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id='header-inner'> <div class='titlewrapper'> <h1 class='title'> <a href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/'> The Many Coloured House </a> </h1> </div> <div class='descriptionwrapper'> <p class='description'><span>Readings, Reflections, and Reviews on Ancient and Medieval History</span></p> </div> </div> </div></div> </div> </div> <div class='header-cap-bottom cap-bottom'> <div class='cap-left'></div> <div class='cap-right'></div> </div> </div> </header> <div class='tabs-outer'> <div class='tabs-cap-top cap-top'> <div class='cap-left'></div> <div class='cap-right'></div> </div> <div class='fauxborder-left tabs-fauxborder-left'> <div class='fauxborder-right tabs-fauxborder-right'></div> <div class='region-inner tabs-inner'> <div class='tabs no-items section' id='crosscol' name='Cross-Column'></div> <div class='tabs no-items section' id='crosscol-overflow' name='Cross-Column 2'></div> </div> </div> <div class='tabs-cap-bottom cap-bottom'> <div class='cap-left'></div> <div 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class='cap-left'></div> <div class='cap-right'></div> </div> </div> <div class='fauxcolumn-outer fauxcolumn-right-outer'> <div class='cap-top'> <div class='cap-left'></div> <div class='cap-right'></div> </div> <div class='fauxborder-left'> <div class='fauxborder-right'></div> <div class='fauxcolumn-inner'> </div> </div> <div class='cap-bottom'> <div class='cap-left'></div> <div class='cap-right'></div> </div> </div>  <div class='columns-inner'> <div class='column-center-outer'> <div class='column-center-inner'> <div class='main section' id='main' name='Main'><div class='widget Blog' data-version='1' id='Blog1'> <div class='blog-posts hfeed'> <div class='status-msg-wrap'> <div class='status-msg-body'> Showing posts with label <b>Near East</b>. <a href="https://egunnu.blogspot.com/">Show all posts</a> </div> <div class='status-msg-border'> <div class='status-msg-bg'> <div class='status-msg-hidden'>Showing posts with label <b>Near East</b>. <a href="https://egunnu.blogspot.com/">Show all posts</a></div> </div> </div> </div> <div style='clear: both;'></div> <div class="date-outer"> <h2 class='date-header'><span>Tuesday, November 29, 2022</span></h2> <div class="date-posts"> <div class='post-outer'> <div class='post hentry uncustomized-post-template' itemprop='blogPost' itemscope='itemscope' itemtype='http://schema.org/BlogPosting'> <meta content='https://idsb.tmgrup.com.tr/ly/uploads/images/2021/01/27/88852.jpg' itemprop='image_url'/> <meta content='2724078395031847481' itemprop='blogId'/> <meta content='950288804506715874' itemprop='postId'/> <a name='950288804506715874'></a> <h3 class='post-title entry-title' itemprop='name'> <a href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/2022/11/the-etemmu-within-episode-3b-black-oasis.html'>The Etemmu Within - Episode 3B: The Black Oasis</a> </h3> <div class='post-header'> <div class='post-header-line-1'></div> </div> <div class='post-body entry-content' id='post-body-950288804506715874' itemprop='description articleBody'> <span style="font-family: trebuchet;">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 <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/229191/Warhammer-Fantasy-Roleplay-First-Edition--Death-on-the-Reik-The-Enemy-Within-Part-2" target="_blank">Cubicle 7</a> . Mythic Babylon is published by <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/355333/Mythic-Babylon?src=hottest_filtered" target="_blank">The Design Mechanism</a>.<br /><br /></span><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">DILBAT </span></h3><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">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. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />The E-ibbianu temple belongs to the city god, Ura拧 and his wife Ninegal (an aspect of I拧tar). 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.</span><div><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://idsb.tmgrup.com.tr/ly/uploads/images/2021/01/27/88852.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="267" src="https://idsb.tmgrup.com.tr/ly/uploads/images/2021/01/27/88852.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: https://idsb.tmgrup.com.tr/ly/uploads/images/2021/01/27/88852.jpg</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><br /><br /></span><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">THE WELL OF DAMU </span></h3><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">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. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />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!</span><div><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03120/oilhands_3120840b.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="387" data-original-width="620" height="250" src="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03120/oilhands_3120840b.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03120/oilhands_3120840b.jpg</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><br /><br />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. <br /><br />Also among her letters is one received from a certain Immum-I拧tarat ('A Mother is I拧tarat' ), 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 I拧tarat 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. <br /><br />Also among her tablets is a letter from an unnamed En-Priest of the Red Crown in the city of A拧拧ur, informing her that the twins are no longer conjoined. <br /><br />We'll learn more about all of this future episodes, beginning with EPISODE 3C – THE TEMPLE OF THE SEVEN</span></div></div> <div style='clear: both;'></div> </div> <div class='post-footer'> <div class='post-footer-line post-footer-line-1'> <span class='post-author vcard'> </span> <span class='post-timestamp'> at <meta content='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/2022/11/the-etemmu-within-episode-3b-black-oasis.html' itemprop='url'/> <a class='timestamp-link' href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/2022/11/the-etemmu-within-episode-3b-black-oasis.html' rel='bookmark' title='permanent link'><abbr class='published' itemprop='datePublished' title='2022-11-29T18:51:00-08:00'>November 29, 2022</abbr></a> </span> <span class='post-comment-link'> <a class='comment-link' href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/2022/11/the-etemmu-within-episode-3b-black-oasis.html#comment-form' onclick=''> No comments: </a> </span> <span class='post-icons'> <span class='item-control blog-admin pid-1282338224'> <a href='https://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=2724078395031847481&postID=950288804506715874&from=pencil' title='Edit Post'> <img alt='' class='icon-action' height='18' src='https://resources.blogblog.com/img/icon18_edit_allbkg.gif' width='18'/> </a> </span> </span> <div class='post-share-buttons goog-inline-block'> <a class='goog-inline-block share-button sb-email' href='https://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=2724078395031847481&postID=950288804506715874&target=email' target='_blank' title='Email This'><span class='share-button-link-text'>Email This</span></a><a class='goog-inline-block share-button sb-blog' href='https://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=2724078395031847481&postID=950288804506715874&target=blog' onclick='window.open(this.href, "_blank", "height=270,width=475"); return false;' target='_blank' title='BlogThis!'><span class='share-button-link-text'>BlogThis!</span></a><a class='goog-inline-block share-button sb-twitter' href='https://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=2724078395031847481&postID=950288804506715874&target=twitter' target='_blank' title='Share to X'><span class='share-button-link-text'>Share to X</span></a><a class='goog-inline-block share-button sb-facebook' href='https://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=2724078395031847481&postID=950288804506715874&target=facebook' onclick='window.open(this.href, "_blank", "height=430,width=640"); return false;' target='_blank' title='Share to Facebook'><span class='share-button-link-text'>Share to Facebook</span></a><a class='goog-inline-block share-button sb-pinterest' href='https://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=2724078395031847481&postID=950288804506715874&target=pinterest' target='_blank' title='Share to Pinterest'><span class='share-button-link-text'>Share to Pinterest</span></a> </div> </div> <div class='post-footer-line post-footer-line-2'> <span class='post-labels'> Labels: <a href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/search/label/Babylon' rel='tag'>Babylon</a>, <a href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/search/label/Bronze%20Age' rel='tag'>Bronze Age</a>, <a href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/search/label/Etemmu%20Within' rel='tag'>Etemmu Within</a>, <a href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/search/label/Mythic%20Babylon' rel='tag'>Mythic Babylon</a>, <a href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/search/label/Mythras' rel='tag'>Mythras</a>, <a href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/search/label/Near%20East' rel='tag'>Near East</a>, <a href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/search/label/Roleplaying%20Games' rel='tag'>Roleplaying Games</a> </span> </div> <div class='post-footer-line post-footer-line-3'> <span class='post-location'> </span> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class='inline-ad'>  </div> </div></div> <div class="date-outer"> <h2 class='date-header'><span>Saturday, September 17, 2022</span></h2> <div class="date-posts"> <div class='post-outer'> <div class='post hentry uncustomized-post-template' itemprop='blogPost' itemscope='itemscope' itemtype='http://schema.org/BlogPosting'> <meta content='https://www.drivethrurpg.com/images/54/229191.jpg' itemprop='image_url'/> <meta content='2724078395031847481' itemprop='blogId'/> <meta content='3860001667755050224' itemprop='postId'/> <a name='3860001667755050224'></a> <h3 class='post-title entry-title' itemprop='name'> <a href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/2022/09/the-etemmu-within-episode-3a-death-on.html'>The Etemmu Within - Episode 3A: Death on the Purattu</a> </h3> <div class='post-header'> <div class='post-header-line-1'></div> </div> <div class='post-body entry-content' id='post-body-3860001667755050224' itemprop='description articleBody'> <span style="font-family: trebuchet;">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 <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/229191/Warhammer-Fantasy-Roleplay-First-Edition--Death-on-the-Reik-The-Enemy-Within-Part-2" target="_blank">Cubicle 7</a> . Mythic Babylon is published by <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/355333/Mythic-Babylon?src=hottest_filtered" target="_blank">The Design Mechanism</a>.</span><div><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/images/54/229191.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="618" height="400" src="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/images/54/229191.jpg" width="309" /></a></div><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><br /><br />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. <br /><br />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: <br /><br /><i><blockquote>To the Captain of the Crucible of Life, thus says Aruru-Harug: <br /><br />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. <br /><br />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.) <br /><br />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. </blockquote></i><br />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. <br /><br /></span><br /><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">MESSING ABOUT ON THE RIVER </span></h3><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><br /> 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. <br /><br /></span><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">A Ripple on the Stream </span></h4><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">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. <br /><br />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 Mu拧hu拧拧u. The PCs chase off the dragons and find there is very little left of the crew. <br /><br />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. <br /><br /></span><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">ENCOUNTERS ON THE RIVER </span></h3><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">The Murex Hand</span></h4><div><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">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. <br /><br />EV1 Just Passing Through takes place in Larsa. <br /><br />EV2 Keeping Tabs can be set in Isin or Nibbur as the PCs pass through. <br /><br />EV3 The direct Approach can take place in Babylon. <br /><br />EV4 A Lock of Hair in Sippar. <br /><br />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. <br /><br /></span><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">News and Rumours</span></h4><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">These kinds of things are a nice way to foreshadow new future adventures and to enliven the setting.