Meltha Magazine Online

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1998, Volume 4, No.1 (8), pages 11-15

A RAINBOW THROUGH THOUSANDS OF YEARS

Julietta Bet-Kaplan

When the Assyrian king Sinkharib decided to create his own navy to fight the recalcitrant king of Chaldeans in the same year one of the doctors at his court, Sargon by name, was standing on the bank of the Tigris, watching the captive Phoenicians at work. They were launching a just built warship the bow of which as well as the stern lifted high up was decorated with the head of the horse.

After the hot air of Nineveh Sargon chilled by the fresh air from the river was thinking about the forthcoming trip to the neighboring kingdom. Lately he had often been abroad to cure local rulers when they were taken ill. This way the king continued to build his presence in foreign lands producing an indelible impression on his allies with the good expertise of his doctors.

It rained not long ago and now the rainbow was brightly sparkling in the sky as far as the eye could see. According to the popular old belief the rainbow was commonly identified with a necklace of lapis lazuli stones which the God ness Ishtar stretched across the sky as a reminder of the awful days of the great Deluge. The book where this legend had gone in was always with Sargon during all his long journeys. He knew many lines from it by heart. The book was made not from clay, but from some wooden tables covered with a thin layer of bees-wax in order to carve cuneiform marks. It could be open easily in the shape of screen and was handy in use. It was Arzina who gave it to him as a present.

Sargon began moving slowly along the embankment Arzina. The daughter of a chief potter man one of his happy patients whom he had cured from a very terrible disease. In the following years he didn't always manage to cure his patients as he did before. But then he was young and somehow self - confident. As he was taught in medicine and magic he believed in the strength of patient and in drugs rather than in exorcism. He liked to disclose the illness in a patient and to save him from death. Though he did not always manage to do it.

Deep in his thoughts he came over the central square of the city and stopped. A marvelous view of high white walls of the temple with many tiered towers decorated with bays and protrusions was seen from here. Every- thing glittered with blue lazuli. A wide straight street cobbled in the middle led from the city gate to the temple. There were new flowerbeds in the city square and they were pleasant to an eye. Sargon lost himself in admiration for the palace built on a man made terrace. Big and marvelous created with consummate mastery it soared above the city and could be seen from everywhere. Close to it a group of men was trying to take something from a big carriage. Judging by their various dresses and hairstyles (some of them had short tunics with long fringe attached to the waist, others had embroidered turbans) they were the captive soldiers. They were mounting a grand statue of a kind Deity -the guard of the capital of Assyria. The crowds of local citizens not used to such a sight watched at the bearded human face and the large wings of a stone bull rested on its side. Some young girls with short colored scarves over their heads came just passing by. One of them was laughing very loudly as she was telling her friends some funny thing and this laughter again reminded him of Arzina and the day of their last meeting.

"Gilgamesh, there's a secret word I'll tell you, and the mystery of a flower you'll know, and if you reach that flower by the hand, You'll get your youth back again."

Smiling Sargon was going along the street. Arzina shall be cured. It wasn't long ago, I when the girl with swollen joints and burning I with fever just couldn't get up from her bed. Now she was already able to come downstairs and enjoy the smell of the flowers in the gardens. Though father and mother helped her so but could they even dream about this until recently? A petty vendor with black and sweet dates blocked his way in a narrow lane. "Buy my dates, doc!" asked he. Sargon didn't like dates but being filled himself with joy he allowed the vendor to fill half of his bag. Yes, he is a doctor. It is shown even on his clothes and his bag is also for medical herbs. He is young and healthy and Arzina is not the first patient whom he managed to help.

