Winged Pharaoh

by Joan Grant

  “And I fear he thinks the priests of Kam emasculate, for he told me, in all kindliness, of a young woman of whose discretion he was sure, and who would be honoured to lie with a fellow-priest of his; and when I refused his offer, he gave me a little flask of yellow liquid, which he assured me would make even an old man as lusty as a ram. He told me that I should not take my vows of chastity so seriously, and that it was the duty of wise men such as we to propagate our kind—of course, discreetly. And when I assured him that I had taken no vows of chastity, and that in Kam we held that wisdom was not the fruit of virginity, he thought I but tried to cloak my impotence—and pitied me!

  “Then he questioned me about my riches and about my lands. And I told him that in the palace I had two rooms, one where I slept and one where I kept the few things that I needed. But he would not believe that I had no vast hoarded wealth, and when I told him I had no need of it, he asked whether our priests were in such disrespect that none made sacrifice before our gods. I told him that our people gave a twelfth part of all the things they had in every year to the temple, as a gift. And he said, ‘And you a high-priest, and you are poor? I thought Kam was called the Land of Gold’. I told him the Land of Gold was to the south, but that much of this yellow metal was in Kam, and many other things that barter highly. And I explained how our tribute was used.

  “I fear that he had made me impatient. For when he asked me what I thought of the ceremony at his temple, I answered, ‘I thought the singing was magnificent’. And as I said it, I regretted that I should have so insulted my host. But he was delighted by my words, and he said that the singers were far sweeter than when he first took office, and more people came to his temple than to any other in the country because of it, and the number of tribute bulls had multiplied exceedingly.

  “Surely they are a strange people! I felt as unfamiliar as if I were living among beautiful monkeys and had forgotten how to swing by my tail. When I spoke the truth to them, they thought me a liar; and when I told them of wisdom, they thought me a fool; and when of my impatience I insulted them, they took it as a compliment.”

  PART SEVEN

  CHAPTER ONE

  Dream Warning

  Every year, Neyah made a Royal Progress by river to the sea and to our southern boundary, so that throughout the Two Lands no year passed when all our people did not see Pharaoh. He would stay at the Southern Garrison for twenty days, hunting with his captains and the nobles of the South.

  In the eighth year of my reign, when he was at Na-kish, my spirit, which watched over my country while I slept, brought back warning of danger. In my dream I saw the looking-girls of the temple, and they cried out that they were blind; and in my dream, also, I saw far below me the land of Kam, and from the east there came a dark cloud that swept towards it from the Narrow Sea; then I saw my palace, and towards it advanced a crawling army of black ants.

  And when I awoke I knew that this dream was a symbol of what I wished my body to remember, for I had returned to it in haste. I knew that danger threatened Kam, but in what form I knew not: whether as a famine, or as a pestilence, or as an invading army. So I sent a swift messenger to the Temple of Atet to summon Ney-sey-ra and to ask him to bring with him two of the chief looking-girls, so that I might question them.

  When they came into my presence I asked the looking-girls what they had seen during the past few days. And they told me that the faces of their pyramids had been empty. Then I told Ney-sey-ra of my dream and I asked him to find out what danger threatened our country. And he took a silver mirror from the table and looked at a brilliant spot of sunlight reflected in it, and so freed his spirit from his body. Then he covered his eyes with his hand, and his body spoke of those things his spirit saw away from it:

  “To the east of the river there is a dark cloud. It is a cloud of evil magic put there to blind the eyes of those who would see through it. But with my will I drive back the darkness.…I see a great army advancing. They are of the Zuma people, led by Zernak, son of Sardok who perished at the hand of the great Atet.

  “They have come secretly across the desert. Before them they sent spies, dressed as herdsmen, who spoke the tongue of Kam; and if they met any of the people of the land, they hailed them as countrymen; and when accepted as friend they hid their treachery with death.