</span></div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">The King's expedition to Arrata (as mentioned in Episode 1) has been waylaid in Eshnunna.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">King Rim-Sin has returned from the dead and was spotted in Larsa</span></li><li><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">A worker's strike in the south is leading to delays in repairing the walls of Uruk</span></li><li><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Priests are being taxed in Assur, which can't be good for relations with the gods.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">A caravan belonging to the governor of Kish disappeared on the way to Malgium</span></li><li><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Crop fires have been reported northeast of Babylon.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">King Samsu-iluna has cancelled the Abu festival this year because it will interfere with his annual ostrich hunt.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">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.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Tax collectors in Babylonia are skimming even more than usual off the top.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Strange corpses have been see floating in the river near Hit, prompting a wave of donations to the river god. </span></li></ol><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">The Living Dead</span></h4><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">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: <br /><br /></span><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">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.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">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.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Some encounters with genuine ghosts, wasteland, and animal spirits can be held in remote places along the river, especially near ruins.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Bad News Demons will likely be spreading rumours in various communities the PCs pass through along the way. </span></li></ul><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">KUTALLA </span></h3><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">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. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />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. <br /><br /><br /><br />That's it for this instalment. Stay tuned for EPISODE 3B: THE BLACK OASIS!</span></div></div> <div style='clear: both;'></div> </div> <div class='post-footer'> <div class='post-footer-line post-footer-line-1'> <span class='post-author vcard'> </span> <span class='post-timestamp'> at <meta content='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/2022/09/the-etemmu-within-episode-3a-death-on.html' itemprop='url'/> <a class='timestamp-link' href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/2022/09/the-etemmu-within-episode-3a-death-on.html' rel='bookmark' title='permanent link'><abbr class='published' itemprop='datePublished' title='2022-09-17T05:14:00-07:00'>September 17, 2022</abbr></a> </span> <span class='post-comment-link'> <a class='comment-link' href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/2022/09/the-etemmu-within-episode-3a-death-on.html#comment-form' onclick=''> No comments: </a> </span> <span class='post-icons'> <span class='item-control blog-admin pid-1282338224'> <a href='https://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=2724078395031847481&postID=3860001667755050224&from=pencil' title='Edit Post'> <img alt='' class='icon-action' height='18' src='https://resources.blogblog.com/img/icon18_edit_allbkg.gif' width='18'/> </a> </span> </span> <div class='post-share-buttons goog-inline-block'> <a class='goog-inline-block share-button sb-email' href='https://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=2724078395031847481&postID=3860001667755050224&target=email' target='_blank' title='Email This'><span class='share-button-link-text'>Email This</span></a><a class='goog-inline-block share-button sb-blog' href='https://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=2724078395031847481&postID=3860001667755050224&target=blog' onclick='window.open(this.href, "_blank", "height=270,width=475"); return false;' target='_blank' title='BlogThis!'><span class='share-button-link-text'>BlogThis!</span></a><a class='goog-inline-block share-button sb-twitter' href='https://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=2724078395031847481&postID=3860001667755050224&target=twitter' target='_blank' title='Share to X'><span class='share-button-link-text'>Share to X</span></a><a class='goog-inline-block share-button sb-facebook' href='https://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=2724078395031847481&postID=3860001667755050224&target=facebook' onclick='window.open(this.href, "_blank", "height=430,width=640"); return false;' target='_blank' title='Share to Facebook'><span class='share-button-link-text'>Share to Facebook</span></a><a class='goog-inline-block share-button sb-pinterest' href='https://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=2724078395031847481&postID=3860001667755050224&target=pinterest' target='_blank' title='Share to Pinterest'><span class='share-button-link-text'>Share to Pinterest</span></a> </div> </div> <div class='post-footer-line post-footer-line-2'> <span class='post-labels'> Labels: <a href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/search/label/Babylon' rel='tag'>Babylon</a>, <a href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/search/label/Bronze%20Age' rel='tag'>Bronze Age</a>, <a href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/search/label/Etemmu%20Within' rel='tag'>Etemmu Within</a>, <a href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/search/label/Mythic%20Babylon' rel='tag'>Mythic Babylon</a>, <a href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/search/label/Mythras' rel='tag'>Mythras</a>, <a href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/search/label/Near%20East' rel='tag'>Near East</a>, <a href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/search/label/Roleplaying%20Games' rel='tag'>Roleplaying Games</a> </span> </div> <div class='post-footer-line post-footer-line-3'> <span class='post-location'> </span> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div></div> <div class="date-outer"> <h2 class='date-header'><span>Sunday, January 9, 2022</span></h2> <div class="date-posts"> <div class='post-outer'> <div class='post hentry uncustomized-post-template' itemprop='blogPost' itemscope='itemscope' itemtype='http://schema.org/BlogPosting'> <meta content='https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e0/Ugallu_(Great_Lion)%2C_a_protective_spirit_against_evils._From_door_d%2C_Room_S%2C_North_Palace_at_Nineveh%2C_Iraq._645-635_BCE._British_Museum.jpg/1200px-Ugallu_(Great_Lion)%2C_a_protective_spirit_against_evils._From_door_d%2C_Room_S%2C_North_Palace_at_Nineveh%2C_Iraq._645-635_BCE._British_Museum.jpg' itemprop='image_url'/> <meta content='2724078395031847481' itemprop='blogId'/> <meta content='1982477359259459238' itemprop='postId'/> <a name='1982477359259459238'></a> <h3 class='post-title entry-title' itemprop='name'> <a href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/2022/01/the-etemmu-within-episode-2-shadows.html'>The Etemmu Within - Episode 2: Shadows over Bad-Tibira</a> </h3> <div class='post-header'> <div class='post-header-line-1'></div> </div> <div class='post-body entry-content' id='post-body-1982477359259459238' itemprop='description articleBody'> <br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">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 <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/228632/Warhammer-Fantasy-Roleplay-First-Edition--Shadows-Over-Bogenhafen-The-Enemy-Within-Part-1">DriveThru RPG</a>. Mythic Babylon is published by <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/355333/Mythic-Babylon">The Design Mechanism.</a></span><br /><br /><br />EPISODE 2: SHADOWS OVER BAD-TIBIRA <br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">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. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />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 Atkal拧um (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. <br /><br />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.</span><div><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e0/Ugallu_(Great_Lion)%2C_a_protective_spirit_against_evils._From_door_d%2C_Room_S%2C_North_Palace_at_Nineveh%2C_Iraq._645-635_BCE._British_Museum.jpg/1200px-Ugallu_(Great_Lion)%2C_a_protective_spirit_against_evils._From_door_d%2C_Room_S%2C_North_Palace_at_Nineveh%2C_Iraq._645-635_BCE._British_Museum.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="551" data-original-width="800" height="370" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e0/Ugallu_(Great_Lion)%2C_a_protective_spirit_against_evils._From_door_d%2C_Room_S%2C_North_Palace_at_Nineveh%2C_Iraq._645-635_BCE._British_Museum.jpg/1200px-Ugallu_(Great_Lion)%2C_a_protective_spirit_against_evils._From_door_d%2C_Room_S%2C_North_Palace_at_Nineveh%2C_Iraq._645-635_BCE._British_Museum.jpg" width="537" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ugallu (Wikimedia Commons)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /> <br /><br />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. <br /><br />When they go to find Judge Atkal拧um, 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. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />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.” <br /><br />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. <br /><br /></span></div><blockquote><div><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">"They are seven! <br />They are seven! <br />They are seven in the depth of primeval water, <br />They are seven adorned in heaven, <br />They are not male, they are not female, <br />They are drifting phantoms, <br />They have no spouse and never bore a child, <br />They do not know the result of their actions, <br />They do not pay attention to prayers and offerings. <br />They roam about the streets to cause trouble, <br />They cruise the canals to cause mischief. <br />They are seven, <br />They are seven."</span></div><div><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Source: Daily Life in Ancient Mesopotamia by Karen Rhea Nemet-Nejat.</span></div></blockquote><div><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><br />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. <br /><br />That evening, a leering face appears in the full moon.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/images/54/228632.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="618" height="441" src="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/images/54/228632.jpg" width="341" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></span></div><div><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">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 (I拧tar's son). Samuh-Tammuz claims that their plans will entrap I拧tar herself in a crucible of copper to be offered to her sister, Ere拧kigal, queen of the underworld, as a betrothal gift by the god, Nergal. Returning I拧tar 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. <br /><br />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.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">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:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><br /></span></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><i style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;">To the Captain of the Crucible of Life, thus says Aruru-Harug:</span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;">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. </span></i></span></span></p></span></div><div><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><i style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;">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.</span></i></p></span></div><div><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><i style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;">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.</span></i></p></span></div></blockquote><div><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> </span><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><br />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! <br /><br />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. