The body lying on the sand twitched almost imperceptibly.
The soldiers threw down their spears, turned the unconscious man over and began massaging his stomach and legs.
Their efforts were successful, the unconscious man-it was Pandion — opened his eyes and coughed painfully. His sound constitution had stood up to the test and before an hour had passed the soldiers led him, supporting him under the arms, to the fortress.
They made frequent halts on their way, but before the hottest part of the day Pandion was brought to a tiny fort standing on one of the countless sleeves of the Nile Delta, to the west of a big lake.
The soldiers gave Pandion water to drink, fed him a few pieces of bread dipped in beer, and laid him down on the floor of a small earthen shed.
The terrific strain had left its mark on Pandion — a sharp pain racked his chest and his heart’s action was weak. An endless procession of waves passed before his closed eyes. As he lay in a heavy torpor he heard someone open the frail door, made from fragments of ship’s timbers. The captain of the outpost, a young man with a sickly and unpleasant face, bent over him. The captain removed the mantle that had been thrown over Pandion’s legs and made a close examination of his captive. Little did Pandion imagine that the decision that was then ripening in the captain’s mind was to bring him further tribulation.
The captain, satisfied with what he had seen, covered Pandion over and left the shed.
“Two rings of copper and a jug of beer each,” ha snapped at the soldiers.
The coast watchers bowed humbly before him but at his back they sent looks that might kill.
“O Mighty Sekhmet, look what price we’re given for such a slave…” whispered the younger soldier as soon as the captain had withdrawn. “You’ll see, he’ll send him to the city and sell him for no less than ten rings of gold…”‘
The captain suddenly turned back. “Hi, Senni!” he shouted. The elder soldier ran obediently to him. “Keep an eye on him. I make you responsible for him. Tell my cook to give him the best of food, but take great care, for this captive is a mighty warrior. Tomorrow make ready the light boat and I’ll send the captive as a gift to the Great House. (The Great House — a euphemism for the King of Egypt whose name it was forbidden to pronounce. (In Egyptian — Per-o, whence the ancient Hebrew, Pharaoh.)
We’ll give him a sleeping-draught in his beer so that there will be no trouble with him.”
… Slowly Pandion raised his heavy eyelids. He had been sleeping so long that he had no conception of time or of his whereabouts. He had vague, fragmentary memories of a bitter struggle in the stormy sea, of being taken somewhere after that and then of lying in some quiet, dark place. He tried to move but felt that his body was bound. Turning his head with difficulty he saw a wall of green reeds topped with starlike brushes. Above him spread the translucent sky; from somewhere nearby, quite close to his ear, came the faint gurgle and splashing of water. It gradually dawned upon Pandion that he was lying, bound hand and foot, in a long, narrow boat. By raising his head he could see the bare legs of the men punting the boat along with long poles. They were well-built men with skin the colour of bronze and they were dressed in white loin-cloths.
“Who are you? Where are you taking me?” shouted Pandion, trying to catch a glimpse of the people standing in the stern of the boat.
One of them, a man with a clean-shaven face, bent over Pandion and said something in rapid tones. The strange language, with its melodious tongue clicks and strongly accented vowels, was quite incomprehensible. Pandion strained all his muscles in an effort to break his bonds, continually repeating the same questions. It gradually sank into the mind of the unfortunate captive that these people could not possibly understand him. Pandion managed to rock the boat but one of his escort immediately brought a bronze dagger close to his eyes. Disgusted with people, with himself and with the world at large, Pandion ceased his attempts at resistance and did not renew them again during his long journey through the labyrinth of swamp rushes. By the time the boat reached a stone wharf the sun had long passed the horizon and the moon hung high in the sky.
Here his legs were unbound and quickly and skilfully massaged to restore circulation. The soldiers lit two torches and made their way to a high rammed earth wall in which was a heavy, bronze-bound door.
After a lengthy altercation with the soldiers of the watch, Pandion’s escort handed a tiny scroll over to a sleepy-eyed, bearded man who had suddenly appeared, and received in return a piece of black leather.
The heavy door groaned on its hinges. Pandion’s hands were unbound and he was thrust into the prison. The warders, armed with spears and bows, pushed back a heavy wooden beam and Pandion found himself in a small square room packed with human bodies lying pell-mell on the floor. The people were breathing heavily and groaning in their unquiet sleep. Pandion, choking from the foul stench that seemed to ooze from the very walls, looked for an empty space on the floor and sat carefully down. He could not sleep; he pondered over the events of the last few — days and his heart grew heavy within him. The hours of his lonely, nocturnal meditation dragged slowly by.
Pandion thought of nothing but liberty although at the moment he could see no way of escape from bondage. He was far in the interior of an absolutely unknown country; alone, an unarmed captive, who knew nothing of the language of the hostile people that surrounded him, he could not undertake anything. He realized that they did not intend to kill him and resolved to wait. Later, when he knew something about the country… but what, then, awaited him in that “later”? As never before Pandion felt the urgent need of a companion who would help him overcome his terrible desolation. He pondered over the fact that there was no worse state for a man to be in — alone amongst strange and hostile people in an unknown and unknowable country, a slave, cut off from the whole world by virtue of his status. Loneliness would be much easier to bear if he were alone with nature — such solitude would strengthen rather than weaken his spirit.
