“Easy work but how do I know you are not in the employ of temple parasites or government drones?” the more rugged of the two asked.
Imhotep, looking outraged, replied “The taverns along the river are full of men who know of me. Do you have any knowledge of my being employed by anyone other than myself? You think me a lickspittle of government worms? Of course, if you are not interested, we will take our business elsewhere.” He placed his hand on the purse and made to get up. The other man placed his hand on Imhotep’s and said “Your gold is good. We would not have agreed to meet you if we were not sure of your reputation. Sit down, eat your food and let me order another beer for you and your companion.”
Imhotep, his apparent quickness of temper calmed, continued. “You know I commanded the vessels engaged in bringing the king’s statues from Aswan. I have met the pharaoh and he is a fair ruler. My private business has nothing to do with such matters. My client looks to save some money on equipping his tomb and if we are successful this day, I will have more work for you in the future. Funerary goods are expensive items, as you well know. A small profit for you and for me, makes our life a little easier. Am I safe in my dealings with you as surely this line of business is not without its dangers?”
The larger man, Teos by name, snarled “What is it to you?”
“Nothing my friend, nothing at all. I place little store in the rubbish I hear from the priests but I look to build my own tomb for my family and I am mindful of the wrath of the gods.”
“The wrath of the gods?” Teos laughed. “I think you have spent too much time near the king. What gods and what wrath? We steal from tombs almost every month and do you see the gods interfering with our enterprise? We have more fear of the patrols than we have of these so-called gods. We steal heart scarabs and other jewellery from the corpses. I have had my hands inside the chests of these dried fish and look, I bear no scars. The corpses are silent and no mysterious god has stilled my hand as yet. I will take my chances in the Afterlife but as nobody has come back to tell us about eternity, we have women to bed and thirst to slake. The money I make on the wharves will not allow me the pleasure of the bodies of the women in Abydos, so we help those in need with a bargain or two.” Raising his voice, he uttered “You hear me, mighty Amun? Where are you Ptah or Re? I am here. Let me buy another drink in your name.” He spat on the ground. A few near us flinched at this sacrilege.
Imhotep looked startled. “Your friend is loud and makes me nervous. I will think again before I deal with you further. We must take our leave before we are further noticed. The king has many ears, even in squalid taverns.” He made to grab the purse from the table but not before Teos pulled out a copper knife from his kilt. Imhotep and I withdrew our knives, which were made of iron, mine held at the throat of the first conspirator, Imhotep’s at Teos’ breast.
Imhotep, still a large muscular man despite his years, leant over Teos and whispered. “I am no great confidant of the king but a message from me will always arrive at his hand. I suggest you put away your knife, continue your evening’s pleasures and forget this meeting ever happened as will I, otherwise you and this scum, you call your friend, will be feeding the crocodiles from the punts of the River Guard.”
We left the Golden Orb, our hands still on our knives. Imhotep said “I will find my crew and return to the vessel just in case Teos and his companion seek revenge in the hours of darkness.”
“A worthy idea, Imhotep. I will let it be known the River Guard need follow those two closely in the next few weeks and find some reason to have them sent to the quarries in the Western Desert. I have learnt much tonight of the attitudes of such men. They have no fear of the gods and concern themselves little with the judgement of Osiris. There is no trepidation in their hearts and they look only to profits. It is such men I must defeat.”
“Sennefer, there are and always will be such men. The gods have looked on you, and I think myself, and favoured us but there are many who have been overlooked by the divinities. It is my fervent hope that, when I pass from this world, there is an Afterlife as surely it would be better than the one I have led for so many hard years. Great are the temptations placed before me on the river. Cargos shipped but lost, vessels sinking in the night, mysterious fires in warehouses, with the goods moved away before the fire takes hold. I have resisted these temptations in the belief Osiris watches and notes all. If I am wrong, I can tell you there have been many women whose bodies I have not warmed as my purse has not always been full.”
We laughed at this thought. Imhotep found his crewman who, with reluctance, left their tables and some of the sinuous women my wife spoke of and we returned to the safety of the merchantman for the night. A cargo of natron was loaded the next morning and our vessel made a long and slow passage back to Thebes, fighting against the current throughout the voyage. After we moored at the quay, I thanked Imhotep and bade him a peaceful night. I decided to stroll back to my house, letting the tensions of the trip dissipate. With some difficulty, I persuaded my man servant, who answered my knocking on our gates, to allow me to enter. Unannounced, I entered our living quarters and Ipi screamed out to the servants there was an intruder in the house. My man servant rushed in to assured her I was indeed the Master. There was an uncharitable look on her face when she ordered me outside to bathe scrupulously. Although the grime flushed away easily, it was many days before she deigned to touch me as the odour of the tannery lingered no matter how much perfumed oil was massaged into my skin. How I suffered for my king!
I thought it unwise to tell her of the incident with knives but my tale of waterside taverns and thieves amused her. “It is a shame you cannot be a mute more often when you are in this house.” was the unkind remark from her that closed another interesting chapter in my life.
Chapter 28 – THE HEB-SEB FESTIVAL
Egypt- 1249 BC
Prince Khaemwaset assumed the honour of organising his father’s jubilee, the Heb-Sed Festival, though he was having difficulties in identifying the ceremonial ritual.
