Gilgamesh Immortal (Chronicles of the Nephilim) Read Online Free PDF Page A

labors. You must allow them some happiness or they may rise up in sheer desperation.”
    “That is why they will not rise up. Because they fear their king,” he said.
    “A healthy fear maintains authority, law, and order,” she said. “But a cruel fear breeds resentment, spite , and chaos. Leave them some time to tend to their families and their own gardens of produce. Then they will die for you if you need them to.”
    Gilgamesh let her words sink in. His mother was his most respected counsel and he took her words to heart. A melancholy spirit came over him and he barely whispered, “Father created a healthy fear.”
    “Yes, he did,” she said. “But he was a good king. Holy Lugalbanda.” Her eyes sparkled with reminiscence. “I was his child bride but he treated me with tender consideration on our wedding night. Like you, he had the divine right of kings. He could have taken me any way he wanted. But he was kind. And my loyalty was eternal.”
    Gilgamesh looked at Ninsun. She had a wise way of saying several things in one metaphor. And this time she was not merely talking about treating subjects with goodness. There was another meaning that penetrated her words. For Gilgamesh’s slave-driving impatience was not his only weakness. He was a giant born of the union of god and human. He was a Gibbor , a mighty warrior with a mighty appetite for two things: Combat and women.

Chapter 3
    The wedding banquet , comprised of the families and communities of the bride and bridegroom, numbered about two hundred or so celebrants. Beer and wine flowed heavily as the participants ended the seven day celebration in the partially blocked off neighborhood of the bride. The marriage was typical, arranged by the parents of both sides for economic or familial benefits. A bride price of ten shekels of silver and some livestock was given by the bridegroom as a down payment for the engagement, followed by a large gift of foodstuffs at the wedding banquet. The bride’s father had provided her a dowry of precious metals and stones that would remain her own property to protect her in case of her husband’s death, divorce, or other personal tragedy.
    On this last day of the party, the bride had been covered with a veil by her father that would be taken off later by her new husband. Normally, friends of the bridegroom, called “best-men,” would oversee the carnal union of the couple in order to protect the virginity of the bride against demons.
    But the happiness of the celebration barely kept at bay the sadness that hung over the evening like a shadow. Their gazes all turned to the looming figure of king Gilgamesh standing in the shadows of the threshold. For a long while now, Gilgamesh had enforced the institution of jus prima noctis , the divine right of the Lord to first conjugal rights with all brides of the city. It was a way for him to assert his status of power over the men of the city-state, while also giving temporary satisfaction to his insatiable hunger for women.
    But there were political benefits as well. If many women had their firstborn through union with the king, rebellion or insurrection would be less likely because of the deep primal feelings of family ties to his majesty.
    At least, that is how he thought of it. His mother, Ninsun thought differently.
    “There are plenty of hierodules to satisfy your appetite,” she would say. A hierodule was one of many sacred temple prostitutes available at the beck and call of the king.
    “As king you already have complete control over the male citizens’ bodies and allegiance. They must submit to you, work for you, fight and die for you. If you allow them nothing of their own you will breed resentment that will lead to resignation and despair. And a man who has nothing left to lose is a dangerous man who will stop at nothing if he chooses revenge.”
    Gilgamesh was not concerned. He knew he could out fight any angry man of the city at any time. If any one of them tried to