Moon of Israel: A Tale of the Exodus

by H. Rider Haggard

  Dawn came at last, showing the most awful sight that was ever beheld bythe eye of man.

  The wall of cloud had disappeared, and in the clear light of themorning, we perceived that the deep waters of the Sea of Reeds haddivided themselves, leaving a raised roadway that seemed to havebeen cleared by the wind, or perchance to have been thrown up by theearthquake. Who can say? Not I who never set foot upon that path ofdeath. Along this wide road streamed the tens of thousands of theIsraelites, passing between the water on the right hand, and the wateron the left, and after them followed all the army of Pharaoh, save thosewho had deserted, and stood or lay around us, watching. We could evensee the golden chariots that marked the presence of Pharaoh himself, andof his bodyguard, deep in the heart of the broken host that struggledforward without discipline or order.

  "What now? Oh! what now?" murmured Seti, and as he spoke there was asecond shock of earthquake. Then to the west on the sea there arose amighty wave, whereof the crest seemed to be high as a pyramid. It rolledforward with a curved and foaming head, and in the hollow of it for amoment, no more, we saw the army of Egypt. Yet in that moment I seemedto see mighty shapes fleeing landwards along the crest of the wave,which shapes I took to be the gods of Egypt, pursued by a form of lightand glory that drove them as with a scourge. They came, they went,accompanied by a sound of wailing, and the wave fell.

  But beyond it, the hordes of Israel still marched--upon the furthershore.

  Dense gloom followed, and through the gloom I saw, or thought I saw,Merapi, Moon of Israel, standing before us with a troubled face andheard or thought I heard her cry:

  "_Oh! help me, my lord Seti! Help me, my lord Seti!_"

  Then she too was gone.

  "Harness the chariots!" cried Seti, in a hollow voice.

  CHAPTER XVIII

  THE CROWNING OF MERAPI

  Fast as sped our horses, rumour, or rather the truth, carried by thosewho had gone before us, flew faster. Oh! that journey was as a dreambegotten by the evil gods. On we galloped through the day and throughthe night and lo! at every town and village women rushed upon us crying:

  "Is it true, O travellers, is it true that Pharaoh and his host areperished in the sea?"

  Then old Bakenkhonsu would call in answer:

  "It is true that he who _was_ Pharaoh and his host are perished in thesea. But lo! here is he who _is_ Pharaoh," and he pointed to the Prince,who took no heed and said nothing, save:

  "On! On!"

  Then forward we would plunge again till once more the sound of wailingdied into silence.

  It was sunset, and at length we drew near to the gates of Memphis. ThePrince turned to me and spoke.

  "Heretofore I have not dared to ask," he said, "but tell me, Ana. In thegloom after the great cliff of water fell and the shapes of terror sweptby, did you seem to see a woman stand before us and did you seem to hearher speak?"

  "I did, O Prince."

  "Who was that woman and what did she say?"

  "She was one who bore a child to you, O Prince, which child is not, andshe said, 'Oh! help me, my lord Seti. Help me, my lord Seti!'"

  His face grew ashen even beneath its veil of dust, and he groaned.

  "Two who loved her have seen and two who loved her have heard," he said."There is no room for doubt. Ana, she is dead!"

  "I pray the gods----"

  "Pray not, for the gods of Egypt are also dead, slain by the god ofIsrael. Ana, who has murdered her?"

  With my finger I who am a draughtsman drew in the thick dust that layon the board of the chariot the brows of a man and beneath them two deepeyes. The gilt on the board where the sun caught it looked like light inthe eyes.

  The Prince nodded and said:

  "Now we shall learn whether great magicians such as Ki can die likeother men. Yes, if need be, to learn that I will put on Pharaoh'scrown."

  We halted at the gates of Memphis. They were shut and barred, but fromwithin the vast city rose a sound of tumult.

  "Open!" cried the Prince to the guard.

  "Who bids me open?" answered the captain of the gate peering at us, forthe low sun lay behind.

  "Pharaoh bids you open."

  "Pharaoh!" said the man. "We have sure tidings that Pharaoh and hisarmies are slain by wizardry in the sea."

  "Fool!" thundered the Prince, "Pharaoh never dies. Pharaoh Amenmesesis with Osiris but the good god Seti Meneptah who _is_ Pharaoh bids youopen."

  Then the bronze gates rolled back, and those who guarded them prostratedthemselves in the dust.

