I’ve been on a First City kick today. (A bit of Second and Third, too - and a sideline of wondering why there are twin obelisks visible in one Venderbight story image in Sunless Sea, but that’s by the by.) On one side, I’ve been looking at likely sites, and on the other, re-reading what we have from the games. I thought I might be able to compare SS’s Polythreme to real-world ruins, but, well, Polythreme is a giant terrifying skull with at least three different architectural styles on it, and most of the likely ruins are so ancient that there’s next to nothing to compare, and what there is is probably behind the paywalls of archaeology journals.
There has been a decent bit of recent study of Tell Brak - basically, I get the sense of a surprisingly large city with solid defences and big public buildings - offices, of a sort, with people making records, and eateries for workers and travellers. And, of course, the famous Eye Temple, named for both the big-eyed stylised figurines built into the walls, and the eye carvings in the decor. It’s a jolly interesting subject in itself, suggesting that urbanisation may have taken place earlier, on a larger scale and further north than previously thought. But, we don’t know a great many specifics about life in Tell Brak/Nagar. It seems not dissimilar to other Mesopotamian cities - established bureaucracy, division of labour, agriculture, crafting and trade. We might assume that, like its southern neighbours, it developed a mix of military and religious government - either an alliance between priests and kings or one side subsuming the role of the other.
Alright. So, what do we know about Polythreme? Well, for a start, I finally got the joke about Arcimboldo’s coffee house - very good. Aside from that… well, the place is as old as the hills, and it’s been shaped and re-shaped by the Masters and who knows who else. Heart’s Desire content describes mud-brick town in a dusty plain, next to a cedar grove. Now, as far as I can tell, the Upper Khabur plains where Tell Brak lies aren’t exactly known for their cedar forests - those tend to lie further west, near the coast. Still, no doubt cedars were important symbolically, and a grove is not necessarily a large, natural feature - so, who can say. Next, we’re told that this town was reached by a traveller from ancient China. That’s not at all impossible - certainly, Tell Brak’s trade routes reached quite far east, and China’s quite far west. A determined wanderer might well join the dots as the Silk Road later did regularly.
What about modern Polythreme? Honestly, I’m not sure. Much of the description of the architecture focuses on the Clay Men being born from the walls. This does rather remind me of the eye figurines built into the temple walls, though… could just be coincidence, but it’s a happy one. The temple is definitely specified as having eye carvings, though, so that’s a consistency.
Long story short, it’s not a dead cert - what is, in the Neath? - but I am considering it satisfyingly likely, considering the scant historical evidence we have to work with.