Since the reunification of Upper and Lower Egypt almost 240 inundations ago ago only two kings had reigned long enough to celebrate a Heb-Sed Festival. Tuthmosis III ruled fifty-four years and Amenhotep III for thirty-eight but he died sixty-three years before Ramesses accession to the throne, so the liturgy attending their jubilee celebrations was somewhat vague. At the Ramesseum, Bakenkhons scanned ancient scrolls seeking an order of service, and for Khaemwaset’s private benefit, the original reason for a jubilee commemoration. There were moments when Bakenkhons wondered why the prince did not move from Memphis, assign himself a permanent room in the library and live in the temple at Luxor as endless copies of scrolls were despatched from the House of Life to the Temple of Ptah in response to yet another request for information from him.
For a king to rule for thirty years was a rare achievement, so rare it signified, to his subjects, an unusual bond between pharaoh and the deities. For most Egyptians, thirty inundations was literally a lifetime as the majority endured a short, hard life before an early death. A king who triumphed over the normal span of years embodied tangible evidence of the enduring benevolence of the gods.
The majority of a king’s subjects had little knowledge of the lives of previous rulers and, if they saw anything at all of the existence of the pharaoh or past rulers, it was in the heritage of the monuments they built. They had scant knowledge of earlier kings as they had no access to books or schools because the gift of education was restricted to priests, scribes and the few apprenticed to professional men. All else was word of mouth, fables, legends and monuments. I have in my own archive a short note from a scribe, in which he wrote ‘I have never seen a sculptor sent as an emissary or a bronze founder leading a mission.’ Whilst an arrogant statement, it correctly attests to the extent of learning in the kingdom.
A wise ruler was aware of his subject’s ignorance and could take advantage of their naivety. Ramesses was a master of this game. Aside from the temples
he commissioned, he decreed every town and village throughout the land receive a tablet commemorating his rule. Quarries were permanently engaged in satisfying an endless stream of orders from my hand, cutting and inscribing stellae for despatch to provincial governors, who arranged their delivery to even the most remote habitations.
Early tablets, embellished with grandiose statements dictated by Ramesses, made much of the battle of Qadesh. He laid emphasis on the intimacy of his relationship with the gods and his many acts of respectful adoration after inflicting a crushing defeat upon the Hittite hordes. As construction of temples accelerated, the inscriptions on new stellae reflected upon Ramesses’ role as a magnificent builder and venerator of the gods and, it was not unusual, over time, to find two or more tablets in even quite insignificant settlements.
One morning in his jubilee year, he arrived at my office with an armful of papyrus scrolls in his arms. He laid them on a table and proceeded to unfurl a few. I stopped working on some papers, clapped my hands and called for refreshment.
“Your Master has been busy, Lord Sennefer. Come and give me your opinion. What do you think?”
He had drawn, in his own hand, a complete series of new images and inscriptions to be engraved upon yet another issue of tablets. Each papyrus, entitled with a provincial name and lists of towns and settlements therein, defined a particular subject and the deities relevant to the region nominated. There were even papyri covering Egypt’s client states.
I was vested with the sacred responsibility of ensuring the accuracy of images and religious inscriptions that adorn all royal commissions from the grandest temple down to the simplest plaque. To assist my office in this most complex task, I was guided by a beautiful and ancient set of papyri, The Scrolls of the Divine. It is not known which holder of the office compiled these revered texts but they are the most treasured documents in my office. Scribes were engaged in making copies because many of the papyri were of great antiquity and fragile. They bore the signs of much consultation as the fullness of the panoply of our deities is bewildering to the uninitiated.
The kingdom’s principal deities, Amun, Ptah and Re, are the national gods. However, each could combine with other deities, such as Amun-Re or Re-Hakarthy. They are depicted in images specific to an occasion, building or region. Attending the principal deities in the cosmology are a host of gods and goddesses, each fulfilling a vital role. Lesser gods may be worshipped more deeply in particular regions and certain deities are unknown outside their cult centre.
Strict conventions govern the relative size of icons and these rules permit or prohibit the image of a king being bigger or smaller than the figures he is associated with in any depiction. The Scrolls describe, in finely executed paintings, each god and goddess in every possible presentation or relationship and define suitable accompanying texts appropriate to all situations. Rarely did we have call upon the Temple of Amum for an interpretation to warrant no deity was offended by our ignorance. These matters were of such import, I employed an ensemble of scribes to draft depictions before chisel touched stone. Their drawings were despatched to the Temple for authentication by a sem priest well versed in this esoteric discipline and only his imprimatur would permit my office to instruct artisans to begin their work.
I could not fault the king’s knowledge of regional deities as he studied this subject with great care and his interest in such matters made the work of my scribes less taxing. In the past he had drawn, in exact detail, what he wished depicted in the decorations of every major work he commissioned. Woe betide any scribe who wrongly corrected the king’s work as his temper could burn very hot and scorch the cheek of he who was in error. I remember well the time a sem priest had rightfully reduced the scale of the image of the king in relation to an icon of Amun. Ramesses summoned the priest to my office and made it clear in crisp tones that he, the pharaoh, brother of Amun, knew how he should be represented in the company of the gods. The priest fled in terror after much grovelling and offers of apology.