  “With them there is a priest of the Shadow, who is strong in power. He has cloaked these people with a cloud so that no one who has not a greater power than his can see through it and discover their evil purpose. And with him is one whose body is controlled by a follower of Set, and they call this man Belshazzardak, the ‘Mouthpiece of the Gods’. None but his dark master speaks through him, for he is protected by the priest of power.

  “They number twenty thousand, and with their great baggage train they travel slowly. They are still three days’ journey from the river, and if they travelled west, they would reach the river midway between Abidwa and Men-atet-iss.”

  And as he spoke I knew that the wings of destruction hovered over Kam; for it was the time of the harvest when many of my soldiers were at their homes, and I could muster less than five thousand men. Even if Neyah or the Northern Garrison should start to-day, they would arrive too late to save my people; and my city, which I had sworn to shelter, would no longer be a place of peace, and the fields and gardens of my country would be destroyed. Each man would have to fight like a warrior god, for we would be outnumbered four to one. If Neyah were here to lead them they would follow him to the Caverns of the Underword though Set himself should bar their path.…Always has Pharaoh led his armies into battle. I wear the body of a woman, yet I have sworn the mighty oath to shepherd my people with the Crook and with the Flail to scourge their enemies. My woman’s body is strong in the strength of my spirit, and Zat Atet shall lead them, though Pharaoh is a queen.

  I turned to Ney-sey-ra, “We must call upon the Gods to give us wisdom to destroy the Zuma before they desecrate a single field by letting their shadows fall upon it. How many chariots have they?”

  “I could not say to fifty, but about five hundred, perhaps more.”

  “If we use all our horses, even the mares—though I would rather pour gold-dust to the sands—we can put only a hundred in the field. So we must fight where they cannot use their chariots. A little to the south of where you said they would reach the river if they marched west, there is a great semi-circle of high cliffs, which come down to the river at each end; in the centre of it the cliffs are split by a gorge, which winds up through the hills until it reaches the high desert; and midway along it a rocky river-bed, dry at this season, joins it from the north. If we could surprise their army there, our skill might outmatch their numbers. But how could we get them there?”

  And Ney-sey-ra said, “To-night at sunset, as on every night, their priest of power will listen to the commands of the follower of Set who is his master, commands that he hears spoken by the tongue of Belshazzardak. He who controls Belshazzardak is strong in power, yet I am stronger. I will overcome this follower of Set so that he makes his servant speak my words, and then I will bind him so that he cannot warn the Zuma priest of what I have done. To-night the voice of Belshazzardak shall summon Zernak and the commanders of his army, then shall they hear these words:

  “‘It is Set himself who speaks! You shall know victory, for I command your march. But if you dare to disobey my will, then I will send a pestilence among you so that your bodies rot before you die. You shall overthrow the temples of Ptah, Anubis, Horus, and all their train, and destroy their priests and the statues in their sanctuaries. Then shall you fill these temples with my priests and set up my image ten cubits high in stone. The land of Kam is unprepared; you will find conquest easy and harvests rich. March south for a day, then turn to the setting sun; and on the evening of the second day encamp at the head of a steep rock defile that you will see before you. It leads to a plain where herds of cattle roam in lush pastures. It is my will that you sacrifice two hundred bulls to me; half of each
beast must be burnt so that in their smoke I savour a feast of flesh; the rest shall be yours to eat so that your bodies are strong to fight for me. Your chariots and the servants of your baggage train must stay in your encampment, while Zernak leads his warriors down the gorge. If you are faithful in your sacrifice, on the evening of the third day I shall give you a fresh command. Until that time you will not hear my voice. Obey! I, Set, have spoken’.”

  “But won’t they see danger in this plan? Surely they will see that they might be entrapped in the gorge?”

  “You do not know how greatly they fear Set. They would not dare to disobey what they think he has commanded them to do.”

  “Ney-sey-ra, that is a plan worthy of Ptah for wisdom! By their belief in evil they shall be destroyed, and so learn the retribution of false gods. Give them one more command. Tell them to start down the defile before dawn, so that they reach the plain at sunrise. Zeb with his men shall wait in the north gorge; and Maates shall fall upon their rear; all my chariots and the spearmen of the Royal Bodyguard shall be waiting for them when they reach the plain, and, as my father drove them to the sea, again shall Zuma know the strength of Kam.”