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />What happens next will be covered in EPISODE 3: DEATH ON THE PURATTU</span></div><div><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><br /></span></div><div><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><br /></span></div> <div style='clear: both;'></div> </div> <div class='post-footer'> <div class='post-footer-line post-footer-line-1'> <span class='post-author vcard'> </span> <span class='post-timestamp'> at <meta content='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/2022/01/the-etemmu-within-episode-2-shadows.html' itemprop='url'/> <a class='timestamp-link' href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/2022/01/the-etemmu-within-episode-2-shadows.html' rel='bookmark' title='permanent link'><abbr class='published' itemprop='datePublished' title='2022-01-09T09:23:00-08:00'>January 09, 2022</abbr></a> </span> <span class='post-comment-link'> <a class='comment-link' href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/2022/01/the-etemmu-within-episode-2-shadows.html#comment-form' onclick=''> No comments: </a> </span> <span class='post-icons'> <span class='item-control blog-admin pid-1282338224'> <a href='https://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=2724078395031847481&postID=1982477359259459238&from=pencil' title='Edit Post'> <img alt='' class='icon-action' height='18' src='https://resources.blogblog.com/img/icon18_edit_allbkg.gif' width='18'/> </a> </span> </span> <div class='post-share-buttons goog-inline-block'> <a class='goog-inline-block share-button sb-email' href='https://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=2724078395031847481&postID=1982477359259459238&target=email' target='_blank' title='Email This'><span class='share-button-link-text'>Email This</span></a><a class='goog-inline-block share-button sb-blog' href='https://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=2724078395031847481&postID=1982477359259459238&target=blog' onclick='window.open(this.href, "_blank", "height=270,width=475"); return false;' target='_blank' title='BlogThis!'><span class='share-button-link-text'>BlogThis!</span></a><a class='goog-inline-block share-button sb-twitter' href='https://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=2724078395031847481&postID=1982477359259459238&target=twitter' target='_blank' title='Share to X'><span class='share-button-link-text'>Share to X</span></a><a class='goog-inline-block share-button sb-facebook' href='https://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=2724078395031847481&postID=1982477359259459238&target=facebook' onclick='window.open(this.href, "_blank", "height=430,width=640"); return false;' target='_blank' title='Share to Facebook'><span class='share-button-link-text'>Share to Facebook</span></a><a class='goog-inline-block share-button sb-pinterest' href='https://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=2724078395031847481&postID=1982477359259459238&target=pinterest' target='_blank' title='Share to Pinterest'><span class='share-button-link-text'>Share to Pinterest</span></a> </div> </div> <div class='post-footer-line post-footer-line-2'> <span class='post-labels'> Labels: <a href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/search/label/Babylon' rel='tag'>Babylon</a>, <a href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/search/label/Bronze%20Age' rel='tag'>Bronze Age</a>, <a href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/search/label/Etemmu%20Within' rel='tag'>Etemmu Within</a>, <a href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/search/label/Mythic%20Babylon' rel='tag'>Mythic Babylon</a>, <a href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/search/label/Mythras' rel='tag'>Mythras</a>, <a href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/search/label/Near%20East' rel='tag'>Near East</a>, <a href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/search/label/Roleplaying%20Games' rel='tag'>Roleplaying Games</a>, <a href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/search/label/Sumer' rel='tag'>Sumer</a> </span> </div> <div class='post-footer-line post-footer-line-3'> <span class='post-location'> </span> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div></div> <div class="date-outer"> <h2 class='date-header'><span>Sunday, October 31, 2021</span></h2> <div class="date-posts"> <div class='post-outer'> <div class='post hentry uncustomized-post-template' itemprop='blogPost' itemscope='itemscope' itemtype='http://schema.org/BlogPosting'> <meta content='https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c3/Lamashtu_plaque_9167.jpg/800px-Lamashtu_plaque_9167.jpg' itemprop='image_url'/> <meta content='2724078395031847481' itemprop='blogId'/> <meta content='7867123719367459068' itemprop='postId'/> <a name='7867123719367459068'></a> <h3 class='post-title entry-title' itemprop='name'> <a href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/2021/10/this-year-dont-forget-about-lamashtu.html'>This Year, Don't Forget About Lamashtu!</a> </h3> <div class='post-header'> <div class='post-header-line-1'></div> </div> <div class='post-body entry-content' id='post-body-7867123719367459068' itemprop='description articleBody'> <span style="font-family: trebuchet;">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. <br /><br />But nowhere did I see an image of Lama拧tu, that most feared of Babylonian evils.</span><div><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c3/Lamashtu_plaque_9167.jpg/800px-Lamashtu_plaque_9167.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="533" height="800" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c3/Lamashtu_plaque_9167.jpg/800px-Lamashtu_plaque_9167.jpg" width="533" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Image Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamashtu</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><br />  <br /><br />Lama拧tu 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. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />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 Lama拧tu 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. </span><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">These first two incantations against Lama拧tu are quite old and come from early A拧拧ur</span><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><br /></span><blockquote><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">“She is singular, she is uncanny, <br />She is a child born late in life, she is a phantasm, <br />She is haunt, she is malicious, <br />Offspring of a god, daughter of Anu. <br />For her malevolent will, for her base counsel, <br />Anu her father dashed her down from heaven to earth, <br />for her malevolent will, her inflamatory council. <br />Her hair is askew, her loincloth is torn away. <br />She makes her was straight to the person without a god. <br />She can benumb the sinews of a lion, she can still the sinews of a youngster or infant.” </span></blockquote><blockquote><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">“She is furious, she is terrifying, <br />She is uncanny, she has an awful glamour, <br />She is a she-wolf, the daughter of Anu, <br />Her dwelling in is the grass, <br />Her lair is in the weeds. <br />She holds back the full-grown youth in rapid progress, <br />She yanks out by the breech the premature child, <br />She brains little babies, <br />She makes the witnesses swallow the birth fluids. <br />This spell is not mine; it is a spell of Ninkilim, master of spells. <br />Ninkarak cast it so I took it up.*"</span></blockquote><blockquote><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i>[Source: Before the Muses: An Anthology of Akkadian Literature</i></span><div><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i>Benjamin R. Foster, Third Edition 2005 CDL Press. 1044 pp.]</i></span></div></blockquote><div><p><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">*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.</span></p><div><div><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">This third incantation is a little younger and comes from Akkad.</span><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><br /></span><blockquote><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">“Anu begot her, Ea reared her, <br />Enlil doomed her the face of a lioness. <br />She is furious. She is long of the hand, longer still of the nail. <br />Her forearms are smeared with blood. <br />She came right in the front door, slithering over the door frame <br />She has caught sight of the baby! <br />Seven seizures has she done him in his belly! <br />Pluck out your nails! Let loose your arms! <br />Before he gets to you, valiant Ea, sage of the magical art, <br />The door frame is big enough for you; the doors are open. <br />Come, then, begone into the open country! <br />I will surely fill your mouth with sand, your face with dust, <br />Your mouth with finely ground mustard seeds! <br />I exorcise you by Ea's curse: you must be gone!” </span></blockquote><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><blockquote>[Source: Before the Muses: An Anthology of Akkadian Literature <br />Benjamin R. Foster, Third Edition 2005 CDL Press. 1044 pp.] </blockquote></i></span><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8b/Bronze_plate%2C_several_Mesopotamian_deities_or_creatures_ward_off_evil_spirits._From_Iraq._9th-7th_century_BCE._Ancient_Orient_Museum%2C_Istanbul.jpg/800px-Bronze_plate%2C_several_Mesopotamian_deities_or_creatures_ward_off_evil_spirits._From_Iraq._9th-7th_century_BCE._Ancient_Orient_Museum%2C_Istanbul.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="534" height="800" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8b/Bronze_plate%2C_several_Mesopotamian_deities_or_creatures_ward_off_evil_spirits._From_Iraq._9th-7th_century_BCE._Ancient_Orient_Museum%2C_Istanbul.jpg/800px-Bronze_plate%2C_several_Mesopotamian_deities_or_creatures_ward_off_evil_spirits._From_Iraq._9th-7th_century_BCE._Ancient_Orient_Museum%2C_Istanbul.jpg" width="534" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Image Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamashtu</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><br />  <br /><br />Another juicy spell can be found in Karen Nemet-Nejat's wonderful introductory book: Daily Life in Ancient Mesopotamia. <br /></span><blockquote><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">“She comes up from the swamp, <br />is fierce, terrible, forceful, destructive, powerful: <br />(and still) she is a goddess, awe inspiring. <br />Her feet are those of an eagle, her hands mean decay. <br />Her fingernails are long, her armpits unshaven... <br />The daughter of Anu counts the pregnant women daily, <br />follows on the heels of those about to give birth. <br />She counts their months, marks their days on the wall. <br />Against those just giving birth she casts a spell: <br />“Bring me your sons, let me nurse them. </span><div><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">In the mouth of your daughters I want to place my breast!” <br />She loved to drink bubbling human blood, <br />(eats) flesh not to be eaten, (picks) bones not to <br />be picked. (From Lama拧tu series, Tablet 1)"</span></div></blockquote><div><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i></i></span></div><blockquote><div><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i>[Source: Daily Life in Ancient Mesopotamia</i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i>Karen Rhea Nemet-Nejat, 1998 Hendrickson Publishers. 346pp.] </i></span></div></blockquote><div><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">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 Lama拧tu 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!</span></div></div></div><div><br /></div></div></div> <div style='clear: both;'></div> </div> <div class='post-footer'> <div class='post-footer-line post-footer-line-1'> <span class='post-author vcard'> </span> <span class='post-timestamp'> at <meta content='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/2021/10/this-year-dont-forget-about-lamashtu.html' itemprop='url'/> <a class='timestamp-link' href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/2021/10/this-year-dont-forget-about-lamashtu.html' rel='bookmark' title='permanent link'><abbr class='published' itemprop='datePublished' title='2021-10-31T12:22:00-07:00'>October 31, 2021</abbr></a> </span> <span class='post-comment-link'> <a class='comment-link' href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/2021/10/this-year-dont-forget-about-lamashtu.html#comment-form' onclick=''> No comments: </a> </span> <span class='post-icons'> <span class='item-control blog-admin pid-1282338224'> <a href='https://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=2724078395031847481&postID=7867123719367459068&from=pencil' title='Edit Post'> <img alt='' class='icon-action' height='18' src='https://resources.blogblog.com/img/icon18_edit_allbkg.gif' width='18'/> </a> </span> </span> <div class='post-share-buttons goog-inline-block'> <a class='goog-inline-block share-button sb-email' href='https://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=2724078395031847481&postID=7867123719367459068&target=email' target='_blank' title='Email This'><span class='share-button-link-text'>Email This</span></a><a class='goog-inline-block share-button sb-blog' href='https://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=2724078395031847481&postID=7867123719367459068&target=blog' onclick='window.open(this.href, "_blank", "height=270,width=475"); return false;' target='_blank' title='BlogThis!'