So, I've realized that in my haste to post all these chapters I've neglected to provide my dear readers with proper dates! So, for the major events that have occurred, the dates are as follows:
Kish gains the Kingship for the first time: around 2900 BC
Reign of Gilgamesh in Uruk: around 2600 BC
Elamite Dynasty in Sumer: around 2500 BC
Reign of Eannatum in Lagash: around 2400 BC
Reign of Lugal-Anne-Mundu in Adab: around 2450 BC
Reign of Kug-Bau in Kish: around the later 2400s BC
The Mari-Ebla War: 2300s BC
Reign of Lugal-Zage-Si in Umma and Uruk: c. 2296 BC-2271 BC
Reign of Sargon in Akkad: c. 2270 BC-2215 BC
I will endeavor to no place a year of occurrence at the beginning of every chapter.
Chapter 8: The First True Empire
c. 2190 BC
The city of Uruk was dead quiet.
The streets, normally bustling with farmers, laborers, and merchants going about their business, were now empty and silent in the night air. Nary a light shined from a window, and the air was still. It was almost suffocating.
"Things have changed so much since I was last here…" Uruk remarked, walking down the abandoned road to the central temple. Lagash, walking by his side, grunted disapprovingly.
"Maybe that's because we're sneaking around in the middle of the night, don't you think?" he muttered sardonically, earning a glare from Uruk. However, Uruk's gaze immediately softened (as he was finding it now often did) when he took in the state of his brother. Lagash had been one of the strongest among them, proud and nearly unbeatable in battle. Now he walked with a limp, his left arm hanging in a sling across his chest. His hair, once short and choppy, had been allowed to grow long and ragged, obscuring the most significant change to his person: his face. Akkad had certainly done his work well. Lagash's visage was nearly unrecognizable from his formerly youthful appearance; scars cut across his face, seemingly at random, intercepting his eyes, mouth, and nose at strange angles. His right ear was nothing but a stump on the side of his head, and a wide scar came out of the side of his mouth and continued up to that stump where his cheek had been torn open. Lagash caught Uruk staring, and glared in return.
"I don't need your pity." he growled, "This is nothing. Once I'm healed up, we'll take the fight to Akkad and end this accursed empire, maybe even save Ur if he hasn't been killed yet. Sargon is dead. He'll be weak. All we need do is strike." Uruk let out a sympathetic breath. He doubted Akkad would be as easy to fell as Adab, or even Lagash himself after Eannatum had died. He was about to communicate his concerns when he heard footsteps; approaching from behind. He grabbed Lagash and rushed him into a nearby (and thankfully empty) building, hiding behind the door frame. Lagash took a peek out the window for a split-second and then ducked down, mouthing the words 'Akkadian patrol' to Uruk. They waited until the footsteps faded and the night was silent again, and then emerged from their refuge.
"Akkad obviously wants to keep a strong grip on your city." Lagash noted, continuing down the path towards the temple at an accelerated pace.
"Yes," Uruk replied, "which is why we must take it from him. Once we rule our cities again our injuries will heal properly and our strength will be restored." Lagash nodded in agreement, and before long the temple was within their sight. They entered the courtyard, Uruk watching the entrance to make sure no priests or guards were awake. Lagash surveyed the courtyard, eyes wandering until they eventually stopped on a corpse that lay in its center. A familiar corpse. He boiled with anger and defeat at the same time.
"So it is true," he whispered, "Kish is dead." Uruk turned, saw the corpse, and nodded, his gaze darkening. He kneeled by the cadaver of his elder brother and caressed his face, not speaking a word. Lagash stood by, uncomfortably. He hadn't wanted to believe it until now. He wanted to believe that out of all of them, maybe Kish could have survived. And if he had, maybe Umma had too. But now he knew, and had really known all along, that his hope had been in vain. Sumer's champion was dead, replaced by a dictator.
"We should administer the proper rites in the temple." he finally said, "It's only right." Uruk nodded, tenderly lifting Kish's corpse and reverently taking it into the temple. They pushed the central altar aside, moving the great stone from its place in the center of the room and revealing the dry earth beneath it. Uruk went to work, digging into the ground with vigor and force, while Lagash tended to Kish's body. He changed him out of his bloodied armor and into royal linens, cleaning his face of blood and grime. Once he was done, Kish could have been sleeping. If only he was. Together, Uruk and Lagash lowered the body of their brother into the newly dug grave, and administered his final rights, giving up his soul to Ereshkigal and the world beneath. No words were spoken. None were needed.
