“From the second courtyard, three ramps will pierce a facade that should look like this.” More lines flowed across the paper. “Here and here, between the ramps, you will erect two enthroned granite statues of your Master.”
“How tall should these statues be?”
“They must be of modest dimensions, their heads no higher than the façade lintels.”
I leaned over and drew the symbol for ‘colossal’ on the sketch. He laughed.
“The ramps lead to the inner pillared hall, which is to be lined with two rows of columns, six per row, and these columns will be eleven metres tall. I want these in the form of papyrus stems capped with papyrus umbrels. Side chapels are to be built to the left and right of the hall and their walls lined with bundled papyrus columns.”
Occasionally, I would break in with a question about some detail, which Ramesses answered decisively. When I offered a suggestion, he listened with care and quickly made amendments when he thought the idea worthy. As he drew the main outline I grabbed some paper and sketched a number of separate and more elaborate designs. He watched the results as my hands flew over the papyrus and nodded with approval. At one point, I made the height of some columns too short and he reached over, and with his pen, increased their length dramatically.
“Remember, Sennefer, this is to be a modest building reflecting my humility. Roof the entire main temple with limestone lintels and blocks, though I want more light to penetrate the pillared hall, so see if you can create a lattice effect in the architrave above the lintels.” I made a quick sketch and he nodded in approval again.
“You understand my thinking very quickly. That is good as I have no time to waste describing every detail. As one moves towards the sanctuary, there will be four small shrine sanctuaries for the gods Ptah, Re, Osiris and Isis. The innermost chapel, dedicated to Amun, will hold his sacred barque and image.”
I marvelled as this was developing into a very imposing complex.
“On the northern side of the temple, excavate a sacred pool and plant a grove of acacias.” More lines on the papyrus. “On the southern side to the left of the first courtyard, build rooms for the temple priests and behind that lay out an open garden area. The remaining buildings, of limestone block with vaulted roofs, are for the storage of grain, records and other miscellanea.” Marking a spot near the shrine chambers he continued “Here will be the treasury containing my funerary goods.”
“Beside the stairs in the first courtyard, there are to be two statues. One in grey granite and the other in red granite from the quarry at Aswan. These statues will be of me enthroned. Lest you have trouble comprehending my modesty, they are to be twenty five metres tall. The first will carry the inscription “Ramesses – He who shines upon the Land” and the second, “Ramesses – Divine Ruler of Upper and Lower Egypt”
I paused. “Master, a minute.” I made some quick calculations. “Forgive me but such statutes would be impossible to ship from Aswan as there are no vessels capable of transporting such weights.”
“You are sure?” he queried. I nodded. “Well, have them made as large as possible. You will have unlimited manpower and money. If there is something you need, please consult me but I am relying on your skill and imagination. How long will it take to complete my temple? Remember, I want my mortuary temple to be a statement of my divinity. That means powerful. Delicacy is for queens. This is not a replica of Hatshepsut’s piece of finery.”
“I doubt anyone could make an unfavourable comparison between the heavy bulk of her temple and the modest proportions of your temple, could they?”
“Sennefer, there are stringent penalties for those who mock their ruler. You have mentioned being fed to crocodiles and pits of scorpions and I am sure there are many other ways to teach an irreverent architect some piety.”
“I throw myself on your mercy. In answer to your question, based on previous experience, I suggest at least ten years.”
“Ten years is too long. I want you to tax yourself. You have unlimited authority to complete this building as quickly as possible.”
“Now, I wish to discuss my final resting place but in this I admit to a serious limitation. I was able to inspect my father’s tomb during its construction and again briefly during the burial ceremony. Apparently, even I cannot open royal graves to make a casual inspection of my forebears tombs so I have little idea of what a royal tomb should look like. I have discussed this with the high priest who advised me to re-open a tomb for such a purpose would require a burden of ritual observance I would not wish to endure though I think him a trifle pompous about this matter.”