><span class='share-button-link-text'>BlogThis!</span></a><a class='goog-inline-block share-button sb-twitter' href='https://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=2724078395031847481&postID=7867123719367459068&target=twitter' target='_blank' title='Share to X'><span class='share-button-link-text'>Share to X</span></a><a class='goog-inline-block share-button sb-facebook' href='https://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=2724078395031847481&postID=7867123719367459068&target=facebook' onclick='window.open(this.href, "_blank", "height=430,width=640"); return false;' target='_blank' title='Share to Facebook'><span class='share-button-link-text'>Share to Facebook</span></a><a class='goog-inline-block share-button sb-pinterest' href='https://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=2724078395031847481&postID=7867123719367459068&target=pinterest' target='_blank' title='Share to Pinterest'><span class='share-button-link-text'>Share to Pinterest</span></a> </div> </div> <div class='post-footer-line post-footer-line-2'> <span class='post-labels'> Labels: <a href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/search/label/Assyria' rel='tag'>Assyria</a>, <a href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/search/label/Babylon' rel='tag'>Babylon</a>, <a href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/search/label/Bronze%20Age' rel='tag'>Bronze Age</a>, <a href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/search/label/Literature' rel='tag'>Literature</a>, <a href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/search/label/Monsters' rel='tag'>Monsters</a>, <a href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/search/label/Mythic%20Babylon' rel='tag'>Mythic Babylon</a>, <a href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/search/label/Near%20East' rel='tag'>Near East</a>, <a href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/search/label/Sumer' rel='tag'>Sumer</a> </span> </div> <div class='post-footer-line post-footer-line-3'> <span class='post-location'> </span> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div></div> <div class="date-outer"> <h2 class='date-header'><span>Saturday, August 28, 2021</span></h2> <div class="date-posts"> <div class='post-outer'> <div class='post hentry uncustomized-post-template' itemprop='blogPost' itemscope='itemscope' itemtype='http://schema.org/BlogPosting'> <meta content='http://thedesignmechanism.com/resources/Cover_Images/Mythic%20Babylon%20Small.png.opt270x352o0%2C0s270x352.png' itemprop='image_url'/> <meta content='2724078395031847481' itemprop='blogId'/> <meta content='1077844480464617562' itemprop='postId'/> <a name='1077844480464617562'></a> <h3 class='post-title entry-title' itemprop='name'> <a href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/2021/08/a-mythic-babylon-bibliography.html'>A Mythic Babylon Bibliography</a> </h3> <div class='post-header'> <div class='post-header-line-1'></div> </div> <div class='post-body entry-content' id='post-body-1077844480464617562' itemprop='description articleBody'> <div><span style="font-family: georgia;">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!</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://thedesignmechanism.com/resources/Cover_Images/Mythic%20Babylon%20Small.png.opt270x352o0%2C0s270x352.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="352" data-original-width="270" height="352" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_sCxNxBzSbgmwVJ_JKeiBT1QPjfUdUfTkydzPQ2avxGHcooh2K1PtxpwsGgHcb6exRj-iZ4yipZmS9diDpTd_613lrvw2KkEBYHKkqlTB0aTTxCHxowPbmYEF5V_fQ6nWULLLQO22WdVtAhjddxNk1yD7b-PWXPSEcLNCGajNJT1R5JTWybtbpqR3KdlAapEnmS=s0-d" width="270"></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /><br />ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN VOICES <br /><br />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! <br /><br /> 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. <br /><br /><b>The Ancient Near East: Historical Sources in Translation </b><br />Edited by Mark W. Chavalas, 2006 Blackwell. 445pp. <br /><br />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. <br /><b><br /></b></span><div><b><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>The Literature of Ancient Sumer </b><br />Black, Cunningham, Robson, and Zolyomi, 2004 Oxford University Press. 372pp. <br /><br />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. <br /><br /><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Before the Muses: An Anthology of Akkadian Literature</b><br /> Benjamin R. Foster, Third Edition 2005 CDL Press. 1044 pp. <br /><br />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. <br /><br /><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>From an Antique Land: An introduction to Ancient Near Eastern Literature </b><br />Edited by Carl S. Ehrlich, 2009 Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 506 pp. <br /><br />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. <br /><br /><br /><b>Mesopotamian Chronicles </b><br />Jean-Jacques Glassner, 2004, SBL, 365pp <br /><br /><b>Prophets and Prophecy in the Ancient Near East </b><br />Martti Nissinen, 2003 SBL, 296pp <br /><br />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.<br /><br /><br />MYTHS <br /><br />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. <br /><br /><b>Myths from Mesopotamia </b><br />Stephanie Dalley, revised edition 2000, Oxford University Press. 342pp. <br /><br /><b>Sumerian Mythology </b><br />Samuel Noah Kramer, 1972, University of Pennsylvania Press, 130pp <br /><br /><b>Jealous Gods & Chosen People: The Mythology of the Middle East </b><br />David Leeming, 2004, Oxford University Press, 150pp <br /><br />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. <br /><br /><br /><b>A Dictionary of Ancient Near Eastern Mythology </b><br />Gwendolyn Leick, 1991 Routledge. 226pp. <br /><br /><b>Gods, Demons, and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia </b><br />Jeremy Black and Anthony Green, 1992 The British Museum Press. 192Pp <br /><br />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. <br /><br /><br /><b>Epics of the Sumerian Kings: The Matter of Aratta </b><br />Herman Vanstiphout, 2003 Society of Biblical Literature. 176pp. <br /><br /><b>The City of Rainbows: A Tale from Ancient Sumer </b><br />Karen Foster, 1999, University Museum, University of Pennsylvania, 28pp <br /><br />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. <br /><br /><br /><b>The Epic of Gilgamesh</b></span><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Andrew George, 1999, Penguin Books, 228pp <br /><br /><b>Gilgamesh: A New English Version</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Stephen Mitchell, 2004, Free Press, 290pp <br /><br />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. <br /><br /><br /><b>Inanna: Queen of Heaven and Earth </b><br />Diana Wolkstein and Samuel Noah Kramer, 1983, Harper & Row Publishers, 227pp <br /><br />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. <br /><br /><br /><br /> RELIGION <br /><br /><b>Religions of the Ancient World: A Guide </b><br />Sarah Iles Johnson, general editor, 2004, The Bellknap Press, 697pp <br /><br />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. <br /><br /><br /><b>Religion in Ancient Mesopotamia </b><br />by Jean Bottero, 2001 The University of Chicago Press. 246pp. <br /><br />A very good overview of the subject. <br /><br /><br /><b>Ancient Goddesses </b><br />Lucy Goodison and Christine Morris eds., 1998, The University of Wisconsin Press, 224pp <br /><br />More specific to goddesses, with some nice juicy bits for the historical detective. <br /><br /><br /><b>The Treasures of Darkness: A History of Mesopotamian Religion</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Thorkild Jacobsen, 1976, Yale University Press, 273pp <br /><br />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. <br /><br /><br /><b>Gods in the Desert: Religion of the Ancient Near East </b><br />Glenn S. Holland, 2009, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Inc., 309pp <br /><br /><b>Religions of the Ancient Near East </b><br />Daniel C. Snell, 2011, University of Cambridge Press, 179pp <br /><br /><b>Penguin Handbook of Ancient Religions </b><br />Edited by John R. Hinnells, 2007, Penguin Books, 610pp <br /><br />Three more generalist books to round out the list, all of which have something to offer. <br /><br /> <br /> <br /><br /> DAILY LIFE <br /><br /><b>Daily Life in Ancient Mesopotamia </b><br />Karen Rhea Nemet-Nejat, 1998 Hendrickson Publishers. 346pp. <br /><br />This is my favourite 'daily life' book for the Old Babylonian period, and the one I usually recommend. <br /><br /><br /><b>Handbook to Life in Ancient Mesopotamia</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Stephen Bertman, 2003 Oxford University Press. 396pp <br /><br /><br /><b>Everyday Life in Ancient Mesopotamia</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Jean Bottero, 2001 Johns Hopkins University Press. 276Pp <br /><br />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. <br /><br /><br /><b>Ancient Egyptian, Mesopotamian & Persian Costume </b><br />by Mary G. Houston, 2002 Dover Books, 190pp. <br />(essentially a reprint of the original second edition from 1954) <br /><br />Somewhat dated now, but still has some use for this very specific topic. <br /><br /><br /><b>Law Collections from Mesopotamia and Asia Minor </b><br />Martha T. Roth, 1997, SBL, 283pp <br /><br />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. <br /><br /><br /><b>The Marsh Arabs</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Wilfred Thesiger, 1967 Penguin. 233pp. <br /><br /> 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. <br /><br /> <br /><br />HISTORIES<br /> <br /><b>King Hammurabi of Babylon </b><br />Marc van de Mieroop, 2005 Blackwell Publishing. 171pp. <br /><br />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.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">  <br /><br /><b>A History of the Ancient Near East ca. 3000-323 BC, Third Edition </b><br />Marc Van de Mieroop, 2015 Wiley Blackwell Publishing. 432 pp. <br /><br />An excellent survey of Mesopotamian History from 3000 to 323 BC, now in it's third edition.. <br /><br /> <br /><b>Mari and Karana: Two Old Babylonian Cities </b><br />Stephanie Dalley, 1984 Longman Group Ltd. 218pp. <br /><br />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. <br /><br /> <br /><b>Letters From the King of Mari </b><br />Wolfgane Heimpel, 2003, Esenbrauns, 657pp <br /><br />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. <br /><br /> <br /><b>The Age of Agade: Inventing Empire in Ancient Mesopotamia </b><br />Benjamin R. Foster, 2016 Routledge. 428pp. <br /><br />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. <br /><br /><br /><br /> WEAPONS AND WARFARE <br /><br />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. <br /><br /><b>Warfare in the Ancient Near East to 1600 BC </b><br />William J. Hamblin, 2006 Routledge 517pp. <br /><br /><b>Bronze Age Military Equipment </b><br />Dan Howard, 2011 Pen & Sword Books. 