  "Man," I called to the captain, "what means yonder shouting?"

  "Sir," he answered, "I do not know, but I am told that the witch who hasbrought woe on Egypt and by magic caused the death of Pharaoh Amenmesesand his armies, dies by fire in the place before the temple."

  "By whose command?" I cried again as the charioteer flogged the horses,but no answer reached our ears.

  We rushed on up the wide street to the great place that was packed withtens of thousands of the people. We drove the horses at them.

  "Way for Pharaoh! Way for the Mighty One, the good god, Seti Meneptah,King of the Upper and the Lower Land!" shouted the escort.

  The people turned and saw the tall shape of the Prince still clad in therobes of state which he had worn when he stood before Amenmeses in thepavilion by the sea.

  "Pharaoh! Pharaoh! Hail to Pharaoh!" they cried, prostrating themselves,and the cry passed on through Memphis like a wind.

  Now we were come to the centre of the place, and there in front of thegreat gates of the temple burned a vast pyre of wood. Before the pyremoved figures, in one of whom I knew Ki dressed in his magician's robe.Outside of these there was a double circle of soldiers who kept thepeople back, which these needed, for they raved like madmen and shooktheir fists. A group of priests near the fire separated, and I saw thatamong them stood a man and a woman, the latter with dishevelled hair andtorn robes as though she had been roughly handled. At this moment herstrength seemed to fail her and she sank to the ground, lifting her faceas she did so. It was the face of Merapi, Moon of Israel.

  So she was not dead. The man at her side stooped as though to lift herup, but a stone thrown out of the shadow struck him in the back andcaused him to straighten himself, which he did with a curse at thethrower. I knew the voice at once, although the speaker was disguised.

  It was that of Laban the Israelite, he who had been betrothed to Merapi,and had striven to murder us in the land of Goshen. What did he here? Iwondered dimly.

  Ki was speaking. "Hark how the Hebrew cat spits," he said. "Well,the cause has been tried and the verdict given, and I think that thefamiliar should feed the flames before the witch. Watch him now, andperhaps he will change into something else."

  All this he said, smiling in his usual pleasant fashion, even when hemade a sign to certain black temple slaves who stood near. They leaptforward, and I saw the firelight shone upon their copper armlets as theygripped Laban. He fought furiously, shouting:

  "Where are your armies, Egyptians, and where is your dog of a Pharaoh?Go dig them from the Sea of Reeds. Farewell, Moon of Israel. Look howyour royal lover crowns you at the last, O faithless----"

  He said no more, for at this moment the slaves hurled him headlong intothe heart of the great fire, which blackened for a little and burnedbright again.

  Then it was that Merapi struggled to her feet and cried in a ringingvoice those very words which the Prince and I had seemed to hear herspeak far away by the Sea of Reeds--"_Oh! help me my lord Seti! Help me,my lord Seti!_" Yes, the same words which had echoed in our ears daysbefore they passed her lips, or so we believed.

  Now all this while our chariots had been forcing their way foot by footthrough the wall of the watching crowd, perhaps while a man might counta hundred, no more. As the echoes of her cry died away at length we werethrough and leaping to the ground.

  "The witch calls on one who sups to-night at the board of Osiris withPharaoh and his host," sneered Ki. "Well,
let her go to seek him thereif the guardian gods will suffer it," and again he made a sign to theblack slaves.

  But Merapi had seen or felt Seti advancing from the shadows and seeingflung herself upon his breast. He kissed her on the brow before themall, then bade me hold her up and turned to face the people.

  "Bow down. Bow down. Bow down!" cried the deep voice of Bakenkhonsu."Life! Blood! Strength! Pharaoh! Pharaoh! Pharaoh!" and what he said theescort echoed.

  Then of a sudden the multitude understood. To their knees they fell andfrom every side rose the ancient salutation. Seti held up his handand blessed them. Watching, I saw Ki slip towards the darkness, andwhispered a word to the guards, who sprang upon him and brought himback.

  Then the Prince spoke:

  "Ye name me Pharaoh, people of Memphis, and Pharaoh I fear I am bydescent of blood to-day, though whether I will consent to bear theburdens of government, should Egypt wish it of me, as yet I know not.Still he who wore the double crown is, I believe, dead in the midstof the sea; at the least I saw the waters overwhelm him and his army.Therefore, if only for an hour, I will be Pharaoh, that as Pharaoh I mayjudge of certain matters. Lady Merapi, tell me, I pray you, how came youto this pass?"

