Traveller Manifesto
73. Judaea - About 2000 BC

Judaea – About 2000BC

When Professor Cowen arrived at Camp Delta, located at the impressive era of circa 2000 BC, there was a celebration. Though the camp was established in their familiar wadi, the channel was appreciably less eroded than in the 21st Century. As predicted by the trends identified in the environment of 1000 BC, there was substantially more wildlife, less humans, and a more temperate climate that looked to include more rain, for the sky was grey and a drizzle had every appearance of having set in.

With the engineers, UAV operators, armed Special Forces team members and the operational staff, Professor Cowen enjoyed a traditional feast of lamb, flatbread, hummus and vegetables, all washed down with some excellent Israeli wine. So far, the UAV reconnaissance indicated scattered tribes of itinerant herders, though settled communities harvested the usual dates, olives, and legumes grown in the rich soil. To celebrate their success at yet again Travelling back in time further than any other mission, the Israeli command had cooks visit the base and create a feast with ingredients anticipated to be typical of local fare.

“Congratulations and welcome to the era of the second millennium BC,” exclaimed Professor Cowen as he addressed the gathered team. Their command tent was spacious enough to cater to all. “This final leg of our mission will be interesting because we really have no idea what to expect. It is, of course, the time when we might experience a world that, according to the scriptures, was inhabited by the prophet Abram, who was later renamed as Abraham, the father of the three great religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam.”

He paused in satisfaction. The team looked expectant at the prospect of searching this area and time. With a full stomach and a couple of glasses of good wine, Professor Cowen had rarely felt so satisfied and vindicated. Yes, this will be the best Traveller mission ever.

“So, what do we expect to replace?” he continued. “That can be problematic, as we’ve repeatedly learned that these missions don’t seem to go the way we expect. According to our current understanding of history, this is another period of significant change. Some archaeologists believe that this was a time following a terrible drought that encompassed Asia and northern Africa. Governments might have collapsed, with the Old Kingdom of Egypt merging into the First Intermediate period, a period where Egypt was split by civil wars and the reign of two pharaohs. By now, the pharaoh Sankhkare Montuhotep III should rule and be establishing the Egyptians as a major power in the region. Other civilisations are rising or falling. In India, the Indus Valley Harappan civilisation in what is now Pakistan and which is one of the earliest urbanised civilisations is in decline, and we don’t know why. Some suggest that the Akkadians, another of the great Mesopotamian empires, is also declining around this time. To make matters more complicated, a race of peoples known as Indo-Europeans are engaged in a great migration over Europe and South Asia. These are called Aryans and there is a hypothesis that they originated from the Kurgans who dwelled in the steppes of Eurasia, which we know as Southern Russia and the ’Stans. Again, these migrations and the shift in power might be aggravated by a form of Climate Change. These peoples are attributed to have invented the spoked wheel, so have improved armaments to allow them to fight from their chariots. The wave of Indo-Europeans will take over Greece and Italy and then move south into Egypt and Iran. In about 500 years from where we stand now, they’ll ultimately migrate to India and maybe even China. They’ll spread their chariots, their horses, and their language, all over Afro-Eurasia.”

“But does that mean we’ll be relatively safe?” asked one of the medical staff. The young woman was also a soldier who would be involved in defence of the camp if required.

Professor Cowen shrugged and replied, “We don’t know if we’ll see any aggression. I mean, we have our defence. We saw how that managed the Romans, of course, but there’s so much we don’t know about this time. I doubt this migration was of any one wave of refugees intent on conquest, but more a gradual relocation of displaced peoples. Remember, these are bronze-age peoples, they don’t know of iron except through the discovery of ferrous meteorites. With our modern weapons, we’d seem like Gods to them”

Anderson looked across at his colleagues and, true to form, eyes had already glazed. Professor Cowen never kept it simple.

“Now, as we stand here, we’re at our fourth thousand years into our past. Nothing at the three thousand year mark was as we expected and I doubt anything will be as expected now.” The Professor was barely restraining his excitement. “What do we expect? It is possible that the God of this time is the God Ea or Ya. Now it’s suggested that he could be related to the Sumerian Enki, commonly translated as ‘Lord of the Earth’. In the Bible, Genesis describes the political situation as being dominated by a coalition led by the Kingdom of Elam and including the peoples of Hatti, Assyria and Babylonia. But, like most parts of the Bible, archaeologists have never found any confirmation by any monuments, king lists, or other historical sources. Some historians have pointed out that the ten kings mentioned in Genesis 14 cannot be found in any ancient documents outside of the Bible. To make matters worse, the Biblical account of the escape of the children of Israel from Egypt is problematic as there’s no proof at all that such a major population migration took place, after all, Egypt dominated the region at the time.” He gave a small chuckle and shrugged. “So, what do we look for? We look for any monuments, buildings, or settlements. I believe Colonel Lieberman has organised a coordinated UAV reconnaissance to photograph and map any local settlements. Major Anderson will again command the patrols on the ground, and we’ll not only seek to make contact to establish linguistics, but also document carvings, indeed anything that can relate to understanding the beliefs of the time.” The Professor looked across to Anderson. “Colonel Lieberman will continue with the briefing.”