“Meketre, the architect of your father’s tomb, still lives in Thebes. I can meet with him and discuss this problem as I have little experience in this narrow subject. My apprenticeship taught me about tombs for nobles but my Master was never engaged on the construction of a royal crypt. It will be necessary to seek the advice of the high priest as I understand there are very specific requirements in the design of a royal tomb and the style of ornamentation.”
I continued “Still, the meeting will be of short duration. As befitting your humility, I assume you only need an unassuming entrance, a single corridor and a simple burial chamber. More would be gilding the royal lily, surely?”
“Be warned. Osiris notes your irreverence well. When your black heart is placed on Thoth’s scales, it will probably break it. Now be about your business. Arrange to meet Meketre and the high priest and find out all you can about this matter. I leave for Pi-Ramess tomorrow as our northern neighbours choose to believe they have recovered from my father’s punitive campaigns and I need to ensure the kingdom is well protected. The architect you appointed to oversee the strengthening of fortifications and martial buildings seems to be equal to his task. Though he has little imagination, I am pleased with the progress so far. We will discuss the royal tomb when I return several months hence, by which time I am sure you will have drawn up recommendations for my review.”
He rose, saluting me in departure and took his leave. I watched him mount his chariot and disappear in a plume of dust, the horse’s ostrich feather headdress streaming out behind them. The king only used his lighter, more mobile war chariot in times of battle. For his domestic travels, he preferred the two man chariot which was heavier and better able to withstand the punishment inflicted on all wheeled carriages by the poor conditions of our roads and the stresses imposed upon it by the vigour with which he drove his team.
I walked back to the portico and looked at his draft for his temple. He drew with a firm hand and was able to convey, without wasted effort, what he envisaged. His father’s temple bore the inscription, The House of Millions of Years, an obvious indication that Seti believed the building would last for an eternity. Seti wisely used much more stone in his temple than his predecessors as stone would long outlast mud brick.
Whilst pondering on the royal tomb I thought about the pyramids of Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure at Giza. These would certainly stand forever as they are massive monolithic piles of stone. The same kings also built their mortuary temples in limestone. These buildings have stood for almost 1,400 years and remained in good repair. Surprisingly, Amenhotep had built too much of his mortuary temple in mud brick and, even though the building was only 70 years old, there were signs of decay. His architect also made the mistake of siting the temple far too close to the edge of the river and water from the annual flooding was beginning to erode the wall surrounding the complex.
“What a remarkable people we are,” I thought. I had visited the necropolis at Abydos and stood at the tomb of King Nebre, a ruler who had gone to the Afterlife at least one and a half millennia ago. Ancient papyri record our first king, Namer, whose tomb is now lost, ruled 1,850 years before our time. These were incredible lengths of time and I could not begin to comprehend the passage of so much history. I have read copies of the King List where it is recorded Egypt has been ruled by over one hundred and eighty kings and queens in the ages before Ra
messes’ birth and, though the land had suffered periods of great instability and even foreign domination, the kingdom had endured and grown in power. What other country could boast of such a long and successful heritage?
I was honoured to work with a king who felt this heritage deep within his soul. Even though I was subtly amused by the king’s grandiose plans, the sense of continuity with our glorious past was inescapable. Reflecting on the world I lived in, it was impossible not to be awed by the majesty, history and traditions in our ordered land. The kingdom was surrounded by a sea of barbarians and uncouth desert marauders. Periodically, we had to crush them under our foot with armed might, since they ignored the advantage of emulating our civilisation and only sought to annoy us with their petty uprisings.
To our west were the Libyans, an unruly and nomadic people who assailed our borders with clouds of flea infested rabble whose undisciplined raids were easily beaten off. To the east, at the far side of the Sea of Reeds, were the Nabateans, a people of little consequence, who roamed the endless wastes of their homeland. To the south, below the Fourth Cataract, live the Nubians, a black skinned people who share many aspects of our culture. Yet even they have to be repeatedly punished for their misguided and arrogant belief they were our equals. After Seti’s last campaign, Nubia is what it should be, a cowed client state and Nubians are nothing more than slaves and miners of gold. Further south, was the mysterious Land of Punt from where we buy timber and exotic merchandise.