Pandion bowed to his fate and fell into a strange lethargy. He awaited dawn and looked indifferently upon his companions in misfortune, captives from different Asian tribes unknown to him. They were better off than he was, they could talk to one another, they could share their grief, recall the past and discuss the future. The other prisoners cast equally curious glances on the silent Hellene.
The warders threw Pandion a piece of coarse linen for a loin-cloth and then four black-skinned men brought in a big earthen vessel of water, barley cakes and the stalks of some green vegetable.
Pandion was astounded at the sight of absolutely black faces in which the teeth, the whites of the eyes and the brownish-red lips stood out so brightly. He guessed that they were slaves and was surprised at their jolly and kindly countenances. The Negroes laughed, showing their white teeth, made fun of the prisoners and of each other. Was it possible, that, with the passage of time, he, too, would be capable of finding joy in anything, of forgetting the pitiful role of a man deprived of his liberty? Could this constant ache that was gnawing at his heart possibly pass away? And Thessa? O Gods, if Thessa should know where he was! No, Thessa must never know — he would return to her or die, there was no other way…
Pandion’s thoughts were disturbed by a long drawn-out cry. The door opened. Before his eyes sparkled a wide river — his place of imprisonment was quite close to the water’s edge. A strong detachment of soldiers surrounded the captives with a phalanx of spears and drove them into the hold of a big ship. The ship sailed away upstream and the captives were given no opportunity to look round them. It was stiflingly hot in the hold; the sun, standing high in the heavens, scorched the prisoners, and it was difficult to breathe in an atmosphere befouled by their exhalations.
Towards evening it grew cooler, the exhausted captives began to recover and started talking. The vessel sailed on all night, there was a short halt in the morning when the prisoners were fed, and the wearying journey continued. Several days passed in this way but Pandion
, stupefied and apathetic, lost count of them.
At last a more lively note could be heard in the voices of the rowers and soldiers and there were sounds of bustle on deck — the long journey was over. The captives were left in the hold all night and in the morning Pandion heard orders given in a loud, drawling voice.
The escort stood in a half-circle, spears thrust out in front of them, on a dusty sun-baked square. The captives left the ship one by one and immediately fell into the hands of two giant soldiers beside whom lay a heap of short ropes. The Egyptians bound the prisoners’ arms so tightly that their shoulders were bent back and their elbows met behind them. The groans and cries of the victims had no effect on the giants who gloried in their own strength and in the helplessness of their victims.
Pandion’s turn came. One of the soldiers seized him by the arm immediately the youth, blinded by the glaring sun, set foot on land. The pain drove away all Pandion’s apathy. He had been trained in fist-fighting and easily escaped the hands of the soldier. He struck him a deadly blow on the ear; the giant fell face down in the dust and the other, momentarily losing his presence of mind, jumped away. Pandion was surrounded by thirty enemy soldiers with their spears pointed at him.
In unspeakable fury the youth leaped forward hoping to die in battle, for death seemed like deliverance to him… He did not, however, know the Egyptians, whose methods of handling recalcitrant slaves were the accumulated result of thousands of years’ experience. The soldiers immediately gave way and closed in behind Pandion who was thus left outside the circle. The bold youth was knocked off his feet and borne to the ground under the weight of several attackers. The end of a spear-shaft caught him a sharp blow in the ribs. The breath was knocked out of him and a fiery-red haze floated before his eyes. In an instant the Egyptians brought his hands together above his head and fastened them to a wooden instrument shaped like a toy boat.
The soldiers then left the youth in peace.
The remaining captives were quickly bound and all of them were driven off along a narrow road between the river and the fields. The young sculptor suffered intense pain: his arms were stretched at full length above his head with the wrists gripped in a wooden clamp that squeezed the bones. This instrument of torture did not permit him to bend his elbows or lower his hands on to his head.
A second party of slaves joined Pandion’s group from a side road; then came a third party until there were altogether two hundred slaves in the group.
All of them were bound in a most cruel manner and a number were wearing stocks like Pandion’s. The captives’ faces were twisted in pain, they were pallid and dripping with perspiration. Pandion walked along in a daze, scarcely taking note of his surroundings.
The country through which they marched was a rich one. The air was clean and fresh, silence reigned on the narrow roads and the mighty river carried its waters slowly towards the Great Green Sea. The palms nodded their heads very slightly in the light breeze from the north and green fields of ripening wheat were interspersed with vineyards and orchards. The entire country was a huge garden, carefully tended for thousands of years.
Pandion could not look from side to side. He stumbled along, his teeth clenched in pain, past the high walls that surrounded the houses of the wealthy. The houses were light and airy two-storied structures with high, narrow windows over the columned entrances. The snow-white walls, decorated with an intricate pattern in pure, bright colours, stood out sharply in the blinding sunlight.