Akkad stood in a small room deep within his administrative center, where but a single porthole provided light for him to see the map laid out before him; a map of the known world. There was his domain, at the base of the Tigris and the Euphrates and the Persian Gulf. To the east, in the mountains, were barbaric nomads and that Elam fool he had conquered a few years back. Even further in that direction was the mysterious land of Meluhha, but it was of no concern to him. To the west was Egypt, possible future conquest but too far for Akkad to handle now with the insurrectionist movements that had spawned after Sargon's death. Rimush had proven incapable of handling such issues, and Manishtushu seemed just as incompetent. Ah, how Akkad longed for the impassioned rule of Sargon. He turned back to the map, clearing his head of these thoughts, and began to look north towards Syria when he heard a knock upon the door.
"Enter." he ordered curtly, and saw Ur enter out of the corner of his eye. The nation patiently waited for Akkad to take the heavy clay tablet the map was carved upon and place it aside, turning to look at his subordinate after a few seconds.
"Speak." he commanded, and Ur obliged.
"Manishtushu has been assassinated." he said quickly, and Akkad cursed.
"Is there a successor in place?" he asked, pacing the length of the room.
"Yes," Ur replied, "Naram-Sin, grandson of Sargon." Akkad stopped, nodding.
"That's good." he muttered, "That is very good. Send him to me once he has been crowned. We have much to discuss." Ur nodded hesitantly.
"Shouldn't you be more worried about the chaos that will arise in the wake of Manishtushu's death? Uruk or Lagash may seek to take advantage of this opportunity to challenge you rule." he remarked. Akkad turned to Ur, a dangerous glint in his eye.
"Are you suggesting that, only three kings after Sargon, my empire is already growing weak?" he growled venomously. Ur was unperturbed.
"It may very well be." he spat back, "You would do well not to underestimate my brothers." The two of them stood across from each other, glaring. Eventually, Akkad looked away.
"I am sure Naram-Sin will prove capable." he said decisively, "He has Sargon's blood running in his veins, after all." He rounded on Ur, staring pointedly into his eyes.
"I have a vision, Ur," he muttered, "and it transcends the abilities and powers of you and your brothers. Mesopotamia will be mine, the gods have decreed it. Soon, you will see I am right. And when you do, you will join me." With that he exited the room, leaving a disturbed Ur to stand among the clay tablets.
"Have you heard, Uruk?" Lagash said, approaching his brother as he returned from his trip into Ur, "Manishtushu is dead. Assassinated by his own court." Uruk perked up, a curious gleam in his eye.
"Maybe we could take advantage of the chaos that follows, try to win our cities back." he proposed, "We were chased out of my city by the Akkadian guard last time after our visit to the temple, but they could be diverted to the capital while the new king struggles to assert his authority." Lagash shook his head dejectedly.
"Even if we could, and I doubt it, the new king would never allow us to keep our lands." he grumbled, "Naram-Sin is the grandson of Sargon. I hear once he solidifies his control over Sumer, he's going to lead campaigns into the north to truly capture all of Mesopotamia. Unless he is a complete fool, he knows he can keep us in check." Uruk cursed, and Lagash climbed onto the cart that his brother had been guarding with measured effort. Uruk noticed and grew concerned.
"Your arm, is it bothering you?" he asked, reaching in the back of the cart for some herbs. Lagash waved him off.
"I'm fine, I'm fine;" he said, "weren't you listening, though? Naram-Sin's going north. I don't doubt Mari will be his next target, and after that maybe even Ebla. They'll be nothing but bugs under Akkad's heel with the way they've been fighting each other." Uruk paused, and then stood up suddenly.
"I have to warn them." he decided, seemingly on the spot. Lagash looked up at him incredulously.
"Are you kidding?" he asked, "How are you even going to get to them?" Uruk sat back down, urging on the donkey tethered to the front of the cart.
"If we get going now, we can get past Akkad before Naram-Sin has time to organize his forces." he explained, "Mari and Ebla don't deserve to suffer the same fate we did. Kish…he cared about them, I know it. He wouldn't want them to have to go through this." Lagash stared at his brother a moment longer before shrugging and smiling, accepting the situation.
"What the heck," he replied, "Might as well, we've got nothing better to do." They started north, ready to warn Ebla and Mari of the incoming danger.
Ebla was managing the payment of a few Egyptian merchants when she heard the commotion and one of the many entrances to her city. Curious, she rushed the payment of the Egyptians (probably underpaying them, but what the hell) and made her way to the entrance, where she was met with a cart pulled by a donkey that looked like it had been driven for a week straight. In the cart was some sort of hermit, his arm in a sling and his hair matted. Behind the hermit was a more civilized looking man, hair cut at the shoulders and done in braids, some of which had unraveled. He also had a long and scraggly beard, a strange contrast to his more controlled haircut. Both the men looked exhausted, but upon seeing Ebla the second one began to wave her over urgently. Warily, she obliged.
