Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2011 17:02:46 +0100 From: A.K. <andrej@andrejkoymasky.com> Subject: Hiram the Phoenician 3/4 (historical) ---------------------------- HISTORY OF HIRAM THE PHOENICIAN A short Legend found in the Ancient Mesopotamia By Andrej Koymasky © 2011 Written on August 9, 2002 Translated by the Author English text kindly revised by Richard ----------------------------- USUAL DISCLAIMER "HISTORY OF HIRAM THE PHOENICIAN" is a gay story, with some parts containing graphic scenes of sex between males. So, if in your land, religion, family, opinion and so on this is not good for you, it will be better not to read this story. But if you really want, or because YOU don't care, or because you think you really want to read it, please be my welcomed guest. ----------------------------- 6 - HIRAM GOES BACK TU URUK Soon the beautiful Hiram, the hand of Melqart be upon him, met a Sumerian knight who readily recognised him and whole heartedly welcomed him. The knight told him that all the land was singing his praises with the utmost joy, as he with his warning saved the land of the Sumerians from the exterminating plague, that had devastated the neighbouring lands. The knight also told him that the king was waiting to see him again at the palace to richly reward him and to honour him for his good deed. Hiram was glad to hear these words and hoped he could carry on the mission in honour of his god, the powerful Melqart, the patron of the true love between men, and of the love between the true men. As soon as he got in Uruk, he went at once to his house, which he found exactly as he had left it. His assistant had done a fine job of keeping it during his absence. Master and assistant were really joyful to have met again, and discussed the news for a long time. Hiram related to his young assistant the call he got when he was in the desert. But this was beyond his assistants ability to understand. The assistant let loose with an outburst, "What would be a god who preaches love between men? Two men can take pleasure one in another, but not love! Only between a male and a female can there be real love! In our land such a thing as you want to make me believe in has never been heard of! It seems that the plague did in some way blur your mind!" So Hiram changed the subject and they talked about other matters. His companion told Hiram, on which be the hand of god, that one of the four royal statues that were put up as a protection around the king's throne had been damaged. They had been moulded for the king by the old potter. The assistant had not be able to repair it. He therefore was happy that Hiram was finally back, so that he could help him carry out this important work. Soon the news of Hiram's return spread all over the city. Not much time passed before messengers from the royal court came to escort Hiram, on which be the power of Melqart, to a royal audience. They didn't escort him to the palace, but to the wide gathering area outside the city walls, that was to them the most sacred place. Hiram, the hand of god be on him, had the feeling that something unusual was happening. When he reached the clearing, in fact , he saw all the priests, wizards and soothsayers gathered around the throne of the great King Vaylum, the lord of all the surrounding lands. The king was sitting on his throne, his face was gloomy with frowning glances. The ceremonial head went to the orators' tribune and opened the gathering, "O you, great and wise men of the empire! We are gathered today because our august sovereign last night had a dream that greatly scared him. For this reason we have summoned to this place all the priests, wizards, and soothsayers so that they can try to explain the meaning of the dream. "This is the dream that our sovereign saw. There was a great fire floating towards the palace. It was moving in this direction and was destroying all it found along its way. Then it spread all over the entire city. Nobody was able to save themselves. In front of this tide of fire everybody was powerless like new born babies. Then a tongue of fire surrounded a group of young men, and they were not scared but sang praises and danced because the fire chose them, and entered into their bodies and spirits.Ó "This vision greatly disturbed the soul of our illustrious king. The king could not understand its meaning, therefore it is required of you to understand its sense and its meaning. Therefore busy yourselves, use all your divination and magic arts, all your knowledge to make clear this weird and extraordinary dream." All the priests and wizards at once busied themselves to sound the meaning of that dream. While all the courtiers and ministers were doing their best to dissipate the gloomy mood of their sovereign. Finally the high priest went in front of the throne and talked to the king and said: "Highly noble lord, you are no doubt not only our king but also a god on the earth. Your dream is a message from the god of the heaven. He wants to warn you that your enemies are preparing a great war against you, and that they want to knock down your power. But you are now warned, and you can thus take your countermeasures, gathering young soldiers who will fight the fire of the enemies with the fire of their devotion to you." The priests proposed that the master potter of the court be ordered to mould an idol of a never before seen size. Then human sacrifices would be offered to it. The human sacrifices would be the most beautiful adolescents of the city and burning them in his honour, to avert the catastrophe from the land. Then Hiram, on which be the power of Melqart, stood up and went to the orators' pulpit. He asked permission to talk in front of the king, and this was the first time he would speak in public. These were his words, "O my lord and king, you are going to order me to build a new huge simulacra of a god. One that is bigger than all that were made up to now, so that he dominates all of them.