For five hundred years after the collapse of the Zaba-Tutuli Empire, their homeland spiraled into a seemingly perpetual state of chaos and violence as the Mun'umati conquerors fragmented and climate change continued to wreak havoc on agriculture. A great lack of surviving records, combined with records that had been found turning out to be grim reading, indicate that this was indeed a dark age for the region. Tribal warlords and the remaining 'Awali cities that hadn't already been overrun by 10,015 AA vigorously clashed with each other; raids were a daily part of life, evidence of battles involving hundreds or even thousands of men is widespread, and the ruins of every city that can be reliably dated back to this era show signs of violently inflicted damage while plagues and other natural disasters were mentioned frequently in recovered fragmentary records from the period, leading the Shamshi chronicler 'Ibar bar al-As to write (in Early Shamshic Cuneiform, a crude attempt to translate 'Awali hieroglyphs into Old Shamshic):
 Originally Posted by Ibar bar al-As
No field is left unburnt;
no stone unturned;
no city un-bloodied.
In this grim age,
fathers bury their sons,
mothers weep for their daughters' virtue,
and children are regularly carried off in chains.
Peace is unknown to us all.
Of the myriad Mun'umati tribes that swarmed into the riverlands at the end of the Bronze Age, three in particular distinguished themselves and formed nations that would manage to last in a coherent, recognizable state-of-being for more than a century, unlike the tribal kingdoms and confederacies of many of their peers. They were the aforementioned Shamshi, the Taibani, and the 'Illami, also respectively known as the 'Sun', 'Moon' and 'Star' of the Mun'umati on account of their distinctive symbols and standards, and they would change the region forever.
| A new Sun rises over the Riverlands: The Shamshi | | Modern recreation of the Sun of the Children of the Sun (Shamshi) |  |
The first and most important of these three (at least in the short to medium term) were the Shamshi. They were the single largest tribe of Mun'umati to move into the former 'Awali homeland, and quickly enlarged themselves even further by absorbing smaller tribes (some by force, others with honeyed words/bribes/strategic marriages) - and, even more critically, extending an olive branch to the 'Awali who came under their rule. Harith bar Hassur al-Medya, the very same warlord who had helped bring about the end of the 'Awali Empire and became the first documented 'Luminous King' (as they called their head of state once settled) of the Shamshi, recognized the value of the educated scribes and craftsmen among his new subjects, and endeavored to integrate existing 'Awali social and governmental structures with traditional Shamshi practices to serve as the foundation for his new realm.
| Archaic Shamshi: A creole language | The language spoken by Shamshi and 'Awali alike (as much as the two groups could still be distinguished, anyway) - regardless of social class - after approximately 10,500 AA was essentially a creole tongue, largely Mun'umati with the application of 'Awali sound changes and a number of 'Mun'umatized' 'Awali terms. Though still classified as part of the Mun'umati language family, what modern scholars call 'Archaic Shamshi' exhibits strong 'Awali influence, unlike Archaic Taibani or 'Illami which are 'purer' Mun'umati languages.
| Modern speech | 'Awali | Proto-Mun'umati/Shamshi | Archaic Shamshi | | Man, men | Eme, emetak | Mat, umati | Mat, umatak | | Woman, women | Maru, marutak | Nisa, ranisa | Mari, marisa | | Camel | Jabbatha | Yemel | Jebel | | Sun | Šaš | Šamaš | Shams | | Farm | Mazrak | Masr | Mazr |
This was, unlike Proto-Mun'umati/Shamshi, a written language. As previously mentioned, 'Awali hieroglyphic characters were transcribed into cuneiform, with which the Archaic Shamshi language was written. |
| Settled Shamshi society | Shamshi society of the Dark and early to mid-Iron Age represented a curious mixture of Mun'umatic traditions and 'Awali ones. The surviving 'Awali cities which had bent the knee, and still remained the most densely populated sites in the riverlands, had trusted governors from Shamshi clans assigned to them; and their clansmen too were expected to settle within and around the city walls. It was the intention of Harith and his heirs that they should mingle and intermarry with the natives, and to learn their ways without forgetting those of their own ancestors. 'Awali women married Shamshi men and the other way around to the extent that, within 300 years, the two groups were described as one ethnicity under the latter's name; and the 'Awali language, translated from hieroglyphs into a cuneiform script, heavily influenced that of the Shamshi. This approach, which encouraged social integration, stood in sharp contrast to the much more hostile direction in which the relationship between conquerors & conquered evolved in Taibani and 'Illami lands. The Shamshi royals themselves took the daughters of 'Awali nobles as their wives or concubines with mounting frequency, and as they had yet to establish a fixed capital in this time period - instead remaining at the head of an itinerant court, roving the countryside and living at the fortified homes of nobles - they had plenty of opportunity to, essentially, crash at 'Awali aristocrats' estates and get to know their new subjects better.
