The Philistine Warrior (54 page)
Kin.
Clans of Minos’ tribe then ten sails set, their lot with hardy
Philistines to cast.
Egypt
’s landfall next was made; Delta Nile at last!
XIX.
Oars were shipped and on the beach brave Piram stepped; their camp
Was made. The Hawk-eyed King
Called up his chiefs: “We’ll burn the sacrifice, and read the augery.
And if the land seems good, we’ll settle on the
Nile
not far upstream.
Then one half the ships we’ll break up to build our homes,” he said.
“Dagon’s name be praised!”
All knelt down to worship God, eyes and hands upraised.
XX.
Scouts cried out: “A coastguardsman comes up the beach!” and
Nomion went forth to speak.
“Then what is this? A fleet of visitors?” the lonely guardsman asked,
As Philistines around him stood. “We ask for land, and will with
Pride
Pharaoh serve in recompense,” the King replied. “I’ll tell the Delta
Governor,”
Answered he, and turned to go, up the
Nile
’s west shore.
XXI.
Governor and soldiers came, and challenged Nomion: “How dare
You land here so?”
The Pharaoh’s chief called out. “We Philistines will take this land,
For I
Am Nomion the King, the favorite of the mighty God, the Lord
Dagon is His name!” The natives all in puzzlement replied: “We
Have no god
Such as that; we’ll let you feel Pharaoh’s weighty rod!”
XXII.
Pharaoh’s archers bent their bows; the Philistines closed in; King
Nomion his iron-
Tipped spear then hurled right through the Delta leader’s shield; it
Reached his heart
And blood jumped forth; Prince Piram hacked his way among the
The archers’ ranks;
Ten of Karia fell dead, with arrows in their necks or eyes; one ship
Caught fire;
Arms grew weary on both sides; neither would retire.
XXIII.
Bloody beach! The native soldiery pressed to our camp, and
Wounded children shrieked!
Prince Rusa, battle axe in hand, then charged the foe and drove
Them back;
The women of
Philistia
took up the spears left by their dead;
Threw themselves on Pharaoh’s host; Egyptians there in
Consternation turned to flee:
“Savage amazons!” cried they, “furies from the sea!”
XXIV.
Chariots of
Egypt
rumbled down; their wheels sank in the sand,
And horses died;
But still the natives struggled on, and when the sun was set, each side,
We saw, had stood its ground: the Karians, hard-pressed; the enemy
Suffered much, but victory could not achieve; and yet they cheered—
We wondered why;
Then we saw the Pharaoh come; Ramses, King most high!
XXV.
Hawk-eyed Nomion the Pharaoh’s reinforcements spied. “We are
Outnumbered now,”
He said, “yet we shall fight on ‘till we die!” But Pharaoh had his
Gold
Sedan
brought forth, and called out: “We are Ramses, third known by
That name,
Emperor of Men, and of the Two Realms King; but we respect a
Worthy foe;
Tell us therefore who you are; where you wish to go!”
XXVI.
Nomion, our Black-haired Man, addressed the Pharaoh thus: “Of
Philistines I am
The King; from Karia and
Crete
we come; our Dagon, mighty God,
Has ordered us to find a home on
Egypt
’s shore; Astarte’s Star
Led us here, and Nomion is how I’m called. To serve the Pharaoh
Was my aim;
Yet I’ll fight, if fight I must, to make good my claim!”
XXVII.
Pharaoh Ramses then replied: “Your Dagon we salute, a brother
God, though we’ve
Not heard His name. Astarte is well known to us, but here She’s
Called
Great Hathor; yet it’s all the same. Oh, King, our son, too much
Of blood
Flows between us here; we do not choose to kill you all; if land is
What you ask,
Land you’ll have; but in return, do for us a task!”
XXVIII.
Ramses then went on: “Too many enemies have we on every
Corner of
Our Realm. Our vassal you shall be, but take as fief another
Shore!
