The exchange of language, culture, and agreements on weights and measurements was perhaps a watershed moment in the area. Two radically different peoples managed to come to an understanding on the worth of their wares and thus began an economic symbiosis.
Lothal continued to be a prime destination for trade long after the Akkadian empire had fallen into ruin and the Mesopotamian seats of power had been moved multiple times. Some researchers claim the Akkadians and Elamites even bought boats from the Harappan peoples that populated the area.
The port town was completely destroyed in 1900 BCE by a great flood. The cataclysmic flood had driven the majority of the populace further inland. Lothal was not rebuilt to its earlier glory, but re-inhabited just the same. Trade did not pick up again in Lothal until sometime between 1700 and 1600 BCE.
Perhaps Lothal's greatest legacy was their stringent decimal system of weights they used to measure raw materials. In addition to serving the merchant class, the town also housed factories for bead-making, ceramics, and jewelry from copper. Long before the Romans and Greeks created their aqua-ducts, the people of Lothal even designed a sewer system that filtered solid waste.
Once upon a time, Lothal was connected by inter-coastal water ways to the other towns of the Makran coasts. The amount of trade that flowed between the Harappan peoples and those of Mesopotamia is staggering. Cuneiform tablets still exist that show the materials shipped from the Harappan area to Ur, Babylon, and Akkad.
Little remains of Lothal. The constant encroachment of salt water, the frequent floods, and the fragility of the materials used to build the town, have left modern man scarce proof of its existence. In another millennia, its footprint may disappear altogether.
Regardless of whether or not the site ultimately disappears, Lothal remains an important part of economic history. The world's first known dock, whatever its original purpose, ushered in new kinds of trade for civilizations who had just started to explore the seas.
The Library of Alexandria
The history of the Library of Alexandria is steeped in apocrypha and confusion. While researching historical records for this story, I discovered several items of note.
First, although Julius Caesar is "credited" with burning the Library in 48 BCE during the Ptolemic war, it is unknown which library burned. Alexandria is thought to have had a public library as well as the private Library that functioned as a modern university. To further muddy the waters, the Egyptian words for "library" and "papyrus storehouse" are the same. So what burned?
Some historians maintain that the private library could not have been destroyed in 48 BCE because it was located within the city and far from the harbor where Caesar burned his ships. They believe it was the papyrus storehouse that was lost rather than the actual libraries.
If that's the case, then why was there such an outcry by later Greek historians? Was it malice toward Caesar and his legacy? Or did the Greeks swallow the apocrypha as well?
Caesar does not mention the library's destruction in his war diaries. Why not? Out of embarrassment because he actually did it? Or because he didn't think it of note?
This is why there is little agreement about what actually happened in 48 BCE. Yet, here's another interesting fact--there is no record of who the head librarian was during that time. The rest of the periods are covered, but there is a span of years where the records are non-existent. Is this gap because records were destroyed? Or is there yet another reason for their absence?
Regardless of what happened or didn't, I made a choice to go with the apocrypha. I am not an historian and I am absolutely the last person to claim the books in this series are "historically" accurate. Instead, I choose to incorporate what is well known about these periods and put them into the stories.
Scrolls is a better tale because I chose the apocrypha. This is fiction, folks, historical fiction, perhaps, but still fiction. Writers have to make decisions about what to include in their stories, and the way I describe the Library's destruction was integral for Scrolls.
Regardless of its alleged destruction in 48 BCE, the Library of Alexandria was destroyed once by the Christian rulers and then completely destroyed by the Islamists centuries later. Since Alexander the Great originally commissioned the Library, I've no doubt the Ptolemy family, allies of the Macedonian, stored his most precious relics there. By 48 BCE, Babylon had exchanged hands multiple times and had all but faded into obscurity. Just as the world will never know what treasures were lost in the Library's destruction, we'll never know what artifacts and writings were lost during the many sacks of Babylon.
Despite my inaccuracies or presumptions, I hope this novella does justice to how I feel about this gap in history and the importance of ancient history itself. There is much we'll never know because sites like the Library, Babylon, and Akkad were destroyed. We, as a race, need to ensure our recent history isn't as shabbily treated.
Herodot's journey and tale doesn't end here. It more or less begins. But you'll have to wait for the next volume of Garaaga's Children to discover it...one tale at a time.
Timeline
DATE
Event Title
End Date
6000
The beast of Gujaritan attacks the village
6000
Date is approximate
5129
Scouts line ends
5129
The Scouts were established to keep the path to the beast's cave clear and marked
5000
The Last Hunter takes place
5000
Approximate date
4999
Keepers line established
4999
The Keepers sect was established to ensure the Rashim's story was passed down from generation to generation.
4000
Cuneiform invented*
4000
Date is VERY approximate. The actual year it was invented is based on some discovered artifacts.
4000
Sumerian Civilization
2400
The dates of the Sumerian Civilization are based on artifact evidence as well as writings found. The date system, however, seems to be up to debate. The Akkadian calendar is more reliable, although it has its own issues.
