by Max Overton
The sun was climbing toward noon as the enemy, having lost any semblance of order in their hurried retreat, gained the level ground, and the Retenu chieftains, emboldened by the legion's reluctance to close the gap between pursuers and pursued, turned their men to face the Kemetu. They milled around, regaining their breath and drinking such flasks of water they had snatched up before fleeing, while the men of the Set legion stood in a great semicircle to the east and just watched.
A cheer arose suddenly, and the drubbing of spears on shields sounded like thunder. The Retenu men grasped their spears and swords and stared at the legion, expecting an attack, and so were taken entirely by surprise as the king's chariot squadron, forty strong, swept in from the rear, slicing their way through the crowd of Retenu men. They fell in droves, men fleeing in every direction, cut down by archers, by the hooves of the horses and sharp-bladed chariot wheels, by the spears and axes of the men of the Set legion as they joined in the slaughter.
The dust cleared, drifting away to the south, and revealed the devastation of the Retenu hopes. Of the five hundred or more men who had camped the previous night, scarcely fifty remained. They threw down their weapons and begged mercy of the king. As his father had before him, Seti granted the ordinary tribesmen the mercy of a clean death, but he impaled the leaders, coldly watching them scream their lives out on the blood-soaked stakes set upright in the hot sun.
When the last of the agonised voices had fallen silent, Seti accepted a cup of wine and rested his men for half a day before they set out to burn the rebel villages and capture slaves.
The villages had been stripped of fighting men and when the first Kemetu soldiers appeared, the women and children fled, leaving behind the elderly and sick. Those who fled were hunted down and captured, while those who stayed were slaughtered and the villages burnt around their corpses. Before a month had passed, the Retenu rebels had ceased to exist as a free people, and their remnants became slaves within Ta Mehu.
Chapter 11
Year 1 of Userkheperure Seti
Userkheperure Seti returned to Per-Ramesses in triumph, parading his victorious army before the city walls and enjoying the adulation of his people. Hundreds of dishevelled Retenu women and younger children became slaves, given out as spoils to soldiers who had earned the king's praise, while older male children were earmarked for a variety of building projects in and around Per-Ramesses.
True to his word, Seti took his sister Takhat as wife. The ceremonies were simple as they simply involved transferring the young woman from her room in the palace of Per-Ramesses to the Women's Quarters in the palace of Men-nefer. Her maidservants would accompany her and would provide some continuity in her existence, but her status had changed. No longer would she be known as King's Daughter and Sister of the King, but instead as God's Wife. She would not be Queen, but her children by the king would be legitimate and could inherit. Seti lost no time in implanting his seed in his sister-wife's belly.
* * *
The governor of the Khent-abt sepat sought an audience with the king, and was welcomed by Seti in the Audience room of his grandfather's palace. Governor Piankhe was elderly, and straightened up from his formal bow with a stifled groan, wincing as a stab of pain lanced his lower back. Seti beckoned to a servant to bring over a stool for Piankhe, and bade the old man sit.
"You are welcome, Governor Piankhe. You have managed the sepat of Khent-abt most ably since the days of Usermaatre and Baenre."
"Thank you, Son of Re."
"Why have you come before me today, Governor Piankhe? Do you have something to report?"
"As you will know, Son of Re, your blessed father Baenre put the copper mines of Timna in my care. Since then, I have managed them well, each year increasing the amount of copper ore extracted."
"If that is so, then you are to be praised, Piankhe, for Kemet has much need of copper and bronze. Do you seek a reward for your efforts?"
"I am amply rewarded by the knowledge of doing my duty, Son of Re, but I do have a request."
"Name it."
"Recently, disease carried off over a hundred slaves in the Timna mines. Production will certainly fall unless I can replace them. I have found twenty able-bodied men from among the denizens of the dungeons, but I need more. I ask for slaves from your punitive expedition into Retenu, great One."