169pp. <br /><br /><b>Bronze Age Warfare </b><br />Richard Osgood, Sarah Monks, and Judith Toms, 2000 Sutton Publishing Ltd., 165pp <br /><br /><b>Bronze Age War Chariots </b><br />Nic Fields, 2006 Osprey Publishing, 48pp <br /><br /><b>Ancient Armies of the Middle East </b><br />Terence Wise, 1981, Osprey Publishing, 40pp <br /><br /> <br /> <br />BOOKS ABOUT CITIES <br /><br /><b>Mesopotamia: The Invention of the City </b><br />Gwendolyn Leick, 2001, Penguin Books, 384pp <br /><br /><b>The Ancient Mesopotamian City </b><br />Marc Van de Mieroop, 2004, Oxford University Press, 269pp <br /><br />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! <br /><br />The Van de Mieroop book is more a tradition survey of city life, organized by topic. <br /><br />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<br /><br /><b>Ur: The City of the Moon God </b><br />Harriet Crawford, 2015, Bloomsbury, 146pp <br /><br /><b>A City from the Dawn of History: Erbil in the Cuneiform Sources </b><br />John MacGinnis, 2014, Oxbow Books, 128pp <br /><br /><b>Ebla: An Empire Rediscovered </b><br />Paolo Matthiae, 1981, Doubleday & Company Inc., 237pp <br /><br /><b>Ugarit: Ras Shamra </b><br />Adrian Curtis, 1985, Lutterworth Press, 125pp <br /><br /> <br /> <br /><br /> SPECIAL TOPICS <br /><br /><b>Philosophy Before the Greeks: The Pursuit of Truth in Ancient Babylonia </b><br />Marc Van de Mieroop, 2016, Princeton University Press, 312pp <br /><br />A book about Babylonian systems of learning which I've reviewed elsewhere on this blog. <br /><br /><br /><b>The Heavenly Writing: Divination, Horoscopy, and Astronomy in Mesopotamian Culture </b><br />Francesca Rochberg, 2004 Cambridge University Press, 331pp <br /><br />This is mainly about astrology, and mainly about times after the OB period. I don't thin it's for the general reader. <br /><br /><br /><b> Women in the Ancient Near East </b><br />Edited by Mark W. Chavalas, 2014, Routledge, 319pp <br /><br />This one was a bit disappointing for a rather pedestrian treatment of a subject matter that deserved more. <br /><br /><br /><b> The Horse, The Wheel, and Language </b><br />David W. Anthony, 2007, Princeton University Press, 553pp <br /><br />A lengthy and detailed look at the cultures of the Pontic steppe and the origins of chariotry. <br /><br /> <br /><br /> ATLASES AND GAZETEERS <br /><br /><b>The Routledge Handbook of The Peoples and Places of Ancient Western Asia </b><br />Trevor Bryce, 2009, Routledge, 887pp <br /><br />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. <br /><br />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. <br /><br /><b>Atlas of the Ancient Near East from Prehistorical Times to the Roman Imperial Period </b><br />Trevor Bryce and Jessie Birkett-Rees, 2016 Routledge. 318pp. <br /><br /><b>The Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient Civilizations </b><br />John Haywood, 2005, Penguin Books, 144pp <br /><br /><b>Cultural Atlas of Mesopotamia and the Ancient Near East </b><br />Michael Roaf, 1990, Andromeda Books, 238pp <br /><br /><b>Historical Atlas of Ancient Mesopotamia </b><br />Norman Bancroft Hunt, 2004, Thalamus Publishing, 190pp <br /><br /> <br />SURVEYS AND COMPENDIA <br /><br /><b>The Babylonian World</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Edited by Gwendolyn Leick, 2007, Routledge, 590pp <br /><br /><b>A Companion to the Ancient Near East</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Edited by Daniel C. Snell, 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 538pp <br /><br /><b>The Sumerian World</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Harriet Crawford, 2013, Routledge, 659pp <br /><br />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. <br /><br />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.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /><b>Babylon: Mesopotamia and the Birth of Civilization </b><br />Paul Kriwaczek, 2010, Thomas Dunne Books. 310 pp. <br /><br /><b>The Rise and Fall of Babylon: Gateway of the Gods </b><br />Anton Gill, 2008 Metro Books. 192pp. <br /><br /><b>Early Mesopotamia: Society and Economy at the Dawn of History </b><br />J.N. Postgate 1992, Routledge, 367pp <br /><br /><b>Civilizations of Ancient Iraq </b><br />Benjamin R. And Karen Polinger Foster, 2009, Princeton University Press, 297pp <br /><br /><b>Babylon, John Oates, 1979 </b><br />Thames & Hudson Ltd., 215pp <br /><br /><b>The Babylonians: an introduction <br /></b>Gwendolyn Leick, 2003, Routledge, 182pp <br /><br /><b>Mesopotamia: Assyrians, Sumerians, Babylonians </b><br />Enrico Ascalone, University of California Press, 2007, 368pp <br /><br /><b>Ancient Mesopotamia </b><br />Susan Pollock, 1999, Cambridge University Press, 259pp <br /><br /><b>Sumer and the Sumerians, Second Ed. </b><br />Harriet Crawford, 2004, Cambridge University Press, 252pp <br /><br /><b>Civliization Before Greece and Rome</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">H.W.F. Saggs, 1989, Yale University Press, 322pp</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">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.  </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /><b>The Ancient Orient: An Introduction to the Study of the Ancient Near East</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Wolfram von Soden, 1994, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 263pp <br /><br /><b>Early Urbanism on the Syrian Euphrates</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Lisa Cooper, 2006, Routledge, 313 <br /><br /><b>Ancient Mesopotamia at the Dawn of Civilization: The Evolution of an Urban Landscape</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Guillermo Algaze, 2008, The University of Chicago Press, 230pp <br /><br /><b>Dictionary of the Ancient Near East</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Edited by Piotr Bienkowski and Allan Millard, 2000, British Museum Press, 342pp <br /><br /> <br /> <br />FURTHER AFIELD <br /><br />These books cover places outside of our core area and really just scratch the surface. <br /><br /><b>Dilmun and its Neighbours</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Harriet Crawford, 1998, Cambridge University Press, 170pp <br /><br /><b>The Hittites and their contemporaries in Asia Minor</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">J.G. Macqueen, 1986, Thames and Hudson Ltd., 176pp <br /><br /><b>Arabia and the Arabs From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Robert G. Hoyland, 2001, Routledge, 324pp <br /><br /><b>Ancient Canaan & Israel: An Introducton</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Jonathan M. Golden, 2004, Oxford University Press, 413pp <br /><br /><b>The Hyksos Period in Ancient Egypt</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Charlotte Booth, 2005, Shire Publications Ltd., 56pp <br /><br /><b>The Lost World of Elam: Re-creation of a Vanished Civilization </b><br />Walther Hinz, 1972, Sidgwick & Jackson, 192pp <br /><br /><b>Ancient Cyprus</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Veronica Tatton-Brown, 1997, British Museum Press, 96pp <br /><br /> <br />PAPERS <br /><br />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. <br /><br /><i>Old Babylonian Personal Names</i>, Marten Stol, 1991 <br /><br /><i>Hurrians and Hurrian Names in the Mari Texts</i>, Jack M. Sasson, 1974 <br /><br /><i>Thy name is slave?: The slave onomasticon of Old Babylonian Sippar</i>, Lieselot Vandorpe 2010 <br /><br /><i>Urbanisn and Society in the Third Millenium Upper Khabur Basin</i>, Jason Alik Ur, 2004 Dissertation <br /><br /><i>The Architectural Defense: Fortified Settlements of the Levant During the Middle Bronze Age</i>, Aaron Alexander Burke, 2004 Dissertation <br /><br /><i>The Other and the Enemy in the Mesopotamian Conception of the World</i>, Beate Pongratz-Leisten, 2001 <br /><br /><i>Growing in a Foreign World: For a History of the “Meluhha Villages” in Mesopotamia in the 3rd Millenium BC</i>, Massimo Vidale, 2004 <br /><br /><i>Back to the Cedar Forest: The Beginning and End of Tablet V of the Standard Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh</i>, F.N.H. Al-Rawi and A. R. George, 2014 ASOR <br /><br /><i>Lists of Personal Names From The Temple School of Nippur</i>, Edward Chiera 1916 <br /><br /><i>Trade, Merchants, and the Lost Cities of the Bronze Age</i>, Barjamovic, Chaney, Cosar, & Hotascsu 2017 <br /><br /><i>Rebuilding Eden in the Land of Eridu</i>, Marco Ramazzotti, 2017 ANEToday Vol 5 No9 <br /><br /><i>Masculinities and Third Gender: Gendered Otherness in the Ancient Near East</i>, Ilan Peled, 2017, ANEToday Vol 5 No2 <br /><br /><i>The Mesopotamian Pandemonium: A Provisional Census</i>, Frans A.M. Wiggerman, 2011 <br /><br /><i>Lists of Personal Names from the Temple School of Nippur</i>, Edward Chiera, 1916 <br /><br /><i>The Ilkum Institution in the Provincial Administration of Larsa During the Reign of Hammurapi (1792-1750 B.C.)</i>, Miki Yokoyama Ishikida, 1999 <br /><br /><i>Nuzi Personal Names</i>, Ignace J. Gelb, Pierre M. Purves, and Allan A. MacRae, 1943, University of Chicago Press <br /><br /><i>Hurrians and Subarians</i>, Ignace J. Gelb, 1944 University of Chicago Press <br /><br /><i>Storm Gods of the Ancient Near East, Parts I and II</i>, Daniel Schwemer 2008 <br /><br /><i>Transtigridian Snake Gods</i>, F.A.M. Wiggerman, 1997 <br /><br /><br /><br /> WEBSITES <br /><br />In addition to the websites listed in the book, these also proved useful:<br /><br />Iconography of Deities and Demons in the Ancient Near East, various electronic pre-publication entries. </span><p align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;"> <span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><a href="http://www.religionswissenschaft.uzh.ch/idd/prepublication.php">http://www.religionswissenschaft.uzh.ch/idd/prepublication.php</a></span></span></span></p> <span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /><br /> The Ancient Near East Today offers a website and journal, quite good. </span><p align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;"> <span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><a href="https://www.asor.org/anetoday">https://www.asor.org/anetoday</a></span></span></span></p><p align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></p><p align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;">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:</span></span></p><p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><a href="http://thedesignmechanism.com/store.php#!/Mythic-Babylon/p/367787033/category=24197109" target="_blank">Design Mechanism Store</a> / <a href="https://www.lulu.com/en/us/shop/paul-mitchener-and-chris-gilmore/mythic-babylon/paperback/product-7z92qz.html?page=1&pageSize=4" rel="nofollow" style="font-family: georgia;" target="_blank">Lulu</a> / <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/355333/Mythic-Babylon?src=hottest" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">DriveThru RPG</a> / <a href="https://www.aeongamespublishing.co.uk/product/mythic-babylon/95102/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Aeon Games (UK)</a></p></div></div></div> <div style='clear: both;'></div> </div> <div class='post-footer'> <div class='post-footer-line post-footer-line-1'> <span class='post-author vcard'> </span> <span class='post-timestamp'> at <meta content='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/2021/08/a-mythic-babylon-bibliography.html' itemprop='url'/> <a class='timestamp-link' href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/2021/08/a-mythic-babylon-bibliography.html' rel='bookmark' title='permanent link'><abbr class='published' itemprop='datePublished' title='2021-08-28T08:00:00-07:00'>August 28, 2021</abbr></a> </span> <span class='post-comment-link'> <a class='comment-link' href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/2021/08/a-mythic-babylon-bibliography.html#comment-form' onclick=''> No comments: </a> </span> <span class='post-icons'> <span class='item-control blog-admin pid-1282338224'> <a href='https://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=2724078395031847481&postID=1077844480464617562&from=pencil' title='Edit Post'> <img alt='' class='icon-action' height='18' src='https://resources.blogblog.com/img/icon18_edit_allbkg.gif' width='18'/> </a> </span> </span> <div class='post-share-buttons goog-inline-block'> <a class='goog-inline-block share-button sb-email' href='https://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=2724078395031847481&postID=1077844480464617562&target=email' target='_blank' title='Email This'><span class='share-button-link-text'>Email This</span></a><a class='goog-inline-block share-button sb-blog' href='https://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=2724078395031847481&postID=1077844480464617562&target=blog' onclick='window.open(this.href, "_blank", "height=270,width=475"); 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I'll get to the second book later - for now, let's consider this one:</div><br /><b>Origins on the Bronze Age Oasis Civilization in Central Asia</b> </span><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">by Fredrik Talmage Hiebert, 1994, 240pp</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/517CS1lIiKL._SX354_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="356" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/517CS1lIiKL._SX354_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br />This book contains an archaeological survey of the oasis civilizations Margiana (and by extension, of Bactria, which is closely related). Together, these are known as the BMAC (Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex) cultures, of which little is written in English.