Ó "But I say to you all, there is no need to invent a new god, as he already exists, he has existed forever and he will exist forever. He is the lord of all the men of the entire world, of its lands and seas. It is he who puts all of us for just a fleeting stretch of time on this world, while he, the powerful, from eternity to eternity exists. His existence has no beginning and no end, and no god can kill him, and no man can know him in his essence but lying and making love with another man. Moreover this god about which I am talking to you all, abhors all the human sacrifices, and above all the sacrifice of adolescents to which he gave good spirits and beauty of shapes." So said Hiram, following the inspiration of his god, and the king of the Sumerians listened to the end this speech. The priests, wizards and soothsayers tried several times to interrupt Hiram's speech with calls, "How many times did we already hear such things!" they shouted. "How many men came in the past, before this one, to tell us about a great god to which everything would be subjected? Thanks to a love that doesn't generate a new life, but who gives power, a love that would be without selfishness and without any hidden aim, and to which we should bow?" they exclaimed. "Each time we wisely have chased away such men from us, and if they came back we have also stoned them. And now, we should be here to listen to this nonsense from the mouth of a stranger, who had had even the effrontery to give this word in the presence of our illustrious lord?" But the king asked them to keep silent until Hiram, may Melqart fortify his soul, ended his speech. Then the great king so expressed himself with majesty, "We listened to your speech, o Hiram, and this is my judgement. As your king and as lord of the world, I think that unhappily you have been touched by the plague and that therefore your head doesn't work properly any more. Therefore I order: "He said and addressed the gathering, that this man from now on be treated like someone who is no more the master of his mental abilities. For the rest, he is totally harmless.Ó "He therefore can come and go as he pleases, and lie with the man he pleases, and nobody has to feel offended by his words or by his life. He moreover will have the authority of forbidding the sacrifice of any adolescent or young man he will take under his protection. We have not to forget how he saved this kingdom from the horrible plague therefore I here issue the severe order that nobody can harm him. He will have only one duty - each week from today on he shall come to see me at the palace, to report to me how many people he managed to convert to his religion of the love between males." Then all the gathering burst out in a great laughter. Hiram, the power of Melqart be on him, answered, "If I, o great king, tell you who converted to my god, then you will surely order to put them to death one after the other, how your councillors ask you." "You have to come and see me and you will tell me only their number, not their names," the king answered to Hiram. But amongst the priests there were some who were not yet satisfied, and they said, "Will it not provoke the wrath of the gods, if we let him preach without obstacles his errors against our divinities? Moreover, how can we know that he is not instead a spy who, disguised like a madman, at the order of our enemies he makes surveys in our land? And that he wants to spread his religion so that no more children will be born amongst our people? How will we know about all that with any certainty?" But the king answered them, "The gods didn't inspire to me any other decision against Hiram. And now stop this talking against him, if you don't want to provoke my wrath so that I will choose you to be sacrificed to the gods!" Although he rescued Hiram, the power of Melqart be on him, the king gave the order to offer great human sacrifices and much innocent blood was spread. This fact greatly saddened Hiram, on which be the blessing, but he had no possibility to avoid it and he was able to rescue only a few adolescents. In fact, while he put under his protection one of them and rescued him, many others were immolated before he could be go back to choose another of them to rescue. Hiram, Melqart give him protection, devoted himself with a full zeal to his prophetic mission to call the men to the love between males. Day and night he walked the streets of Uruk and preached the love that doesn't have as its aim procreation. But there was none who seriously listened to him or that seriously thought about his words, not even amongst the youths he had rescued. In fact had he not been declared mad by the king and highest lord of the state in person? Therefore people mocked him and they knocked at his back and when he turned back to look at them, they showed him their hard virile members asking him if he wanted to be penetrated by them. They didn't give to his words a bigger weight