"The only slaves I brought back from Retenu were boys. All the able-bodied men were killed as rebels."
"Then give me boys, Son of Re, so that I might bring production up to the levels you require."
Seti pondered the request. "The boys are young and not very strong, Piankhe."
"Then they will eat less, Majesty."
"And no doubt die sooner. Still, they are only Kanaanites and sons of rebels. I will give you two hundred boys for your mines, and a squad of soldiers to escort them there. Where is Timna, anyway?"
"Thank you, Majesty. Timna is a valley on the far side of the Land of Sin, about a month east of here. It is a dry place, Son of Re, a wilderness where the only precious things lie beneath the earth, and water is worth more than gold." Governor Piankhe allowed a small smile to crease his face. "I have used the Timna mines as a punishment detail for my guards. It is not an assignment they enjoy."
Seti nodded. "And no doubt it is worse for the slaves who must toil within the mines. Well, no matter, there are always more slaves. Was there anything else, Governor Piankhe?"
"One small matter, Son of Re. The temple of Hut-hor at Timna has fallen into disrepair. Five years ago, the ground shook and stones fell from the temple roof and walls. I lack skilled masons to repair it."
"Why did you not report this before now?"
"I did, Majesty, to Baenre."
"I desire to have my works known throughout Kemet and even beyond the borders into the lands we control. You shall have skilled masons to repair your temple. I will send them across the desert with the slave boys."
"Thank you, Son of Re. May the gods bless you with a reign lasting a thousand years."
Ten days later, a caravan set off into the Land of Sin. Two hundred young Retenu boys were shipped off to the copper mines in the Valley of Timna, along with a dozen skilled masons, a donkey train carrying supplies, and a squad of twenty soldiers to guard them on their journey. Seti thought about which officer to put in charge of the detail and remembered one who had been relegated to palace duties in Men-nefer following the near loss of his sister to the enemy in his father's day. Perhaps it was time to forgive him and bring him back into active service. He sent for the officer, and when the caravan left for the valley of Timna, Ament was the officer in charge.
* * *
Ament cursed the day he had been born, and also the day his younger sister Ti-ament had come into his life. He had been quite comfortable as a common soldier in Men-nefer during the days when the old king Usermaatre had still lived, and even the first month of king Baenre's reign. He had been rising slowly but steadily up the ranks and could reasonably have looked forward to becoming a Leader of One Hundred in time, or even possibly a Troop Commander. Then the young lord Seti and the young lady Tausret had appeared and knocked him off the ladder of advancement.
True, he had advanced speedily for a while under the patronage of the prince and lady, but then Tausret had developed an interest in warfare and Ament found himself putting her in the charge of his sister so she could follow the army as it went to war. For perhaps the hundredth time he cursed his decision. Far better to have taken the Lady Tausret's demands to the king and let him sort it out. Instead, because he had been slightly infatuated with the young girl, he had given in to her nagging. She had been captured by the enemy but thankfully escaped, else his own punishment would have been death instead of just disgrace. Relegated to palace duty, Ament had worked hard to better himself once more and had risen to the rank of Captain of the Guard, but it was work that ate away at his spirit. He longed for the life of even a common soldier, rather than living comfortably within a palace.
Then the king had sent for him and for a few days, as he journeyed to Per-Ramesses, he had dared to think his punishment was over, that he would once more join a legion and serve the king on active duty.
"I am sending slaves and masons to Timna," the king had said. "You are in charge of the guard detail."
All Ament could do was bow low, arms outstretched to his king, and accept the assignment. He was twelve days out now, with perhaps another thirty to go, and he hated every moment. The road was hot, dusty and monotonous; and the men under him were either slaves, the dregs of the legions or skilled craftsmen who thought themselves too good to associate with soldiers. Every member of the caravan had to walk across the huge wasteland that was the Land of Sin with the exception of himself. Ament could ride a donkey if he so chose, but he preferred walking. The bony back of the beast dug into his rear and had caused him much pain the first two days. Thereafter he had walked with his men, though at least he only had to carry a skin water bottle and a curved copper sword. The other soldiers were also weighed down with spears and a leather bag containing two days' rations of dried meat, hard bread and a handful of onions.