Overall, the Shamshi didn't so much completely destroy the existing 'Awali social structures (unlike the Taibani and 'Illami) as they did co-opt it. What the Shamshi did add, however, were elements of heredity and what might be recognized as something resembling feudalism to what had previously been a highly centralized, top-down and bureaucratic government. Wars with rival Mun'umati, starvation brought on by changing climate conditions, and the occasional epidemic caused significant depopulation, driving many thousands of 'Awali from the cities into the countryside. Shamshi tribal nobles assigned to govern their empire's new feudatories (for the Shamshi rarely respected the old borders of the 'Awali city-states, and the moderate to severe depopulation most of those cities suffered rendered such borders obsolete anyway) would, in keeping with general Mun'umati tradition, rule for life and pass their office on to their children when they died. The de-urbanization of the riverlands saw the replacement of the cities as the local nexuses of power by these governors' rural fortresses, surrounded by estates worked by serfs (many of whom, at least originally, were former city-dwellers) who were paid with protection by Shamshi warriors and a fraction of the crops they harvested.
| The ruins of an Early Shamshi noble's rural fortress-manor |  |
These hereditary governors, titled Amyrs or 'princes' and tied to the ruling clan by marriage, were tasked with making sure their feudatory didn't rebel, paid its taxes on time, and could look after its own defense (which in practice meant each Amyr maintained his own private army, paid by and consequently loyal only to him rather than his sometimes-purely-nominal liege), essentially making them autonomous subjects of the Luminous King with a whole lot of leeway in interpreting his orders - when they didn't simply ignore them. Indeed, unlike the generally better-behaved 'Awali nobles, Shamshi aristocrats had no problem bearing arms in the presence of their monarch, a symbolic reminder of their power and willingness to rebel if angered. This new aristocracy remained fiercely proud of their heritage and took steps to continue distinguishing themselves from the Riverlands' natives. A weak Luminous King invariably meant the Amyrs running amok, tyrannizing their subjects, waging private wars against both outsiders and each other and keeping any taxes they collect for themselves; some recovered fragmentary documents of the period note that stronger Luminous Kings had to beat their rebellious Amyrs back into line, and there also exists at least one recorded case of a Luminous King - an otherwise little-known Manour bar Yeherassour - being forcibly deposed in favor of his young son Hainat bar Manour by a cabal of Amyrs for reasons that were not recorded and thus, remain lost to history.
