Ra'qedyet

An historical poem

“Ra'qedyet, or Râ-Kedet, was the original name of the city of Alexandria on the northern coast of Kemet, before it was renamed by Alexander the Great. Ra'qedyet is believed to have existed about 700 to 1000 years before Alexander even came to that site. The logic now is not that Alexander built his city on the same site as Ra'qedyet, but that he used an already flourishing city and simply expanded upon it!” " From Ancient Worlds, an online website: http://www.ancientworlds.net/aw/Places/Property/1034345”

Tell me more…

I want to know…

What came before…

Before Alexander’s hell-bent stamp

Upon cultures already ancient 

when his own still cowered in caves

Tell me about it…Tell me more…

Tell me… tell me… tell me, please

Of ancient Ra’qedyet

Like ill-fated Takht-e-jamshid

where Alexander rested his feet…

Yes… he rested his feet…

His feet upon Xerxes’ table.

Fair Parsa’s palace burned to ruin…

it’s native name lost in time…

It’s city recalled forevermore…

by Greek arrogance… Persepolis!

Of all Carians, given up in fear…

Given over by their Queen Ada.

Anatolia laid wide… laid bare

Before Alexander’s gluttonous march…

His stamp left hither and yon… 

A people entire… forgotten… gone

Ground ‘neath his inexorable march

His lustful ego used to erase Caria

Histories trampled, societies wasted…

reaching farther, ever further…

veneered by every raped culture,

burying history 'neath his avarice

from Anatolia to the Punjab

where King Purushottama lost…

lost even his name to Alexander…

left a client king named Porus.

Grinding on… grinding down 

like so many others…

Anatolia, Achaemenid, Babylonia, 

Egypt, Punjab, and more

From Alinda to Babylon, Parsa, to Jhelum 

and more and more and ever more.

Never too much… never enough…

Till death at last embraced his lust.

He built his city hailed through th’years…

Crushing… o’erlaying atop Ra’qedyet…

Ra’qedyet from ancient Pharo’s lines…

Lost in Alexandria… stamped out.

All that remains… a sad and silent jumble

Ruins ‘neath ruins ‘neath a briny sea…

At th’Nile’s mouth, it’s fate ’twas sealed

So he might stamp his name ‘cross the world

A mighty nation prospered…

before made a warning for the future…

Now sad and silent jumbled ruins.

In the ruins of ancient Alexandria

lay ruins yet much older still

‘Neath th’magnificent capital of Ptolemy,

Alexandria app Aegyptum… Alexandria Beside Egypt.

It’s birth razing Ra’qedyet’s life…

That long before haven of sailors.

Tell me of the histories lost…

Tell me the stories of “the Great”

How his exploits are to be lauded,

ever to be praised and applauded…

Of the lessons we should learn…

the warfare that should burn.

Tell me of the histories lost…

lost in th’onslaught of Alexander… 

Lost when he put them to the death.

Tell me more…

I want to know…

What came before…

Before Alexander’s hell-bent stamp

Upon cultures already ancient 

when his own still cowered in caves

Tell me about it…Tell me more…

Tell me… tell me… tell me, please

Of ancient Ra’qedyet

Tell me the glories of Alexander

of his “Great” folly of death and debt.

by D. Denise Dianaty

Author's Note

A little something on Alexander the "Great."

Reviews

[R Smith]

A little something!! its an epic something, I was not sure about the theme at first but this lesson has taught me something I did not know and now I have to read about these countries that were there before Alexander, not that i even know about him, thank you for feeding my craving for the truth in history, history is the truth of the historian, it depends from where he comes, its good you have written this to enlighten us who do not know the full story thank you :)

[MomzillaNC]

Thank you. I'm honored you found meaning in my perspective.

Actually, my perspective changed many years ago, when my husband talked about Takht-e-Jamshid. He told how, in Iran, Alexander is considered a villain and a barbarian. Then, recently, I saw a History Channel program about archeological finds beneath the ruins of Alexandria under the waters of the harbor. They were saying how those much older ruins were of the city that was already there when Alexander had his city built. The stuff they found led them to the conclusion that Ra'qedyet (or Rhacotis) was much more developed that scholars had believed for two millennia. I wanted to know more about it, so I tried researching it. There's nothing in my local library and precious little to be found on the Net. But, it the search for Ra'qedyet, I stumbled upon all these other names and places that were buried under Alexander's relentless march to conquer the known world.

[Rick Puetter]

Dear MomzillaNC,

A brilliant piece, quite different from the others of yours that I've read. A wonderful retelling of a piece of history. This is also one of my passions. So this struck home deeply.

Greatly enjoyed. High marks!

Best regards,

Rick

[MomzillaNC]

Thank you. I am deeply honored by such praise from you.

I was actually inspired to write this one while watching a History Channel program where they found the older ruins of Ra'qedyet under ruins of Alexandria in the harbor. I went to research more on the older city, but could find virtually nothing about it. It seems to have been all but obliterated by Alexander "The Great." Isn't it amazing the fiction of "The Great" that's been handed down for more than two millennia? History is finally beginning to take a deeper and more realistic look… at last.

In trying to find out more about the older city, I found all these other cities that had been turned into more namesake cities in Alexander's conquests. And, I remembered conversations with my husband (who's Persian) and friends of his from Turkey and the Middle East; they have a very different perspective of Alexander and the Greek conquests, and for the reasons behind them. The world keeps turning on the same old evils, eh?

