HISTORY OF HIRAM THE PHOENICIAN A short Legend found in the Ancient Mesopotamia By Andrej Koymasky © 2011 Written on August 9, 2002 Translated by the Author English text kindly revised by Richard
USUAL DISCLAIMER
"HISTORY OF HIRAM THE PHOENICIAN" is a gay story, with some parts containing graphic scenes of sex between males. So, if in your land, religion, family, opinion and so on this is not good for you, it will be better not to read this story. But if you really want, or because YOU don't care, or because you think you really want to read it, please be my welcomed guest.
1 - HIRAM, THE SON OF YAHAS'
In the capital city of Phoenicia, Sidon, was living Yahas' with all his family. He came from far away, and entered in the service of the great and famous soothsayer Muli'ya and had learned from him the art of the interpretation of dreams, of the reading of the good and ill omens, and of the divination of the future. He married Muli'ya's daughter and with her he gave birth to a great number of sons and daughters.
Yahas', may the hand of the god Melqart be on him, just turned seventy-nine years old, and he was in his thirty-ninth year of his activity as soothsayer of the king after the sad death of the great and famous soothsayer Muli'y. Every day a multitude still comes to bring offerings to his grave.
Yahas' didn't suffer as much persecution or animosity during his life as had his master Muli'ya, may the power and the hand of the god be on him, but he did suffer as much as him for the unfruitfulness of his efforts, even though it had been possible for Yahas', the protection of the god be on him, to correctly interpret a considerable number of the dreams of the king and of the potentates of the kingdom, and to foretell the future. Anyway he couldn't yet succeed in the eradication of several cults of the stranger gods that were storming in the area and reigning everywhere, arising so great enmities and restlessness, mainly at the borders of the kingdom.
Phoenicia was in that time subjected to the tributes to the Sumerian king Vaylum, and the people was suffering under the weight of a really burdensome taxation. Notwithstanding it, the people didn't want to repudiate the false and lying idols, and hardened in their error. Yahas' admonished them.
And he said, "Come back, o people to the cult of our great god Melkart, that was killed when he was a youth in the flower of his years, by the goddess Ba'al his spouse, and cut to pieces by her. But his faithful companion Tubkahn gathered all his pieces, and put them together again, and cried on them all his love until he resuscitated. Melqart then took Tubkahn as his lover and companion in place of his untrustworthy and treacherous wife, who wanted him dead so she could lie down with another god! You also, o people, are giving yourself to another god, and a great evil is tearing you in pieces because of it!"
But unhappily the people didn't listen to these wise words.
Yahaa', may the protection of god be upon him, had raised a great and numerous family. Amongst all his sons and daughters, Hiram was by far the handsomest and the most sensual of all of his children, and also the most beloved one by his old father.
Hiram had been introduced to the pleasures of the god Melqart when he just left his adolescence, thanks to the assiduous attentions of the young assistant of the treasurer of the king, a young man who was a great devote of the god Melqart.
On a sweet night of late spring, the assistant of the treasurer of the king, while he was withdrawing to his rooms after having been a guest at the mess of the sovereign, met Hiram as he was strolling, thoughtful and lonely, in the garden of the palace of the king. So he invited the boy to accompany him in his room.
As he had the very handsome youth on his bed, he caressed and kissed him for a long time. He whispered sweet words, and he taught Hiram how to give pleasure to a man using his lips, tongue and mouth, doing these things to the pleasant youth, then asking Hiram to do these same things to him. Then, making Hiram assume the position of the horse of the god Melqart, he joyfully penetrated him, taking the flower of his virginity, feeling a great pleasure and in the same time giving pleasure also to the young and beautiful Hiram.
Afterwards Hiram, who was really devout to the god Melqart, served for two years in the temple of the great god as an acolyte, and therefore giving himself with true passion and devotion to all the men who gave an offering to the temple of the god. To make them experience the several kinds of secret pleasure that the god Melqart gave to his beloved companion Tubkahn after his resurrection, obtained thanks to his abundant tears and to his infinite love, when he chose him making of him his spouse.
Like all the other acolytes, Hiram, may the hand of the god of love between men be always on him, wore the precious short tunic of almost transparent material, a byssus. Hiram's short tunic was of a yellow colour like the finest gold. The male believers of the god passed through the atrium of the temple and looked carefully at the acolytes, then went to the treasurer of the temple to leave their offering, receiving a necklace of the same color as the tunic of the acolyte they chose, and threaded on it as many beads as were the coins given as an offering.
