Kama Kameez

About the Book

Born nearly 4000 years ago in a village in the vicinity of Ur, to poor landless parents, Kama (meaning "first") Kameez (meaning "resilient"), sought to escape his humble origins.  His grandfather, who was his confidant and was privy to his plans, predicted that Kama would eventually succeed and make his fortune - but only in a far-distant land and among a foreign people.

Kama Kameez fled his parents' home when he was barely sixteen and then sojourned in remote villages, in the Elam city of Susa, and in the mountainous countryside of Karaman.  A village scribe taught him the art of writing and reading, and he recorded his memoirs on tablets and scrolls.

When seventeen years old, he fell in love with Tubabah, the beautiful daughter of a village chief.  Much against her father's will, she joined Kama Kameez, and they fled by boat.  When they reached Susa, the local commander (the "Lugal") arrested them for trespassing and for blasphemous behavior.  This Lugal, a treacherous person, expelled Kama Kameez from Susa and assigned Tubabah to his harem.

Kama Kameez journeyed eastward.  He eventually reached the mountains of Karaman where he encountered a gravely ill priest.  This priest led him to a bounteous secret garden, with fruits capable of inducing physical rejuvenation.  He collected some of the fruits and brought them back with him to Susa.  This time, when he entered the city, he was much more mature and was disguised as a noble merchant attached to the king's court.  By means of subterfuge he managed to free Tubabah, but when his true identity was discovered, he was once again arrested.

His presence in the city created mayhem and heavy fighting among the Lugal's officers.  With Tubabah, he escaped to the countryside, where his own young slave robbed him.  While he searched for the missing slave, a band of roving vagabonds kidnapped his pregnant wife, and he was unable to trace her for a great many months.  After retrieving the valuables and the fruits that his slave had stolen, Kama returned once more to Susa, where the community leaders, believing him to be of noble birth, elevated him to the position of city commander.  He succeeded in imposing peace and prosperity, accumulating great personal wealth as well, ruling the city for nearly two years.  Near the close of his reign, his wife Tubabah rode into the city with their little son.  She had managed to escape her captors with the help of a Hittite slave.

Kama Kameez returned to the village of his ancestors, where his parents failed to recognize him.  He acquired much land and cattle, built imposing structures, and became the confidant of the King of Ur.  And enemies arose to challenge Kama Kameez in the city of Ur.  They demanded that the king punish Kama Kameez and his wife Tubabah for belittling the city's gods, and the king ordered that Tubabah be arrested and kept prisoner in the great temple presided over by his sister the high priestess.  Kama Kameez managed to rescue Tubabah from the temple by means of a daring subterfuge, by smuggling a salve into the temple that caused the temporary appearance of leprosy on her skin.  The high priestess panicked and released Tubabah, but she became furious at Kama Kameez when she discovered that he had misled her.  She demanded that he present himself before her in the temple, and when he appeared, she found that she was most impressed by his looks and by his character.  She fell in love with him and ordered him to learn the ways of her gods so that he could rule at her side in the temple as a high priest.  

Kama Kameez, who had lost faith in idols and local deities, tried to cajole her into allowing him to return to his estate and to his family.  The high priestess imposed conditions: that he orders his slaves and his underlings to build an extension to her temple

About the Author

Other books by Ben Shalmon Plankton (available only in Hebrew) “An important book. He describes the ongoing processes in technology and business, sections of Israeli reality unknown to our community of writers…He captures emotional relationships between the sexes like no one else here and this is a significant achievement.” - Matti Regev “I truly loved this book.” - Daniella Shemi “This book will induce envy with criticism within our frustrated literary ‘clique’.” - Dvora Shapira Kama Kameez (available in Hebrew and in English) “…an idea that also motivated Abraham and set Jewish history on its path.” - Robert Leiter Sense of Reality (available only in Hebrew) “A political novel - a truly political odyssey which is a fascinating and wonderful read.” - A. Falk B. Shalmon [Salamon] is also a winner of the UN International Essay Contest. (“About the Author” page 279 )