Harethal

An ancient city and region that was once the heart of world trade, known for its towering pride, its greed, and its eventual fall.

Aliases

Babylon (Biblical tradition)
Babel / Shinar (traditions of the Tower)
Whore-Ground (Literal translation)

Specifics

The Meaning of the Name: In the old tongue, the name is broken into two parts: *Hare* (meaning "Whore") and *Thall* (meaning "Ground"). To those who keep the records, Harethal literally means "Whore-Ground" (Glossary 265).

The Tower of Giglames: The city was home to a mighty mountain of stone topped with a tower built by Giglames. This wasn't just a building, but a way to show off immense wealth and power (Prophesies and Visions 2:5).

The Trade Trap: Harethal was the center of almost all commerce on earth. The king of Harethal forced other nations to trade through his city and levied heavy taxes; those who tried to avoid this were swiftly conquered (Prophesies and Visions 2:10).

The Destruction of Aiyesholames: Harethal acted as a predatory power, most notably when it destroyed the city of Aiyesholames, which is remembered as "the whore of the earth" (Prophesies and Visions 3:2).

The Great Exodus: Because of the iniquities and bondage found in Harethal, leaders like Mesves and Svemaz fled the city with all haste to find a place of refuge (1st Vovfen 4:11, Promises and Covenants 2:58).

A Time of Light: Harethal was not always wicked. There was a time when the city converted to Aiy, and its vast trade networks were used to spread the gospel of peace to places like India and Sinim (Prophesies and Visions 2:8, 2:13).

The Return to Idols: Eventually, the people forgot the Aiyseir and began worshiping gods made of gold and ivory, falling back into the "combinations of Lōk" (Prophesies and Visions 2:10).

The Divine Storm: Because of this pride and idolatry, a mighty storm was sent by the Aiylōhyme that shook the earth and destroyed the city (Prophesies and Visions 2:6).

Observations and Speculations

The Moving Spirit: It is fascinating to note that the "spirit" of Harethal—the love of power, greed, and economic bullying—didn't die with the city. The records suggest this spirit relocated to Rōmwas, meaning that "Harethal-Rōmwas" is a cycle of behavior that repeats in history (Prophesies and Visions 8:6).

The Price of Gold: The shift from using trade to spread peace (the Aiy) to using it to build idols of gold shows how easily a tool for good can be turned into a trap for the soul.

Linguistic Clues: The fact that the name "Whore-Ground" is preserved in Proto-Germanic suggests that the people who fled Harethal never forgot the nature of the place they left behind; the name itself served as a permanent warning to their children.

Citations

The First Book of Vovfen

4:10 "... those who came out of Harethal in days long past. For you are both of Aiyesholames and of Harethal."

4:11 "And this Mesves, who is our father, was who it was that came out of the lands of Harethal ..."

4:16 "And you will join together with them, for they are they who fled from Harethal and from Aiyesholames."

4:19 "That they will also know that they came out of the land of Harethal by that Mesves ..."

7:1 "... records together stretched from that time that our father Svemaz had left Harethal ..."

The Book of Promises and Covenants

2:10 "... nearly all the records which the people of Svemaz have written since the time that he came up from Harethal until that time."

2:16 "... for it shall be that that Harethal which you have seen shall come forward shall be the destruction of nearly the entire earth ..."

2:21 "It was for this purpose that I called forth Svemaz from the land of Harethal to cleanse this place ..."

2:32 "For Svemaz came out from the iniquities and bondage of Harethal, and he fled with all haste unto this land which I led him unto ..."

2:56 "... And we are also come out of the land of Harethal ... therefore, our language is one of Harethal."

The Book of Prophesies and Visions

2:4 "... we beheld the coming up of Szvemaz from the land of Harethal unto the Land of Nyōrd."

2:8 "... communication and trade was established with Harethal, which had converted unto Aiy."

2:10 "And Harethal became the source of all trade across the earth... nearly all commerce was ordained by the king of Harethal to come through Harethal. And those that denied for their money's sake were swiftly conquered by Harethal."

2:11 "And Harethal was the center, and Feiginept the queen."

2:13 "And we saw them go unto Harethal and unto Sinim and unto India..."

3:2 "... it was destroyed by that Harethal who was the whore of the earth."

8:6 "Now, I declare that this Rōmwas of which I speak is where the spirit of Harethal of old has been relocated to"

8:13 "... they will call to repentance again that great whore which is Harethal-Rōmwas"