Word Fulfilled, The (19 page)

Twenty-five

Kal
ḫ
u, the Royal Palace

Thirtieth Day of Simanu

hat is it?” Ahu-duri frowned at the rap on his chamber door. He bent over his writing board and examined the marks pressed into the wax by his staff scribe. These were the last notes from the damage report. Too little sleep since the tremor left the vizier’s eyes burning and his nerves frayed. To gather information like this in a city as large as Kal
ḫ
u was difficult. The city walls needed to be inspected, as did the levee that bordered the Idiqlat River and dozens of other critical points. The last report came in less than an hour ago, and he hurried to finish his findings for the king, whose demands for them had increased in both frequency and volume over the past few hours.

The door cracked open, and his adjutant’s nasal voice grated into his ears, which sparked new life into an old headache. “Visitors for you, Vizier. The senior court astrologer seeks an audience.”

“Now? Can it not wait?”

“Zakir believes it to be important, Vizier. Something about the earthquake.”

Ahu-duri straightened and rubbed the grit deeper into his eyes with the palms of his hands. “All right, all right. See them in.”

A moment later Zakir and Urdu entered the chamber and stood by the door. They awaited the signal to approach.

Ahu-duri gestured them in with a wave of his arm. “Come Zakir, please. My apologies, old friend. The king’s demand for his damage report is at a fever pitch. I am just finishing up.”

“I understand.” Zakir approached. Urdu followed close behind with two writing boards clutched to his chest. “My sincerest apologies for the interruption, but we may have some more information for your report.” He glanced at the disarray on the vizier’s table. “Not that you want any more information.”

Ahu-duri’s smile was appreciative but lacked mirth. “What do you have?”

Zakir turned to his apprentice. “I do not think you have met Urdu, my new apprentice.”

Urdu bowed.

“Welcome to the court, Urdu.” He turned back to the senior astrologer. “Forgive my manners, Zakir, but I am afraid I have little time for pleasantries. What is it you have for me?”

Zakir signaled Urdu, who laid a waxed board on the table and opened the hinged cover. “As you know, we rarely report to the court unless summoned. However, there may be more to the earthquake than physical damage.”

The vizier knit his brow. “Meaning . . . ?”

Urdu shifted the log in front of his master. Zakir ran his finger down the first column of markings until he reached an entry from the previous week. “Here it is. We observed an anomaly in Sin last week. His phase was full, but after he rose, he faded and lost a portion of his visage to darkness. This is rare, but not unheard of. Most notable, though, is that it occurred during Nisanu, the month over which he presides. You see, when Sin—”

“Zakir, my friend. Please.” Ahu-duri held his hands up and forced a weak smile. “You know I trust your mastery of all things celestial. I fear, though, my present task permits me no time for tutelage in the art of astrology. Please reach your point soon.”

“Of course. Certainly. I am sorry.” Zakir nodded. “Sin’s dimming, by itself, was not worthy of mention. However, his relationship with Nin Ur is strong. The earth shakes when Nin Ur marches. The two
ittu
together could mean displeasure among the gods.”

“And, therefore, with the king.”

“That should not be discounted out of hand.” The seer raised an eyebrow.

Zakir had Ahu-duri’s full attention. “So, you believe these to be
ittu
, signs of something more to come?”

The astrologer shrugged. “Perhaps. We should seek corroboration.”

“Such as . . . ?”

Zakir grew thoughtful. “At the next sacrifice to Marduk—which is later today, I believe—it might be good to have Kasiru examine the beast’s entrails. If he sees anything out of the ordinary, we could then summon the
muhhu
to cast their lots. Perhaps they can petition the gods for the meaning behind these signs.”

Ahu-duri paused. “Do you think your present concerns warrant the king’s attention?”

The senior astrologer smiled. “That, my friend, is for you to decide. I have reported what we observed and have recommended how we might proceed to validate them. It is your job to advise the king.”

 
“You are right, of course. My fatigue is speaking for me.” Ahu-duri sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “My mind is in a bit of a fog right now.”

“You might reserve what we have told you until you discern the king’s mood,” Zakir offered. “If he seems receptive, you could mention it. If not, today’s sacrifice is not long off. To wait for further
ittu
should not hurt.”

The vizier nodded. “Good points. Thank you.”

“We will take our leave now and let you get back to work.” Zakir patted his friend on the shoulder. “Get some sleep.”

“Hah! Sleep? What is that?” Ahu-duri muttered and returned to his report.

The astrologers let themselves out.

Lll

King Adad-nirari scowled at the writing board. He raised his bloodshot eyes at Ahu-duri and dismissed the report with a wave of his hand. “I have no intention of reading all this. Tell me what it says and keep it short.”

The vizier shifted his stance. His fatigued brain felt so sluggish, he wasn’t sure he could string together three coherent words, let alone summarize details it had taken him over two days to compile. He recognized the signs of one of the king’s headaches, though. This was no time to dither.