Far to the north, and inland from the margins of the Great Sea, are confederations of truly barbaric peoples, warlike, uncivilised and builders of limited imagination. The Hittites are nothing better than maggots who feast on the decayed corpses of their equally barbaric neighbours. Hittite men are heavily bearded, hairy bodied and uncouth creatures fit only to wash a Pharaoh’s chariot wheels with their blood and their women suitable only for pleasuring our military. Merchants brought tales of the island civilisation of the Cretans but they are insignificant when measured against our achievements. As a testament to the nobility of our culture, even when the country had to endure the years of Hyksos rule, their alien kings adopted our ways at their capital, Avaris.
If one wished to see evidence of our civilisation, he would need look no further than the mortuary temples of Horemheb, the Tuthmosis kings, Seti and the grandiose temple of Amenhotep III on the plain across the Nile from Thebes. No doubt motivated by envy of Amenhotep’s vast mortuary complex and its two colossal statues of the great king, the temple Ramesses had conceived would become the largest funerary temple in the country.
These temples serve many purposes. They are a resting place for the divine barques carrying the images of the gods on their progress from Karnak and Luxor during the Opet Festival. All house shrine rooms for many gods and goddesses of the kingdom. Within their walls were the palaces used by earlier pharaohs during their visits to Thebes and many served as the centre of provincial government of the ruling king. But, in my somewhat jaundiced view, they are principally places to venerate their sponsors and most show little evidence of false modesty. Then again, I was immature in my understanding of the ways of imperial rule and, as Ramesses kept reminding me in my early relationship with him, I had much to learn about this matter.
On my office wall, stretching from ceiling to floor, there hangs a scroll sent to me by Ramesses. Written in his own hand, he records a partial list of his royal titles. He hails himself, amongst other titles as,
The Mighty Bull, Beloved of Maat, Lord of the Shrines of Nekhebet and Uatchet, Master of Egypt, Conqueror of Foreign Countries, Horus of Gold, Mighty One of Years, He of Great Strength, Exalter of Thebes, Vivifier of the Two Lands, Son of Set, Son of Amen, Son of Temu, Son of Ptah-Tanen, Son of Khepera, Son of Amen, Smiter of the Asiatics, Valiant Warrior, Lord of Festivals, King of Kings, Bull of Princes.
My Master is a man of subtle understatement. His titles attribute to him all possible virtues and associate his name with every deity in the divine panoply. Still, they defined, for all Egyptians, the robust majesty which an absolute ruler embodies. When he noted that I had hung the scroll next to my desk, he observed dryly it was good that I had a reminder of his presence close to hand, promising to update it as further inspiration arose in his mind. I thanked him for his generosity of spirit.
Our pharaoh, Ramesses, was the incarnate son of the great god, Amun, who had mystically fused with his earthly father to mate with the king’s mother, Tuy. Our religion holds that a convocation of celestial gods decide upon the conception of a successor to the present king and, once an auspicious date was chosen, Amun, manifest in the form of her husband, visits the martial bed and impregnates her. Upon awakening after the night of sacred union, Amun whispers to her that he has blessed her with his divine seed and the product of this sublime congress will ‘exercise the excellent kingship in this whole land.’
Amun calls upon Khnum, the god who fashions mankind, to mould the physical counterpart of the heralded child on his potter’s wheel. The figure so shaped receives the gift of life from the breath of the goddess of childbirth, Hathor. Then, Thoth informs the queen that the divine essence grows within her womb and she will receive succour from Khnum and Hathor during her confinement. At the birthing, the goddesses, Isis, Nepthys, Meskenet and Thouris attend the queen and the newly born royal child is presented to Amun by Hathor.
Ramesses wrote of his own divine birth in these words, ‘I came forth from Re, whilst Seti bought me up. The Lord of All made me great, whilst I was a child, before I reigned. He gave to me the land whilst I was still in the egg; the great placed their noses on the earth before me when I was installed as the eldest son, as executive on the throne of Geb. My father appeared to the people, I was a child in his arms, and he said, concerning me, ‘Crown him as king, that I may see his beauty while I live with him.’”