<br /><br />The author spent a fair amount of time excavating at Gonur Depe, one of the more impressive archaeological sites in the Mugrab delta in Turkmenistan, and it's quite clear he's a expert on the subject. The constructed remains of this ancient civilization are impressive. The finds of artifacts are a little less so, but they reveal interesting ties to both the Indus civilization, and to Sumer/Akkad/Early Babylonia. The oasis civilizations were rich in agriculture, and consequently in food, human resources, and textiles - much like Sumer and Akkad. But also like Sumer and Akkad, they were poor in minerals and metals, necessitating trade with the nearby mountainous communities (which are not covered in this book, and which were likely the source of both lapis-lazuli and tin for both of these civilizations).<br /><br />To understand this importance of this culture a little more, check out this image of the site of Gonur Depe in Turkmenistan - the one at which Talmadge excavated:</span></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.heritageinstitute.com/zoroastrianism/images/turkmenistan/gonurAerialGarrett.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="501" data-original-width="750" height="268" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_vzEUuHtS79826iVjsSOwcNgNHXTnBPb066JW7xgeZa5dyKdC1emPui7txWPg3RQoavCkOz8sBAypw_7utUdY4Nh1lbKb8pu0QXZ-iepgIJNLadXXteGjcLnlqxqB9gWOCvqMrqPc94pfwxq-BkoJgTVPO_6fcS9u0X4MaW=s0-d" width="400"></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Gonur Depe is a large site of 55 Hectares occupied in different stages between c.2500 BC and c.1500 BC. The larger built-up portion in the centre of the image is known as Gonur North, and was occupied up to about 1900 BC. The southern section with the thick-walled fortress in the centre was occupied from 1900 onward. Fans of the Glorantha game setting might well wonder if Middle Bronze-Age Gonur South was the original Pavis, and Gonur North the Big Rubble.</span><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Gonur is the largest ruin in the Murghab Delta region, but over 150 other settlements have also been found so far. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br />The remains are as impressive as any to be found c.2000 BC. It's really too bad more isn't written about them in English. An updated survey, geared to the lay-person, is sorely needed.<br /><br />This particular book offers such a survey, but it's now more than 20 years out of date, and spends far too much time describing the ceramic complex of the sites to be of interest to the general reader. Apart from that, the book is well written offers a sufficient survey of the archaeological remains of these sites, but doesn't offer much synthesis - it doesn't spend much time trying to put all the pieces together to create a picture of the civilization. <br /><br />A more contemporary take - one that builds upon both early and late excavations, and takes into account our understanding of other cultures both near and far, would be a far more interesting read. Such a book hasn't been available in English, as far as I can tell. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">At least not until now. Luckily for us ancient history junkies, Routledge has released a monster entry in their 'World Of' series, called The World of the Oxus Civilization. The hardback version available now sells for a mere $200 U.S. dollars and is nearly 1000 pages. But there's a more affordable Kindle version on the market, and a paperback is scheduled to be released next March. </span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">These books contain collections of articles, each in its own chapter and each by a different author. Each chapter deals with a special topic, such as a specific period in history, writing, the law, social organization, kingship, queenship, and what have you. My copy of The Elamite World, for example, has 41 chapters and is split into 8 parts. These parts are: </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">1. Imagining Elam (Research & Sources), </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">2. Land and Peoples, </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">3. Elam Through History, </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">4. Close Encounters on Eastern and Western Fronts, </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">5. Language and Writing, </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">6. The Material Culture of Elam</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">7. Elamite Society, and</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">8. The Legacy of Elam</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">So I'm expecting something similar from this book, and I'm very much looking forward to it.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">https://www.routledge.com/The-World-of-the-Oxus-Civilization/Lyonnet-Dubova/p/book/9781138722873</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images.routledge.com/common/jackets/amazon/978113872/9781138722873.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="498" data-original-width="350" src="https://images.routledge.com/common/jackets/amazon/978113872/9781138722873.jpg" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div> <div style='clear: both;'></div> </div> <div class='post-footer'> <div class='post-footer-line post-footer-line-1'> <span class='post-author vcard'> </span> <span class='post-timestamp'> at <meta content='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/2021/06/the-oxus-civilization-this-is-tale-of.html' itemprop='url'/> <a class='timestamp-link' href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/2021/06/the-oxus-civilization-this-is-tale-of.html' rel='bookmark' title='permanent link'><abbr class='published' itemprop='datePublished' title='2021-06-29T20:11:00-07:00'>June 29, 2021</abbr></a> </span> <span class='post-comment-link'> <a class='comment-link' href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/2021/06/the-oxus-civilization-this-is-tale-of.html#comment-form' onclick=''> No comments: </a> </span> <span class='post-icons'> <span class='item-control blog-admin pid-1282338224'> <a href='https://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=2724078395031847481&postID=3319789662450144873&from=pencil' title='Edit Post'> <img alt='' class='icon-action' height='18' src='https://resources.blogblog.com/img/icon18_edit_allbkg.gif' width='18'/> </a> </span> </span> <div class='post-share-buttons goog-inline-block'> <a class='goog-inline-block share-button sb-email' href='https://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=2724078395031847481&postID=3319789662450144873&target=email' target='_blank' title='Email This'><span class='share-button-link-text'>Email This</span></a><a class='goog-inline-block share-button sb-blog' href='https://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=2724078395031847481&postID=3319789662450144873&target=blog' onclick='window.open(this.href, "_blank", "height=270,width=475"); 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text-align: center;"><a href="https://pup-assets.imgix.net/onix/images/9780691176352.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="526" height="657" src="https://pup-assets.imgix.net/onix/images/9780691176352.jpg" width="432" /></a></div><br /><p></p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"><b>Philosophy Before the Greeks: The Pursuit of Truth in Ancient Babylonia</b></span><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">By Marc Van de Mieroop, 2016, 301pp</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"><br /><br /></span><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">In this essay expanded into book form, Marc van de Mieroop (author of several well regarded books on ancient Babylonia, including A History of the Ancient Near East and King Hammurabi of Babylon: A Biography) describes his hunt for evidence of philosophy (and more specifically epistemology) in Babylonian culture. He presents his case that ancient Babylonian scribes adhered to a system of knowledge that has so far eluded historians and contemporary observers, and in having such a system of knowledge, they therefore were early students of philosophy.</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"><br /><br /></span><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">After describing his intent (and discussing a little of Greek philosophy by comparison) He presents three examples to illustrate why he thinks the Babylonians had a theory of knowledge. These examples are:</span></span></span></span></p> <ol> <li><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Lexical lists (lists of words that Babylonians compiled, organized in ways we can't understand but that make sense in a Babylonian context), </span></span></span> </span></p> </li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Omen lists (lists of omens that could be used in prophecy) </span></span></span> </span></p> </li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Law Codes (effectively, lists of judgments in legal cases, though these also fixed some prices). </span></span></span> </span></p> </li></ol> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">After examining each of these types if lists (two chapters are devoted to each) the author concludes that the secret to understanding systematized Babylonian thought is couched in their writing, and in particular in the writing of lists. </span></span></span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">According to van de Mieroop, Babylonians believed that true knowledge was encoded in writing because writing was a gift from the gods and that the writing of the gods existed everywhere in the natural world (in the stars, the liver of a lamb, and so on). The natural conclusion was that, because writing was the purview of the gods - if you could write about it, it was true. If you could encode it in writing so it could be read multiple ways to have meanings that could support one another (for example, if the Sumerian translation and the Akkadian translation were complimentary), then the truth was that much stronger. </span></span></span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: large;">Van de Mieroop ends the book by stating that "it is there, [in writing], that we have to look for the Babylonian conceptual autonomy and the key to their philosophy." In saying this, he seems to acknowledge that he's got no smoking gun, but the book presents an idea that points to something bigger..</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">I found his analysis of Babylonian thought to be quite interesting, even eye-opening. I have to say I wasn't always convinced by the examples, but it seems fairly clear to me that Babylonians had some kind of shared system of knowledge - even if there aren't any period texts that explicitly reveal it. Could that system be hiding in the writing? Possibly. Was there a pan-cultural study of the nature of knowledge? I'm not convinced, but scribal conventions lasted a long time and spread over a wide area, so perhaps there was. We've only scratched the surface of what the Babylonians can tell us – we've translated only a fraction of the total number of tablets so far excavated, and perhaps hundreds of thousands still lie under the mud, waiting to be found. So who knows what more they have to reveal to us?</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"><br /><br /></span><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The book treads heavily on the idea of determination language, but stops shy of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis and instead steers us to looking at show script can influence culture, and culture script.</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">As I read the book, I wondered if there was a lesson in here for game design – or at least for the design of fictional worlds? The thing that stuck with me the most was the idea that a scribe could write something into existence. Gamers and game-writers do this all the time! Do we do it with lists? Hell yes - we love lists! Below are a number of examples from various RPGs published over the years. Before we get to those, though, I'd like you to keep in mind the world-building potential of lists.