My Name Is Tamar: A Tale from Ancient Canaan
By Fred Jessett
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About this ebook
Humiliated, abused and in danger of murdered for being a witch, Tamar, with no one to help but her sister, hatches a plan to save herself. The plan is filled with danger, and even if it suceeds, in the end it still relies on Judah who alone can save her, to either overcome his pride and tell the truth. If he does not she will be burned alive.
Readers who think that Bible stories are just for children will get a rude shock when the read this novella based on a little known story in the Book of Genesis.
Fred Jessett
Fred Jessett lives and writes fiction and creative non-fiction in Washington State. His work has appeared in 17 different publications including the Seattle Times and The Sun. His first book, Remembering Grace, a collection of true short stories, was published in 2006. A retired Episcopal priest and one time US Army officer, he and Kris, his wife of 54 years, have 4 children and 7 grandchildren.
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My Name Is Tamar - Fred Jessett
My Name Is Tamar
A Tale from Ancient Canaan
Fred Jessett
Smashwords Edition
My Name Is Tamar
Copyright © 2013 Frederick E. Jessett
All rights reserved
Cover design by Laura Shinn
Smashwords Licensing Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only.
This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this ebook with other people, please purchase an additional copy for each person. If you are reading this ebook without purchasing it and it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy.
Thank you for respecting the hard work of the author.
My Name Is Tamar is a work of fiction.
Though actual locations may be mentioned, they are used in a fictitious manner and the events and occurrences were invented in the mind and imagination of the author except for the inclusion of actual historical facts. Any resemblance of characters in this story to any person living or dead in the past 3,000 years is strictly coincidental.
Chapter 1
I know that I am going to die very soon. It is my time. Before that happens I want to tell my story as I lived it. I was humiliated, abused and denied what should have been mine. Then because of one man’s fear, I risked death and worse than death. Now I must not allow the truth to die with me, so listen carefully. You may believe me or not, but this was my life. My name is Tamar.
* * * * *
My first blood came in my fourteenth year. This was exciting because it meant I had truly become a woman. My mother and my aunts all fussed over me, fixing my hair in new ways and giving me sweet moon cakes to eat and presents of jewelry.
The same little shelter that had appeared in one corner of our courtyard every month when my mother’s blood came, I would henceforth set up when my time came. My mother and aunties taught me how to use the special cloths, the dried herbs and grasses to soak up the blood, and also how to wash or dispose of these so that the men would not be in danger. We Canaanites know how dangerous menstrual blood is for men, so we protect them from it. Although I never understood exactly why this was, I learned to enjoy the break it gave us every twenty-eight days from the men’s demands.
Miryam, my little sister, was jealous, so I tried not to act too queenly about it, but that was hard because it was exactly how I felt. This was the culmination of my preparation to be a wife and mother. My mother and my aunts had taught me to spin, weave, cook and clean and even how to care for babies. I would be ready when a suitable marriage could be arranged.
Six months after my first blood, Judah came to our family home in Chezib, a small Canaanite city. He was seeking a wife for Er, his eldest son. Rumors had reached us that he would be asking for me to become his son’s bride. Judah brought his friend, Hirah, and his father-in-law, Shua. These two came to confirm that although Judah was not Canaanite as we were, he was a fine man and his son would be a good match.
Judah and his family and their servants lived in large tents outside the east gate of Chezib. He had moved here sixteen years earlier and married Shua’s daughter Bathshua. He had done well with his flocks of sheep and goats, and he had recently acquired a small olive grove. Not a lot was known about his past except that he spoke of a wealthy father and many brothers. There were whispered rumors of terrible events in his past involving his family but no one know any details.
This was not surprising as Judah was Apiru.
Apiru
was the name the Egyptians gave to nomads who roamed through the area seeking pasturage and water. Some people said the brigands who attacked travelers and occasionally raided cities, were Apiru.
My father said, Yes, some Apiru are bad, but most are just wandering shepherds.
He accepted Judah as a friend because Judah had proved himself peaceful and wealthy.
My father met Judah and his companions in the central courtyard of our house from which rooms opened on three sides. I was in the large room on the south side with my mother, weaving linen for clothes for my brothers. It was important that Judah should see me doing something that displayed my housekeeping talents. I could watch the men through the open doorway and hear the murmur of their voices, but I could not make out what they were saying.
After Judah and his friends left, my father told us that Judah had asked for me as bride for his son, Er. My father’s first reaction was to shake his head. You are not one of us, Judah. You have lived among us for many years but you are not one of us and you don’t worship our gods.
Then he had turned to Shua, You gave Judah your daughter to be his wife, but I must be persuaded that I should give my daughter Tamar, to his son.
It was expected that the father of the bride-to-be would refuse at first, in order to strengthen his bargaining position.
My father was actually pleased at the idea of marrying me to Judah's eldest son, but he wanted to get the highest bride-price he could for each of his daughters. Wives for my three older brothers had cost him dearly and he had two more to find brides for. Miryam and I were his only daughters, so he intended to bargain hard to recoup his losses. Not that we were in any danger of being poor. My father started life as a seller of dyed cloth but was so successful at bargaining that he was soon making deals for all sorts of merchants. He was the man everyone came to when they wanted to make an important purchase or sale.
I waited in anticipation. Negotiations continued for two days. In the end Judah met the bride price that my father wanted and I was pledged to marry Er.
In turn my father gave as my dowry the house which he had built for my mother when they were first married, completely furnished with every imaginable item we might want. It was not as grand as the one in which our family now lived and had no courtyard in the center, but it was better than most in our city. On the ground level was one large room, divided by pillars. One side, paved with cobblestones was for animals, and the other side, paved with smooth stone, was a place for food preparation, weaving and other