Sargon could get out of the maze of narrow streets where the potters lived and started his way along another street. They said that the king ordered to make all the Nineveh streets straight and wide and forbade to diminish the width during the construction of the new ones. It was strictly forbidden, even under the pain of death. Since when Nineveh having already 2000 years of history was named the capital of Assyria it became more and more beautiful and rich. The old streets were being reconstructed the canals were being put in order and the trees were being planted. Sargon saw the streets with palm trees and pomegranates. Some years ago there were none of such here. Houses of one and two stories had flat roofs and the young doctors liked to settle here. Their profession was not profitable at all, as it

didn't give them a better position in the society either. Sargon had already passed that stage of a beginner and now he was getting ready for a higher qualification test. He could become a court doctor only by being "an experienced in knowledge". He possessed all

major qualities, education, physical perfection and noble origin. And what is more, he was .

an extraordinary industrious and a hard working young man. He himself was gathering and mixing herbs with fat, honey and vinegar according to the recipe in order to get some remedy to cure bad coughs and indigestion. He was preparing various ointments, drops and suppositories. Able to read the day tables from morning till night he was eager to learn all symptoms of the illness and the methods to cure it. His father had a good medical library, tens of clay books, tables with texts rested on his shelves. But Sargon wanted to have his own. He wanted to have his own made words written in every book. "If a man suffers from this or that he will be well due to my method of treatment. And he'll recover".

Deep in his thoughts he nearly collided with an open face woman who suddenly appeared at the gateway. "Be off! Have no time for you." He rejected her hand she was stretching to him and crossed the street. It was getting dark but it wasn't dangerous to walk in Nineveh till late at night. It was forbidden to take out a sword in the limits of the city. This prohibitory law was guarded by the Deity. Taking one of the streets, leading to his house Sargon suddenly changed his mind and went back. Not a bad palm wine was served in the neighboring pub. "Well, it's no sin to drink today."

Late at night being not steady on his feet he got home. Fresh wind was blowing, the sounds of drums were corning from the yards, the city was enjoying -its rest. "Well, I'll first cure Arzina and then propose to her as a wife" -he said to himself and smiled. The palm wine, he was treated with in the pub seemed to be too strong for him, as he dared to have such thoughts.

Coiled up deeply into the cushions Arzina lay in a mat on the floor. She was repeating the exorcism against her toothache. Again she was shivering with fever, her joints ached and she was such at heart. Wet rings of her hair stuck to her hot forehead. And again this damned tooth! Sunrays couldn't pass into the room as there were no windows in it, ant the row of brick walls kept the room cool enough. But it seemed to the girl that she'd been held on a low fire. Just yesterday everybody were happy when she managed to pick up a peach from the tree and now again her fingers didn't

obey her.

" And where is that doctor?" -she thought. What was the use of that bitter medicine she had been drinking for a whole month long.

Father appeared on the doorstep, he stood still for a while, then he nodded and left. Perhaps he'll go to the temple to ask for a God. Since her illness he has been visiting the temple frequently, dropping some silver coins into the box at the entrance. He's been bringing the magicians with him, who could banish the evil spirits. But even they were not able to help her.

The mother entered the room. She helped her to get up from the mat and lie in bed. She spilled some cold mint water on the walls and on the floor. Then she brought a clay dish with cold bushala -a kind of soup made of sour milk and herbs. She took her seat on a tiny little chair.

"You must eat daughter" -She said, and helped her with some spoonfuls of food, but the poor girl was about to burst into tears as she swallowed it.

"Who needs the cripple like me!" - thought the girl. Mother stroked her hands silently and carefully massaged her fingers and the girl fell asleep.

A little later she was awoken by the strong scent of fragrance in the room. In the darkness she saw an old man in a long dress and pointed beard.

"It's Ashipu. The charmer and the doctor" -she guessed. There was a little incensory on his knees and a jug for libation near his feet. Spurts of smoke, coming from it, were making wondern1l figures in the air. The charmer, shaking the bracelets on his hands was asking the Gods -Shamash and Adad, about Arzina, whether she would recover from her illness or not. With her eye half closed Arzina was looking at the amulets on his dress. Those were magic emblems of the Gods; a disc with four rays was the symbol of the God Shamash and the sun and the lightning with three points was the symbol of the God Adad. The room was being slowly filled with the scent of the fragrance. The toothache had stopped. Ashipu came close to the girl's bed. He examined her eyes, took her pulse, and saw the color of her skin. Then he asked her to tell him how the illness started and how it was going on. Then he examined the drugs which were on the tables, some of them he even tasted and the ointments she used. He went out into tree yard leaving the sleeping girl. The sky was cloudy, the strong wind was blowing. Everything was against her recovering. Arzina' s father who had been impatiently waiting for the end of the procedures, stepped towards him and said:

"Will she recover, sir?"