We have a goodly province,
Canaan
is its name; but it’s hard-pressed:
Canaanites unruly are, and some of them—tribes in the hills, and
Fiercer still:
Stiff-necked Hebrews they are called—bow not to our will!
XXIX.
“What is more,” the Pharaoh said, “there is a tribe called Dan—
They’re peoples of the sea,
Like you, from far off coasts—and they have landed on our shore,
And with
The Hebrews common cause have made, and married with their
Daughters, too!
Nomion, our son, your ships to
Canaan
take and seize it as a march
And fief;
Under our true sovereignty; sail to its relief!”
XXX.
Philistines then cheered the Pharaoh-God: “It is our Holy Dagon’s
Will!” they said.
The Danites were our bitter foes upon the seas off Karia;
Our enemies again they’ll be, and we shall serve the Pharaoh
Great!”
Nomion, and all his tribe, knelt in the sand and homage made to
Ramses there;
Pharaoh kissed the Hawk-eyed King; took him in his care!
XXXI.
Wounds were bound and bodies burnt; the dead were honored by
Both sides. Then ships were launched
And up the coast of
Sinai
sailed to
Gaza
’s shore, and Askelon.
The Philistines beheld their promised land in awe; but Nomion
Thought of Bene, prince and son: “Perhaps we’ll meet in
Canaan
,”
King and father said;
“Reconciled to him I’d be; to him I’d be led.”
XXXII.
Askelon, that queen of riches, Rusa claimed as his, while Piram
Chose the best
Of prizes,
Gath
, the sun-baked fortress city, greatest in the land.
“These two we’ll conquer first,” the King declared, “and
Gaza
Next will fall;
Dusty
Ashdod
, too, we’ll take, and Ekron last. My greatest chiefs
Will have these three
Canaan
’s plain will then be ours, mountains to the sea!”
XXXIII.
“Sire,” the troubled Rusa asked, “what will you give as Bene’s
Part, if he should come?
He’ll surely claim rich Askelon, the second prize in all the land.”
But Nomion replied: “We cannot wait; each town must have its lord.”
Bene, if he lives, may carve a march out of the hills—for such is my
Decree;
Aid we’ll give him in that quest, though he forsook me!”
XXXIV.
Then at Askelon the Philistines did beach their ships, and Nomion
Called to
The Canaanites: “In Pharaoh’s name, I take command of all this
Plain!”
The King announced. Yet Askelon her mighty gates shut tight, and
Hurled
Stones and arrows down upon the seaborne host; but Rusa led his
His ramsmen out,
Smashed the doors of Askelon. broke through with a shout!
XXXV.
Muse, recall for us that scene: the torch was to the palace put, and
Flames lept up;
And Canaanites died by the hundreds; even more would taste the
Iron-
Tipped spear. Lord Rusa’s axe cut through from helm to breast; the
Native king
Fell in death, face carved in half; the folk of Askelon then swore upon
The sword:
Vowed to serve the Philistines, Rusa as their lord.
XXXVI.
Likewise
Gath
and
Gaza
came to give allegiance new; Amphimachus
The sheep
For Dagon killed, and cleansed the towns of blood tabu; and Nomion
In
Gath
was overlord of
Canaan
’s fertile plain; Lord Piram took
Gath
itself as fief; and
Ashdod
, Ekron, too, soon fell, just as the poets
Sing;
Five of Karia were lords; Nomion was King.
XXXVII.
Settled there upon the plain, the Peoples of the Sea, the Philistines,
Then ruled
The Canaanites, who came to have their iron tools worked anew,
Made sharp
In smithies of the the lordly tribe which followed Nomion our King.
Yet our borderlands were rent with strife:
Judaea
’s clans, our
Canaanites, and more,
All rose up, the worst was Dan, mountains to the shore!
XXXVIII.
Hawk-eyed Nomion to Ekron went; it was his plan to face and fight
The tribe
Of Dan, when Piram spied a cattle drive, and wagons on the road
Which leads from
Lebanon
. “The cone-like caps upon their heads
Suggest
Hittites,” Piram said. “But no! They’re Philistines! It’s Bene’s
Horde, arrived at last!”