  “You have given Zeb and Maates their commands, who will command the warriors on the plain?”

  “The Chariot of Pharaoh leads the battle line. Often have I thrown spear at crocodiles or loosed my arrow to a flying bird, now I shall have a quarry worthy of my skill. I call upon the gods to let a shaft of mine drink Zernak’s blood. Ney-sey-ra, you taught me wisdom so I could rule, would you have me fail my people in leadership?”

  “To other women I should say this were unwise, but on your brow your father set his seal, and you shall lead his chariots worthily.”

  CHAPTER TWO

  The Amphitheatre of Grain

  There was no Captain-of-Captains of the Royal Bodyguard save Neyah. When I became Pharaoh I had appointed Zeb my standard-bearer, and during the expedition to Punt he had won the rank of captain. Maates, the other captain to whom I now gave command, I had known since the days when he used to go swan-shooting with Neyah and me in the reeds. He was the only son of Maata’s brother, the Overseer of the Grain-Lands of the Royal City.

  Within the hour soldiers were filing down to the quay. Since the time of the Zuma invasion led by Sardok, swift river-boats, on which three thousand men could be embarked, were kept fully provisioned with grain and wine, arrows, linen for wounds, and other things for war. Six trade barges were at the Royal City, and these were added to our fleet for the transporting of the horses and chariots and the remainder of our army. I ordered that another barge should follow us with two hundred jars of burning-oil so that the bodies of the Zumas should be burnt, for they were unworthy to have Kam as shroud.

  I went to the Room of Seals and took my father’s great war helmet from a chest where it had lain, wrapped in fine linen, since he had worn it into victory.

  When I said good-bye to Tchekeea she dung to me—the noisy preparation for battle is frightening for a child. Her cheek was smooth against mine, and as I held her close, I thought that soon my body might be mine no longer, but in my child it would still live in Kam, while my spirit journeyed on through time. I picked up a ceremonial flail and put it in her hands, “See, Tchekeea, till I return you shall rule for me, and then you shall sit at the banquet and no one shall send you early to bed.”

  “Mother, you are dressed as a warrior, and warriors are killed.”

  “Zeb will look after me; how can I be hurt when I have my soldiers round me? We shall drive the Zumas from our country and they will scuttle like guilty puppies from the goose-tender’s wife when she finds them nosing round the nests. Smile, my Tchekeea, and be worthy of the Flail.…Now I must go, but come with me and see the warriors start.”

  Within three hours all my soldiers had embarked; followed by Zeb, I galloped my chariot to join them at the quay. The news that Pharaoh would lead them into battle had reached their ears, and they greeted me with our battle cry, ‘Atet and Light’, as in one great voice they proclaimed their rejoicing in my leadership.

  The rowers bent to their oars as the ships were unleashed from their moorings, and we swept upstream to the song that the steersman sang to keep them to their rhythm:

  Pull on your oars, my rowers!

  Pull on your oars,

  So that the boat cleaves through the water

  Like an arrow-head of wild-swans

  Returning to the reeds at sunrise.

  Blow strongly, wind!

  Blow strongly,

  So that my weary rowers may rest

  In the shade of the swelling sail.

  The Goddess of the Winds smiled upon us, and when the wind fell idle at evening, our rowers had rested and we swept on up-river. I talked long with Zeb and Maates, and with Ptah-kefer, who together with Zertar and five healer priests accompanied us. Our battle plan was shared among all. The boats were near enough for a strong swimmer to take messages from one to another: diving from the stem of one boat, he would swim to the one behind, and to return, a rope was thrown to him and he was pulled back to the leading boat.