Dust billowed into the sky as they passed, kicked up by hundreds of human feet and almost as many hooves of small, wiry donkeys. These beasts of burden carried mostly food, and water skins that were replenished at the infrequent wells that dotted the east road. The dust kicked up by their passage caught in the throat, irritated the eyes and chafed the skin where it lodged in the folds of their clothing.
The soldiers stood up well to the hardships of the journey, being used to the heat and dust while on campaign, and the masons, too, remained in good humour, having all the food and drink they required and a pace that was not too taxing. It was the boys from Retenu who suffered most, despite being used to a life of deprivation in the poor villages of their homeland. Coming hard on the heels of seeing their fathers and elder brothers killed and their mothers and sisters raped and sold into servitude, they stumbled through the desert toward an unknown fate. None of the boys were over the age of twelve, and some were as young as seven years and many cried themselves into an exhausted sleep at the end of each day's march.
The boys had started out bound together with flax ropes, but five days out Ament had ordered their bonds removed. Escape was unlikely in the wilderness of Sin, and anyone who tried it without water would die quickly. The only sources of water were the infrequent wells along the road and these were guarded. On the first night after they were unbound, ten boys slipped away. Ament ordered a pursuit, recapturing six within a few hours. Another two returned of their own volition, but the other two were presumed dead. Ament did not punish the returned fugitives, preferring that they mingle with the other captives and relate just how hostile the land was out there. There were no other attempts to escape.
Boys started to die on the twentieth day, just collapsing beside the road and refusing to get up, even when beaten by the soldiers. Ament had the weakest and youngest boys slung over the backs of donkeys and probably saved some lives that way, but they continued to fall aside. Exhaustion claimed some, while others just gave up rather than survive as orphans. Ament and the soldiers left the bodies beside the road, unwilling to spend the time and effort to bury them. On hearing about Retenu customs though, Ament allowed a little earth to be scattered on each tiny corpse, and sometimes another boy would mutter a prayer to one of their gods as well.
Despite the desolation of the Land of Sin, numerous tribes inhabited the wasteland, though some were little more than bands of robbers. One such was the Rephidim. They were three days out from the coastal town of Eilah when the Rephidim struck without warning. The first Ament knew of the presence of the tribesmen was when a shower of badly aimed arrows cascaded down on his soldiers. One dropped dead on the spot and three others cursed as they were wounded, while the rest struggled to haul small hide shields from off their backs and free up their spears. Two soldiers roared in anger and charged the Rephidim position but Ament cursed them.
"Get back here, you sons of whores. The rest of you, close up, shields to the front, spears ready."
The boys had scattered, screaming, when the bandits struck, and the masons cowered behind the braying donkeys. Rephidim men emerged, about fifty of them, about five or six with ill-made bows, the rest bearing a variety of hand weapons that bore more of a resemblance to farming implements than to weapons of warfare. Ament grinned when he saw them.
"See them, men? These are mangy bandits used to fighting farmers and women. We'll go through them like shit through a goose."
The two soldiers who had charged the enemy returned to the ranks shamefaced, while their fellows laughed at them for their lack of discipline. Ament held his men back, drawing the Rephidim out of the rocks and onto the road. The bandits seemed to gain in confidence as the Kemetu soldiers stood fast, and some of them started toward the donkey train, obviously meaning to grab what they could.
"Wait for it," Ament muttered. "Wait."
The bandits lost what little cohesiveness they had displayed and moved around Ament's small force, stringing out in a haphazard fashion. One or two of the archers shot off an arrow that bounced off the hide shields without effect. Others jeered at the soldiers, encouraged by their inaction and believing they were afraid.
