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HISTORY.
Timeline and history
Early years
⛤Ur, Sumer, 3010 bc — Bartimaeus is first summoned. His first job is to steal a fertility statue from a goddess's sanctuary.
⛤Sumer, 2900 bc onwards — For centuries, Bart is employed by various warring city states throughout southern Mesopotamia, helping conduct campaigns against their rivals. Notable early cities include Ur, Kish, Eridu and Uruk. At an unknown date early in his career, Bartimaeus is responsible for a great flood, which occurs when he builds a dam across the Euphrates river for a bet.
⛤Uruk, Sumer, 2600 bc — Bartimaeus serves the great king Gilgamesh. Around this time Bartimaeus rebuilds the walls of Uruk, a feat that for 4,500 years remains one of his proudest boasts.
⛤Giza, Egypt, 2551 bc — Bart is involved in construction of Khufu’s great pyramid.
⛤Akkad, c. 2300 bc — Around this time, Bart serves King Sargon the Great of Akkad.
⛤Eridu, Sumer, c. 2050 bc — The City of Eridu, ‘the bone-white city’, reaches the zenith of its power. Bart was present there around this time.
⛤Babylon, 1792 bc — The reign of King Hammurabi begins. Hammurabi conquers most of Mesopotamia. Bartimaeus is among his troops.
⛤Jericho, Canaan, c. 1500s bc — Bart works on the walls of Jericho. According to the djinni Queezle, Bartimaeus is responsible for their flimsy construction, revealed during Joshua’s invasion a few centuries later.
⛤Egypt, 1478 bc — Bartimaeus is a member of Tuthmosis III’s army, allegedly the greatest body of spirits ever assembled.
⛤Egypt, c. 1350 bc — Bartimaeus is closely associated with the heretic pharaoh Akhenaten and his wife Nefertiti around this time. A few years later he is involved in the overthrow of Akhenaten, a coup engineered by the High Priests of Ra, and for this Nefertiti never forgives him.
⛤Egypt, 1279 bc — The reign of Rameses the Great begins. It may be during this time that he rebuilds the walls of Karnak, another of his favourite boasts.
⛤Egypt, 1274 bc — The Battle of Qadesh takes place between Egyptians and the Hittites, which Rameses wins. Two hundred years later, the battlefield is still a blackened waste.
⛤Egypt, 1170 bc — Bartimaeus is involved in Rameses III’s campaigns against the Sea Peoples, and helps drive them from Egyptian soil.
⛤Israel, 970s–940s bc — Solomon is king of Israel. Solomon wields great power with his magic ring, one of the most powerful talismans of all time.
⛤Israel, 950 bc — Events of The Ring of Solomon. Bartimaeus is one of many spirit slaves working for Solomon’s magicians, and he undertakes much construction work in Jerusalem.
950 BC — AD 1200
Middle period
⛤Al-Arish, Egypt, 700 bc — The Battle of al-Arish, one of the most destructive battles of the ancient world.
⛤Nineveh, Assyria, c. 680 bc — Bart is sent here by Babylonian magicians to slip arsenic in Sennacherib’s food, only to be spotted by Faquarl who is working for the king. Bart and Faquarl have the ‘mother of all food-fights’ until Bart fells Faquarl with a ham bone and escapes. Their relationship goes rapidly downhill from here.
⛤Persepolis, Persia, 550–330 bc — Bartimaeus works for the Persians during this period, under the by-name Sakhr al-Jinni. He witnesses the destruction of Persepolis in the 480s by the entity Nouda the Terrible.
⛤Athens, Greece, 440 bc — Bartimaeus possibly assists in the construction of the Parthenon.
⛤Syracuse, Sicily, c. 220 bc — Bartimaeus allegedly meets and gives advice to Archimedes.
⛤Rome/Carthage, 200s bc — Bartimaeus participates in the Scipio campaigns.
⛤Alexandria, Egypt, 126 bc — Bartimaeus, now known by his Egyptian byname, ‘Rekhyt’, is employed by the magician Ptolemy and quickly becomes his friend. For two brief years Ptolemy devotes himself to understanding spirits. He sends Bart and his other djinn – Affa, Penrenutet and Teti – out to help the ordinary people with their problems. Ptolemy becomes popular, and arouses the resentment of his cousin, the Egyptian king.