</span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Philosophy Before The Greeks</b> offers one particularly stirring example of how lists can reveal how different cultures look at the world;  In the book, van de Mieroop drops a quote from Jorge Luis Borges, who is in turn quoting from a 'Chinese encyclopedia'. This is how that encyclopedia classifies animals:</span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"></span></span></p><blockquote><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">“<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">In its remote pages, animals are divided into:</span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">a. belonging to an emperor</span></span><br /><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">b. embalmed</span></span><br /><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">c. tame</span></span><br /><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">d. sucking pigs</span></span><br /><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">e. sirens</span></span><br /><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">f. fabulous</span></span><br /><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">g. stray dogs</span></span><br /><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">h. included in the present classification</span></span><br /><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">j. frenzied</span></span><br /><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">k. drawn with a very fine camel hair brush</span></span><br /><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">l. etcetera</span></span><br /><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">m. having just broken the water pitcher, and</span></span><br /><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">n. that from a long way off look like flies.”</span></span></span></p></blockquote><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"></span></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;">This reads very much like the table of contents of a fantastic bestiary, doesn't it. As a thought exercise, try to imagine the world that this list evokes - do you see the kernel of a setting? </span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Compare this to an example from an actual RPG setting - the Creatures Chapter from the <b>Mythic Babylon</b> setting for Mythras, from which I share an extract. We can immediately see we're not in Kansas anymore, and the the logic is askew from what we might expect:</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: large;"></span></p><blockquote><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">MYTHIC BABYLONIAN CREATURES</span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><span>BEASTS: Bear, Bovines, Canines (including lions), Elephants, Equids, Felines, Griffin, Insects, Lion-Fish, Primates, </span><span>Suhurma拧u</span><span>, etc.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">HYBRIDS: Scorpion Men, Hari People. Mer-People, Kurgarra, Bull Men, Hairy Hero Men, etc.</span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">DEMONS AND SPIRITS: Animal Demons, Bad News Demons, Demons of Desolation, Underworld Demons, Wind Spirits, Zaqiqu, etc.</span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">MONSTERS AND FALLEN GODS: Asag, Anzud, Forest Guardians, </span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Lama拧tu</span></i></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">, Pazuzu, Three Horned Serpents, etc.</span></span></span></span></p></blockquote><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;">Considering the various kinds of Babylonian lists, do we have similar lists in Role Playing Games? Do gamers also have a shared means of communication embedded in the making of lists? Turns out we do! Let's compare these to the types of lists van de Mieroop cites in his book.</span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"><br /></span></span></p> <h4 style="text-align: left;">LEXICAL LISTS (to help us understand the world)</h4><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: medium;">Simple lexical lists are valuable resources for understanding game worlds, too. Here, for example, are two lists that reveal the kind of person one can play in the game of <b>Outremer</b> by Flying Mice Games. These lists are not only tools for describing who you can be in the setting, but they hint very strongly at the nature of play. You may ask – Is it a mystical setting? How much combat is there? In what cognitive era does the game take place? With just these two lists, you'll have a pretty good idea of what the game world is like.</span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">OUTREMER - TABLE OF PROFESSIONS</span></p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Actor                Apothecary               Archivist                    Artisan<br />Artist                Barber-Surgeon       Bounty Hunter           Caravan Guard<br />Courtier           Courier                     Courtesan                 Cutpurse<br />Dancer            Doctor                      Engineer                    Fencer<br />Footpad           Friar/Preacher         Gentleman Farmer    Guardsman<br />Herbalist          Herdsman                Highwayman             Hunstman<br />Knight/Faris     Lord                         Mercenary                 Merchant<br />Musketeer       Musician                  Naval Officer              Playwright<br />Pirate              Poet                         Priest/Rabbi/Mullah    Professor<br />Sargeant         Smith                       Smuggler                   Soldier<br />Spy                 Street Performer      Teamster                    Thief<br />Tinker             Turcopole                 Yeoman</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />OUTREMER – TABLE OF PATHS<br />Esotericist          Magus                   Minstrel              Crusader/Ghazi<br />Kabbalist            Sorceror                Mechanist          Oracle<br />Dervish              Snake Charmer     Fortune Teller     Healer</span></span><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Mystic </span><span style="font-family: arial;">    </span><span style="font-family: arial;">    </span><span style="font-family: arial;">    </span><span style="font-family: arial;">   </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Faqih</span></span><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: medium;"></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flyingmice.com/outremer-fing.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="260" data-original-width="200" height="399" src="https://www.flyingmice.com/outremer-fing.PNG" width="307" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /> </span><p></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: medium;">Lexical lists in games can also tell us how we can interact with the world. Some games have lists of the things you can buy and sell, or of the kinds of things you'll find in treasure troves. Others tell you exactly how you can engage the world through the game mechanics. Here's a partial list of the talents, skills, and knowledges a character may have in <b>Ars Magica</b> Second Edition. Here you can see what a character can know, learn, and do in the world:</span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">ARS MAGICA – TALENTS, SKILLS, KNOWLEDGES</span></p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><b>Exceptional Talents:                  Arcane Skills:                   Arcane Knowledges:</b><br />Alchemy                                       Certamen                          Hermes History<br />Animal Ken                                  Parma Magica                   Hermes Lore<br />Contortions                                                                            Magic Theory<br />Direction Sense                           <b>Forester Skills:</b><br />Empathy                                      Animal Handling               <b>Casual Knowledges:</b><br />Enchanting Music                       Survival                             (Area) Lore<br />Entrancement                             Track                                 Church Lore<br />Healer                                                                                   Faerie Lore<br />Hex                                             <b>Performance Skills: </b>        Fantastic Beast Lore<br />Magic Sensitivity                         Acting                                Legend Lore<br />Mimicry                                       Storytelling                        Occult Lore<br />Perfect Balance                          Jongleur                            Speak (Specific Language)<br />Premonitions                              Sing<br />Read Lips                                   Play (specific instrument)  <b>Formal Knowledges:</b><br />Second Sight                                                                        Church Knowledge<br />Sense Holiness & Unholiness    <b>Mental Skills: </b><b> </b>                 Humanities<br />Visions                                       Concentration                    Medicine</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Weather Sense                          Meditation                          Scribe (Specific Alphabet)</span><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: medium;"></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In games with life-path style generators, we can learn not just what we do and how we do it, but more about how we are by examining our past. For example, this list from the <b>Denizens of the North</b>, supplement for the <b>Fate of the Norns: Ragnarok</b> game reveals how two party members got to know one another and how they feel about each other now:</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">DENIZENS OF THE NORTH – DWELLER RELATIONSHIPS LIST</span></p> <ul style="text-align: left;"><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><b>Circumstance: <span>    </span><span>    </span><span>    </span><span>    </span><span>    </span><span>    </span> <span>    </span><span>    </span><span>    </span>    <span>    </span><span>    </span><span>    </span><span>    </span><span>    <span> </span></span>State:</b></span></p><li><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Drinking Buddies                                                             Mistrust</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Were robbed by the same criminal                                  Bound in Purpose</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Met at a funeral                                                               Rivalry</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Made a bet; will travel together until someone wins       Greed </span></li></ul> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/images/3107/141196.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="614" height="519" src="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/images/3107/141196.jpg" width="399" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /> </span><p></p> <h4 style="text-align: left;">OMEN LISTS (to predict the future of our world)</h4><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: medium;">Yes, we have lists in gaming for this, too. Another list from <b>Denizens of the North</b> reveals something of the character's past, and like a Babylonian oracle, points to something in their future, and this brings of to the Omen Lists of gaming:</span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: large;"></span></p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">DENIZENS OF THE NORTH – LIST OF BRUSHES WITH POWER<br /></span><blockquote style="text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">You met an important merchant that returned from Miklagard. You may purchase a rare item.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">While in Ath Cliath you gained audience with King Sitric. He had heard of your great exploits tasked you with hunting his enemy – the Hibernian clans.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Odin the Wanderer has marked you as a promising hero. Since that day your encounters have become increasingly challenging and deadly.</span></li></ul> </blockquote> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The <b>Artesia: Adventures in the Known World</b> RPG has copious lifepath tables for figuring out who your character was in their past, from birth to maturity. They'll not only tell you about your birth sign, your lineage, and some of the events from your childhood, but they specifically tie these events to your stats so you can see how the world can shape your character:</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">ARTESIA: ADVENTURES IN THE KNOWN WORLD – LIFEPATH TRICKY OMEN TABLE</span></p><blockquote style="text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><p style="display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">An owl watches your birth. You will be blessed with insights no one else will have</span></p></li></ul><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">    </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">                 </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">+1 WIS, +1 PER, -1 MEM</span><br /><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><p style="display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 0cm;">The Evening Star is seen in the night sky. You will lead a life filled with beauty and sensual pleasure.