Clattering from Taurus heights, driving hard and fast!
XXXIX.
“Bled and spent, we’ve fought a weary way,” the long-lost Prince
Explained. “The Danites came
By sea, and even now are on our trail!” The Hawk-eyed King
Embraced
His son. “Together we shall turn upon their host,” he said, “and
Smite
Hip and thigh the enemy!” So Bene laid an ambush there, a wagon
Ring,
Luring Dan into the trap Nomion would spring!
XL.
From the hillside, Nomion then charged upon the Danite clan,
While chariots
Sprang forth from out Prince Bene’s ring; the axe of Rusa cut a
Path
Which ran with blood, and Piram shattered all his foes, while Bene
Rode
Danites down beneath his wheels; but Nomion’s dark eyes with
Fury burned; he killed
More than any on that day, ‘till his thirst was filled!
XLI.
Brother princes joined their hands at last and closed the gap in
Hard-won victory!
And Bene, smiling, said: “My way is clear to take a port upon
The sea!” But Rusa answered: “All the ports are claimed as fiefs
By those
Who obeyed their King—but almost died for want of men along
The Pharaoh’s coast!”
Bene sought his father then; found him in the host.
XLII.
Danites scattered to the winds; the King to Bene said: “Pursue
Them through the hills!
We’ll help you win a fiefdom there; your sheep and cows will
Pasture well!”
Then Bene’s eyes grew dark with rage: “Is there no city here for
Me—
Second son of Nomion?” “None left,” the Black-haired Man
Replied; “we thought you dead…
And you disobeyed your lord, me, the King!” he said.
XLIII.
Bene’s temper flared once more, and he withdrew to take up
Service with a king--
A Canaanite, Great Jabin was his name; and Bene captain was
Of all his chariots of iron; and many years passed by this way:
Nomion and Jabin ruled in peace; but wrathful Bene still withheld
His hand;
Never came to see his folk; stayed in Jabin’s land.
XLIV.
In those days the Danites multiplied; they came in ships to where
The Hebrews lived,
And married with them there. Some other clans of
Israel
grew tired
Of Jabin’s rule and rose up under Deborah at Tabor’s Mount.
Sisera—for so the Hebrews called Lord Bene—went to crush the
Hebrew band;
Chariots stuck in the mud; sank into the sand!
XLV.
Barak, captain of the Hebrew Canaanites, destroyed King Jabin’s
Host, which fled
To Hazor in dismay; Lord Bene went on foot and found the tent
Of Heber, Jabin’s friend, and hid; but Jael, Heber’s wife, was false;
Bene she betrayed and drove a nail into his sleeping head; the
Hebrews came.
Thus iron Bene died by stealth, to the Hebrews’ shame!
XLVI.
Bene’s mother, wife of Nomion, long waited for her son; for years
She had
Not seen him; now the rumor was that he had died. And many times
She stood there by her lattice; many times she cried: “Why is my son
Late in coming? How I yearn to hear his chariot arrive!” But all her
Tears
Death’s sad work could not undo; not in all her years.
XLVII.
Nomion tore at his hair. “My son has died; we never came together at
The feast, or watched brave games, not since that day in far-off Karia!
Then burn his sacrifice and take up arms against the Ephraimite;
Spear and axe—revenge is sweet; the shade of Bene cannot rest, it
Needs to drink
Hebrew blood which we shall spill, on his grave to sink!”
XLVIII.
One last battle waged the Hawk-eyed King; sharp iron of
Philistines pierced Hebrew bronze,
And Ephraim’s clan in thousands died; black vultures fed upon
Their gore,
And dogs lapped up their blood; but Nomion was not content:
In blind
Rage he stalked the Hebrew land until their remnants fled unto
The mountains high.
“Kill them all for Bene’s sake!” was his battle cry.
XLIX.
Thus the Hawk-eyed King avenged his son, and left a land made
Safe for Philistines;
But at a price: an arrow found its mark in Hawk-eye’s mighty
Breast;