Hamoukar
by Ross Gillett
Located in what is now Syria, the city of Hamoukar, a centre of the obsidian trade, was destroyed around 3500 BC. Slings and thousands of ovoid clay bullets have been found. This may be evidence of the earliest urban warfare known in the Middle East ( joint Syrian-American expedition 1999-2010)
Hamoukar
there’s a new you
orange black clouds
unfurling from the earth
dark blooms lined with fire
the incinerated marketplace
doused cars
triggered steam
thermal vents in the wreckage
shapes of ash and dust and vapor
the dead escape the superheated streets
Hamoukar
we found you
infested with the handiwork of your enemy
lethal seeds
a murderous clay grain
where are your trade routes now
your obsidian history
your craftsmen hunched over dark glass
it’s oil instead of obsidian now
a market trade truly unprotected
frail stalls blown away
Hamoukar
obliterated city
your people are old earth
we who are good at turning people into earth salute you
flag bearer for the wrecked civilisations
with your excavated grid
your bewildered bones
you taught history everything it knows
people are dust
families exist to be torn apart
no one lives anywhere