A Day in the Life of a Babylonian
Year 6 of the reign of empress Lim-Kiririsha, 9th day of the month of Tishritum
Neriglissar Shamashegertu woke up at the third hour of the day, the 9th day of the month, as his alarm clock activated and started playing a Hurrian hymn right next to him on the bed. This clock was quite a new invention, first created a year ago in Uruk, and spread all over Babylonia, including the Shamashegertu household in Babylon, as well as other countries of the Eastern Coalition. It was a sand clock with many compartments of sand, of which the desired number could be released in the evening so that the sequence would be finished on the appropriate time in the morning. At that moment, the clock would trigger a pressure plate beneath itself, attached by strings to a lyre, so that the instrument would play the desired song, configured beforehand by the placement of the strings.
Neriglissar was used to this process and so got out of bed and turned off the alarm by moving the sand clock from the pressure plate. He went to the bathroom, where he relieved himself, brushed his teeth, and quickly washed himself by way of the Babylonian water supply system, before returning back to the bedroom and dressing himself in his work clothes – a loincloth, sandals, and a belted white knee-length cotton tunic with some blue ornaments, with the Made in Assyria tag still attached to the garment. Many of his coworkers instead wore a waist long shirt and pants, but Neriglissar considered that to be a barbarian style and so continued dressing according to this older Babylonian fashion style.
After getting dressed, Neriglissar went to the kitchen on the opposite side of the apartment, where his wife Beletsunu was preparing breakfast. The table had plenty of food on it, including fruits like grapes, figs, and melons, some bread, cheese, ham, and various pastries. There was also a jug of Babylonian beer, as well as one of wine.
“Good morning,” Beletsunu greeted him. “Slept well?”
“Morning,” Neriglissar said as he sat down at the table. “Indeed, it was a good sleep. Didn’t even have any dreams about Assyrian terrorists this time, imagine that!”
“I’m glad to hear that.”
“Oh, I see you got my favorite donuts,” he said as he poured himself a glass of beer and took one donut. “Thank you.”
“Yes, I managed to get some today at Dumuzid’s before they got bought out.”
“Mmm, these are delicious. Wish they would bake more of them, because everyone wants this stuff. But I guess they know that – restrict the supply and you can increase the prices and make sure people are lining up at the bakeries from the earliest hours.”
“Guess so. What do you want for dinner today?” she sat down to eat with him.
“I don’t know yet. I guess a steak, can never go wrong with that.”
“Okay, I’ll pick one up at the market on my way back then.”
“You going to the office today as well?”
“Only for half a shift. My friend had some business and asked me to cover for her for a few hours. I agreed so I will be going to work for a bit, but she will cover for me for a day when I need it.”
“Sounds fair. What about the kids?”
“Kuaya, Zirat, and Rimsin are at schools already, and they know the way back. And I’ll take Agum to the childcare on my way to work, and pick him up on the way back.”
The girls Kuaya and Zirat, and the boys Rimsin, and Agum were the four children of Neriglissar and Beletsunu. The children were aged fifteen, thirteen, eleven, and five respectively, with Kuaya and Rimsin attending scribe schools, Zirat attending a priestess school, and Agum being too young for any of that and so still being taken to childcare when both parents were working. Neriglissar and Beletsunu themselves were forty and thirty-six respectively, with Neriglissar working at a bank full time and Beletsunu working part time as a scribe for a branch of the agricultural consortium.
“We should send him to school sometime as well, you know,” Neriglissar took a bite of a sandwich.
“He’s too young still. The teachers wouldn’t take him yet, they don’t want to deal with such kids, which is understandable,” Beletsunu replied as she took a melon slice.
“Some are saying that the age of entry at the scribe schools should be lowered from ten to eight or even seven. So, he wouldn’t be too far off in that case, only a bit more than a year away. Maybe not such a bad idea.”
“No, I don’t think so. Kids need to enjoy their childhood, they shouldn’t be forced into school so early.”
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“The sooner one finishes the school, the sooner they can start earning those sitans.”
“There is no need to rush. They’ll have many decades ahead anyways.”
“Maybe. We’ll see. But still, I think introducing him to some of the symbols and concepts now wouldn’t be the worst idea. Can’t have him just fucking around all day without doing anything, can we?”
“Well, I’ll think about it.”
A few minutes later, Neriglissar finished his meal and stood up to leave.
“Alright, I have to go. Have a good day, honey.”
“You too,” she said as they kissed.
Neriglissar took his suitcase of tablets and instruments and left the apartment, locking the door behind him. He walked through the small garden outside their apartment complex and reached the street. It was an upper-middle class neighborhood, consisting mostly of Babylonians as well as some Dilmunian immigrants, and included similar four floor apartment complexes, as well as some single-family houses and some shops and restaurants.
Neriglissar turned right and walked along the street, seeing his neighbors also preparing for work or opening their shops. On his left, he spotted his neighbor Risvul, an elderly man in his sixties, originally from Dilbat, who was observing his pet falcon flying around and searching for food.