I cast my eyes over each of the papyri, smiled and said “Your modesty becomes you, Ramesses. However, you seem to have missed the temple you commissioned at Sile in the eastern Delta and there is a small shrine I remember you ordered built at the diorite quarry west of Aswan. Surely, there is room on this papyrus for mention of that work?” I pointed to the roll covering the Aswan region.
He returned my smile. “Osiris must again note your irreverence, Sennefer. Why must you behave like a flea biting my crotch? I labour at my desk for many months to prepare these exquisite scrolls and you immediately find some insignificant error. My other officials would fawn all over me, praising the beauty of my work and commenting favourably on my undoubted knowledge. You are fortunate we enjoy times of peace, otherwise I would consider composing another decree about those desert fortifications we discussed many, many years ago.”
“Ah, Ruler Most Divine, you are only to point to which royal sandal I must kiss and, instantly, my head will be lower than the belly of an asp.”
“Lord Amun, give me some respite from this irreverent pest. You, of all people, understand the importance of my subjects knowing they have a king who labours for them. These new plaques are the only method whereby my people know what I do, what I build and how the gods, through me, bring peace, harmony and prosperity to the kingdom.”
“Ramesses, I am aware of the need and I mean not to question your wisdom or the import of this matter but perhaps a few less words and more images might be better?” I observed somewhat dryly. “Most of your subjects cannot read and many of the tablets destined for more remote areas may be meaningless unless some passing scribe can read the inscriptions to the inhabitants.”
He paused, consulted some of the papyri, took pen in hand and made some changes. He seemed momentarily offended, as he slashed at the rolls with some force but he soon calmed himself.
“You are correct again. Forgive my anger - I have forgotten that you frequent low river taverns and, with ease, consort with the peasantry as equals. I have made such a habit of displaying anger in the presence of so much of the foolishness that surrounds my administrative life, I forget to acknowledge the truth when it stares me in the face. Please make any changes you wish to this pile as I know you best apprehend my desires. Nevertheless, your impudence must not go unpunished. Possibly some act of divine intervention may cause you to learn a modicum of respect for your sovereign, although I believe even Osiris expresses despair at the slowness of your learning. See, even your smile mocks my authority. It is my command you immediately collect your hunting equipment and accompany me as we seek out another lion to kill this fine afternoon. The pallor on your cheeks indicates you sit too long at your table and the beams from Re’s solar barque need to touch your face.”
The jubilee presented Ramesses with yet another opportunity to trumpet his achievements so he had entrusted Khaemwaset with the task of organising the events surrounding the Heb-Sed festival whilst he created imperial flourishes to garnish the festivities. The deaths of his three older brothers had raised the prince’s status to that of heir apparent and he was recently elevated from sem priest to high priest of Ptah in Memphis. A consummate administrator and man of deep religious learning made the prince the most appropriate person to arrange the year-long celebration. The sacred rituals would be conducted under the benevolence of Ptah-Tatenen, a twinned deity of Memphite origin, though the more secular festivities would be at Pi-Ramess, a far more convivial city than the other major centres, which were redolent of religiosity.
Khaemwaset sent forth emissaries six months before the beginning of the jubilee year to ensure none were unaware of the festival. He commissioned new stellae proclaiming the Heb-Sed Festival and again a small army of masons applied chisels to stone. Invitations were addressed to the kingdom’s nobility and, in due course, Ipi and I received ours. We were enjoined to present ourselves in Memphis to attend the temple services before journeying to Pi-Ramess for a week of more informal gatherings. Wh
ilst I arranged the management of my office during my absence Ipi, having consulted her wardrobe, felt compelled to again lighten my purse declaring, in the nature of all women, she had nothing suitable to wear. I no longer queried such remarks as I was many years married and knew the futility of discussing this matter logically.
Some months later we embarked, with many servants and chests, for the voyage to Memphis. Under Khaemwaset’s hand, the city had been cleaned, buildings made resplendent in new paint, flag poles flew brightly coloured pennants specially commissioned for the Festival and the streets thronged with visitors. Unhappily, Ipi’s parents had both recently died but her sister, brother and his wife still lived there and we enjoyed a joyous family re-union before the start of formal ritual.
The anniversary of the day when Ramesses first placed the crown upon his head heralded the start of the festival. Large crowds massed outside the temple and, with some difficulty, the king made his progress from the palace to the interior courtyard where the nobility and foreign emissaries awaited his arrival. Ramesses rode in a chariot of gold foiled wood drawn by four white horses, their heads resplendent with red ostrich plumes. Behind him paraded the princes, also regally attired. At the steps leading to the inner sanctuaries, he was greeted by Prince Khaemwaset, attired in the full regalia of the high priest. Temple priestesses shook their sistrums whilst priests scattered petals around the king’s feet. Chantresses sang hymns to accompany his entrance to the sanctuaries and then silence descended on the assembled gathering. None but the king could enter the most holy chapels to commune with his divine family.
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