"Her condition is more dangerous, than I thought. We must bathe her" -he answered.

On entering the room he ordered her to wash her feet and face, sprinkled her body with scented water and tied some woolen ropes over her joints.

"Liberate her body from illness and mourning. Pure water and give her the strength" -Ashipu begged the Gods. The girl stood this till the end and with the last words of incantation she fell on her bed.

"She can take the same drugs as before" - said the charmer and added that the next day he would come to see her again.

The funeral procession was moving slowly to the cemetery. Several men in long rough clothes were carrying the body wrapped in the white shroud. The weepers were crying and lamenting. The relatives were tearing up their clothes! the music was very grievous. At last they approached the tomb made from bricks and clay. The body was slowly put on the mat, soaked with pitch. The pillow was put under her head. All the necessary things food and clothes, decorations and jewelry ceruse and rouge had been put on the tomb earlier.

"Oh Arzina, my dear little girl!" -a scratched face woman with her head powdered with ashes head fell on the dead body.

"This is wrong, she is alive!" -Sargon wanted to cry and just at this moment he woke up. He looked around, then got up from his bed. Why is it so stuffy here? Why, he was sleeping in the garden. His bed was filled with dry leaves and fruits. He could hardly breath. Sargon wandered to the swimming pool and dived into the warm water. The wind, the fiery wind from the southwest the cause of his nightmare.

-Perhaps it is better to move into the basement to sleep. This wind is for long. How is she? Such a heat is fatal for her hea11, but she never leaves the house, and it's rather cool in their place. In the evening, when the heat comes down, I'll go and see her. He thought.

Pushing the little entrance door Sargon made his way through the narrow corridor into the yard.

"They are waiting for you on the terrace" ~ said the servant. Sargon was surprised for be- fore that day he had always been allowed to see Arzina immediately.

At the table full of fruits and drinks Arzina's father and Ashipu were sitting. They stood up and greeted him. The servant laid an empty plate before him.

"Isn't it a cute thing?" -Ashipu asked Sargon pointing to the little clay ornament hanging above the door. It was a dog's body with the scorpion' s tail and human head, it was an . amulet which protected the family against the south-west winds. Sargon eat a fig calmly and waited for the explanations.

"The girl has gotten worse" -said Ashipu . feeling ill at ease. " And I was asked to help her, Toget1ler we'll manage with her illness faster. The medicines you gave her were supposed to help her, but they didn't, because the main cause of her getting worse is t1lis sudden change of weather. Now we must use a much stronger remedy" -he went on.

"I must see the girl" -said Sargon and stood up. The chief potter man called his wife.

Arzina was lying in her bed wit11 her face to t11e wall. She didn't answer his greetings.

"Look here, daughter, speak to the doctor, please" -her mot1ler asked her .

"Leave me alone mother, I can't bear it any longer."

"Who doesn't break the ice, he won't drink cold water. The doctor came to help you" - said her mother and moved the chair close to her bed.

Puffy, swollen face, chinks of black eyes, oedema� Sargon didn't expect this. Ashipu was right. We have to give her some diuretic and more effective cardiac drops. In spite of the course of treatment the girl got worse. She lay in the dark room careless to everything. Her parents were in despair. "Can't you help us? Just do somet1ling" -they begged.

Ashipu decided to repeat the whole ceremony of exorcism one more time, but Sargon spoke up. This will only make the patient suffer more. It's necessary to find some other ways of treatment. What are other ways? They did what they could. "The patient will not recover" -it was written in the special book. Now the exorcism was, the only way' out.

"The evil pain leave Arzina's body, all the diseases leave Arzina's body".

