Free Historical Lovecraft: Tales of Horror Through Time by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Paula R. Stiles Page B

Moloch’s temple, spoke for a time with this stranger. Then he was seized with a great fear, so that he fled the city of Ashdod and the lands of the Philistines, and he was never again seen in the lands of man.
    When he saw that his wisdom was not wanted, the stranger gave to the people gifts. Gold and silver he gave and fine old wine, and poppy juice for their delight. Male slaves and female slaves he gave also, comely in form, who spoke not and who worked tirelessly. Fine horses and cattle, powerful in their work, and the storehouses of grain were filled without the work of the harvestmen.
    The gifts the stranger gave to the king of Ashdod were greater than these. The enemies of Aliyat son of Aliyat among the nobles and among the priests were stricken with plagues, or were seized by fits so they died, or were found on dry land with their bellies filled with water, as though they had drowned. Ashkelon bowed its neck to the king of Ashdod and even the prince of Gaza sent him tribute, because the power of Ashdod grew great in the land.
    As the gifts the stranger gave waxed and grew large, so too did the price he demanded. Animals of every sort were brought to his temple, to feed the hunger of his god, and slaves in their hundreds. Not even the blood of offerings left his temple and the smoke of his sacrifices did not rise to the sky.
    In his youth, Aliyat had heard the voice of the people, but as his power grew in the land, he heard not the voice of the people, or of the priests of the gods of Ashdod, or of the noble families of Ashdod. When an enemy of the king was killed, Aliyat would send the sons and the daughters of that man to this stranger, so that they went into the temple and were never seen again.
    In those days, the priest of Dagon in the high temple of Ashdod was Melichibal son of Abedizevuv son of Amnon the Israelite. He was struck with a plague of the kidneys and he died in the temple, while making the morning offerings. The people were sorely afraid, for Melichibal was beloved and he had spoken ill of the nameless priest of the hidden god.
    Ishbal, son of Melichibal, tore his hair when he heard tell of the death of his father and cut his flesh with a knife, but he did it in a secret place, so that none might know his grief, and he wore rich clothing, with his sackcloth beneath. “When the king hears that I do not mourn my father,” said Ishbal in his heart, “he shall make me priest of Dagon in the high temple of Ashdod in my father’s stead. And when the king comes to bring the royal offerings on the festival of the dying moon, I shall strike him with my mace of office and he shall die. Thus shall the blood of my father be avenged.” For Ishbal knew that his father’s death came from the King.
    And so, it happened that Aliyat son of Aliyat made Ishbal son of Melichibal priest in his father’s stead and when it came time for the festival of the dying moon, when Aliyat son of Aliyat brought his royal offerings, Ishbal son of Melichibal struck him with the mace of office, so that the blood flowed freely from the head of the King and he died.
    When they saw what Ishbal son of Melichibal had done, some of the mighty men of the King, who were his guard, pierced Ishbal with their swords in the thigh and in the breast, and Ishbal died upon the altar of Dagon. But the hearts of the multitude who were in the temple for the festival were not with the King and they took up burning staves from the fire on the altar of Dagon. They beat the mighty men of the King with them so that they died. Then they went out into the streets of Ashdod.
    Many men had lost their fathers to the temple of the stranger who had been cast out of Judah. Many had lost their sons, or their daughters, and had seen their land given to the stranger, so that they no longer loved the rule of Aliyat son of Aliyat. They went up to his palace and they cast down the stones of it, and they killed all the servants of his body and all the officers of the