NABU-NA'ID LAST KING OF BABYLON

Can you see it, a fountain in the sand,
An emerald dot amidst a wateland,
A pool as blue as the rarest sapphire?
To what more could even a king aspire?

But he cursed the blazing sun of midday,
And all the gods or demons that hold sway,
That he should have left his palace for this,
Even before that haughty Marduk's hiss.

For two many months he had ridden south,
Marching his men into some dragon's mouth.
Ten years is a long time in a man's life
To seize six desert stones in searing strife.

So stand and greet this southern isle of green,
Where no king of Akkad has ever been.
A few wretched huts made from filthy earth?
Then you can't truly recognize its worth.

Do you still curse the gods who hand out fate,
For Marduk's ancient jealousy and hate?
Do you still dream beneath the sun at noon
Of where you built your temple to the Moon.

Some of your men would claim the gods are one.
Who ever heard such a silly notion.
Their single god was overcome in war,
And now they are finished for evermore.

What does the ringing of the future sound
When Babylon is dust upon the ground,
Unborn Byzabtium hoary with age,
Victims of a dozen centuries' rage.

Shall this puny town rise in history?
What strange destiny will it finally meet?
Who greater than you can this village greet?
Can it be it will be called the City?

Mighty conqueror of Arabia,
Nabu-na'id, last king of Babylon.
If only you knew what you'd come upon,
Or who will come and call it Medina.

Michael McKenny March 23-24, 1974

"...he led an army through Syria to the oasis of Teima in
north-west Arabia, where he executed the native king and made
the town his base for the next ten years. During this period of
residence in the west he pushed two hundred and fifty miles
southward through a number of places which can be identified,
until he finally reached Yatrib (Muslim Medina, the city of
Muhammad) on the Red Sea. Nabu-na'id specifically states that he
established garisons in and planted colonies around the six oases
which he names. He describes the forces used as 'the oeople of
Akka and of Hatti-land,' that is both native Babylonians and
people from the western provinces, and a fascinating side-issue is
that five of the six oases named were at the time of Muhammad a
millennium later, occupied by Jews. The suggestion can hardly be
avoided that amongst the troops and colonists accompanying
Nabu-na'id was a strong contingent of Jews, though whether from
those left in Palestine at the capture of Jerusalem or from those
deported to Babylonia cannot at present be said." (H.W.F. Saggs,
THE GREATNESS THAT WAS BABYLON, p. 153)

Nabu-na'id attempted to make the Moon-god Nanna the supreme god
of the empire and began restoration of the temple to the god in
Harran, a city he retook in 553 B.C., but the followers of Marduk
the sun god became restless.

This last king of Babylon (c. 610-c545?) whose empire was brought
to an end by Cyrus was a contemporary of Zoroaster's (6th C BC)
and Buddha (563?-?483BC) was born during his lifetime. Solon
(638-559BC) and Confucius(551-479BC) also lived then, as well as
the Phoenician captain who sailed around Africa for Pharaoh
Necho II, and, if some writers are correct lost a ship which
reached Brazil.

Who are the soldiers marching to the east?
What land is this leaping bravely to war?
What country's standards now so proudly soar?
Can it be 'twas once deemed the least?

What king is this who leads his forces there?
What thoughts are his as he now breathes its air?
And gazes at that land that used to be
But a western province of his country?

What throne is his, once dust, now gold again?
And leap not hearts of them who once did reign
With names that call to mind a might and light,
Restored just now as ends the bitter night?

North to the great River flowing away
That once was a border on a distant day,
When marched Thuthmose and Ramesses the Great.
How long the time since then we had to wait?

Yet see how time, as tide, must ever flow.
So surges here the army of Necho,
This sight unseen for half a thousand years.
Yes, Amun-Ra, you may break into tears.

Who are the soldiers marching to the dawn?
Who comes to gain a long lost Syria?
Who comes contesting the rule of Asia,
For the first time in a long time. Rush on.

Michael McKenny August 7, 1977

 
Solarguard Homepage


Solarguard Poetry