than to those of a child or of an insane man. The king received him one time each week and gave him audience. He always asked Hiram how many people he had converted to his religion. And Hiram, the blessing of Melqart be on him, had to always give the king the same answer, he could not yet convert anybody. The king pitied Hiram, may Melqart bless him, and ordered for him all the care and drugs that the priests and the doctors of the court could imagine, as he was reputed ill. Anyway all of their treatments had no effect on Hiram, on which be the power of god, as Hiram was not ill in his brain, as on the contrary were those who thought him to be ill and who would have to find a treatment for him. Five years elapsed in this way and Hiram was faithfully carrying on his task and for that all he got was only the benevolence of the god. Of course there were days with so little visible success would have been seized by doubts and despair. But the powerful Melqart sent him one of his heavenly messengers who consoled him and strengthened his heart with new revelations. "O Hiram, Melqart, our Lord and God, is happy with you," the messenger told him, "even though to you seems to come to very little success. But you are doing exactly His will and you are a faithful and obedient servant of Melqart. An end is assigned to everything, each thing will happen at the right time, go on in your service and don't yearn for anything but to please our Lord. He sees everything and hears everything and His Love is powerful." So Hiram, be the blessing on him, took new courage and left his house and went on to preach to the people even though everybody was totally deaf to his heartfelt words. He had met several times his old assistant and friend who had now assumed his place as court potter. This man was the dearest friend that Hiram, be the blessing in him, had in the whole world. Even this friend didn't want to believe in his words. He didn't want to lie down with him for love but just for pleasure. Anyway they were nourishing a great affection for each other. Now like before, he often prayed for his friend Hiram. With tears in his eyes he let the priests and the personal doctor of the king treat him, so that his illness would be healed and everything would be like before. He too believed that the illness that Hiram, the power of god be on him, with his warnings had helped the city avoid, had instead attacked his brain. 7 - PROPHECY OF THE RUIN OF URUK - HIRAM ESCAPES ON A SHIP So more years passed and everything remained as it was. But one day the heavenly messenger of his god appeared to Hiram and brought him this message, "The time is ripe, our Lord decreed! Warn the people about the incumbent punishment, as the wrath of Melqart will fall upon them if they at last will not convert!" Then Hiram, the power of god be on him, who was by then a strong and good looking man, went out on the streets of Uruk and started to warn all the inhabitants of the town. But the inhabitants of Uruk, who already before judged him to be somewhat crazy, now thought that he went totally crazy and moreover also was bothersome. Therefore they moved away from him mocking him. The king soon came to know about the new preaching of Hiram and became really upset with him. When that week Hiram, be all the blessings on him, went to see Vaylum as usual to tell him about the lack of any result of his efforts, the king talked with him. He said, "Hiram, I showed a great patience towards you for many years, but now it is coming near to its end. Lately you have prophesized about a punishment that within forty days would fall upon us if we don't build a temple to your god Melqart, to sanctify the love between males. Listen now to what I am telling you, if the prophesy does not come to pass and so we discover you are a liar, then I decree that surely a very painful punishment will fall upon you. Keep this on your mind, and reflect about it!" "But if the terrible punishment falls on the city it will fall upon you too. As I told you, o king, it will not hit you in person, as I wish to you, if you will promise me that you will build the temple to Melqart to celebrate the love between two males? Then Hiram, may the blessing of god be on him, asked the king. "I am not making you this promise now. We will talk about it in forty days," the king said, frowning, and dismissed him. The potter, who was a friend with Hiram, feared for Hiram's life. He beseeched him to entrust himself in the hands of the priest of the great temple, who was expert in the medical arts. One day Hiram, may Melqart bless him, accompanied his former assistant, the potter, to the great royal temple of the city. But when he was there, instead of taking the medical potions and let the priest pronounce upon him the magic spells, Hiram, the hand of god be upon him, raised his voice to preach to the people who was gathered there. He repeated the warnings about the divine punishment that would befall the stubborn people. Anyway none of those present considered seriously his words and everybody went away from him shrugging their shoulders and laughing at his words. Finally the morning of the fortieth day came. Then Hiram, the hand of god be on him, shouted to the Lord and god of the world, "O Melqart, all be according your words! I leave to you this deaf people, may your punishment come upon them! But my patience has come to an end. I leave this nation!" and with that he left Uruk. He reached the confluence