Hittite Warrior by Joanne Williamson

Uriah-Tarhund, son of Arnandash is a Hittite who lives in the Hittite province of Arzawa with his father and mother, and his sister Annitis. On his thirteenth birthday, Uriah learns from his father that he must give up their great horse Labarnash whom Uriah has groomed and trained. Uriah's father, a horse breeder, tells him that as a loyal vassal to the king, they must offer as tribute, the best they have and that is Labarnash. So now to prove their loyalty, they will travel to Haballa and then travel by caravan to Hattusas. This prospect is exciting for Uriah as he has never been to the great city of Hattusas.

His father also speaks about the rumours of trouble from the north. When Uriah's father was a child, a Hittite traitor named Maduwattas had formed an alliance with the Achaean warrior, Atreus. The Hittites refer to the Achaeans as the sea people. They were from Crete and had a great city called Mycenae on the mainland. Maduwattas was joined by some of the old Arzawans who hated the Hittite masters. Now the rumours tell of the sea people possibly returning.

 

Before they leave, Uriah's father arranges to have their servants guard the house and their land, especially Uriah's mother and sister who will be left behind. Uriah believes the gods will protect all of them.

After a long journey through grassland, hills and valleys, they arrive at Hattusas with its great rock wall. There Labarnash is led away as part of their tribute. Uriah and his father are allowed to attend the celebration in honor of the thirteenth year of the reign of the king. At the feast, Uriah sees the Dardanian chief, Paris Aleksandus of Troy as well as Egyptian ambassadors. As they are leaving for home, a man runs through the temple square yelling about Midas. Uriah's father reveals that there are stories that Midas the Phrygian, a barbarian chief of the sea people is laying waste to cities and towns in the north.

On their way home, Uriah and his father leave the Babylonian caravan they are travelling with, to investigate the smoke and strange smell coming from a valley far away.  In one of the villages, they learn from a survivor that the sea people have returned to the area including Arzawa. Uriah and his father race home, only to find their village and land destroyed, their servants slain along with Uriah's mother and his sister Annitis. For the next three years Uriah and his father live in the ruins of their home, eking out a living with their bees and remnants of their orchards. A year later, Hattusas is destroyed by armies from the north and the west.

When Uriah turns sixteen, a captain of the sea people arrives at their farm, ordering them to give all their harvest to their chief in Haballa. But Uriah's father refuses and he is beaten by the captain and his soldier. Before he dies, Uriah's father makes him promise to travel south to the land of Canaan, to a town called Harosheth. There Uriah is to find a man named Sisera.

After completing the required thirteen days of mourning, Uriah leaves for Haballa. He has no money and little food, but he manages to get himself accepted into a caravan by helping save the life of one of the young children. Uriah's journey turns into an odyssey that leads him first to Tyre, and then to the Hebrews. His arrival in Harosheth leads him to the Battle of Esdraleon where he begins to question his beliefs.

Discussion

Hittite Warrior presents readers with an exciting adventure story of a young Hittite boy who flees his home after it has been conquered by the Achaeans (the Greeks). The story is based on an episode in the book of Judges about 1200 B.C., in which an army of ten thousand Israelites battled and defeated the much better equipped army of Sisera. It is told by the now elderly Hittite warrior, Uriah-Tarhund.

Sisera, was commander of the Canaanite army of King Jabin who had been persecuting the Israelite tribes living in the mountains. The Hebrew prophetess Deborah sent Barak to lead the Israelites to attack the Canaanites. He was reluctant to do so unless Deborah accompanied him, which she agrees to do. However, she prophesized that he will not obtain glory from the battle. Instead, Sisera will be defeated by a woman. 

Sisera with his nine hundred iron chariots, met Barak and the Israelites at the base of Mount Tabor, on the plain of Esdraelon. His army was soundly defeated with many being drowned in the river Kishon as they retreated. Sisera fled the battle field and sought refuge in what he thought was the safe tent of Heber the Kenite who was a friend of King Jabin. It was here that he was offered milk and curds by Heber's wife, Jael. When he fell into an exhausted sleep he was killed by Jael who drove a tent peg into his temple.

The battle of Esdraelon forms the climax of the novel and marks a significant change in Uriah's life.  Uriah's journey to find Sisera begins with a stop in Tyre where he learns about the human sacrifice of first born boys to the god, Moloch, the lord of wrath. Children are sacrificed to Moloch "...in case a time of trouble should come upon the city. A fire is kindled in the lap of the god and the child is laid in his arms to die." This custom horrifies Uriah, even though as a Hittite he worships in all gods.