The believers then went to the acolyte they chose, put the necklace on his neck, then took him inside the temple and while the priest burned incense and sang the praises of Melqart and of his spouse Tubkahn, took off the byssus, the short tunic and laid down with him behind a curtain and coupled with him on one of the wide cushions prepared for that purpose in one of the side cubicles; there they enjoyed the youthful freshness of the acolyte until they got the kind of pleasure that their offering granted them.
In those times, the people faithful to the great god were not many, but often also believers of other gods went to willingly give their offering, not to honour the great god, that is not out of devotion to the great Melqart, but only in order to enjoy the agreeable company of the young acolytes. Everybody knew they were always chosen amongst the handsomest sons of the families devoted to Melqart.
On a beautiful morning of a mild day at the beginning of Summer, Yahas', the hand of god be always upon him, was sitting under one of the trees wonderfully in flower in his garden adjacent to the palace of the king. He was devoting himself to his usual meditation to regenerate his soul, tired from the worries of his charge at court and for the several anguishes and the increasing infirmities due to his venerable age.
His son Hiram, may Melqart always be happy with him, had turned twenty-three years old and had became even more beautiful and good looking than ever. He then went in front of his father and asked him the leave to go on a journey, as he desired to find a companion and lover, exactly as did the god Melqart with his Tubkahn, to whom he gave all his love and from whom he got his love, to whom he gave the utmost pleasure and from whom to receive pleasure, to make of him then his spouse.
Yahas', the power of the god be always on him, gave him his paternal blessing, and good heartedly encouraged him to start his journey, even though he regretted having to be separated from his son. He told him he should start his journey and go with a caravan of merchants and of itinerate sellers, and advised him that, along the journey with them, he should learn how to do their trade.
Hiram was really glad that his father approved his plans for a journey and that he gave him his blessing. Anyway for the beautiful young man parting from his old father was heavy, and was a great burden on his so young and so pure heart, in fact Hiram didn't know if he would again see and again embrace his venerable father in this life.
Yahas', the protection of god be on him, did anyway have courage and pushed him to leave without worrying for him.
Then so spoke Hiram, the protective hand of god be on him, and said, "I will leave, o my father, and will find a place that, like the first homeland of our ancestors, is near the sea. There I will call you, so you can sit with me and with my beloved one on the terrace of out house, and so you, and he and I, all three together, will throw to the fishes pieces of bread as their food, as you and I were doing a long time ago, when I was just a little child."
"Forget the dolphins and the sea, my dearest son," his venerable father answered him, "I desire for myself, nowadays, different seas and different joys are waiting for me. Anyhow you have to know one thing, my sweet son - not far from the great capital city of the Sumerians, the great town called Uruk, on the bank of a rushing river, just before it flows into the sea, there is a town whose name is Kashra. The capital city of the empire is not far from there. It has been in that town that our ancestor Rohan with his powerful axe knocked down all the false and liar idols, letting up only the glorious simulacra of out great god Melqart. There, o my son, you should go. I think, as I can see that it is there that you can find satisfaction to your aspirations, and therefore also a worthy companion and lover with which to share your roof, your bed, and all your life."
Hiram, may the hand of god be upon him, could barely contain himself from the emotion, and if he were not restrained by his natural modesty and by the deep respect he nourished towards his father, who he so much loved, would have jumped on his feet, undressed and started to shout and dance for joy, as it was custom to do in the festivals in honour of the great god.
He was able to control himself and simply said, "I cannot hope to tread in the footsteps of our ancestor Rohan, but I can at least try to reach the rank of his axe."
But Yahas', the powerful hand of god be on him, saw a prophetic vision and spoke about the future, therefore he answered to his son Hiram, the protective hand of the god be on him, "How come that you are so fussy about what our powerful god, the great Melqart, reserved for you? Do you possibly want to accept one thing and refuse another thing? Do you possibly want to keep open your right hand and closed the left hand?"
Hiram then in a low voice said, "My dear father, don't get angry against me. I will allow myself to ask our god Melqart the only honour and the only grace that counts in the life of a man devout to him, that is to become his worthy and faithful follower in the way of love between men."
Then Hiram stood up and went to say farewell to all his relatives, then to all his friends one after the other, and finally also to the priests of the temple asking them to give him the blessing of the god Melqart, that the priest willingly bestowed on him, laying all the night long with the wonderful young man in the temple, in front of the simulacra of the god Melqart, up to the reaching of the utmost pleasure, that the god bestowed upon his young and faithful servant with full hands.