  "My lord," she answered, in a low voice, "after you had gone to warn thearmy of Pharaoh because of that dream I dreamed, Ki, who departed onthe same day, returned again. Through one of the women of the household,over whom he had power, or so I think, he obtained access to me when Iwas alone in my chamber. There he made me this offer:

  "'Give me,' he said, 'the secret of your magic that I may be avengedupon the wizards of the Hebrews who have brought about my downfall, andupon the Hebrews themselves, and also upon all my other enemies, andthus once more become the greatest man in Egypt. In turn I will fulfilall your desires, and make you, and no other, Queen of Egypt, and beyour faithful servant, and that of your lord Seti who shall be Pharaoh,until the end of your lives. Refuse, and I will stir up the peopleagainst you, and before ever the Prince returns, if he returns at all,they who believe you to be an evil sorceress shall mete out to you thefate of a sorceress.'

  "My lord, I answered to Ki what I have often told him before, that Ihad no magic to reveal to him, I who knew nothing of the black arts ofsorcery, seeing that it was not I who destroyed the statue of Amon inthe temple at Tanis, but that same Power which since then has broughtall the plagues on Egypt. I said, too, that I cared nothing for thegifts he offered to me, as I had no wish to be Queen of Egypt. My lord,he laughed in my face, saying I should find that he was one ill to mock,as others had found before me. Then he pointed at me with his wand andmuttered some spell over me, which seemed to numb my limbs and voice,holding me helpless till he had been gone a long while, and could not befound by your servants, whom I commanded in your name to seize, and keephim till your return.

  "From that hour the people began to threaten me. They crowded about thepalace gates in thousands, crying day and night that they were going tokill me, the witch. I prayed for help, but from me, a sinner, heavenhas grown so far away that my prayers seem to fall back unheard upon myhead. Even the servants in the palace turned against me, and would notlook upon my face. I grew mad with fear and loneliness, since all fledbefore me. At last one night towards the dawn I went on to the terrace,and since no god would hear me, I turned towards the north whither Iknew that you had gone, and cried to you to help me in those same wordswhich I cried again just now before you appeared." (Here the Princelooked at me and I Ana looked at him.) "Then it was that from among thebushes of the garden appeared a man, hidden in a long, sheepskin cloak,so that I could not see his face, who said to me:

  "'Moon of Israel, I have been sent by his Highness, the Prince Seti, totell you that you are in danger of your life, as he is in danger of his,wherefore he cannot come to you. His command is that you come to him,that together you may flee away out of Egypt to a land where you willboth be safe until all these troubles are finished.'

  "'How know I that you of the veiled face are a true messenger?' I asked.'Give me a sign.'

  "Then he held out to me that scarabaeus of lapis-lazuli which yourHighness gave to me far away in the land of Goshen, the same that youasked back from me as a love token when we plighted troth, and you gaveme your royal ring, which scarabaeus I had seen in your robe when youdrove away with Ana."

  "I lost it on our journey to the Sea of Reeds, but said nothing of it toyou, Ana, because I thought the omen evil, having dreamed in the nightthat Ki appeared and stole it from me," whispered the Prince to me.

  "'It is not enough,' I answered. 'This jewel may have been thievedaway, or snatched from the dead body of the Prince, or taken from him bymagic.'

  "The cloaked man thought a while and said, 'This night, not an hour ago,Pharaoh and his chariots were overwhelmed in the Sea of Reeds. Let thatserve as a sign.'

  "'How can this be?' I answered, 'since the Sea of Reeds is far away,and such tidings cannot travel thence in an hour. Get you gone, falsetempter.'

  "'Yet it is so,' he answered.

  "'When you prove it to me, I will believe, and come.'

  "'Good,' he said, and was gone.

  "Next day a rumour began to run that this awful thing had happened. Itgrew stronger and stronger, until all swore that it had happened. Nowthe fury of the people rose against me, and they ravened round thepalace like lions of the desert, roaring for my blood. Yet it was asthough they could not enter here, since whenever they rushed at thegates or walls, they fell back again, for some spirit seemed to protectthe place. The days went by; the night came again and at the dawn, thisdawn that is past, once more I stood upon the terrace, and once more thecloaked man appeared from among the trees.

