Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2011 21:03:12 +0100
From: A.K. <andrej@andrejkoymasky.com>
Subject: Hiram the Phoenician 1/4 (historical)

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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

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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.

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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.

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CONTINUES IN FILE 2

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