⛤Alexandria, Egypt, 125 bc — Assassins make an attempt on Ptolemy’s life. Bartimaeus kills them.
⛤Alexandria, Egypt, 124 bc — Ptolemy sends Bart to fight against Barbary pirates and desert raiders. He takes part in the Battle of the Cataracts. Afterwards, Ptolemy gives Bartimaeus a week off – his first experience of pure free will on Earth. Ptolemy visits the Other Place, a gesture of complete trust in Bartimaeus that no other human has ever attempted, and is seriously weakened. Later that year Ptolemy is assassinated by Roman magicians. Affa, Penrenutet and Teti are also killed. Bartimaeus survives.
⛤Rome, c. 40 — Bartimaeus befriends Julia, a Vestal Virgin, with
whom he watches chariot races at the Circus Maximus.
⛤Yucatan Peninsula, Central America, ad 300s–800s — The Mayan civilisation reaches its height during this period. At some time during these centuries Bart becomes active in Yucatan.
⛤Tollan, Central America, 400s — The Toltec civilisation is at its height. Bartimaeus fights the entity Tlaloc of Tollan around this time.
⛤Rome, 475 — The fall of Rome. The last Western Emperor, Romulus Augustulus, falls to revolution among the people and barbarian invasion. Bartimaeus hides in the catacombs below Rome during the invasion.
⛤The Red Sea, 500s — Bart spends much of this century in an old sesame oil jar, corked with wax, bobbing in the Red Sea. An old fisherman rescues him, with sadly fatal results.
⛤Byzantium, 610–641 — Reign of the magician-Emperor Heraclius in Constantinople. Bart is in his employment for a time.
⛤Baghdad, 800 — With the reign of the great caliph-magician Haroun al-Rashid, the Arab Empire is at its peak. Baghdad is the greatest city in the world and remains so for more than 100 years. Bartimaeus is employed by Arab magicians in Baghdad and Basra during this period.
⛤Pisa, Italy, 1173 — Construction begins on the Tower of Pisa. Bartimaeus claims to have been consulted about the building work, but his advice isn’t taken.
⛤North America, c. 1200 — Around this time, Bartimaeus’s contact with northern native Americans begins, and continues off and on for several hundred years. It appears to be one of his happier associations. At some point he speaks with Hiawatha, though the date is unknown. He is particularly linked to the Algonquin peoples (to whom he is known as Wakonda) and the Iroquois.
AD 1220 — PRESENT
Later years
⛤Great Zimbabwe, Southern Africa, 1200s–1400s — The city of Great Zimbabwe is continuously built between the 11th and 15th Centuries, when it is abandoned. Under the name N’gorso the Mighty, Bartimaeus works here for a time. Although many details are obscure, Bartimaeus is certainly present during its decline in the 1450s.
⛤Mongolia, 1227 — Death of the warlord, Genghis Khan. Bartimaeus and Faquarl engineer it by putting poison grapes in his tent.
⛤Prague, Holy Roman Empire, 1357 — Bartimaeus is involved in the construction of the Charles Bridge over the Vltava River.
⛤Central America, 1400s — Between 1325 and 1520 the Aztec Civilisation is at its height. During this time Bartimaeus returns to the region.
⛤Germany, 1480–1540s — The magician Johann Faustus is active. Bart serves him at some point.
⛤Prague, 1560s — Bartimaeus builds the walls of Prague using the services of imps and foliots.
⛤Prague, 1580s — Prague: Under the Emperor Rudolf II, Prague is at the height of its power. Bartimaeus becomes the servant of the magician Tycho Brahe.
⛤Prague, c. 1600 — Bart witnesses the activities of the first golem, created by the great magician Loew to defend the Jewish ghetto in Prague.
⛤North America, 1600–1800 — Bartimaeus is regularly summoned by the Native American shamans during this period.
⛤Prague, 1868 — The magician Gladstone invades the Holy Roman Empire a year after taking over the British Government in the infamous Night of the Long Counsel. Ranks of golems defend Prague, but are halted when their masters are slain. Bartimaeus helps defend Prague in the final hours. He is nearly killed by an afrit but his master is killed and Bartimaeus escapes.