  "'Now you have heard, Moon of Israel,' he said, 'and now you mustbelieve and come, although you think yourself safe because at thebeginning of the plagues this, the home of Seti, was enchanted againstevil, so that none within it can be harmed.'

  "'I have heard, and I think that I believe, though how the tidingsreached Memphis in an hour I do not understand. Yet, stranger, I say toyou that it is not enough.'

  "Then the man drew a papyrus roll from his bosom and threw it at myfeet. I opened it and read. The writing was the writing of Ana as I knewwell, and the signature was the signature of you, my lord, and it wassealed with your seal, and with the seal of Bakenkhonsu as a witness.Here it is," and from the breast of her garment, she drew out a roll andgave it to me upon whom she rested all this while.

  I opened it, and by the light of torches the Prince, Bakenkhonsu, andI read. It was as she had told us in what seemed to be my writing, andsigned and sealed as she had said. The words ran:

  "To Merapi, Moon of Israel, in my house at Memphis.

  "Come, Lady, Flower of Love, to me your lord, to whom the bearer of thiswill guide you safely. Come at once, for I am in great danger, as youare, and together only can we be safe."

  "Ana, what means this?" asked the Prince in a terrible voice. "If youhave betrayed me and her----"

  "By the gods," I began angrily, "am I a man that I should live to heareven your Highness speak thus to me, or am I but a dog of the desert?"

  I ceased, for at that moment Bakenkhonsu began to laugh.

  "Look at the letter!" he laughed. "Look at the letter."

  We looked, and as we looked, behold the writing on it turned firstto the colour of blood and then faded away, till presently there wasnothing in my hand but a blank sheet of papyrus.

  "Oho-ho!" laughed Bakenkhonsu. "Truly, friend Ki, you are the firstof magicians, save those prophets of the Israelites who have broughtyou--Whither have they brought you, friend Ki?"

  Then for the first time the painted smile left the face of Ki, and itbecame like a block of stone in which were set two angry jewels thatwere his eyes.

  "Continue, Lady," said the Prince.

  "I obeyed the letter. I fled away with the man who said he had a chariotwaiting. We passed out by the little gate.

  "'Where is the chariot?' I asked.

/>   "'We go by boat,' he answered, and led the way towards the river. As wethreaded the big palm grove men appeared from between the trees.

  "'You have betrayed me,' I cried.

  "'Nay,' he answered, 'I am myself betrayed.'

  "Then for the first time I knew his voice for that of Laban.

  "The men seized us; at the head of them was Ki.

  "'This is the witch,' he said, 'who, her wickedness finished, flies withher Hebrew lover, who is also the familiar of her sorceries.'

  "They tore the cloak and the false beard from him and there before mestood Laban. I cursed him to his face. But all he answered was:

  "'Merapi, what I have done I did for love of you. It was my purpose totake you away to our people, for here I knew that they would kill you.This magician promised you to me if I could tempt you from the safety ofthe palace, in return for certain tidings that I have given him.'

  "These were the only words that passed between us till the end. Theydragged us to the secret prison of the great temple where we wereseparated. Here all day long Ki and the priests tormented me withquestions, to which I gave no answer. Towards the evening they broughtme out and led me here with Laban at my side. When the people saw me agreat cry went up of 'Sorceress! Hebrew witch!' They broke through theguard; they seized me, threw me to the ground and beat me. Laban stroveto protect me but was torn away. At length the people were driven off,and oh! my lord, you know the rest. I have spoken truth, I can no more."

  So saying her knees loosened beneath her and she swooned. We bore her tothe chariot.

  "You have heard, Ki," said the Prince. "Now, what answer?"

  "None, O Pharaoh," he replied coldly, "for Pharaoh you are, as Ipromised that you should be. My spirit has deserted me, those Hebrewshave stolen it away. That writing should have faded from the scrollas soon as it was read by yonder lady, and then I would have told youanother story; a story of secret love, of betrayal and attempted flightwith her lover. But some evil god kept it there until you also had read,you who knew that you had not written what appeared before your eyes.Pharaoh, I am conquered. Do your will with me, and farewell. Beloved youshall always be as you have always been, but happy never in this world."

  "O People," cried Seti, "I will not be judge in my own cause. You haveheard, do you judge. For this wizard, what reward?"

  Then there went up a great cry of "Death! Death by fire. The death hehad made ready for the innocent!"