Ashipu walked around the girl's bed whispering these magic formulas. He gave the girl a kind of medicine before he started, so the girl took everything almost being in a dream. The charmer made a fire on the floor, tl11.ew some grass into the flame. It became bright and almost smokeless. He began to throw some, wool into the fire.

"Let all the sufferings, the illness, the curse, the sin which are in my body, be tom to pieces and burned" could reach the girl's ears. She knew that the only way to survive was through this exorcism and that's why she bore everything what Ashipu did with patience. And he who was sincerely willing to help the girl called the kind souls to come to her rescue.

All that day long Sargon's mind couldn't find a place as he was very much disturbed. Finally he decided to counsel with his teacher Rabbeh Oushana, who was one of the doctors who followed the Assyrian army during its marches. He had kept his courage and strength though he was very old. He wore his hair long and his beard was frizzled and cut to the latest fashion. He had golden rings with pendants on his ears. He remembered the Great Sharrukin, the father of the present king, when he conquered the Chaldeans and became the king of Babylonians. He was with Sunkharib when he defeated the Egypt army' and captivated the sons of Pharaoh. He was at the siege of Jerusalem and was saved by a miracle when a plague happened among the Assyrian army.

"You have treated the effect, but not the cause. And the cause may be very simple, Suppurative throat and rotten teeth. Did you pay attention to that? Go and look once more" - he advised after he had listened to Sargon.

Early the next morning Sargon was at Arzina's. "I need a lamp and a small spoon" - he told her mother. " I have to look at her throat and teeth."

Then he touched gently her teeth and found the bad one. Here it is! It was rotten. He tied it with the silk thread, poured seven tooth drops on it, knowing that under that effect it would fallout itself. Then she had to rinse her throat

until the wound was well.

He ordered to feed the girl with raisins, dried apricots and to give her plenty of fig water in milk.

"You'll see she gets better!" -he promised.

A surprise was waiting for him at home. His sister was getting married. Matchmakers had already visited them. Everything was already arranged.

"Arzina, is she ever going to have a wedding?" -he became sad again.

The hardest period passed. Day by day the girl got well. Sargon was rejoicing. Every- thing might have ended gravely, if he hadn't taken the bad tooth out. But Arzina and her parents didn't think like him. They thought that it was Ashipu, who cured their daughter well. He had asked much silver for his job. But her father wasn't going to offend Sargon. In addition to the promised money he was making a big vase for him. It'll be made from the best clay and Arzina wanted to paint it herself. The symbol of the God of health two snakes twined round the baton would be the picture on it as she thought.

Thunderstorms were rolling over Nineveh. Adad-the Thunder was riding her chariot. shooting fiery arrows from the sky.

Women who used to spend most of the time up on the roof washing and talking came down. Arzina was on the terrace. She wore a white tunic decorated with two turquoise lines below her knees. She was trying to arrange her curly hair but in vain. She only managed to tie it on the back with a scarf.

Mother was putting some liquids and food in the corners of the room. They were meant for Gods. The Gods that protect the house from the evil spirits.

The girl saw Sargon entering the house. It was his last visit to the girl. She didn't need his treatment any more. He brought some medicine that she had to take at a regular time of the year in case the illness wouldn't return. Arzina showed him her presents. Sargon liked the vase very much, but the book. It was a rare book of uncommon beauty. He pulled the leather belts, which joined the ends of the wooden tables and read the title: "He who saw everything." The book was about Gilgamesh. He thanked her for the presents and started his way back home. Her parents came out to see him off. There were big puddles in the yard as it was raining all the night. A big copper fixed in the hotbed was full of water. In a moment the rainbow lit up in the puddles and in the copper.

Jumping in the yard Arzina was clapping her hands. Her mother shouted on her: "The girl mustn't behave like that. There's a man here." Sargon smiled. Good girl! She was eager to run and jump. He came out into the street. Good bye!

Translated by Ana Bet-Sahrad and Maka Saladze Tbilisi, (Georgia)