"Ebla!" the second man exclaimed, "Thank An we've found you! We have to warn you about the attack!" Ebla stared at him, utterly confused.
"Attack?" she asked, "What attack? And how do you know me? Who are you?" The man briefly became confused as well, before he began to laugh, albeit nervously.
"Oh! Sorry," he replied, "I guess I look a little different from the last time we met. It's me, Uruk!" Ebla approached him and observed him skeptically. It was Uruk, alright. Just…more worn, she thought. Maybe even more mature.
"Who is your companion?" she asked, motioning to the hermit.
"You've never met him," Uruk explained, "he's Lagash, my younger brother." Lagash gave a half-hearted wave, and Ebla decided he was unimportant to this particular dealing. Uruk seemed to be the one with the information and the willingness to share it.
"You said something about an attack." she demanded, turning to Uruk, "What do you mean?" Uruk's expression grew solemn, and he explained the situation to her as quickly as he could.
"A few decades ago, a city-state called Akkad took control over all of Sumer. He recently acquired a new ruler, Naram-Sin, and we caught wind that he's going to be leading campaigns north. Akkad crushed all of Sumer when he struck us. If you don't work with Mari to repel his forces, you don't stand a chance." Ebla took this information in, and decided to probe for more.
"Mari is south of here," she remarked, "Surely you've already visited her. I'm going to guess she wasn't open to the whole alliance idea?" Uruk's shoulders sagged, and Ebla had her answer.
"No," he admitted, "but we thought we'd warn you anyway. Maybe you can convince her to change her mind." Ebla shook her head.
"I doubt it," she said, "but what about Kish?" Uruk seemed taken aback by the question, and Ebla decided to push further, curious.
"Surely he's the one who sent you to warn us?" she asked, "I haven't seen him in decades, but I know that he would want to aid Mari and I against this threat, this Akkad. Where is he?" Uruk was silent for a moment, and when he answered, Ebla could hardly hear him. But she did hear him.
"Kish was murdered by Akkad during his rise to power. I'm sorry." he whispered, and only then did the true gravity of the situation hit Ebla. This Akkad, whoever he was, had killed Kish. The Kish who had defeated nations to defend his brothers. The Kish who would do anything, anything to make sure Sumer was a safe place for his family. Kish, whom she had loved as a friend, and, dare she even think it, something even more than that. The world seemed to tunnel in to just her and Uruk, and when she looked back into his eyes she knew it for a fact.
Kish was dead.
Her spirits plummeted, but she felt her heart harden with a steely resolve. She would face this Akkad and she would crush him. She would make him feel pain in ways he could never even imagine. She was a trading empire, but Ishtar willing she would, just this once, become a military power strong enough to defeat this faceless menace. For Mari. For Kish. She brushed past Uruk, preparing to make a call to arms. She turned back towards the cart, and shared a last solemn glance with Uruk.
"Thank you." she told him.
Mari sat near a lake, miles away from her city, and thought. Uruk had left a few days ago, and by his warning Akkad's forces would be approaching any minute now. She should go back to her city; she should face him. She should, but she was just too much of a mess to deal with that right now. Uruk had told her that allying with Ebla was her only chance of victory. Yeah, right. What kind of victory would that be? Ebla had betrayed her, gone behind her back with Kish of all people to stifle her growth. What kind of older sister did that? She hated her, hated her so much. Just thinking about made her blood boil.
"Argh!" she screamed, picking up a stone and throwing it across the plains. She took a few deep breaths, sinking back towards the ground. She hated her sister. So then why did part of her so desperately want to make amends? Ebla had betrayed her. She had done nothing wrong here! Ebla deserved to get crushed by Akkad, to be humiliated in the same way that she had humiliated Mari. She didn't care about, Mari, so Mari shouldn't give a damn about her! But, at the same time, Mari couldn't help but recall all the time she had spent with her older sister. Good times. When they would go off with the trading caravans to visit Egypt, or see Canaan. When Kish would visit, and they would exchange stories around a campfire into the late hours of the night. There was so much she had loved about her sister back then. Love that was now being forced to compete with hate. And Mari just couldn't decide which one she wanted. Maybe she should just sit this one out. Maybe Ebla would win, and Mari could just deal with this after the whole Akkad thing was resolved. Maybe—
Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by clangs of metal and the screams of fighting men. She whirled around, and in the distance she could see a mass of warriors fighting near the edges of her city. Had Akkad arrived? Then why was there fighting? Mari's troops hadn't prepared for battle, she'd decided she wasn't going to fight. Then who was fighting Akkad?