“Morning, Ris!” Neriglissar waved to him.
“Oh, greetings, Neriglissar,” Risvul replied. “Heading to work?”
“Sure am.”
“Bad omens today. Darkness is enveloping this part of the city. Be careful out there.”
“Uh, I will be. Thanks for the warning.”
“Nergal is angry today, better to stay out of his way.”
“Right. I think I’ll be fine. Take care, neighbor.”
Neriglissar reached the end of his street soon and arrived at a wider street, where he stopped to wait for a carriage to take him to work. In a few minutes, one arrived as scheduled. It was a two-horse carriage, with a capacity of about ten passengers, travelling along this street towards the city center at regular intervals. It was part of the new public infrastructure in the city, created in the last few years as Babylon was being rebuilt after the siege almost ten years ago.
As the carriage was approaching, Neriglissar waved at it, and it stopped next to him. Neriglissar knew the ticket prices and tossed the appropriate amount in coins to the driver.
“Thank you, sir. Inshushinak’s Square?” the driver asked.
“Of course,” Neriglissar replied.
“Climb right up.”
Neriglissar climbed up to the passenger section of the carriage and sat down. Three other men were already there, all in their thirties.
“Morning, gentlemen,” Neriglissar said as he joined them.
They nodded in acknowledgement. A moment later, the carriage continued moving on, picking up a couple other similar passengers on the way.
After about 20 minutes of travelling, Neriglissar arrived at his stop and got off the carriage, stepping onto the Inshushinak Square. This was a newly constructed public area, named after the former Elamite emperor and founder of Eastern Coalition Shilhak-Inshushinak, and it connected many commercial, residential, and industrial blocks in the city. Neriglissar’s workplace was located here as well, as he worked in the regional office of the Grand Euphrates Banking Corporation as a financial analyst.
This was one of the megacorporations arising after the Kingdom of Babylonia was established and Nebuchadnezzar Nisirtu became its first king. Nebuchadnezzar was a relatively small player before becoming the king, as he only had power in his city and now capital Isin, and so had many competitors in other areas of the country who also wanted the throne. Thus, in the first years of his rule, he cut some deals with them. In exchange for Nebuchadnezzar receiving the support of the rest of the country and its influential nobles and other elites, he granted his most influential rivals monopolies over certain industries, which led to the rise of the first megacorporations in Babylonia, and they soon began having substantial influence in the government as well. The largest and most prominent of these corporations included the Zuuthusu Copper Company based in Lagash, Boktnassar Construction Conglomerate in Babylon, Kir-Shamash and Balasu Riverworks in Kish, Enki Shipyards in Larsa, Grand Euphrates Banking Corporation in Sippar, Belzarbi Sumerian Textiles in Uruk, Ana Sire Esedu Agricultural Company in Isin, Nippur Karbu Chemicals in Nippur, among other smaller companies. The Dilmun Mining and Shipping Company and the Merchant Corporation of Magan, which were completely in charge of the countries of Dilmun and Magan respectively, also had some influence in Babylonia, as they had started to operate there as well a few years prior. With such developments, many in the Eastern Coalition and even the OFK started claiming that Babylonia was now becoming or had already become a corporatist state like Dilmun and Magan, though Nebuchadnezzar himself never made any comments regarding this claim.
Neriglissar walked into his company’s building, going past the receptionist’s desk at the front. That position was held by an Assyrian woman in her twenties, who greeted Neriglissar as always. He continued on, going up to the second floor where his office was located, greeting his colleagues working on the same or similar tasks along the way. He sat down on his exquisite Elamite made chair in front of his desk of Hittite wood, and took out his clay tablets to start his work. He put on his glasses, a Phoenician invention, so that he could see the tiny written symbols better. Momentarily he was joined by Haneef Ashar, a dark Arab man in his thirties, one of the company slaves who was assigned to assist the workers on this floor. While slavery had been abolished in the Commonwealth of Kemet, Kush, and Retjenu, and on the decline in most other countries, in Babylonia it still remained stable and most companies had some slaves working for them, though international pressure had an effect in Nebuchadnezzar enacting some laws which gave more rights to slaves.
“Good morning, master Shamashegertu. Do you need anything?” Haneef asked him.
“Hey, Haneef,” Neriglissar replied. “Get me a coffee, will you? Black, Puntite style. And bring me the newest reports on this month’s agricultural yields in the Umma district.”
Coffee was a recently introduced drink, first invented in the Kingdom of Punt and from there travelling to the Commonwealth. The other OFK countries did not accept it as much, but it soon spread over the faction border and caught on in the EC countries, including Babylonia, becoming a favorite drink of many Mesopotamian elites and middle-class people alike.
“Certainly, master. I’ll get it right away.”
In a few moments, Haneef returned with the coffee and the requested data tablets, and Neriglissar began his work.