of the two great rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates. There they made a great delta before flowing in the open sea. In the delta there was a lively movement of ships and Hiram decided to embark to carry on his journey by sea. He talked with the captain of a ship and boarded. They had just let go the moorings when Hiram, the hand of Melqart be upon him, fell in a deep sleep. After they had sailed a small stretch of their route and reached the open sea, a dark huge wall that blocked their route raised in front of them from the water. But this wall was really a black ship of a monstrous size, such as no human being ever saw before. It seemed to appear from the nothing or emerged from the waters. The sea was strongly seething and the small ship which Hiram was on was pitching and at risk of sinking at any moment. The captain and the crew were running here and there in the utmost turmoil. Nobody knew what to do, when then they saw also a huge black storm cloud raise from the horizon. Their last hope abandoned them and they were in despair. They also saw that the huge cloud was moving towards Uruk. It seemed to them so menacing and dark that the sailors suspected it was a fore warning sign sent by the god of the sea. Finally Hiram, the power of god be on him, woke up from his deep sleep because of the loud yells and the general panic that burst out on board the ship. At that point the sailors remembered about their passenger. They ran to him and terrified they questioned him. Was there possibly something he didn't tell them, perhaps a transgression, an impure deed he did, a punishment of the gods from which he was trying to run away? The sailors thought that the crew of the huge, unknown ship demanded to have slaves or else victims to sacrifice. They thought that some of the men who were on their ship had to be handed over to the men of the black ship asking them to spare their small ship and the remaining members of the crew. Hiram, on him be the hand of god, said, "But I never made any transgression, it can't be me the cause of all this." And yet, as soon as he said these words, it was as if a blindfold fell from his eyes. Didn't he fall again into his old usual mistake. Didn't he leave in a great hurry and with impatience the city of Uruk? Before than his Lord ordered him to do so? Wasn't this behaviour, for a man who was a soothsayer of the great god Melqart, equivalent to a transgression, as if it were made by an ordinary person? And even more serious, as he was the soothsayer sent by the god Melqart to the city of Uruk? Hiram at once understood that the terrible black ship had been sent by the powerful god Melkart. It was there because of him, surely because he renounced his mission in Uruk, and for this reason was now menacingly blocking the way of the little ship. He then summoned all his courage and confessed to the captain and sailors of the ship. But the crew hesitated to throw their passenger off the ship. They pitied him, and admired him for his great and virile beauty. So they decided to draw lots to see who had to be sacrificed to the black men of the black ship. They drew lots seven times, and all seven times came out Hiram's name! Therefore the decision was made. Hiram was tied and hoisted up with a tackle to the huge black ship, as none of the sailors had the courage to go on it. When Hiram disappeared beyond the bulwark of the huge black ship, the tempest at once ceased. The waves smoothed down, the terrible black ship moved away. The small ship on which Hiram had travelled up to then, could finally resume undisturbed its journey. Hiram, the hand of god be upon him, had been seized by the big men with the skin blacker than pitch. The god Melqart had previously said, "O black men, I give in your hands my soothsayer Hiram. But I don't intend him to be used as a simple toy for your yens, and you should not harm him. I only want to keep him as a prisoner on your ship and he is totally entrusted to you. He will make of your ship a bed of pleasure, conceding his body to each and every one of you, but only one each night. When he has given his love and pleasure to all of you, you will take him again to the land and free him." And so it happened, Hiram lived for a long time on the huge black ship, with the black men. They prepared for him a wide and soft bed, on which every night the wonderful Hiram laid with one of them in turn. Hiram gave them any and every kind of pleasure with his entire body, and raising his praises and his prayers to the god to which he had devoted himself, the great and powerful Melqart, the god of the love between two males. The black men were overjoyed by the mission that Melqart the powerful had entrusted to them. In fact Hiram, the power of god be upon him, was a wonderful person and he was really skilled in pleasing in all the possible ways. He gave each of them intense pleasures with all his body. Hiram, on him be the hand of god forever, unceasingly beseeched Melqart the powerful to forgive him. 8. THE GIFTS OF LIGHT AND THE FREEING OF URUK In the mean time the people in Uruk were looking at the huge black clouds that were approaching the town. In the deepness of their hearts they well knew that it was not a usual cloud of tempest, but rather the presage of a great disaster. All of a sudden, remembering the words of the soothsayer of the god Melqart, they recalled all that he had preached to them for more than ten years. Then all of a