Fine, then! We warned you Mari! Come on, Lagash, maybe we'll have better luck with Ebla.
Uruk had gone to warn Ebla. Could it be? Had Ebla… had Ebla really come to her aid? Mari started towards the battle, soon breaking into sprint. Her sister had come to help her. She really cared, she really did! If they could win this battle together, maybe they could finally go back to the way things were. Maybe then they could convince Kish to come back from his stupid Kingship thing in Sumer, and then maybe they could all be together again, like a family, like they should be. Maybe—
"You embarrass yourself, woman!" came a voice from the fray, piercing through Mari's jumbled hopes like a blade through skin. She turned towards it, seeing a man with shoulder-length braided hair and short blade locked in combat with her sister. An, Ebla looked horrible. She was cut up all over, and her usually braided hair had come undone, matted with blood and clinging to her face. The man seemed to have the advantage, and Mari froze as he yelled:
"I'll kill you, you know! If you don't surrender, I'll have no choice! I will have all of Mesopotamia! The gods are on my side!" he struck Ebla's blade with incredible force, driving her back. Ebla clutched her sword arm in pain, and glared at her attacker with nothing short of pure hate.
"You delusional freak!" she screamed, "You really think the gods would want this? You slaughter everyone, for what? So you can control the world? What's the world worth if you've left no one in it!" The man approached her slowly, bringing his blade to his side.
"You fail to see the bigger picture," he growled, "Single rule will create peace and prosperity in Mesopotamia as there never has been before! If you would just surrender, there would be no need for this!"
"Never, murderer!" Ebla spat, "You've killed Kish, and I refuse to take the side of a cold-blooded killer!" she rushed the man and their blades clashed, sparking off each other. Despite Ebla's efforts, it was clear the man had the advantage. Soon he had disarmed her, and was holding her by the throat.
"Now," he demanded, "Surrender to the forces of Naram-Sin and Akkad." Ebla smiled.
"I'd need ten shekels for that." The man yelled in frustration and brought his blade across Ebla's throat, unleashing a torrent of blood that stained his face and armor. She collapsed to the ground, and only then did Mari's brain begin to process everything that had just occurred.
Kish was dead. And his killer had just slit her sister's throat.
"No!" she shrieked, voice ringing out across the battlefield. She rushed the man, shoving him down and away from the crumpled form of Ebla. She grabbed her sister's face, searching it desperately for some sign of life, for some sign of Ebla, for some sign that there was still a chance things could end up okay.
There was nothing. Ebla's eyes were dark and lifeless.
"No…" Mari croaked, tears streaming down her face, "No, no no no no, please, no…" This couldn't be happening. This couldn't be happening. Ebla couldn't be dead. Not when Mari had never gotten a chance to tell her that she was forgiven. Not when the last words they had ever shared were ones that shouldn't have been said. This wasn't how things were supposed to go. It couldn't be, it just couldn't—
Mari felt the cold sting of bronze on her neck.
"Another one?" came the voice of her sister's murderer, "I'd ask your name, but I'm in no mood for pleasantries." Mari's pulse quickened and the blade stilled, anticipating the one motion that would end her life, but it never came.
"Please, Akkad, stop!" came another voice, this one softer and kinder, "You don't need to kill her! The battle is won!" After a few seconds, the blade was removed from Mari's throat.
"Fine." Akkad replied, venom apparent, "But I won't leave her a city to oppose me from." He gave some orders to his men, but Mari could hardly hear over the ringing in her ears. A bright light appeared in the peripherals of her vision. At first she ignored it. But eventually she realized that they had set her city ablaze.
She sat on the battlefield as her world burned to ashes.
Haha, more death and sadness! This officially concludes the first arc that will occur in Sumer, and for the next few chapters we'll be breaking away to explore other things that happened while Sumer witnessed the formation of the Akkadian Empire, like pyramid construction in Egypt and fancy plumbing in the Indus Valley!
As for the history, its pretty self-explanatory. After Sargon died, Rimush and Manishtushu proved to be ineffective rulers who were (both!) assassinated. However, when Naram-Sin came to power he revived the Akkadian war machine and forged northward, conquering the great Eblaite trading empire and destroying both the cities of Ebla and Mari. For now, the Akkadian Empire is at its strongest and no one dares oppose their rule.
Finally, I'd like to give a shout out to runedragen33, who provided me with my first and only (so far) review! Thanks so much for the encouragement, I'm glad someone is enjoying what I'm doing and honestly that's the kind of stuff that keeps me writing. Thanks!
New arc will begin either tomorrow or the next day, depending on my schedule. Till then!