  That was the end, but they told me afterwards that, when the great pyrehad burned out, in it was found the head of Ki looking like a red-hotstone. When the sunlight fell on it, however, it crumbled and fadedaway, as the writing had faded from the roll. If this be true I do notknow, who was not present at the time.

  We bore Merapi to the palace. She lived but three days, she whose bodyand spirit were broken. The last time I saw her was when she sent for menot an hour before death came. She was lying in Seti's arms babbling tohim of their child and looking very sweet and happy. She thanked me formy friendship, smiling the while in a way which showed me that she knewit was more than friendship, and bade me tend my master well until weall met again elsewhere. Then she gave me her hand to kiss and I wentaway weeping.

  After she was dead a strange fancy took Seti. In the great hall of thepalace he caused a golden throne to be put up, and on this throne he sether in regal garments, with pectoral and necklaces of gems, crowned likea queen of Egypt, and thus he showed her to the lords of Memphis. Thenhe caused her to be embalmed and buried in a secret sepulchre, the placeof which I have sworn never to reveal, but without any rites because shewas not of the faith of Egypt.

  There then she sleeps in her eternal house until the Day ofResurrection, and with her sleeps her little son.

  It was within a moon of this funeral that the great ones of Egyptcame to Memphis to name the Prince as Pharaoh, and with them came herHighness, the Queen Userti. I was present at the ceremony, which to mewas very strange. There was the Vizier Nehesi; there was the high-priestRoi and with him many other priests; and there was even the oldchamberlain Pambasa, pompous yet grovelling as before, although he haddeserted the household of the Prince after his disinheritance for thatof the Pharaoh Amenmeses. His appearance with his wand of office andlong white beard, of which he was so proud because it was his own, drewfrom Seti the only laugh I had heard him utter for many weeks.

  "So you are back again, Chamberlain Pambasa," he said.

  "O most Holy, O most Royal," answered the old knave, "has Pambasa, thegrain of dust beneath your feet, ever deserted the House of Pharaoh, orthat of him who will be Pharaoh?"

  "No," replied Seti, "it is only when you think that he will not bePharaoh that you desert. Well, get you to your duties, rogue, whoperhaps at bottom are as honest as the rest."

  Then followed the great and ancient ceremony of the Offering of theCrown, in which spoke priests disguised as gods and other priestsdisguised as mighty Pharaohs of the past; also the nobles of the Nomesand the chief men of cities. When all had finished Seti answered:

  "I take this, my heritage," and he touched the double crown, "notbecause I desire it but because it is my duty, as I swore that I wouldto one who has departed. Blow upon blow have smitten Egypt which, Ithink, had my voice been listened to, would never have fallen. Egyptlies bleeding and well-nigh dead. Let it be your work and mine to try tonurse her back to life. For no long while am I with you, who also havebeen smitten, how it matters not, yet while I am here, I who seem toreign will be your servant and that of Egypt. It is my decree that nofeasts or ceremonials shall mark this my accession, and that the wealthwhich would have been scattered upon them shall be distributed among thewidows and children of those who perished in the Sea of Reeds. Depart!"

  They went, humble yet happy, since here was a Pharaoh who knew the needsof Egypt, one too who loved her and who alone had shown himself wise ofheart while others were filled with madness. Then her Highness entered,splendidly apparelled, crowned and followed by her household, and madeobeisance.

  "Greeting to Pharaoh," she cried.

  "Greeting to the Royal Princess of Egypt," he answered.

  "Nay, Pharaoh, the Queen of Egypt."

  By Seti's side there was another throne, that in which he had set deadMerapi with a crown upon her head. He turned and looked at it a while.Then, he said:

  "I see that this seat is empty. Let the Queen of Egypt take her placethere if so she wills."

  She stared at him as if she thought that he was mad, though doubtlessshe had heard something of that story, then swept up the steps and satherself down in the royal chair.

  "Your Majesty has been long absent," said Seti.

  "Yes," she answered, "but as my Majesty promised she would do, she hasreturned to her lawful place at the side of Pharaoh--never to leave itmore."

  "Pharaoh thanks her Majesty," said Seti, bowing low.

  Some six years had gone by, when one night I was seated with the PharaohSeti Meneptah in his palace at Memphis, for there he always chose todwell when matters of State allowed.