  When I was a child I had longed to be a warrior and follow Neyah into battle; now in my heart I prayed to Ptah that I might not fail my country. I could remember when I had fought with the sword and lived the life of a warrior in Athlanta; but that was long ago, and it is difficult to keep the warrior scarlet in a woman’s body. What if I should be afraid and instil with my fear those to whom the courage of Pharaoh should be as a standard and a battle cry?

  It was the dark of the moon, and the sky was singing-bright with stars, which the smooth water mirrored as though they had rained down from the heavens and been unquenched. The sleeping villages were silent as we passed. Faintly across the still air I heard the shrill bark of a hunting jackal. The reeds rustled as an animal that had come down to drink fled from the sound of our oars. Kam was tranquil as a sleeping child, who breathes quietly though a cobra slides towards it across the floor. Suddenly I knew that I should be fearless in battle. Even a water-rat has courage when its young, nested under the bank, are threatened; the people of Kam are my children and the Two Lands are the shelter wherein I must house them in safety. Hound-dogs can drive a lion out of the reeds, but a lioness with cubs is a match for six of them, and Kam shall be tranquil in the shelter of our swords.

  We travelled for two days and two nights, and upon the third day, an hour after high noon, we reached the Amphitheatre of Grain. Here are two great granaries, disused for nearly a hundred years. Before the Two Lands were re-united, this place had been one of the chief grain-lands of the Lotus, but now that the corn came from the Land of the Papyrus, it had returned to pasture and none lived here but a few herdsmen. It is here that our finest bulls and cows are put to roam so that the best of our cattle multiply themselves, and the young bulls are sent throughout the country to beget strong calves.

  Our boats could not get close in to the bank, for there was no quay, so the horses had to walk along landing planks. Some of them squealed and reared until their charioteers calmed them and could lead them to the bank.

  Ptah-kefer told me that the Zumas had not yet reached their encampment, and that, not daring to seem to doubt the commands and promises of Set, they had sent forward no outposts. So instead of waiting for the cover of night, we marched across the Amphitheatre of Grain and encamped near to the foot of the cliffs.

  Five hours before dawn, Maates with his twelve hundred macebearers left to take up his position in the battle plan. He was to climb a path up the cliff to the south of the gorge and wait as near to the head of it as he could without danger of being heard. Then, when the last of the Zumas had entered the gorge on their way down to the plain, he would block their retreat, so that when we drove them back towards him they would run their heads against a wall of stone.

  Zeb with his archers went up the defile to hide with his men in the north river-bed, which joined it midway between the Zuma camp and the plain. He wo
uld let half their army pass and then assail them with a burning rain of arrows, until their columns writhed like a snake whose back is broken by a stick.

  Before the warriors left, I spoke to them, “We are outnumbered four to one, so we must fight like warrior gods. This is a battle of Light against Darkness, and in each man you kill, you kill an evil one, and in their death the Gods rejoice with you. At dawn I will lead you into victory as the great Atet led your fathers.”

  CHAPTER THREE

  Battle Against the Zuma

  Where the cliffs are riven as though the Gods had cleaved them with a sword, we waited in the deep shadow of early dawn. The ruddy sky was pennanted with clouds like smoking torches flaring in the wind, as our chariots were drawn up in their battle-line, with the spearmen behind them and on either side.

  Then the chain of our hidden outposts passed down word that Zernak was coming towards us down the gorge, and our charioteers stood at their horses’ heads, soothing them so that they should not stamp or neigh and so betray us.

  Muffled by the distance, I heard the droning of the Zuma chant as they marched to make their sacrifice to Set.…Soon, soon their blood shall match this angry dawn! Soon it shall fertilize these fields, which they who lose it would have laid in waste. And there shall be a column of smoke and fire; not of a bloody sacrifice of cows to Set, but of their own bodies, which would have pillaged Kam and now whose ashes shall mingle with our earth.

  As I waited in the centre of the chariot line, I prayed to my father, who had been so great a Pharaoh, that I might wear his helmet worthily. Loud in my ears I heard the Zumas chant and I knew that in a moment I must loose the battle line.… “Father, hear me! If I am to die, let it be proudly and on victory.”