2 - THE DEATH OF YAHAS'
On the following morning the young and good-looking Hiram, may the power of Melqart seed be upon him, finally took leave from his old father and started his journey. Even though he rejoiced very much for his journey and for the perspective of finding a worthy and good lover to keep with him forever as his beloved spouse. In his heart was hidden something arcane that in secret troubled him. Anyway, each time he tried to reflect about it, this something seemed to withdraw its presence so that he was not able to exactly understand what it was about.
Six months after starting his travels, he met a wayfarer walking in the opposite direction and was going to Phoenicia and who intended to stop for a few days in Sidon, Hiram's homeland. Hiram then entrusted to this traveller a message for his father, in which he related he was in good health and that he was already on his way to their ancestors' land.
Yahas', the hand of the great god be forever on him, received this message at the right moment, and his heart found peace reading his beloved son's news. Anyway soon after, Yahas', may Melqart bless him, fell ill and he knew it was a deadly illness that would put an end to his days, as he could feel the call of his god. His family and all those who were close to him saw how the venerable man's health was declining and understood that they could do nothing more for him. They thus started to cry and to complain around him as if he was already gone away.
"Oh, if Hiram could just come back in time!" they were saying to each other
Yahas', be on him Melqart's benevolence, heard from his sick bed their whispers, and said to them, "It doesn't matter if he can see me before my death or not, as we already said our farewell and all the rest depends only on our great god, Melqart."
He then asked to gather all the community, then they prayed and sang with them the praises of Melqart one last time with them, than spoke, "O my brothers in the faith to the great god! Remain always together, don't divide and above all never lose the hope! What do you think, how many of his messengers our god Melqart sent to humankind since the beginning of this world? And where are they now?"
"But I pray you to make me a promise - in spite of how much this land can sink in the lack of faith, promise me that you will remain steady, abiding the teachings of the foreseers that our god Melqart will send to the people of Phoenicia and that you will never follow liars' teachings.
"All the humankind descend from only one couple of ancestors, and it is neither the race nor the origins that make a man noble, but only his abandon to the will of our god Melqart who created him. What would be the night sky without the shining stars that adorn it? This is the parallel with the believers amongst the other men - that even if they were really few, their light will anyway light the darkness of the spiritual clouding in which the world drags itself."
Yahas' received in that hour in silence the solemn oath of his community, then looked intensely to everyone of his protected people. He then talked again to them and asked, "Who amongst you would with his life take the engagement to serve our god Melqart after my departure, with unchanged zeal?"
At that all those present lowered their heads and none of them dared to answer him, as none of them was feeling sure enough. Moreover, the concept of putting himself at the service of the god was so wide, what was not included in it? All the prescriptions and the prohibitionsÉ who could just for himself put a hand on the fire, testing that never once, unintentionally, didn't violate one of them?
Everybody was keeping silent and in this heavy silence suddenly a shrill and clear voice of a man resounded, "I give you my word, that I will never miss my tasks, therefore I take the engagement, with all my body and soul, to spread the teachings of our great god." He was Kif' Dawd, a relative of Yahas', on which Melqart's benevolence may always be, who in the behalf of all the community took on himself this task, so that everybody breathed, feeling relieved.
After this, this last reunion was closed and Yahas', be on him the god's blessings, laid down and said farewell to the world. He passed away around midnight and was buried before the song of the praises of the day after. He was deposed in a simple grave, and they all performed the funeral ceremonies with a great clamour.
How differently are held, on the contrary, the obsequies of a rich man of the world or of a prince of the land! For days and days all the population busied themselves with commemorative speeches and funeral banquets, the normal course of life is interrupted to bury the dead man inside a stately adorned sarcophagus in a wide grave room, supplied with all that kind of luxury that who is closed in it cannot any more enjoy.
And yet, the burial of this great and humble servant of the god, of the man who had really been chosen and honoured by our god Melqart, the shaper of the world, was carried on in a much more humble way, and only a small group of the followers of the god Melqart accompanied him at the place of his last rest. This is how the world goes.
On the same night when Yahas' was buried, another man died in a nearby village. His people was in haste to bury him, but they all were too lazy to dig a new grave for him. When they got to the burial field, they saw the grave freshly dug for the soothsayer that had been just buried, and they sought to simplify their task.
They therefore took away just a superficial layer of ground and, unseen, let slip their dead relative in the reopened grave. When they went again on the following morning to the burial ground, they were amazed to see that their dead relative was lying near that grave, on the bare ground! In fact an unbeliever cannot lie near a believer, not even after his death!
Anyway they could not admit that this happened for the extraordinary powers of the soothsayer Yahas', the blessing of Melqart be on him, in whose grave they had slipped the corpse of their relative. They were rather making efforts to find a natural explanation to what happened.