When Jotham rescues the child, Jabin from such a sacrifice, Uriah helps him flee Tyre into the hills where they are taken in by the Hebrew, Hushai ben Aaron. From Jotham, a Hebrew, Uriah learns about their God, Jahvey. Eventually Uriah comes to Harosheth, as a captive and meets Sisera, the man Uriah's father had told him to seek out. However, Uriah finds that Sisera is not interested in helping Uriah and in fact threatens him with death if he doesn't reveal the plans of the Hebrews. Uriah decides to join the Canaanite army in its battle against the Hebrews but before doing so, he watches as his friend Hannibal makes a sacrifice of wax and mutton fat to the gods. This leads Uriah to suddenly not believe any of it. "Wax and mutton fat!....What kind of gods would have anything to do with that? What kind of gods would devour children and make war against each other? What kind of gods would keep men in fear from the day they were born? Shall I tell you what I believe? I don't believe there are any gods!"

After surviving the battle, Uriah eventually returns to Harosheth to find the Israelites have conquered the city. He has come to a crossroads in his life. He is searching for meaning and trying to determine which god or gods to worship. None of the gods he believed in have protected his family, nor those he fought with. When asked by Barak what gods he worships, Uriah truthfully claims he doesn't know. He wants to see the God of Israel, housed in the Ark of the Covenant. But when he goes to the tent, the priest tells him that "The Ark of the Covenant holds relics sacred to our God. Some say they are the tablets with the laws that He gave to our great leader, Moses. No one knows."  When Uriah asks if there is an image of their God, the priest tells him that no one could make such an image. This creates great disappointment in Uriah who had hoped for a sign from this God. But then Uriah has a realization that it would be impossible to make an image of the God who had created the sun and moon and the rivers and the sea. Eventually Uriah comes to believe in the one God who he believes "...is the one God and the God of all men." Uriah eventually finds peace and stability within the Hebrew nation as a scribe, a husband and a father.

Williamson had a unique gift for writing historical fiction. She was able to realistically portray culture and customs from long ago in a way that engaged her readers. In Hittite Warrior the brutality of life in a pagan culture is clearly evident from the horror of child sacrifice to Moloch to the brutal practice of blinding the strongest slaves so they could pull the grindstones that created the purple dye used by the wealthy. Her novel also captures the horror of war and the plight of refugees, who like their modern counterparts, fled destroyed homelands. We see the plight of women and children who were often captured and sold into slavery or forced against their will into marriages. 

 

Williamson also makes those important connections between the various civilizations that existed at the time of this story: those of Egypt, Greece (the Achaeans), Hittite, Mitanni and the Hebrews. These peoples did not live in isolation from one another but lived together, fought against one another and even intermarried.

A map of the region the story is set in, is included in the front of the novel. A list of characters might have also been helpful for younger readers. But overall, Hittite Warrior with its authentic setting, realistic characters, and exciting storyline is a wonderfully crafted novel.

Book Details:

 

Hittite Warrior by Joanne Williamson
Warsaw North Dakota: Bethlehem Books     1999
237 pp.

God King by Joanne Williamson

God King is set in 701 B.C. when Egypt was ruled by Kushite princes.

Lord Taharka, a young boy, only twelve years old stands in the black mud of the River Nile. He is one of the many sons of Shabaka, king of Kush who rules as a god in the Kushite city of Napata. It is Taharka's first crocodile hunt, and the crocodiles seem slow and lazy.

His uncle Embutah, now a high captain in the army, warns Taharka not to be deceived, that the crocodile can move swiftly and silently. Suddenly, the crocodile is by the boat, striking it with his thick tail. The blow knocks Net the boatman, into the river. Taharka watches as the crocodile begins to close its jaws on Net's arm and instantly Taharka reacts. He strikes the crocodile on its head with a spear but this makes it turn on Taharka, trying to snatch him with its jaws. Instead, Taharka finds himself knocked flat and sees Embutah holding the animal's jaws shut with his bare hands.

Taharka spears the animal at the base of its head, killing it. They drag Net into the boat. He is in shock, blood spurting from the wound in his arm. To stop the bleeding, Taharka tears a strip of cloth the sacred cloth that has been shielding him from the hot sun, and binds the boatman's wound. But the men in the other boats are shocked at Taharka's breaking of the tabu by using the sacred cloth and in touching a slave. According to the law, Taharka is a god, his flesh is not mortal flesh. No one is allowed to even look at him. Taharka tells Embutah he had to help the man and he wonders what will happen to him now.


Taharka's mother was a slave girl brought up from the far off Zambesi River. She had died years earlier and all Taharka had left of her was her brother, his uncle, Embutah. Taharka is one of many of his father's children and so not very important. In the god's great chamber, Taharka sees his cousin, Shepnuset who is destined to follow Taharka's great aunt, and become the high priestess of Amon in Thebes. Taharka finds her attractive but she will not be for him. Instead, she is destined for his half-brother Shabataka who will be the next god. 

When they arrive at quay, the injured man is taken away and Taharka is told he must attend at once in the great hall of the god. His father, the god Shabaka, is dying. Sixteen-year-old Shabataka has been preparing for this day, being allowed to slip into the god's presence unannounced, "learning and listening while the Lord of Kush gave audience." But when the dying god asks for Taharka to be bought to him along with Shabataka and others, the priest of Sebek the crocodile states that he has broken tabu by touching the flesh of a slave. When he is summoned and questioned by the dying god, Taharka tells his father that he did it to save the man's life. Taharka tells him" The man belonged to the God...I must preserve what belongs to you, Great God Shabaka."