⛤1868 — The Holy Roman Empire collapses. The British Empire begins.
⛤1914–18 — The Great War between Britain and its territories in Europe. Bartimaeus works for Czech magicians in the general uprising. Much of Europe is devastated: trenches are still visible in Prague ninety years later, while parts of London remain pockmarked by ‘wastelands’ created by bombardments by enemy djinn. Britain wins the war and retains control of Europe for the remainder of the century.
⛤1990s — The British Empire is engaged in long-term campaigns on the European continent. There is fighting in Italy and skirmishing with the Czechs. During these years Bartimaeus is probably summoned to London.
⛤Late 1990s — Tensions with the American colonies rise during this period and end in war. Britain’s resources are soon stretched.
2000
The Amulet of Samarkand
✦Bartimaeus is first summoned by Nathaniel, a twelve-year-old magician's apprentice, and charged to steal the Amulet of Samarkand from the magician Simon Lovelace. This is an act of petty revenge on Lovelace for a slight Nathaniel experienced when he was ten.
✦Bartimaeus undertakes a daring heist and nicks the Amulet. While trying to get it back to Nathaniel, he is apprehended by a group of commoner children who seem to have natural resilience to his magic. He escapes them.
✦Bartimaeus hides it in Underwood's study. Snooping on a conversation between Nathaniel and Mrs Underwood, Bartimaeus overhears that Nathaniel is in fact the boy's birth name, which is a sacrosanct piece of information that allows Bartimaeus to have leverage over him. Nathaniel is finally allowed to choose a new name for himself; he decides on John Mandrake.
✦Tailing Lovelace to do some investigating, Bartimaeus is apprehended by government forces and imprisoned in the Tower of London, where he is interrogated by leading magician politicians. He escapes and flees, unwittingly leading Lovelace to Underwood's house. In the resulting altercation, the house is destroyed, and both Mr and Mrs Underwood perish. Bartimaeus escapes with Nathaniel.
✦Bartimaeus and Nathaniel discover that the Amulet, an extremely powerful protective charm, was a key part of Lovelace's plot to overthrow the British government. Breaking into Heddleham Hall, the prospective location of the coup, Nathaniel and Bartimaeus foil Lovelace's plan. Lovelace is killed when the plan goes awry, and Nathaniel becomes a close favourite of the Prime Minister, Rupert Devereaux, after presenting the Amulet to him. Nathaniel is assigned a new master, Jessica Whitwell.
✦Bartimaeus and Nathaniel enter a grudging truce. Nathaniel promises never to summon Bartimaeus again, in return for Bartimaeus keeping Nathaniel's birth name a secret.
2002
The Golem's Eye
✦London is under attack. The anti-magician group known as the Resistance is carrying out low-level heists of magical objects, supported by commoners who have developed various natural resiliences to the magic of spirits, such as an ability to see or hear magical objects or a profound physical resilience to spells. There have also been a number of high-profile destructive attacks which are believed to be connected to the Resistance's operation.
✦Nathaniel, fourteen, now known as John Mandrake, works for the government. He is part of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, where he is working to take down the Resistance. Under pressure due to his workload and failure to make any headway, he summons Bartimaeus again.
✦Bartimaeus and many other spirits are assigned to guard London to see if they can find the perpetrator(s) of these destructive attacks. Bartimaeus battles the creature in the British Museum, discovering that it is a golem. As a result of this, the Chief of Police is granted expanded powers.
✦The Resistance plans and carries out a heist on the tomb of William Gladstone in Westminster Abbey, stealing a number of powerful magical items including Gladstone's powerful Staff. Almost all of the members of the Resistance are killed by a renegade afrit who was living inside Gladstone's bones, except a teenaged girl, Kitty Jones, who escapes. The afrit, Honorius, runs amok throughout London.
✦Meanwhile, Bartimaeus and Nathaniel have been sent to Prague to investigate golems. The trip ends in disaster and they return to London with no proof, after the animating scroll was destroyed in the scuffle.
✦Back in London, Bartimaeus and a number of other spirits are dispatched to get rid of Honorius. Nathaniel finds out information about the Resistance that leads him to Kitty Jones, who he attempts to apprehend, but she escapes. He charges Bartimaeus to kidnap her childhood friend to lure her to him, which works. Waiting for Nathaniel's return, Bartimaeus and Kitty talk about the rise and fall of empires.
