von Soden, 1994, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 263pp

Early Urbanism on the Syrian Euphrates

Lisa Cooper, 2006, Routledge, 313

Ancient Mesopotamia at the Dawn of Civilization: The Evolution of an Urban Landscape

Guillermo Algaze, 2008, The University of Chicago Press, 230pp

Dictionary of the Ancient Near East

Edited by Piotr Bienkowski and Allan Millard, 2000, British Museum Press, 342pp



FURTHER AFIELD

These books cover places outside of our core area and really just scratch the surface.

Dilmun and its Neighbours

Harriet Crawford, 1998, Cambridge University Press, 170pp

The Hittites and their contemporaries in Asia Minor

J.G. Macqueen, 1986, Thames and Hudson Ltd., 176pp

Arabia and the Arabs From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam

Robert G. Hoyland, 2001, Routledge, 324pp

Ancient Canaan & Israel: An Introducton

Jonathan M. Golden, 2004, Oxford University Press, 413pp

The Hyksos Period in Ancient Egypt

Charlotte Booth, 2005, Shire Publications Ltd., 56pp

The Lost World of Elam: Re-creation of a Vanished Civilization
Walther Hinz, 1972, Sidgwick & Jackson, 192pp

Ancient Cyprus

Veronica Tatton-Brown, 1997, British Museum Press, 96pp


PAPERS

Rounding out our research, we consulted a number of papers, most of which can be found at Academia.Net or JSTOR. Others were brought to my attention by the Ancient World On Line blog (AWOL) or Ancient Near East Today (ANET). These are presented in no particular order.

Old Babylonian Personal Names, Marten Stol, 1991

Hurrians and Hurrian Names in the Mari Texts, Jack M. Sasson, 1974

Thy name is slave?: The slave onomasticon of Old Babylonian Sippar, Lieselot Vandorpe 2010

Urbanisn and Society in the Third Millenium Upper Khabur Basin, Jason Alik Ur, 2004 Dissertation

The Architectural Defense: Fortified Settlements of the Levant During the Middle Bronze Age, Aaron Alexander Burke, 2004 Dissertation

The Other and the Enemy in the Mesopotamian Conception of the World, Beate Pongratz-Leisten, 2001

Growing in a Foreign World: For a History of the “Meluhha Villages” in Mesopotamia in the 3rd Millenium BC, Massimo Vidale, 2004

Back to the Cedar Forest: The Beginning and End of Tablet V of the Standard Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh, F.N.H. Al-Rawi and A. R. George, 2014 ASOR

Lists of Personal Names From The Temple School of Nippur, Edward Chiera 1916

Trade, Merchants, and the Lost Cities of the Bronze Age, Barjamovic, Chaney, Cosar, & Hotascsu 2017

Rebuilding Eden in the Land of Eridu, Marco Ramazzotti, 2017 ANEToday Vol 5 No9

Masculinities and Third Gender: Gendered Otherness in the Ancient Near East, Ilan Peled, 2017, ANEToday Vol 5 No2

The Mesopotamian Pandemonium: A Provisional Census, Frans A.M. Wiggerman, 2011

Lists of Personal Names from the Temple School of Nippur, Edward Chiera, 1916

The Ilkum Institution in the Provincial Administration of Larsa During the Reign of Hammurapi (1792-1750 B.C.), Miki Yokoyama Ishikida, 1999

Nuzi Personal Names, Ignace J. Gelb, Pierre M. Purves, and Allan A. MacRae, 1943, University of Chicago Press

Hurrians and Subarians, Ignace J. Gelb, 1944 University of Chicago Press

Storm Gods of the Ancient Near East, Parts I and II, Daniel Schwemer 2008

Transtigridian Snake Gods, F.A.M. Wiggerman, 1997



WEBSITES

In addition to the websites listed in the book, these also proved useful:

Iconography of Deities and Demons in the Ancient Near East, various electronic pre-publication entries.

http://www.religionswissenschaft.uzh.ch/idd/prepublication.php

The Ancient Near East Today offers a website and journal, quite good.

https://www.asor.org/anetoday

If you don't already know about Mythic Babylon and would like to learn more, check out the Design Mechanism Forums. It can be found for purchase at these locations:

Design Mechanism Store / Lulu / DriveThru RPG / Aeon Games (UK)

Reading City of Djinns, by William Dalrymple

City of Djinns by William Dalrymple, 1993, 350pp

I first read this many years ago and decided to re-read it again after I finished Rudyard Kipling's Kim with my book club. 

The subtitle, A Year in Delhi tells you pretty much exactly what you get - an account of Dalrymple and his wife's time in Delhi. Like most travelogues, this book features a few of the  trials and tribulations associated with travel and living in a new place, but it offers much more than that. During his stay, Dalrymple delved into the history of the city, and the reader is treated to a book that weaves back and forth in time, telling us what the city as like way back when, an then revealing it again in 1993. 

He covers a wide variety of topics, from historic people and places to the state of modern eunuchry, partridge fighting, and sufism. And the book has some great characters, like partridge aficionado Punjab Singh (whose name is surely an Indian version of Indiana Jones) and the archaeologist B.B. Lal. For a GM like me who likes to infuse their made up worlds with the verisimilitude of the real world, these characters are inspiration gold. It's these characters and some of the situations they find themselves in that I'd like to share with you here today.