The ways in which the Shamshi aristocracy sought to preserve its own identity included:
- continuing to dress in a distinctively 'Mun'umatic' fashion, with men eschewing the elaborate head-dresses, tight robes and carefully straightened & maintained beards of the 'Awali for simpler single-colored caps or turbans, looser multicolored & multilayered robes, trousers and loose, 'wild' beards while women continued to wear traditional shawls and long, billowy, opaque dresses
- practicing traditional Mun'umati pastimes such as horsemanship and chariot-less hunting; exclusively employing 'Awali slaves and freedmen alike for tasks considered demeaning, such as cleaning their latrines and stables
- sponsoring the transcription of traditional Shamshi tales and chronicles when they could afford it, and later requiring all records to be written in Archaic Shamshic cuneiform rather than the old 'Awali hieroglyphic script
- doing their utmost to limit marriages with the 'Awali nobility to matches between their sons and 'Awali daughters, not the other way around, for the Shamshi (like most other Mun'umati tribes) were a staunchly patriarchal lot and felt that mixed-ethnicity children with Shamshi fathers would be more inclined to carry on their traditions than those with 'Awali ones
One of the laws successfully lobbied for by the Amyrs and recorded around 10,500 AA was a sumptuary law forbidding families not of patrilineal Shamshi descent, without regard to rank, from dressing in Shamshi fashion. The result was that the 'Awali nobility, where they weren't totally displaced, was aggressively absorbed into the ranks of their Shamshi successors.
| A gathering of Shamshi Amyrs, c. 10.500 AA |  |
Below the newly-settled nobility, in a reversal of their relationship with the 'Awali upper class, the lower orders of pre-existing Shamshi society - free but common tribesmen, their families and slaves - were more or less absorbed into their 'Awali neighbors. Within a few generations (certainly before 10,500 AA) the Shamshi and 'Awali were simply generally referred to as one people under the former's name. They dressed the same, spoke the same creole language, had far fewer concerns about marrying into one another's families, lived in neighboring mud-brick hovels, and farmed rice (or further north, on account of the Great Cooling, wheat) alongside one another. The overwhelming majority of commoners and slaves alike worked as subsistence farmers in the countryside; while this was already somewhat true of 'Awali society, the socioeconomic disruptions caused by the Mun'umati migrations and climate change widened the size of that majority and effectively decimated the urban artisan & mercantile class of the old 'Awali city-kingdoms. The largest and best-preserved 'Awali cities were reduced to towns of 2-3,000 inhabitants in this time period, with the majority of their former dwellers and said people's descendants working in the fields to support themselves - and, of course, falling under the thumb of the (even more) overtly martial Shamshi aristocracy. Recovered artifacts from the period of 10,015-10,500 AA are of far lesser quality than those of the period immediately preceding it, exhibiting both far less ornamentation and durability, and are another sign of the degradation of the old 'Awali material culture; however, to be fair to the Shamshi, this is true of all artifacts from the Riverlands, not just their territories specifically.
One thing that didn't change from old 'Awali times was a lack of coinage which, of course, meant that what little commerce took place (given the circumstances of this dark age, understandably few people still dared to travel the roads to trade elsewhere) was done entirely through bartering. Bandits and minor Mun'umati tribes not affiliated with the Shamshi or their rivals were noted to be 'serious' to 'severe' problems, and the old 'Awali roads largely went un-maintained by the new masters of the Riverlands, further impairing the old regional trade networks.
| Artist's imagining of Riverlander peasants chatting over a newly dug irrigation canal c. 10,500 AA: note that neither 'Awali and Shamshi can still be distinguished from one another |  |
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| Archaic Shamshi religion | At this stage in their history, the religion of the Shamshi is best defined as a Traditional and Ancestral faith, with some Statist elements. Its adherents called themselves the Ahl al-Shamshi or 'People of the Sun', a name which they kept well into the future. Like virtually all known Mun'umati religions in general, it was a monotheistic faith that recognized no god save one. The Shamshi were known to already revere 'al-Shams', the Sun, as the paternal creator deity of all things and a guardian entity that especially favored them; Shamshi legend holds that their ancestors sprang from the first grains of sand that the Sun's rays fell upon, that it gently shone upon their first-ever crop, and that it also protected them from primordial shadow-monsters that tried to devour them with its searing gaze. The line of the Luminous Kings was said to have begun when the Sun took human form to impregnate the most beautiful woman among said first generation of Shamshi, hence the surnames which has been attributed to their dynasty: the patronymic 'Bar al-Shams' ('son of the Sun') and al-Medya ('the illuminated'). As the Luminous Kings were thus the Sun's flesh-and-blood descendants, their subjects were bound to obey them in all things without question, and in addition to being the supreme war-chief of the Shamshi, upon every summer solstice they also appear to have personally led the most important religious procession in their faith.