The majesty and divinity of the king, his virtues and benevolence, would be made manifest at his temples and every deity, heavenly or resident in the land, would find a niche, crypt or shrine within the temple sanctuaries. Was he not right in commanding the sculpture of the huge colossi of himself and the building of the most overwhelming mortuary temple yet seen?
His mortuary temple would be, upon his death, the place from where he will begin his journey into the Second Life. Here, in the innermost sanctum, watched over by Anubis, he would rest in his coffins, anointed, his body preserved for all time by its immersion in natron and perfumed resin, his organs placed in viscera vases, the body swathed in fine linen wrappings and protected by sacred amulets and scarabs. The priests would recite from the Book of Coming Forth by the Day and offer his name to Osiris before his body was borne up and taken to his final home in the royal necropolis.
After a moment’s contemplation at the small shrine of Thoth in my office, I resolved to build this man a fitting memorial, an edifice that would continue to amaze and bring honour to his name centuries after we had all returned to the earth as dust. I picked up a fresh sheet of papyrus and ink set and began to plan.
Chapter 10 - A TOMB FIT FOR A KING
Egypt 1276 BC
Over the past two days, Ramesses had visited the tombs of the kings who ruled Egypt since the rout of the Hyksos two hundred and ninety years ago. I accompanied the king, High Priest Nebwenenef and Imhotep, the Keeper of the Great Place on this solemn pilgrimage. A scribe from my office and a detachment of Royal Guard officers followed us at a discreet distance. Stationed under tented pavilions throughout the valley were Royal Guardsmen, dressed in stark white kilts bearing the insignia of Ramesses, with their gold tipped lances and iron swords serving as stern warning to any who sought to desecrate this hallowed ground.
The king’s homage began at the insignificant crypt of King Ahmose that was well hidden amongst boulders on the massif facing the Temple of Amun across the river. Sadly, we could not locate the tomb of his father, Kamose, who had girded his loins, assembled an army from the disaffected in Upper Egypt and led the rebellion against the Hy
ksos rulers only to fall in battle against the hated foreigners. Their power, weakened by the ferocity of sustained Egyptian attacks, left the Hyksos vulnerable to the grim determination of his vengeful son who drove the invaders back from whence they came. Ahmose’s warriors streamed into the Delta and, with sword and lance, they caused the desert sand to turn ruddy with Hyksos blood, their bodies crushed beneath the trampling hooves of Egyptian chariot horses and left for vultures to feast voraciously on their corpses.
Ahmose returned victorious to the Hittite capital, Avaris. He threw down their buildings, smashed their images and enslaved those they left behind in their headlong flight northwards. His lust for vengeance sated, Ahmose returned to Thebes to begin the great task of rebuilding a kingdom reunited under an Egyptian pharaoh. He was entombed in a simple crypt from where his spirit could look out over the beloved city of his birth. His son and successor, Amenhotep, built his more elaborate tomb next to that of his father, as did his great-grandson, Tuthmosis II
We ventured into the remote western arm of the ravine to pay homage to King Ay who succeeded Tutankhamen, in a brief reign. The only other tomb in the western valley is that of the great builder of empire and monuments, Amenhotep III, a king with whom Ramesses espoused an unusual affinity. Ramesses’ keen desire to survey the tomb of Amenhotep was thwarted as it is well sealed behind a stout limestone wall. The style of his tomb and the riches that accompanied Amenhotep on his voyage to the Afterlife would forever remain the subject of conjecture as it was believed that not even a king could sanction the breaking open of a royal grave to satisfy mere curiosity.
In the eastern valley, Ramesses made offertories to Tuthmosis I, Queen Hatshepsut, Amenhotep II, Tuthmosis III, Tuthmosis IV, Horemheb and Ramesses I. Missing from this august list was the apostate, Akhenaton. This naive and foolish king, born Amenhotep IV, was buried in Akhet-Aten, which now lies in ruins. The heretic’s tomb is unvisited, save by jackals, scorpions and desert serpents.
The Golden Falcon Page 12