"A mountain lion may have taken him out." they thought, or else, "Our relative was in reality only apparently dead and during the night he recovered his senses, therefore he came out, but then he really died!"
Once again they let escape the occasion to convert to the powerful god Melqart, once again they refused to take notice of the miracle accomplished by the soothsayer. But Melqart is not inattentive, and he very well knows what he does.
May the perfect soul of the soothsayer Yahas' find the eternal peace in the lap of the all-powerful god Melqart.
3 - THE YEARS OF HIRAM'S PEREGRINATION
Hiram, the hand of Melqart be on him, started his journey half a year before the death of his father, To put himself at proof as a merchant, he loaded his camel with dry figs and raisins, goods for which his homeland was famous, and took his way with his father's blessing.
But Yahas', the hand of god be on him, clearly saw thanks to the foresight he had, that the journey of his son had other reasons than just looking for a companion and lover he would chose as his spouse.
Hiram, the hand of Melqart be on him, soon joined a caravan of Sumerian merchants and travelled with them, For days and days he couldn't find anybody with whim he could talk, as the Sumerians spoke only their own language; but they finally met another Phoenician with whom Hiram could communicate.
This last traveller told him that in that area there were many brigands and robbers that made unsafe the roads and told him that these men attacked the caravans and plundered them without any pity. When they didn't kill, they dragged the younger and the handsomer as slaves making of them objects for their unrestrained lust, or else took as hostages the richest ones to ask a high ransom.
All the others, even the wounded people or those who managed to escape them, were not spared, as in that frontier area the guards and the brigands were a hand in glove and shared the booty. Those who escaped and the wounded people were captured by the guards and took in front of corrupt judges and were charged, them, the victims, to have carried on the robbery!
The caravan that Hiram had joined, soon reached a little market square where they, and also Hiram, the hand of Melqart be on him, did a good business. After they all had successfully carried out their business, they placed their camp near the main road, a little out of the town.
The Sumerian had paid some women of easy costumes on the square of the market and had these woman accompany them to their encampment, They took out from the sacks of their saddles their various idols and gave them homage, then started the most unbridled guzzling, happy for the very good business they had carried out, so forgetting and not caring for the dangers of the road.
The banquet soon degenerated, the good mood soon changed in impudence and in luxury so that the Sumerian started to couple with the women they had paid and even between themselves without caring about who they had in their arms or between their legs. Hiram couldn't stand any more the company of these drunk and lusty men, and even though some of those men were really good looking and he was feeling in his flesh a growing desire, he could not accept that situation - how far and different was that unrestrained orgy from the love that Melqart had expressed for his Tubkhan!
He and his friend, the other Phoenician traveller, led therefore their camels to a nearby hiding place so that at least they were not forced to be witnesses of the meanness of the behaviour of their travel companions. Unable to sleep, they passed there the night, listening from far the racket and the clamour of those drunkards.
During that night his companion went closer to him and started to caress him in an increasingly intimate way and growingly full of desire. Hiram, may the power of Melqart be always with him, let himself go accepting those agreeable and skilled caresses and little by little started to return them. His companion readily undressed himself, laid on his belly and insistently asked the beautiful Hiram to take him.
After some hesitation, as the other Phoenician was not a true believer, the beautiful young man asked forgiveness in his heart to Melqart, and laid on top of the naked and inviting body of his travel companion and with youthful vigour penetrated him, tossing on top of him for a long time and with a growing pleasure, until his yens and his youthful ardour were finally placated.
When all the uproar in the Sumerians' camp calmed down and the foolish drunk and lusty men were not moving, arrived there stealthily a big gang of robbers, who were in hand in glove with those woman of easy costumes and who waited for that moment hidden in ambush. They attacked those merchants, who were still naked and unaware, and overcame them before any of them could have time to unsheathe their swords in an attempt to defend themselves. The few of them who survived the terrible assault were chained and so taken away as slaves, and also all the goods and the camels fell in the hands of the plunderers.
Hiram's new friend, who knew well the customs of the people of that area, convinced Hiram, the blessing of Melqart be upon him, to keep absolutely still and even more silent. When finally all the brigands went away with their booty, the two young men wore their clothes, made their camels stand up and took the way in the opposite direction, so finally leaving that area.
They went on travelling together for a good stretch of way, until their roads parted. Hiram, the power of the great god be always on him, instructed his journey companion all along their common way, and along each night spent together, after they spread their blankets and undressed completely, he carefully taught him all the forgotten rites and usages of his religion, taking him again so, night after night, to the real cult of Melqart.
