In 701 B.C. the Assyrian empire was in its ascendancy. It had already vanquished the kingdom of Israel to the north including the capital at Samaria. It then prepared an assault on Judah and its capital at Jerusalem.
But in one of those significant events that changes the course of world history, Assyria was repelled. Jerusalem was saved until 586 B.C. when the Babylonians sacked the city, forcing its leadership class into exile.
Henry Aubin, in a major feat of scholarship, determines that Jerusalem was aided by a Kushite army from Africa which had marched northeast from the Nile valley. While the Bible attributes the Assyrian retreat to an angel and secular commentators cite pestilence, Aubin, in a meticulously documented work, demonstrates that an alliance with the African nation of Kush bolstered Jerusalem’s defences.
Kush, also known as Nubia, was located in what is now southern Egypt and northern Sudan. A monarchy that existed for more than 1000 years, from 900 B.C. to A.D. 350, Kushites held sway over Egypt from 712 B.C. to about 660 B.C. Of Egypt’s 31 dynasties, this, the 25th Dynasty, is the only one that all scholars agree, was black.
The commander of the Kushite expeditionary force was Taharqa (or as the Bible calls him Tirhakah). This Kushite prince, who had his own interests in halting Assyrian expansion, likely caught the aggressors by surprise as they prepared their siege of Jerusalem.
Aubin offers a thrilling military history and a stirring political analysis of the ancient world. He also sees the event as influential over the centuries.
The Kushite rescue of the Hebrew kingdom of Judah enabled the fragile, war-ravaged state to endure, to nurse itself back to economic and demographic health, and allowed the Hebrew religion, Yahwism, to evolve within the next several centuries into Judaism. Thus emerged the monotheistic trunk supporting Christianity and Islam.
Praise for Spoiled Rotten: “Spoiled Rotten is Light summer fare that also makes one salivate with all its talk of food… fun and full of drama.”–Halifax Chronicle Herald
Dundurn World Rights/ Spring 2012
Spoiled Rotten
Leggy, sexy Liz Walker is the owner Walker’s Way, a funky hip restaurant and a breeding ground for young, soon-to-be famous chefs.
Liz, smart and savvy, the mother of a 20-year-old son, knows how to deal with transient staff and temperamental cooks. But she is shocked when the butcher Mr. Tony, where she buys meat, is found hacked to death, the victim of a grisly murder. Moreover, she is worried when her talented young chef Daniel hasn’t shown up for work and becomes the main suspect.
Liz goes looking for Daniel and winds up in the middle of a delicious plot that includes real estate machinations, a scam for selling illegal work visas, and betrayal. The fact that the police investigator on the case, David Winn, is falling for her adds zest to the adventure, but also raises the stakes.
Mary Jackman, like her delightful heroine Liz Walker, owns a cool and funky restaurant, the Peter Pan in Toronto’s Queen St neighborhood where a few celebrity chefs got their start. In her new venture, she gives us an insider’s view of the restaurant and food business with all of its allure and some of its tribulations.
Spoiled Rotten will entertain and enlighten anyone who ever worked in a restaurant, dreamed of owning a restaurant, or has eaten in a restaurant.