[Rick Puetter]

You are most welcome. And yes, history can be fascinating and surprising. There are so many connections and intertwining of story lines. Anyway, glad you were inspired. It produced an interesting poem.

[Crowsef]

Congratulations on winning a prize at our writing competition! Here was our original review: "It's a fantastic poem about the city of the title, before Alexander the Great conquered Egypt to add it to his Empire. It's as much an in-depth history lesson as it is a lamentation of a once great culture, now lost and crushed under the rude heel of Macedonian Imperialism. Brilliantly executed, richly told."

[MomzillaNC]

Thank you so much. I'm honored.

[Pryde Foltz]

Grinding on… grinding down
like so many others…
Anatolia, Achaemenid, Babylonia,
Egypt, Punjab, and more
From Alinda to Babylon, Parsa, to Jhelum
and more and more and ever more.
Never too much… never enough…
Till death at last embraced his lust.

This is one amazing poem, Di. Love it … the form and the expression. A much needed revisit to the tomes of history … why we continue to sing the praises of megalomaniacs is beyond me. I wrote a much shorter piece that explores the subject if you are interested.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tm0sYeOP1v8
Again a fantastic piece … you have a mighty pen and that is worth singing about.

[MomzillaNC]

Thank you. I'm honored you found worth in my effort.

[MandaBear]

This is amazing! I love it very much! My favorite subject is History I definitely learned something new. It is really well written and I am glad I stopped to read this =)

[MomzillaNC]

Thank you. I too, always loved history.

In college, I got the only A my history professor had ever given an undergrad in the five years he'd been at the school; it wasn't because I was that great a student -- I wasn't; it was because I just loved the subject and I loved reading -- the course required reading eight historical novels.

[MomzillaNC]

BTW: My poem "I Remember" is also a historical poem.

[Thomas Fitzgerald]

This piece prides itself on the accuracy and intelligent assault on the mind, a divine web of interaction and subtle drafted historical truths, well done, a great read.

[MomzillaNC]

Thank you very much.

[Thomas Fitzgerald]

Your welcome.

[Aunre]

An unsmiling critique of that moment in history. The comment, "The logic now is not that Alexander built his city on the same site as Ra'qedyet, but that he used an already flourishing city and simply expanded upon it!" ...implies a derivative work by right-of-arms. It makes me wonder if those whom history holds up as "great" are brainwashed at birth or if they come into their egos as all such do - in the fullness of their time.

[MomzillaNC]

I don't know the answer to that. It made me wonder the same, which is part of the reason took this tack on this historical poem. The words you quote from my research, rather than my own.

Thank you for the review.

[Sami Khalil]

You are deeply knowledgeable about history and geography. This was epic...:).......................

[MomzillaNC]

Thank you very much. I spent a couple of weeks researching for this one. I like historical poems, but don't write them often. This and "I Remember" are the only ones I've written in a decade.

[Sami Khalil]

Wow. You are welcome...:)...............

[hardeep sabharwal]

This is a brilliant epic poem, and reminded me the days of my graduation, actually I m from punjab and in history we have to read al,exander s invasion in punjab a great read here :)

[MomzillaNC]

Thank you. Do y'all hate Alexander as much as the Persians?

[Briana O'Connor]

This is an excellent tale you have spun here. I do not quite agree with the "little something" This is quite a big something you have here. To be able to spin such a vast story in poetic form is quite a feat. Very well done.

[MomzillaNC]

Thank you. Although, I can't take credit for creating the story. I merely presented the historical facts from the perspective of the conquered.

[Briana O'Connor]

I'm horrible at history so I did not realize this was based on fact. lol once again

[MomzillaNC]

All historical facts. It was inspired by a program on the History Channel about their amazing finds of archeological remains of Ra'qedyet under Alexandria. I wanted to know more about it, but could find precious little. Everything I found about Ra'qedyet, regardless of where I looked, amounted to that little snippet I used as the preface for the poem. I already knew the Persian perspective about Takht-e-Jamshid from my husband (who is Persian). I'd never even heard of the Carians, nor of Purushottama in Punjab. There's were many, many more cultures that I'd never heard of that came up while I was researching this. I couldn't include them all. I'd heard of almost none of them. It just seemed so terribly sad to me that their stories were never told.

[Briana O'Connor]

Researching things is a great way to be inspired. I, too have researched things that I might not know so much about to inspire my writing. It's a lot of fun to learn new things. Though some things we find out are not too pleasing. One day when exploring poetry prompts I stumbled across one that said to go and look up bizarre news. So I stumbled on this website where their featured article was about a couple putting down newspaper and telling their child to go to the bathroom on that, because they were too drunk to take them to the bathroom!

[MomzillaNC]

Oi! Ya gotta have a license to catch a fish, but any Mo and Morhonda can have a kid!

[ANM]

I really enjoyed this your wealth of knowledge shines through... There is so much of our past that is given scant regard, civilisations buried in the dust of the millennia as it passes us by. Alexander was truly Great probably the most accomplished general ever. We must not judge him by modern standards, he was of his time .......

[MomzillaNC]

It may not behoove us to look at him through a modern lens. But, my husband is Iranian and helped me step back and take a second look through the lens of the people on the other side of Alexander's march. To them, he was and still is a monster.

[MomzillaNC]

BTW: this poem was the result of several weeks of research. I didn't have that much knowledge before researching for this poem.

[ANM]

Unfortunately there was always victors and vanquished. Your research has been well replicated in this poem very well done!!

[MomzillaNC]

Thank you.