When the moment came they had to part, the friend admonished the young and beautiful Hiram, on which may remain the hand of the god, "Be on guard, my sweet and pleasant friend, and don't think you already know all that there is to be known. Your road is still long, for you in fact it has just started, and you know nothing of the great depravation of this world and of the incredible turpitude of the men who inhabit it. Your heart is still pure and uncontaminated. Up to now you saw and knew only one kind of robbery. Not all the robberies will be so manifest and not all the bad deeds so easy to be recognised." So spoke his friend and after they embraced, each of them took his road.
After some long days of solitary travel, the young and wonderful Hiram reached the bank of a wide river. There he was a great crowd of people who wanted to cross that river. He also saw the several kind of vessels that were at the embankment - there were boats, rafts, vessels and just floaters made with bags of animals' leather. When he asked, he was told that he would certainly wait for several days if he wanted to cross the river with his camel and all his goods, at least two days and possibly more.
Then a young man, very good-looking and elegantly dressed, went near him and with a king smile, told him, "I noticed your incredible beauty, o stranger, and this gave to my eyes a great joy. Come with me in my humble abode, so that I can show you the strong and sweet heat that you awakened in my loins, and so that I can give you the joy and the peace of the senses that you certainly deserve and you surely desire, after such a long and difficult journey."
Hiram, the hand of Melqart be always on him, thought that the young man was talking in a courteous way and that his intentions were noble, therefore accompanied him to his house. As they were there, they undressed each other, refreshed their limbs with a bath of scented water, then the young host took him in a cool and sheltered room, laid on a soft mattress pulling on him the wonderful Hiram and so they laid together on the welcoming bed of the kind and young host. They enjoyed each other for a long time, giving and receiving a great pleasure, and Hiram, the blessing of the god be on him, in his heart praised Melqart for that so agreeable and so refreshing meeting, notwithstanding it happened with an unbeliever.
Then the young and handsome host told him, "Why would you remain here waiting for two or even more days to be ferried across the river? To thank you for your so generous and agreeable company, I make you a better proposal - here, I can keep here your camel and all your goods. You leave them on this side of the river at my place, and on the other side of the river there is my brother, who will receive you. You will give him this clay tablet with my seal, and he will give you another camel and good of a same value. So you can save your time and leave even this same morning."
The simple soul of Hiram could see nothing bad in this gentle proposal, therefore he consented to the plan, and gave to the young man his camel and all that he transported. The young host at once marked their value carving them with a stylus on the clay tablet, and he also found him a passage that same morning on a ferry. So Hiram, on him be the blessing of Melqart, crossed the rushing stream having with him only a small and light luggage.
When he was on the other bank, the wonderful Hiram started to look for the brother of that man, as it had been told him. Anyway, in the waving crowd that was surrounding him, he lose sight of all the people he had known even just on sight, Soon there was nobody around him who talked or understood his language. So Hiram patiently sat in a visible point along the embankment of the great river, to wait for the man he had to meet there, keeping the clay tablet well in sight in is hands, to be recognised when the man came.
After several hours had elapsed, and Hiram, may the hand of god be upon him, was still sitting in the same spot, one of the ferry men finally asked him who he was and what he was doing, sitting all alone in that place. Hiram, the peace be on him, gave him the information and exactly told him his story, and about his encounter with the gentle and good-looking man and showed his the clay tablet he gave to him.
Then the ferry man and all the people who were with him burst into laughter, and explained to the baffled Hiram that he had been adroitly cheated - there was no brother of that man on that side of the river, that was a trick well know to the local crooks, they were just astounded that he could fell for it so naively.
Hiram, the power of god be on him, thought to go back on the other side of the river to look for that young man and for his camel, but they assured him that the rogue left for a long time with his camel and all his goods, so that he would not find anything more of what he left him, in fact also the house where he was taken was uninhabited for a long time as its real owner was on a journey.
Hiram, the hand of Melqart be upon him, was scared by this adversity, he anyway soon reflected that he was the soul responsible for what happened, as if he did not lie down with an infidel man, how beautiful and kind he could have been, and patiently waited until it came his turn to cross the river, all this would not have happened to him. Surely the price of that lesson had been quite high, but he resigned himself and, trusting in his god, he didn't lose his heart.
Luckily the wonderful young devote of the great god Melqart had still some money he always carried on himself. He so soon found another caravan of merchants disposed to take him with them, provided he hired a camel from the wardens for his journey, and paid them for their protection. Hiram, the hand of god be on him, gave them all the money he still had and travelled with them for seven days, and rested with them for seven nights.
CONTINUES IN FILE 2
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