  It was on the anniversary of the Death of the Firstborn, and of thismatter it pleased him to talk to me. Up and down the chamber he walkedand, watching him by the lamplight, I noted that of a sudden he seemedto have grown much older, and that his face had become sweeter even thanit was before. He was more thin also, and his eyes had in them a look ofone who stares at distances.

  "You remember that night, Friend, do you not," he said; "perhaps themost terrible night the world has ever seen, at least in the littlepiece of it called Egypt." He ceased, lifted a curtain, and pointed toa spot on the pillared portico without. "There she sat," he went on;"there you stood; there lay the boy and there crouched his nurse--by theway, I grieve to hear that she is ill. You are caring for her, are younot, Ana? Say to her that Pharaoh will come to visit her--when he may,when he may."

  "I remember it all, Pharaoh."

  "Yes, of course you would remember, because you loved her, did you not,and the boy too, and eve
n me, the father. And so you will love us alwayswhen we reach a land where sex with its walls and fires are forgotten,and love alone survives--as we shall love you."

  "Yes," I answered, "since love is the key of life, and those alone areaccursed who have never learned to love."

  "Why accursed, Ana, seeing that, if life continues, they still maylearn?" He paused a while, then went on: "I am glad that he died, Ana,although had he lived, as the Queen will have no children, he might havebecome Pharaoh after me. But what is it to be Pharaoh? For six yearsnow I have reigned, and I think that I am beloved; reigned over a brokenland which I have striven to bind together, reigned over a sick landwhich I have striven to heal, reigned over a desolated land which I havestriven to make forget. Oh! the curse of those Hebrews worked well. AndI think that it was my fault, Ana, for had I been more of a man, insteadof casting aside my burden, I should have stood up against my fatherMeneptah and his policy and, if need were, have raised the people. Thenthe Israelites would have gone, and no plagues would have smitten Egypt.Well, what I did, I did because I must, perhaps, and what has happened,has happened. And now my time comes to an end, and I go hence to balancemy account as best I may, praying that I may find judges who understand,and are gentle."

  "Why does Pharaoh speak thus?" I asked.

  "I do not know, Ana, yet that Hebrew wife of mine has been much in mymind of late. She was wise in her way, as wise as loving, was shenot, and if we could see her once again, perhaps she would answer thequestion. But although she seems so near to me, I never can see her,quite. Can you, Ana?"

  "No, Pharaoh, though one night old Bakenkhonsu vowed that he perceivedher passing before us, and looking at me earnestly as she passed."

  "Ah! Bakenkhonsu. Well, he is wise too, and loved her in his fashion.Also the flesh fades from him, though mayhap he will live to makeofferings at both our tombs. Well, Bakenkhonsu is at Tanis, or is it atThebes, with her Majesty, whom he ever loves to observe, as I do. So hecan tell us nothing of what he thought he saw. This chamber is hot, Ana,let us stand without."

  So we passed the curtain, and stood upon the portico, looking at thegarden misty with moonlight, and talking of this and that--about theIsraelites, I think, who, as we heard, were wandering in the deserts ofSinai. Then of a sudden we grew silent, both of us.

  A cloud floated over the face of the moon, leaving the world indarkness. It passed, and I became aware that we were no longer alone.There in front of us was a mat, and on the mat lay a dead child, theroyal child named Seti; there by the mat stood a woman with agony in hereyes, looking at the dead child, the Hebrew woman named Moon of Israel.

  Seti touched me, and pointed to her, and I pointed to the child. Westood breathless. Then of a sudden, stooping down, Merapi lifted upthe child and held it towards its father. But, lo! now no longer was itdead; nay, it laughed and laughed, and seeing him, seemed to throw itsarms about his neck, and to kiss him on the lips. Moreover, the agonyin the woman's eyes turned to joy unspeakable, and she became morebeautiful than a star. Then, laughing like the child, Merapi turned toSeti, beckoned, and was gone.

  "We have seen the dead," he said to me presently, "and, oh! Ana, _thedead still live!_"

  That night, ere dawn, a cry rang through the palace, waking me from mysleep. This was the cry:

  "The good god Pharaoh is no more! The hawk Seti has flown to heaven!"

  At the burial of Pharaoh, I laid the halves of the broken cup upon hisbreast, that he might drink therefrom in the Day of Resurrection.

  Here ends the writing of the Scribe Ana, the Counsellor and Companion ofthe King, by him beloved.