Nabucco

Chapter 4: Down the Euphrates

After more than two months on the road, the Judeans had diminished in number with many frail, sick or wounded simply left behind. Miriam and her mother struggled on.

The route from Riblah had continued north to Aleppo, after which the Chaldeans turned eastwards, towards their homeland. The time-consuming diversion avoided traversing the desert which only fast riders would attempt, not a slow-marching army and captives requiring large amounts of water.

Their route soon took them to the heads of the Euphrates River. Now, all water flowed to the East, rather than to the West. The Judeans who had survived this far found the remainder of their journey less arduous as they followed the course of the river. It was more downhill than uphill and the nearby presence of the river meant that drinking water was never scarce and that bathing was again possible.

Miriam observed the farming families tending to their crops in the plains adjacent to the river, with parents accompanied by a squad of children of varying heights helping them out. The mood changed: these people were happy to see the soldiers, and able to ask them about their deeds as they spoke the same language. They were entering the Chaldean homeland.

After an early period in which it was shallow and had many twists and turns, the Euphrates was now sufficiently wide that boats appeared on it. Miriam had never seen anything like them. She watched, fascinated, as paddlers steered them through the swirling waters, bearing grain and other crops downstream towards the larger Chaldean cities.

At one of the encampments, the river was very shallow and she joined other children who had waded out into it. The coolness of the water soothed her feet and the many scabs and sores she had acquired, picking her way along rocky paths. She went further until it came up to her waist and then with a whoosh, splashed back into the water with her whole body. She looked up towards the sun and experienced a sense of euphoria to be alive and to be immersed in this fresh, clear water.

Her cousins were nearby. They had found a tree that overhung the river and were jumping into the water one by one with a smack-like splash. While none of them could swim any appreciable distance, certainly not as far as the other shore, these older boys were daring enough to support themselves in the water with no foothold.

Amongst the families of the former Temple priests there was disgruntlement about the young boys and girls frolicking in the river near to each other. Daniel and the others, even though they had come of age and could normally think about forming their own households, nonetheless deferred to the wishes of their elders and withdrew, leaving the children of less puritanical parents to continue their moments of refreshment.

Miriam's mother would have considered this a busybodying intervention even in normal times; in the existing circumstances - tired and hungry - it got under her skin still more. She walked up and confronted a group of half a dozen people who, from their glances and shaking of heads, seemed to be clearly of the view that all the strictures of Jerusalem had to come with them.

"What exactly are you shaking your heads about?" she said, to no one in particular.

After a pause, one of them responded "We can't have boys and girls of that age bathing together"

"Why not?"

Their spokesperson wrinkled his face "Because it will inflame their passions and lead them into sinful behaviour, you know that".

Miriam's mother had got what she wanted.

"We are all trying to survive to the next day - all of us, the children included - and you're worrying about people being unchaste? How and where would they even have a chance to do anything about it?"

This was a difficult argument to rebut. The Judeans were all kept in open encampment, under guard; there was no prospect of a couple of naughty teenagers sneaking off anywhere private.

Undaunted, her interlocutor went on.

"We aren't to ask questons. This is the law of Adonai* that has come down to us. It's not for us to try to pick holes and make exceptions."

Miriam's mother never felt the weight of the Law to this same degree so had to make an effort to put herself in this person's shoes.

"It's not about making exceptions. The Law was for Jerusalem, where we had our homes and our families. We are now in a completely different place and different situation and," she was now getting quite angry "if the children have after months been given an opportunity to bathe and to remove the muck from their bodies, they should be allowed to. I cannot believe Adonai would want them to remain unwashed because there are no provisions for privacy."

At this point the man went quiet, whether because he had lost the argument or rather because Miriam had by now become quite fierce and he had decided that discretion was the greater part of valour.

Nonetheless, people went away after this incident with their own views about what would have been the proper thing to do. It is fair to say that most people would have sympathised with Miriam's mother in the argument but, since the former Temple elite at this point still held their place in the social order, they kept their view to themselves and decided not to rock the boat.

The march continued the next day. Miriam and the other younger Judeans, who were either unaware or unconcerned with the details of the debate in which they had featured, carried on with uplifted spirits after being able to soak in the clear water and to wash off the grime of weeks of wandering.

The Chaldean soldiers' moods had also improved. They knew their journey was nearing its end and as they saw more and more signs to remind them that they were almost home.

*The Judeans, like some Jews today, considered the name Yahweh too sacred to be spoken aloud and would instead say Adonai, which means "My Lord".

Photo credit: Mihrican Atilla on Unsplash