However, the simplistic Shamshi religion of this dark age lacked the codified doctrines, centralized leadership, elaborate temples and 'Awali-influenced tenets that its successor was better known for. Worship appeared to have been conducted at ornamented poles whose shadows mirrored the Sun's movement, and there did not appear to be any sort of formal priesthood beyond traditional tribal shamans and wise men who, besides teaching Shamshi beliefs and legends to the tribe's children, presiding over the cremation of the dead and counseling the Luminous King when called upon, also functioned as herbalists & physicians. As the years came ever closer to 10,500 AA, these tribal elders began to take on the characteristics of an organized priesthood (no doubt thanks to influence from what remained of the 'Awali priesthood), as rituals were outlined in detail and 'Awali-style temples with regular services sprang up around their Sun-poles.
Certain religious symbols which were used by the Shamshi in this dark age also persisted past 10,500 AA: the banner of the Sun, seen at the top of this entry, was one, and it appears to have been the primary standard of the Shamshi people and their armies long after the founding of Hejra. Another such symbol was the sun disk, which has been found carved into many of their Sun-poles and was also depicted shining upon the Luminous King on wall reliefs in various ruined palaces & manors; it is speculated that this particular symbol originated as the personal arms of the Bar al-Shams dynasty.
| Modern recreation of the Shamshi sun disk |  |
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| Archaic Shamshi military | The Shamshi were part of a broader military revolution brought to the Riverlands by the Mun'umati migrants, though their efforts to integrate 'Awali soldiers and ways meant that they arguably had the least impact in comparison to the Taibani and 'Illami. Like their fellow Mun'umati, they were notable for introducing the first saddles to the Riverlands - though these were simple cloth pads fastened to the horse's girth with a leather strap - and thus played a massive role in phasing out the 'Awali chariot in favor of proper cavalry capable of directly fighting in battles (as opposed to being relegated to scouting roles). As far as even the most forward-thinking Shamshi were concerned, the chariot had failed miserably against their people at the Battle of the Dunes and throughout the entire latter half of their campaign of conquest against the 'Awali, so there was little point in adopting that particular bit of the 'Awali legacy save in ceremonial roles.
In their earliest days as a settled people, the Shamshi probably didn't fight much differently than they used to while still living in their sandy homeland: as mobile units of cavalry and camelry, reliant on constantly staying on the move and essentially shooting/skirmishing the foe to death for most of the battle until they had been sufficiently exhausted and worn down by this game of cat-and-mouse for the Shamshi lancers to charge in and finish them. Thus, virtually the entirety of the early Shamshi army's actually-Shamshi contingents were all cavalry: of these, up to eight or nine in every ten were unarmored riders of horses or camels who fought with short bows or javelins, while the remaining two to one in ten were more heavily equipped lancers outfitted with an iron helmet and lamellar vest of iron or horn plates, who fought with a two-and-a-half-meter thrusting spear, ax or hacking sword and small wicker shield. Nobles appear to have combined both roles and wielded both a lance and bow, but invariably wore heavier armor than the common soldiers and carried round iron-rimmed shields as befitting their status. The Shamshi did not like to fight on foot, and largely left the role of infantry to their 'Awali subjects.
Originally Posted by Path of the Righteous ('Illamite holy scriptures), First Book of Stewards, 14:20-22
Then Melelem returned with the scouts, and informed the Steward that the horse-riders and camel-riders of the Sun-worshipers numbered at least 15,000 and their front rank bristled with the iron panoply of war, while their infantry was as numerous as the sand on the seashore.
When he had heard this, Anat fell to the ground and laid his face down in prayer, begging that the Lord Above would deliver the Righteous Many from this dread adversary.