Colonel Lieberman managed the deployment of operational assets and troops. Anderson respected Lieberman and sometimes even liked him. As with many officers with whom the Traveller dealt since his immortal battle in Saxon Aengland, the Israeli eyed him suspiciously, as if continually measuring him to see if he would live up to the legend. As a result of the constant professional evaluation and envy, and the incident with the Romans, Anderson was compelled to reign in his humour. He still slipped up at times as he too often referred to scenes or quotes from popular movies. Too bad if some of the stuffed-shirts didn’t understand.

They discussed troop movements and the deployment of the UAV operators. One significant addition to this branch of the mission was the inclusion of a small, experimental manned copter that was expected to be vital for the movement of small teams. The solar-powered device was a cross between a UAV and a helicopter, as it had the usual four propellers and was able to be remotely controlled. It was still substantial enough to ferry two team members at a time and was to reduce ground patrol time and rapidly move Travellers to the most productive research areas. The unit had been tested extensively in the 21st Century and was now to be field-tested at Camp Delta. Once the vehicle was given the go-ahead, Professor Cowen planned to engage the craft back to Camp Bravo to carry patrols to Jerusalem at the time of the Romans. The imperative was to closely examine the great Temple. The proposal was met with enormous excitement at all levels of Israeli command, for the Time managed by Camp Bravo was when the temple was in its glory, only short years before it was destined to be destroyed by the conquering Romans.

With the conclusion of the briefing came the inevitable questions.

“What of Abraham, Professor Cowen? Do you expect us to replace him?” asked Maxwell.

Professor Cowen replied carefully in what was becoming an all too familiar attempt to not offend believers. “Abram, at least in the form ‘Abiram’, is a very common name in this region and is known to be used in most periods of local history. It is especially well attested to in the late Bronze Age, which is, from where we now stand, our future. It’s around 1550 to1200 BCE. As far as we know, the variants ‘Abram’ and ‘Abraham’ arose in different languages and dialects.” He paused before proceeding as delicately as he could. “21st Century archaeologists and historians have, as yet, not been able to determine whether any of the biblical stories told about Abraham have a historical basis. Sure, the claim that Abraham came to Canaan from Mesopotamia is not historically implausible. Such a journey could have taken place in more than one historical period. As we’ve seen, however, the insistence that the Israelites were not Canaanites in origin was so persuasive that the belief that the first patriarch came from a foreign land could have arisen as part of an ethnic boundary-marking that characterized the development of the tradition. We just can’t assume anything,” continued Professor Cowen gently. “We must continue to try and retain a sense of impartiality and record and learn what we can. We must continue to not adapt our replaceings to satisfy modern scripture, for to do so might actually work against us.”

“Yet you suggest that there is no historical evidence that Abraham even existed?” replied Maxwell.

“Agreed,” nodded the academic who, Anderson knew, was tiring of Maxwell’s aggressive refusal to believe anything they observed. The soldier still believed that they weren’t in the right time and place. That was fine, it was a free country, but Maxwell was just becoming a little vocal about it. “There’s not a shred of independent evidence for the existence of Abraham, much less for any of the events recorded in Genesis,” continued the Professor.

“And if we replace proof?” persisted Maxwell.

“Proof? Yes! Any replaceings will be significant and exciting,” confirmed Professor Cowen. “I look for proof … of anything! Though we seem to be at a stage where the majority of our research might be in the examination of buildings and features, this is an exciting time because it’s a largely an unknown time. Anything we replace, any images we capture, any people with whom we might interact and even, I might add, any unfamiliar animal and plant species, will be significant for many reasons. Keep a look out for anything unusual because, as you know, there’s also increasing interest in lost species.”

He cast a quick glance to Anderson as Colonel Lieberman continued his part of the briefing.

Later, Professor Cowen watched excitedly as the UAV operators sent out their craft. The mapping survey team discussed the patrol options with Colonel Lieberman and Anderson. They had discovered a small camp nearby, while a primitive settlement looked to have been established where the future Beersheba would lie. As they spoke, most of the cooking staff departed through the Transporter’s Area of Convergence, their presence only for the celebration. Future meals would be delivered twice daily as regular communications took place with Camp Gamma in circa 1000 BC.

Professor Cowen had good reason to be excited. The missions had proceeded well and they had achieved much. He had often confided that their replaceings would forever change the 21st Century world. As Anderson approached him, Professor Cowen gave a smile of pure self-indulgence. “I have to admit, this is pretty amazing,” commented the academic. “Professor Adrian Taylor’s achievements have been many, but wait till he knows we’ve Travelled to the land of Israel / Palestine / Judaea of almost 2000 BC.”

Anderson laughed. He knew how utterly competitive these academics could be. “Maybe, for once, he won’t have much to say?”

Professor Cowen nodded and looked to the heavens, his arms wide as if beseeching a higher power. “Yes. I can only hope that when he replaces out, the old goat will choke!”