“Well?” Adad-nirari cocked his head.

“My lord, there appears to be no serious damage from the earthquake. The city wall is intact; the few superficial cracks that appeared have already been repaired. No leaks have been noted along the levee. Several buildings show stress from the tremors, but none have collapsed. They are being repaired, as well. All should be back to normal within, oh, two weeks, at the longest.”

Ahu-duri paused, but as he considered where to continue, it struck him that was about all there was to it. His shoulders slumped. To be able to summarize the entire report in so few words depressed him. This was the most painstaking work he had done since he became the vizier, and he was sure it had taken at least two years off his life.

“And the people?”

Ahu-duri snapped from his thoughts. “I am sorry, my lord. The people?”

The king sighed and rubbed his forehead. “Of course. What of the people? What are they saying? How has this affected them? I can replace buildings, but reassuring the populace is another matter.”

Ahu-duri reddened. He was so preoccupied with the physical damage that it never occurred to him to gauge any trauma the earthquake may have inflicted on the citizenry. His conversation with Zakir rushed back into his head. Would the people be thinking of omens, of the displeasure of the gods, too? Of course they would. And of course the king would be concerned. His regime, his legacy, everything he worked for during his reign would find its legitimacy in the eyes of the people through the
ittu
of the gods. He better have an answer for this question. There would be no excuse not to.

“The streets are calm, my lord. My sources report no discontent among the people.”

The king leaned back in his chair. “But it is yet early. Fear takes time to foment into discord.”

Ahu-duri nodded his agreement. The fewer words the better.

Adad-nirari squeezed his eyes closed. “Convene the court seers. Tell them I want a report on what they have observed.”

The Senior Scholar bowed. “It is timely for a convocation, my lord. Zakir will have his celestial observations. The sacrifice to Marduk is taking place even now. I have already ordered the
baru
to perform an extispicy. The animal’s organs should support any other signs there may be.”

The king opened his eyes to slits. “You already thought to do that? Good. You’re looking ahead, Ahu-duri.”

The vizier felt a pang of guilt at taking credit for Zakir’s idea, but now was no time for trivial confession. “Thank you, my lord.”

“Have them convene in the anteroom to my chamber before the evening meal.”

“Yes, my lord.”

Lll

Kasiru slipped the blade of his ceremonial knife under the hide of the sacrificed ram’s belly. He slid it to the groin and opened a clean slit the length of the animal’s abdomen. His practiced hand then drew a quick slice across the torso that extended across both sides of the rib cage. “Now, peel back the skin. We will examine the intestines first, then the stomach. The liver we will save for last.”

Kabti, his apprentice, took Kasiru’s instruction and folded the lower two flaps over the animal’s haunches. He turned his head from a musky odor that billowed from the gaping hole.

“You must get used to it sooner or later, boy. I suggest sooner.”

Kabti nodded but didn’t speak. The boy’s pale face hinted to the senior
baru
that he’d likely lose his apprentice before the day was out. The next few moments would either confirm or allay his suspicion.

Kasiru gave a cursory scan over the exta lying in the animal’s opened carcass. As senior haruspex at the Marduk’s temple in Kal
ḫ
u, he had performed thousands of extispicy rituals. He led a group of seven seers who regularly examined the exta, or vital organs, of sacrificed lambs, sheep, goats or rams, usually by request from the king or another prominent citizen who faced a dilemma or a critical decision. The ritual was always the same. After he performed multiple purification rites, the
baru
would lay the supplicant’s petition before Shamash and Adad, the gods who governed divination. Then they would pray for a decisive sign to be revealed within the sacrificed animal. Today’s request had come from the king’s vizier, although he gave no reason for it.

Kasiru lectured his young assistant as he patted the flaps of hide away from the incision. “Normally, we begin with the liver, the most vital of organs. There is a strict method we use to search for markings, or anomalies. You will learn it. Then we move to the gall bladder, kidneys, breastbone, stomach, and intestines for corroborating omens.”

Kasiru glanced at Kabti for any sign of understanding. Nothing yet. He frowned. “Today, however, we began with the intestines, as it is better to test your powers of observation there. The animal’s colon holds many signs: weapon-marks, holes, request-marks, fissures, foot-marks, cysts, and many more telltale anomalies you will also learn. The order in which we examine the exta is not as important as that we examine them well.”

Still no hint of comprehension in Kabti’s glassy eyes.

Kasiru pursed his lips. “Before we touch anything, be attentive to the whole of what we will see, not just the parts. While you might think it’s best that there be no anomalies at all, what we hope to see is regularity and wholeness on this side.” He gestured to the right of the body cavity. “But not so regular on this side.” He moved his hand to the left. “Here there should be some malformation for a positive reading.”

Kabti stared at the mass of entrails that wound their way through the animal’s abdomen.