</p></span></li></ul><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">    </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">                   </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">+1 APP, +1 PRE, -1 WILL</span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><p style="display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 0cm;">A satyr is seen nearby. Your life will be filled with trickery </p></span></li></ul><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">    </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">                +</span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">1 IMAG, +1 PRE, -1 WILL</span><br /><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><p style="display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 0cm;">The Conqueror Star is seen in the night sky. You will become a leader of men.</p></span></li></ul><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">                 +1 PRE, +1 WILL, -1 </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">EMP</span> </blockquote> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Just as Babylonian omen lists describe the future, so can the lists found in games. These take the form of random events lists, encounter lists, and adventure generators. Here's an excerpt from list of events from <b>Ars Magica</b>. The list is given numbers in the book so that a random event can be generated. Rolling the die puts the future in the hands of the gods:</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: large;"></span></p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;">ARS MAGICA – EXTRAORDINARY RESULTS </span><span style="font-family: arial;">FROM ARCANE EXPERIMENTATION (DISASTERS)</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">1. Explosion</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">2. Overwhelmed</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">3. Deterioration</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">4. Lab Ruined</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">5. Something Valuable Destroyed</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">6. Mentally Enfeebled</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">7. Threat to the Covenant</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">8. Creation Turns on You</span></span></div></blockquote><div><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: large;"></span></p><ol start="8"> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"></p> </ol> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: large;">In the </span><b style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: large;">Skyrealms of Jorune</b><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: large;"> RPG 3</span><sup style="font-family: Garamond, serif;">rd</sup><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: medium;"> Ed., published by Chessex in 1992, we find a series of randomizable lists which work together to generate encounters. Using these, the Gamemaster (or Oracle, if you will) can quickly determine the species, profession, demeanor, and intent of an encounter – and also the contextual backdrop against which it occurs. Here are a few of the possible results:</span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: large;"></span></p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">SKYREALMS OF JORUNE – ENCOUNTER GENERATOR<br /></span><blockquote style="text-align: left;"></blockquote><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">A human Durlig puller is encountered in the city while a protest is going on. This well-groomed person wants someone to settle a dispute.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">A thivin klade mother is encountered in town during the annual Cletch (taxation), and seems to have an unexplained interest in the party.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">A woffen archer is met during the Drenn ceremonies. He chews his gerrig and reveals that he's chasing someone.</span></li></ul><blockquote style="text-align: left;"></blockquote> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1385236802l/11065194.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="412" data-original-width="318" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1385236802l/11065194.jpg" /></a></span></div><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: medium;">Returning again to Outremer for another example, we find similar lists that allow for the generation of missions including rumors to be investigated, adventure locations, the agents behind the rumor, and even some suggestions of 'sweeteners' to convince the player characters to partake. Here are just a few of the possible results:</span></p><p></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: large;"></span></p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">OUTREMER - PLOT SEEDS RESULTING FROM THE ADVENTURE GENERATOR<br /></span><blockquote style="text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Peasants have been disappearing in the Duchy of Acre; Devils are said to be behind the rumor. One reward for the adventure will be a knighthood for a deserving member.</span></li></ul></blockquote><blockquote style="text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">Prodigies were sighted in the Principality of Galilee; The Pope is said to be behind the rumor. The services of a local spy ring will be provided.</span></li></ul></blockquote><blockquote style="text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">A Djinn ruler has asked for our aid in the city of Tripoli; A sorcerer is said to be behind the rumor. Transport will be provided to those who heed the call.</span></li></ul> </blockquote> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">LAW LISTS (to help us understand how the world works</h4><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: medium;">We've seen how lists can describe the game world to us (lexical lists), and how they can even help determine the course of future events (omen lists), but what about the legal lists? Yes, of course, gaming lists also describe the rules of engagement with the world and what kind of judgments a player can expect. Here, from <b>Swashbucklers of the 7 Skies</b> by Chad Underkoffler, is a 'quick list of the steps of a Turn of the Duel':</span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /> </span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: medium;"></span></p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">SWASHBUCKLERS OF THE 7 SKIES - LIST OF STEPS OF A TURN OF THE DUEL<br /><br /><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Engage Foes (initiative)</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Divvy Duel Dice (plan attack vs defence)</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">The Charge (declare dice)</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">The Clash of Steel (attacker and defender roll dice)</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">The Touch (apply damage if necessary)</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Volte-face (repeat steps 3-5, reversing attacker and defender rolls), and</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">After all combatants have had their attack and defense, go to Next Turn. </span></li></ol> <span>    </span><span>    </span>(That is, unless someone calls for an impasse.)</span><br /> <h4 style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-align: left; widows: 2;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.evilhat.com/home/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/s7s-220.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="220" height="447" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_v2zRJinF6ulW7cIxz2CefkyyAdrLQlz35ira61XQpqu2ovYFwYeFYU9oM66xoPk5PwbuzF8_8_vkOxuyrMh-W4fguVASXCjIg5Kd5GHWr99es_SRVDrqfGv-q9xUBYCn8XiwWT=s0-d" width="328"></a></div></h4><h4 style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-align: left; widows: 2;"><br /></h4><h4 style="text-align: left;">IF YOU CAN WRITE IT, IT'S TRUE (World-Building via Lists)</h4><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;">In his book, <b>Philosophy Before the Greeks: The Pursuit of Truth in Ancient Babylonia</b> , Marc van de Mieroop explains how the ancient scribes came to believe in the divine power of writing – in the creative potential encoded in the recording of lists. “<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">If you could write about it, it was true.” Scribes began to pad lexical lists with imaginary, but completely logical, entries. If they could invent it and the gods had given them the signs to encode these things in clay, then surely they could exist. Does this not describe the very act of creating imaginary worlds? </span></span></span> </span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Here's an example of one list that does just that from the blog of my friend John Bell. It's a list of setting elements that can be tossed together to create scenarios. He describes this list as being made from 'regular fantasy stuff', and it'll probably seem like anything but that. But John has a fertile mind and makes both wonderful settings and creative scenarios and campaigns – for him, this is 'regular fantasy stuff'. See if this list doesn't remind you of the list of animals from the Chinese Encyclopedia shared above. If it does, we've come full circle. Lists are the bones of world-building.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">LIST OF ADVENTURE ELEMENTS FROM THE RETIRED ADVENTURER:</span></p></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><br />Ooze-knights on motorbikes<br />A Cuban communist air-pirate + her air ship<br />Somebody's specific memory-juice in a reusable thermostat<br />A twelve-armed demon who is chief marketing officer of an "Uber for dental hygiene" start-up<br />Cyber-trolls that all started off as one troll<br />A dog with strong opinions<br />A cool magic tank that shoots lasers but not from its gun<br />The prophetic intestines of a guy named "Joseph Blankenwell"<br />A boiling cloud of acid with a New York accent and a heart of gold<br />A skeleton rights activist who is also a cleric of the Big Fire<br />A giant wolf-spider thing who works for an insurance company<br />A Jacobin golem with wheels<br />Thousands of obols<br />Cyberbullying<br />Schistosomiasis<br />A nuclear reactor on tank treads with a giant glowing crack<br />A 33-gallon fishtank with no top that's full of expired fireworks<br />Six ghost paladins on a holy quest that's kinda sketchy and low-key racist<br />An EDM dance party club</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The colour "red"</span></span><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: medium;"></span> </p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><a href="https://retiredadventurer.blogspot.com/2020/01/planning-campaign-as-series-of-decisions.html" target="_blank">The Retired Adventurer: Planning Campaign as Series of Decisions</a><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div> <div style='clear: both;'></div> </div> <div class='post-footer'> <div class='post-footer-line post-footer-line-1'> <span class='post-author vcard'> </span> <span class='post-timestamp'> at <meta content='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/2021/05/what-ancient-babylon-can-teach-us-about.html' itemprop='url'/> <a class='timestamp-link' href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/2021/05/what-ancient-babylon-can-teach-us-about.html' rel='bookmark' title='permanent link'><abbr class='published' itemprop='datePublished' title='2021-05-26T21:20:00-07:00'>May 26, 2021</abbr></a> </span> <span class='post-comment-link'> <a class='comment-link' href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/2021/05/what-ancient-babylon-can-teach-us-about.html#comment-form' onclick=''> 1 comment: </a> </span> <span class='post-icons'> <span class='item-control blog-admin pid-1282338224'> <a href='https://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=2724078395031847481&postID=6225025777495100653&from=pencil' title='Edit Post'> <img alt='' class='icon-action' height='18' src='https://resources.blogblog.com/img/icon18_edit_allbkg.gif' width='18'/> </a> </span> </span> <div class='post-share-buttons goog-inline-block'> <a class='goog-inline-block share-button sb-email' href='https://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=2724078395031847481&postID=6225025777495100653&target=email' target='_blank' title='Email This'><span class='share-button-link-text'>Email This</span></a><a class='goog-inline-block share-button sb-blog' href='https://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=2724078395031847481&postID=6225025777495100653&target=blog' onclick='window.open(this.href, "_blank", "height=270,width=475"); 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