One of the more interesting characters in the book is Pir Syed Mohammed Sarmadi, a very successful fraudulent dervish. Dalrymple describes him as -

"A hugely fat sufi with a mountainous turban, and elephantine girth, and a great ruff of double chins, he operates one of the most profitable faith healing businesses in India. One of Sarmadi's forebears was beheaded by the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb after he wandered into the imperial presence stark naked, shrieking out sufi poetry."

"Everyday, Sarmadi sits cross-legged in his surgery between ten and five, with a short break for a kebab at lunch. It is a small room, and Sarmadi fills a great deal of it. Its walls are lined with powders and sacred texts, framed monograms of Arabic calligraphy and pictures of the Ka'ba at Mecca. There is a continuous queue of folk waiting to see him, and Sarmadi keeps the queue moving. Each petitioner gets about two minutes of his time. Sarmadi will listen, breaking his concentration only to clean his fingernails or to gob into his golden spittoon. When finished, Sarmadi will wave his peacock fan and blow over the petitioner, recite a bit of the Quran, write out a charm or a sacred number, and place it in an amulet. He will then dismiss the supplicant, having first received his fee of fifty rupees, a week's wage for an Indian labourer."

Sarmadi seems to come from a long line of such Sufis, so with a little research, one could round fill out a full faction of them: https://reflectionsofindia.com/2014/07/22/sufisarmad/

Dalrymple also relates some of the stories of past visitors, like Dargah Quli Khan, who visited the city between 1737 and 1741 and reports on the local orgies:

"Hand in hand, the lovers roam the streets, while [outside] the drunken and debauched revel in all kinds of perversities. Groups of winsome lads violate the faith of the believers with acts which are sufficient to shake the very roots of piety. There are beautiful faces as far as the eye can see. All around prevails a world of impiety and immorality. Both nobles and plebeians quench the thirst of their lust here."

Dalrymple later reflects on the modern city: 

"Modern Delhi is thought of either as a city of grey bureaucracy, or as the metropolis of hard-working nouveau riche Punjabis. It is rarely spoken of as a lively city, and never as a promiscuous one. Yet, as I discovered that in December, the bawdiness of Safdar Jung's Delhi does survive, kept alive by one particular group of Delhi-wallahs. You can still find them in the dark gullies of the old city, if you know where to look."

Through Dalrymple, we are  exposed to the 17th Century writings of Niccolau Manucci, son of a Venetian trader who ran away from home at 14 to become a con artist, trickster, and artilleryman in 1660's India. It is partly through his eyes that we learn of Shah Jahan and his in-fighting children Dara, Aurangzeb, Jaharana, and Roshanara.

Of Aurangzeb, he says:

" Although Aurangzeb was held to be bold and valiant, he was capable of great dissimulation and hypocrisy. Pretending to be an ascetic, he slept while in the field on a mat of straw that he had himself woven . . . He ate food that cost little and let it be known that he underwent severe penances and fasting. All the same, under cover of these pretenses he led a secret and jolly life of it. His intercourse was with certain holy men addicted to sorcery, who instructed him how to bring over to his side as many friends as he could with witchcraft and soft speeches. He was so subtle as to deceive even the quickest witted people."

 And Dalrymple tells us of Ibn Battutah, who resided for 8 years in Delhi in the 1330's and 40's with Sultan Muhammad bin Tughluk as a patron. Now, the sultan was a complete bastard (in a pique of anger at the citizens of Delhi, he once gave the entire citizenry 3 days to completely remove themselves to another city 40-days walk away, and when a blind man and a cripple were found still in the city, he had one ejected by catapult, and the other dragged to the new city behind a horse (only his leg arrived). But the sultan liked Battutah (mostly) and at one point decided to send him on a diplomatic mission to China.

Battutah found himself at the head of an entourage of 1000 mounted bodyguards and a long train of camels carrying gifts, such as 100 concubines, 100 Hindu dancing girls, gold candelabras, brocades, swords, and gloves embroidered with pearls. Behind the camels came the most valuable gift of all - a thousand thoroughbred horses from Turkestan.

But only 100 miles into his journey, his train was attacked by Hindu rebels (the country was full of rebels) and Battutah was separated from his group and captured. He managed to escape and re-join his party. At Calicut on the Malabar coast, he loaded everything onto four dhows to sail to China, but lingered on shore for Friday prayers. A sudden storm blew up, grounding and breaking up the boats. The slaves, troops, and horses all drowned. Not daring to return to Delhi, he hightailed it to China on his own.

I'll return to Ibn Battutah in a future post, and maybe we'll also look at another travel writer - Tim Mackintosh Smith - who not only wrote an annotated translation of The Travels of Ibn Battutah, but also Travels With a Tangerine: A Journey in the Footnotes of Ibn Battutah.

As for Dalrymple,  he's an evocative writer and I found this book a pleasure to read. It won two awards, has been adapted into a play, and (I'm quite sure, though it doesn't say so on Wikipedia) was turned into a television series in the UK. Here's the Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_Djinns