"Now," Ament yelled. He led the charge, racing across the rocky ground, swinging his bronze sword. Behind him, his men lowered their spears and charged the enemy, impaling several and trampling others. The shock of the sudden assault sent the bandits reeling in disarray. Many fell beneath the bronze-tipped spears of the soldiers or their sharp blades, and those that tried to resist with copper axes or wooden farming implements were rapidly cut down. The rest fled, leaving behind twenty dead and another ten wounded.
Ament ordered the wounded Rephidim slaughtered on the spot, and set his men to rounding up the scattered slaves. The physician bound up the wounds of the soldiers and administered a few foul-tasting potions. A few boys could not be found, and Ament left them to their fate, not wanting to split his force by searching for them. He hurried the caravan onward, fearing that the Rephidim might regroup and renew their assault, but they had disappeared back into the wilderness.
Three days later they reached Eilah and the coast. A body of water larger than a river was a foreign concept to most of the soldiers and all of the boys, most of whom had, until their capture, never gone further from their homes than the next village. Grinning, Ament led them down to the shore and watched as they hesitantly entered the water and started to wash the dust of their journey off them.
"It's salt," yelled one, spluttering and choking after dunking his face in the sun-warmed water. Others tried drinking it, and added their chorus of startled cries.
Small streams debouched into the sea, flowing down from rocky hills, and though they were no more than trickles, everyone managed to slake their thirst and provide draughts of fresh water for the donkeys. When everyone had rested, Ament turned the caravan north along the coast to the town of Eilah. He had the boys bound again, not because they might escape (there was nowhere to escape to) but because the commander of the local garrison might think it strange that prisoners wandered freely.
Leaving the caravan to set up camp outside the town, Ament went looking for the garrison commander. He found him near the waterfront, bargaining with a fisherman for the supply of fish for his men. Ament waited until he had finished his transaction before approaching him and saluting.
"Commander, I am Ament, Captain of the Guard, transferring prisoners to the mines at Timna." He handed across the folded papyrus containing his orders.
The Commander perused the document. "You are a captain of the palace guard in Men-nefer. What are you doing transporting prisoners? Some sort of punishment, is it?"
"Probably, sir. Long story. I need to reprovision the caravan, but lack gold or silver to pay for it. The letter mentions credit..."
The Commander read the letter again and nodded. "I can sup
ply dried fish, bread, some vegetables. Will that do?"
"Thank you, sir. Fodder too, if you have it."
"How many of you are there?"
"One hundred and sixty-three prisoners, young boys, twenty soldiers and eleven masons. And thirty donkeys."
"I'll have someone look after it. You'll join me for dinner tonight. I'd enjoy hearing about what's happening back home." The Commander waved a hand around at the town and the barren hills. "A three-year duty and only one year gone," he said with a laugh. "I swear I'm no better off than one of your prisoners."
Ament dined with Commander Meres and feasted on roasted goat, fresh fish, a passable bread, thin wine and a selection of local fruits and vegetables, while his men and the prisoners ate dried fish, coarse bread and onions, and though the soldiers drank barley beer, the boys had only water.
Meres pressed Ament for all the news and listened attentively as he recounted the death of Baenre and accession of the new king Userkheperure.
"You actually did duty within the palace," Meres said enviously. "I suppose you've even seen the king." Ament nodded. "And now you carry orders from him...given to you by his scribe, of course, but still to be so close...almost intimate...with the king."
"Actually, the king himself gave the orders. The scribe wrote them, of course, but Userkheperure ordered me into his presence and told me."
"He spoke to you himself? Not through an intermediary?"
"Face to face." Ament smiled wryly. "I think he enjoyed giving me the task. He's never really forgiven me for slipping him an egg with a half-formed chick inside when he was a boy."
Meres almost choked on his wine.
Ament related the story of when he had taken two small children from Men-nefer to Waset, all unaware that they had been Prince Seti and Princess Tausret.