And his officers did the same, for they all knew this was an enemy beyond their own mortal might.
| A highborn Shamshi heavy cavalryman, c. 10,500 AA |  |
Speaking of the 'Awali...there is little doubt among modern historians that the second-greatest military achievement of the Archaic Shamshi, after only their introduction of the saddle and proper cavalry to the Riverlands, was their successful integration and use of 'Awali auxiliaries, who soon came to make up the bulk of their army. The overwhelming majority of these soldiers were not professionals like their predecessors, but rather militia who were frequently conscripted for seasonal service before the harvest and fought unarmored with short spears, axes, long knives and wicker shields (the production facilities that churned out their helmets and armored cloaks & the centralized logistical system that issued them said equipment having broken down as the 'Awali cities were depopulated and their kingdoms were toppled). Wealthier 'Awali volunteers would have been seen with at least helmets, and perhaps lamellar vests, on the battlefield. Still, though they had fallen far from their glory days, the 'Awali recruits gave the Shamshi a major numerical advantage over their Mun'umati rivals, which the Luminous Kings exploited to the hilt. Greater numbers allowed them to extend their lines and better flank an enemy army, after all, or simply tie the foe down with weight of numbers while their cavalry worked their way around the flanks. Late 'Awali chariots in the Zaba-Tutuli style were also retained to a small extent until at least 10,500 AA.
Finally, to further flesh out their ranks and add versatility to their already versatile army, the Shamshi made much use of mercenaries from the east and south. The newly warlike Suuvulk and other Mun'umati were their preferred mercenaries, but there were the rare Golga as well (if the famous duel between one such Golga mercenary and an 'Illamite hero in the latter's holy scriptures is any indication). They also reportedly used exotic beasts in war, most prominently in having armored Thunderbeasts pull or bash down enemy gates.
Originally Posted by 'Ibar bar al-As
They [the Taibani] sent against us their thousands;
Our great King, may the Sun shine upon him and his heirs, answered them with his tens of thousands.
Against such odds, what could they do, but despair and die?
| 'Awali medium infantryman in Shamshi service, c. 10,800 AA |  |
Towards the end of the Riverlander Dark Age, as the ethnic and socio-cultural distinctions between Shamshi and 'Awali blurred and they were increasingly referred to as one people under the former's name, their military was further integrated and the famous 'combined arms' doctrine that characterized the later Shamshi army began to formally take shape. No longer did they execute combined arms strategies on an ad-hoc basis, with Luminous Kings and Amyrs just devising said strategies on the fly: now the hammer-and-anvil tactic, in which 'Awali infantry would advance at speed to engage and pin down the enemy's center while wings of Shamshi cavalry maneuvered around the flanks and functioned as the decisive killing arm of the Shamshi host. |
The 'dark age' of the Riverlands is believed to have ended in Shamshi territories around 10,500 AA, with the emergence of a solidified state using one common language (Archaic Shamshi) and the foundation of a fixed capital at Hejra by the Luminous King Harith 'the Great' bar al-Sannit, thereby putting an end to the days of an itinerant royal court among the Shamshi. Under the Sun-Disk and their red-and-yellow standard, the later Luminous Kings would lead much of the Riverlands out of the millennial Dark Age it had been subjected to by their ancestors, and into the light of a new golden age... |
By 10,500 AA, the Shamshi had pulled their part of the Riverlands out of the 'dark age' they and their compatriots had inflicted upon it in the first place, the Taibani had built the largest but also the most unstable empire out of the three Mun'umati powers. Their realm was a messy patchwork of tribes, cities and villages bound under a tribe that had made very little effort to assimilate themselves into the existing native cultures or vice-versa, and were thus still viewed as conquering aliens by their subjects; in return, the Taibani continued to enforce their rule with an iron fist, mercilessly falling upon every rebellion with as much force and cruelty as they could muster. Rebellions among the 'Awali in particular grew more and more frequent as word of how much nicer Shamshi rule was by comparison filtered down south, forcing the Taibani to expend more strength putting these revolts down - a new development that would have disastrous consequences for the Raging Ones in the near future... |
[ANW - Civilization] The Shamshi
