A novelette of the rise of moral authority*
This is a historical fiction set in a time that seems to be overlooked by historical writers. It follows a righteous man from UR to Babylon in the desert by the early grass, and till the journey of faith settled later, not far from the Atlantis of the Sands. The novelette gives the unfamiliar reader of these times insight into ancient Mesopotamia’s world and lives.
Excerpt:
I was surprised to know that the classy woman among the crowd was Iltani, King Hammurabi’s sister, offering date cakes for the masses. She was one of the high priestesses who belonged to the Marduk temple. She was sitting on a chair, next to me, leasing her orchard to someone.
She asked me, “what is your name?”
El-Ali, I replied. She asked me to witness the contract. I did while she was still paying attention to the righteous man’s speech.
I already knew that priests and priestesses were equals to the King in power and honor. They were mediators between their deities and the people.
“Marduk protects us; look how he destroyed Tiamat when she sponsored chaos, vengeance, and destruction after being a caring deity, “she said.
“These are mere names bearing no significance which you have coined, you and your forefathers, for which God has revealed no authority for their worship,” the righteous man said.
“That is what you think, but I have a deity to feed, cloth, and serve,” the classy priestess said and left us.
I stayed with the minority who followed the righteous man, whereas the rest of the audients dropped out. He concluded that these idol-worshippers go after nothing but mere conjectures and the fancies of their minds. They will not respond to the proper guidance to worship God unless shaken with a chaos by a real Tiamat.
There was no more time to wait and try to read people’s purposes. When the righteous man met with such ignorance, he decided to continue his emigration leaving few monotheist Babylonians.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *Material should not be published in another periodical before at least one year has elapsed since publication in Whispering Dialogue. *أن لا يكون النص قد تم نشره في أي صحيفة أو موقع أليكتروني على الأقل (لمدة سنة) من تاريخ النشر. *All content © 2021 Whispering Dialogue or respective authors and publishers, and may not be used elsewhere without written permission. جميع الحقوق محفوظة للناشر الرسمي لدورية (هَمْس الحِوار) Whispering Dialogue ولا يجوز إعادة النشر في أيّة دورية أخرى دون أخذ الإذن من الناشر مع الشكر الجزيل