sudden in their hearts germinated the seed, and finally the patience of the soothsayer Hiram gave fruit, even though belated. So the people of Uruk converted, a great crowd of people ran out of the city and gathered on top of the hill of the gatherings. After that day they called that place "Hill of the Submission to Melqart". Their king was running in front of all of them, he ordered his people to bow in front of the god of Hiram, the blessing of Melqart be on him, and to humbly profess the faith of the soothsayer Hiram. He then ordered the erection of a simulacra at the center of the wide clearing, as nobody knew what features the god Melqart had, a pole was erected, then covered with precious clothes, leaves, flowers and fruits. Then everybody bowed in front of the simulacra of Melqart, the powerful, and beseeched clemency and forgiveness, and that the terrible punishment, that was already incumbent on their heads, could at the last moment be taken away from them. The black cloud was already falling on the city, and a thick dust was surrounding all its buildings. A fog of a disagreeable color and smell was spreading on the city streets, such that one could barely see his hands in front of his eyes. Moreover a rumble similar to that of the roaring of a huge wild beast was heard everywhere. All this aroused in the people such a fear and a horror that everybody was just caring for himself and how he could try to save himself. The mothers forgot their children, and even the animals left unattended their little. Everybody fell with their faces on the ground, paralyzed by the fear, and ahead of the horror that the god of Hiram, the power of god be always with him, was sending on the city. The repentance in their hearts was deep and sincere and when their destiny was already seizing them with his hands they all converted at the last moment to what for years the soothsayer Hiram had preached amongst them. All the men hurried to offer their bodies to other men. They carnally united with unknown people even on the streets. The youths conceded themselves to the old men or each other. The nobles let their slaves take them. The warriors, abandoning their weapons, devoted themselves to each other or to anybody who wanted their company. Then Melqart the powerful, the god of manly love, pitied these creatures and restrained his anger before they were irremediably harmed. The cloud slowly withdrew and with it also the horror. The light gradually came back and the air became once again scented. Thus the people experienced the singular compassion of the god Melqart that for years they had refused. None of the cities inhabitants had any permanent damage. The only strange variation they observed when they dared to raise again their heads, was that in all the cities temples the other gods were all covered by a thick and evil-smelling black dust. All the offerings that had been made to them were lying on the floor, rotten. The multitude had just partially recovered from the fear and they just stood up from having prostrated themselves. Then messengers mounted on horses came in a great hurry to the town, bringing with them more good news. The united armies of the Persians and the Egyptians, who in a great secret had agreed to go against the Sumerian, and to attack the city of Uruk, had inexplicably turned one against the other and had destroyed each other. This news seemed to them like a second miracle of the Lord of love between males, Melqart the powerful, who once again had rescued them. They then remembered the words of the soothsayer, who quite often preached to them that his god, Melqart, had many hidden servants and soldiers that he only knows. Therefore everybody went to search for Hiram, but they weren't able to find him in any part of the city. Sometime later on, some sailors came to Uruk, who told them about the huge and terrible black ship that took away Hiram, the hand of god be always on him. The king and with him all his people, repented in the deepest of their hearts, for the fact that they all for years had looked upon Hiram like upon a madman and that they had learned nothing from him. Now they believed his words and needed a master to teach them how thy had to live their new faith but they had in fact exiled him, the great soothsayer of Melqart that had been sent to them, and that they had made his life miserable for years. The king was very sad because of this, as well as all his people, but he found words of hope and serenity. Melqart would certainly show them the way and send them the master they needed. They had only to go on continuously reflecting with gratitude about the miraculous rescue from the total ruin. All the people in Uruk were happy and full of joy, except the priests, soothsayers and wizards of the false gods, who remained without their bread together with their idols. They tried to salvage whatever was possible, and spread rumours that it had just been a meteorological phenomenon that happens for natural causes, and that it was just a coincidence that it happened exactly on the day that Hiram had said. The king would have all of them hanged at the gallows, but he remembered how much the bloodshed displeased the good Hiram and because of this he spared their lives and just sent all of them in exile. ----------------------------- CONTINUES IN FILE 4 ----------------------------- In my home page I've put some more of my stories. 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