Giving Shabaka the "wand of god, the magic wand of succession", the dying god selects Taharka as his choice to succeed him. Stunned and not understanding what is happening, Taharka is told, "Take possession of the land, Taharka, soul of the hawk, beautiful child of Ra, son of the sun, bringer of the Nile, Lord of Kush, Great God of Napata and Meroe, and Pharaoh of Egypt." Taharka is now "king of a land that stretched from the mouth of the Nile on the Northern Sea" (the Mediterranean Sea) " to the southern border of Kush."

But for Taharka, becoming a god is like becoming a prisoner. He can only eat the meat of a calf or goose and only flat bread. He is only allowed outside the walls of the Great house at specific hours of the day or at festivals. When out, his feet mustn't touch the ground and he must wear the double crown. In order for the sun to rise every day, Taharka must be carried around  the walls of the Great House before the sunrise.Anyone who wanted to speak to him had to kneel with their faces to the ground, otherwise they would be blinded.

However Shabataka, comes frequently to visit Taharka, disobeying all the rules, and offering advice to him. Unlike Taharka, Shabataka is envious of his half brother. Taharka begins his weapons training with Shabataka's encouragement and with Embutah's guidance. Embutah explains to Taharka how his family became lords over Egypt.

Shepnuset's aunt who was high priestess in Thebes dies unexpectedly and so she becomes the next high priestess. Then one day a confrontation between Embutah and Shabataka leads Taharka to suspect Shabataka's loyalty to him. 

 

Four years later, Taharka journey's down the Nile to Egypt where he will marry the high priestess, Shepnuset. Before he leaves, and despite reservations, Taharka makes Shabataka his Companion, able to wear the white crown of Kush. 

But Taharka's time in Thebes is soon filled with troubles.  Back in Napata, his uncle, Embutah is murdered. Amos, ambassador from Hezekiah, king of Judah visits the young Pharaoh and warns him about the Assyrians who will now attack Jerusalem because Hezekiah has refused to continue paying tribute. His royal taster dies after being poisoned by food meant for Taharka. And then Taharka learns of a plot to capture him. With the help of Shepnuset and Amos, Taharka flees through the desert towards Jerusalem. He is determined to return to Thebes as king and god of Egypt.

Discussion

The God King is an exceptional historical fiction novel for ages 10 and up. Acclaimed historical fiction author, Joanne Williamson, tackles the period of Egyptian history when the country was ruled by the Kushite dynasty. The the kingdom of Kush was located in south Nubia, an ancient region that now forms part of southern Egypt and northern Sudan. Nubia was rich in gold and ivory, resources that surrounding nations would want. God King is set in the 8th century B.C.  At this time Egypt had been conquered by king Piankhi and then ruled by King Shabaka (in the novel, Taharka's father). Their rule is considered part of Egypt's 25th dynasty. 

As the "About the Author" note at the back of the novel indicates, Williamson "...has the remarkable knack for using her fictional characters and plot to make connections between real historical persons and events." It goes on to state that these connections are valuable because they help younger readers. In God King, Williamson brings together events in ancient Egypt under the reign of Taharka (known as Taharqa) as well as those outside of Egypt: the relationship between Israel and its then king, Hezekiah and the conquering Assyrians. 

As Williamson notes in her "Author's Note" records are contradictory about this time period and the events that occurred. She has followed the Biblical account which states that "Tirhakah, king of Ethiopia" was on the throne when the siege of Jerusalem occurred and that he was the first king of Egypt to fight the Assyrians as they rampaged through the region. The Assyrians were unsuccessful in taking Jerusalem. In Williamson's account, the Assyrians begin dying of some mysterious ailment and abandon the siege. King Hezekiah's generosity and foresight has saved both Taharka and his people.

God King is told in the voice of Taharka, whom Williamson imagines as a young boy who doesn't want the responsibility of god on his shoulders. Taharka is compassionate, sparing a man from having his hand cut off as a punishment. When he retakes the white crown from his half-brother Shabataka, Taharka does not follow the prescribed punishment but instead spares his life.

Readers are drawn into the story almost immediately with the crocodile attack that sees Taharka putting aside the tabu to save his boatman's life. From this point on, the novel is well paced, with new events and characters keeping the plot interesting.

God King is a reprint of Williamson's novel which was originally published in 1960. It was part of a series of historical fiction published by small publisher, Bethlehem Books to bring back some quality historical fiction geared to younger readers. Most historical fiction has understandably focused on World War I and II events so it's refreshing to read a story about a much different and little known era of history. Well written and highly recommended.

Book Details:

God King. A Story in the Days of King Hezekiah by Joanne Williamson
Bathgate, North Dakota: Bethlehem Press     1999
206 pp.