The God in the Bowl

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"The God in the Bowl" is one of the original short stories about Conan the Cimmerian, written by American author Robert E. Howard, but not published during his lifetime. It is set in the pseudo-historical Hyborian Age and concerns Conan robbing a temple museum only to be ensnared in bizarre events and be deemed the prime suspect in a murder mystery. The story first saw publication in September 1952 in Space Science Fiction and has been reprinted many times since. The story has most recently been republished in the collection Conan of Cimmeria: Volume One (1932-1933) (Del Rey, 2003).

An illustration of a dramatic scene in The God in the Bowl as depicted by Mark Schultz in The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian (Del Rey, 2003).

The original short story was written by Robert E. Howard and first appeared in a 1952 issue of Space Science Fiction magazine.

[edit] Plot Overview

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

One night in the city of Numalia, the second largest Nemedian city, Conan, in the midst of robbing a temple museum, finds himself embroiled in a murder investigation when the strangled corpse of the temple's owner, Kallian Publico, is found by a night watchman. Though the Cimmerian is the prime suspect, the investigating magistrate and the prefect of police show remarkable forebearance, allowing Conan not only to remain free, but also to keep his sword while their men search the premises.

As the investigation unfolds, the magistrate learns Publico had received from distant Stygia a strange bowl-like sarcophagus that now lies open and empty. This sarcophagus was a priceless relic found among the tombs far beneath the pyramids and sent to Kalanthes, a denizen of Numalia, "because of the love the sender bore the priest of Ibis." Intercepting this rare item meant for Kalanthes, Kallian Publico had believed the sarcophagus contained the fabled diadem of the giant-kings whose primordial kin dwelt in that dark land before the ancestors of the Stygians came there.

While the magistrate and his men are baffled when uncovering this backstory, the reader quickly begins to suspect the murderer may have been something other than entirely human and was contained within the now-opened sarcophagus.

A scream, a death, and the police flee the temple museum leaving Conan alone with the "murderer," whom he quickly dispatches with his mighty sword, learning only in the final sentence the true horror of "the god in the bowl."