2800
Ur Empire
1760
The Ur empire was the result of an invasion into the area by the Elamites.
2400
Akkadian Empire
2100
2216
Destruction of Gujaritan
2216
2215
Isin Leaves for Akkad
2215
2214
Trianni writes the legend of Rashim
2214
2004
Elamite Sack Of Ur
2004
2000
Ama born
2000
1830
Ama takes place
1830
1829
Drimesh is born
1829
1800
Babylonian Empire
0500
1792
Hammurabi's Reign
1750
1790
Drimesh flees to Babylon
1790
1770
Lovers takes place
1770
Hittite Sack of Babylon
1595
0350
Alexander the Great born
0350
0330
Alexander's Indus Campaign
0328
0328
Interlopers takes place
0328
0327
Alexander the Great dies
0327
0327
Philus writes Nerutal's account
0327
0320
Library of Alexandria established
0320
0068
Herodot born
0068
0048
Ptolemic War
0046
0048
Scrolls takes place
0048
0048
Library of Alexandria Burned
0048
0046
Cleopatra installed as queen of Egypt
0046
Author's Note
They say insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Most readers think I've only been writing for a few years, but in fact I started writing when I was thirteen. In my 20s, I penned a series of stories that, with the exception of "Momma" and "The Hunt," have never seen the light of day.
I was unable to make the series work, so I gave up on it. I tried several times to rekindle its magic, but the tapestry refused to hold. In many ways, my so-called writing career died in the 90s with those stories. Attempting another large series was terrifying. It still is. But now I have three going. And, spoiler alert, they're all intertwined.
Garaaga's Children is a huge work. I'm stupefied by the number of words it will take before I finish it. And it'll never be finished as I'm always going to find another reason to write a new tale in a different part of history.
I'm not an historian, but I have a deep love of history. Writing Ancients exposed me to a period of history of which I was ignorant. I had to learn as I went, to pull tiny details from lost civilizations and incorporate them in my tales. For a while, I felt a bit like an archeologist as I excavated knowledge and integrated them into my plots. If I was just writing about history itself, the task would have been difficult. But that wasn't enough. I wasn't just writing in historical periods--I was inventing an ancient religion and a god unlike any other in the ancient pantheons. If nothing else, I hope I have piqued your interest in what these civilizations MAY have been like and how they relate to our here and now and the three major modern religions.
I do my best to be as historically accurate as possible, but sometimes I bend facts or just plain make things up. Ancients should not be seen as historical fiction, but rather fiction set in historical periods. I won't apologize for any facts I purposely changed, but I will for any errors made because of my own ignorance.
Ancients is not the end of a journey--it's the beginning. The legend of Rashim, the Keepers, the sacred book...all of these are elements you'll see again in future tales. The ancient world is the setup for the stories that take place in the modern era. And when they start hitting the bookshelves, I hope you'll continue the journey with me.
The Woodlands, Texas
May 7th, 2013
About The Author
A writer, podcaster, and software architect from Houston, Texas, Paul Elard Cooley has been writing since the age of 12. In 2009, he began producing free psychological thriller and horror podcasts, essays, and reviews available from Shadowpublications.com and iTunes.
His stories have been listened to by thousands and he has been a guest on such notable podcasts as Podioracket, John Mierau's "Podcast Teardown," Geek Out with Mainframe, Shadowcast Audio, and Vertigo Radio Live. In 2010, his short story Canvas and novella Tattoo were nominated for Parsec Awards. Tattoo became a Parsec Award finalist. He has collaborated with New York Times Bestselling author Scott Sigler on the series "The Crypt" and "The Rider," as well as contributed his voice talents to a number of podiofiction productions.
In addition to his own show, he is a co-host on the renowned Dead Robots' Society writing podcast.
For more information about this series, as well as current and upcoming projects, please visit Shadowpublications.com.
Contact the author:
Email: stories@shadowpublications.com
Twitter: twitter.com/paul_e_cooley
Facebook: facebook.com/paul.e.cooley
CHRONOLOGY of the TALES of GARAAGA’S CHILDREN
Legends of Garaaga
“Hunters” - 5000 B.C.E.
“Keepers” - 2300 B.C.E.
Daemons of Garaaga (Coming Soon)
“Hela” - 1940 B.C.E.
“Ama” - 1820 B.C.E.
“Drimesh” - 1770 B.C.E.
Legends of Garaaga
“Interlopers” - 326 B.C.E.
“Scrolls” - 48 B.C.E.
Also by Paul E Cooley
AVAILABLE FROM SEVERED PRESS
The Black
AVAILABLE FROM SHADOW PUBLICATIONS
Closet Treats
Tattoo
Fiendlettes—4 Stories from the Fiends Collection
The Street
Legends of Garaaga—4 Tales of the Children of Garaaga
Tony Downs (series)
The Hunt
After Image
COMING SOON FROM SHADOW PUBLICATIONS
Daemons of Garaaga—3 Tales of the Children of Garaaga
Flames (2015)