✦Nathaniel returns, and the golem attacks them. Honorius, believed to have been killed, arrives to kill Kitty, but is killed by the golem. Nathaniel attempts to use Gladstone's Staff to destroy the golem but is knocked unconscious by it. Kitty successfully dispatches the golem by removing the scroll from its mouth, causing it to walk back to the magician who enchanted it, which turns out to be the Chief of Police who had engineered the situation to gain more power and take over. Nathaniel is once again praised for his efforts. Bartimaeus, who has become fond of Kitty, lies to Nathaniel and tells him that she sacrificed herself to protect him and died in the process.
✦Nathaniel plans to dismiss Bartimaeus, who finally calls him John Mandrake and not by his birth name, noting that it means his magician persona has fully subsumed the boy he once was.
2005
Ptolemy's Gate
✦The British Empire is breaking down. Bartimaeus has been kept in near-constant service by seventeen-year-old government minister John Mandrake for the last two years. Out of paranoia, Mandrake refuses to dismiss Bartimaeus lest he be summoned by a rival magician and encouraged to divulge secrets about Mandrake including his birth name, which would put him at significant threat of assassination.
✦Bartimaeus is sent on a tailing mission to discover more about Mr Hopkins, a small-time magician who Mandrake believes was a key element in earlier attempted coups. Bartimaeus, weakened by the constant summoning to the point of being hardly able to hold himself together, is chased by a number of spirits while he attempts to tail Hopkins; he returns, near death, to Mandrake who is attending a government function. Rather than doing any more damage to Bartimaeus by trying to extract information on Hopkins from him, Nathaniel dismisses him to allow him to recuperate.
✦Before he really has any time to recuperate, Bartimaeus is summoned by Kitty Jones, who wants him to help her overthrow the magicians. He is uncooperative and cynical, explaining that he will never trust a human; she counters by mentioning Ptolemy, about whom she has learned through research while in the service of a minor magician. Bartimaeus points out that Ptolemy made an enormous sacrifice for him that no human has subsequently attempted and thus refuses to help her. She dismisses him.
✦Mandrake summons Bartimaeus again and charges him to capture Hopkins. Bartimaeus and a collection of other spirits are sent to do this. They find Hopkins, and discover that he is in fact the djinni Faquarl, Bartimaeus' erstwhile friend/rival, encased in a human body. This is a permanent possession that renders Faquarl free to exist on Earth with no pain, but means that he can never return to the Other Place.
✦Mandrake and Kitty witness the overthrowing of the British Government. This has been spearheaded by the playwright Quentin Makepeace, who has secretly been pulling the strings of other attempted coups (alongside Hopkins) for the last several years. However, Makepeace does not realise that Faquarl has entirely subsumed Hopkins. The intended plan is to ask government magicians to summon entities into their bodies, like Hopkins with Faquarl, so that they can have their own magic, but the spirits are too powerful for the human minds, leading to a vast collection of spirits in human bodies roaming free around London and destroying all they can.
✦Bartimaeus, once again drained to the point of near-death, is permitted to return to the Other Place by Nouda, the great and terrible spirit that has overtaken Makepeace's body.
✦Kitty escapes the spirits and follows Ptolemy's Gate, the procedure by which Ptolemy was first able to cross into the Other Place and meet Bartimaeus there. She does so successfully, conversing with Bartimaeus in the Other Place and convincing him to return to Earth to stop the renegade magician-spirits from destroying everything. The journey to the Other Place cripples Kitty, whose body is visibly aged by the process, but she is still hale and hearty.
✦In a supreme act of trust, Mandrake – Nathaniel – summons Bartimaeus into his body, but rather than taking over permanently, he and Bartimaeus share it. This allows Bartimaeus to help Nathaniel destroy the spirits without suffering the agonies of being summoned again. Together, he and Bartimaeus are strong enough to wield Gladstone's Staff, which they use to take out the remaining spirits, including Faquarl.
✦The final target is Nouda. Nathaniel-Bartimaeus are about to be killed in the process of destroying him, but at the last moment, in an echo of Ptolemy, Nathaniel dismisses Bartimaeus to save his life.