Quite suddenly the captives were confronted by a colossal stone edifice with straight, enormously thick-walls built of huge blocks of stone dressed with amazing skill. The dark and mysterious building seemed to be spread-eagled on the earth which it crushed under its terrific weight. Pandion passed a row of heavy columns, gloomily grey against the bright green background of the gardens that covered the plain. Palms, fig- and other fruit-trees alternated in seemingly endless straight rows. The hills were covered with a dense tangle of grape vines.
In a garden by the river stood a high, light structure painted in the same bright colours as the other buildings of that city. Before the facade, opening on to the river, and beyond wide gates, stood tall mast-like poles with bunches of waving ribbons on top of them. Over the wide entrance was a huge snow-white balcony with two columns supporting a perfectly flat roof. The cornice of the roof was painted with an ornament in which bright blue and gold designs alternated. The bright blue and gold zigzags also ornamented the capitals of the columns.
At the back of the balcony, in the shade cast by carpets and curtains, could be seen people dressed in long white garments of some finely pleated material. The personage seated in the centre inclined over the rail a head heavy with the red and white double crown of the ruler of the two Kingdoms, Upper and Lower Egypt.
The escort, together with the commander, who had marched so importantly at their head, prostrated themselves face downwards on the ground. On a motion of the hand of Pharaoh, the living god and supreme ruler of the land of Tha-Quem, the captives were drawn up in a single line and marched slowly past the balcony. The courtiers who crowded the balcony exchanged whispered remarks and laughed merrily. The beauty of the palace, the opulent raiment of Pharaoh and his courtiers, their haughty, free and easy postures made a sharp contrast to the pain-racked faces of the tormented slaves — and this aroused fierce indignation in Pandion’s heart. He was beside himself from the pain in his arms, his body trembled as though with ague, his badly bitten lips were caked with dried blood, but the youth straightened his back, heaved a deep sigh and turned a wrathful face towards the balcony.
Pharaoh turned and said something to his courtiers and all of them nodded their heads in approval. The procession of slaves moved slowly on. Soon Pandion found himself behind the house, in the shade of a high wall. Gradually the whole party of slaves gathered there, still surrounded by the silent soldiers. From around the corner appeared a corpulent, hook-nosed man carrying a long ebony staff inlaid with gold and accompanied by a scribe carrying a wooden tablet and a roll of papyrus.
The man said something to the commander of the escort in haughty tones, the commander immediately doubled up in a low bow and transmitted the order to his soldiers. Obeying the aristocratic finger the soldiers pushed their way into the crowd of prisoners and brought out those indicated to them. Pandion was one of the first to be selected. Altogether about thirty of the strongest and bravest-looking were chosen and were immediately marched back along the same narrow road to the edge of the garden. From there the soldiers drove their captives along a low wall. The path grew steeper and led to a square of windowless walls standing in a hollow between the wheat-fields. Soldiers armed with bows walked freely up and down thick, brick-built walls some ten cubits in height. On the corners there were shelters of matting.
The entrance was in the wall facing the river and nowhere else were there either doors or windows; the blank, greenish-grey walls breathed fiery heat.
The prisoners were led through the doorway, their escort withdrew rapidly and Pandion found himself in a narrow courtyard between two walls. The second or inner wall was lower than the outer and had only one door, on its right-hand side. A number of crude benches occupied the vacant space in the courtyard although most of it was taken up by a low building with a black hole of an entrance. The group of captives was now surrounded by soldiers with lighter coloured skin than those who had escorted them on their journey. They were all tall, with lithe, well-developed bodies and many of them had blue eyes and reddish hair. Pandion had never seen such people before any more than he had seen the true inhabitants of Aigyptos and did not know that they were Libyans.
Two men came out of the building; one of them carried something made of polished wood and the other, a grey faience pot. The Libyans seized Pandion and turned him round with his back towards the newcomers. The youth felt a slight pricking sensation on his left shoulder blade, on which a polished wooden board, bristling with short needles, had been placed. The ma
n then struck the board sharply with his hand, the blood spurted out and Pandion gave an involuntary cry of pain. The Libyan wiped away the blood and began rubbing the wound with a rag soaked in some liquid from the faience pot; the blood ceased flowing immediately but he dipped the rag in the liquid several times and continued to rub the wound. Only then did Pandion notice the bright red mark — some little figures in an oval frame (The hieroglyphs of Pharaoh’s name were written in an oval frame or cartouche.) — on the left shoulders of the Libyans that surrounded him and realized that he had been branded.
The wooden frame was removed from Pandion’s wrists and he was unable to stifle the groan caused by the pain in his stiffened joints. With the greatest difficulty he lowered his arms. Then, bending low, he entered the doorway in the inner wall and there, in a dusty courtyard, sank exhausted to the ground.
Pandion took a drink of stale water from the huge earthen jar that stood by the door and began to examine the place that was, in the opinion of those in authority, to be his home to the end of his days.
The huge square of land with a side of about two stadia was surrounded by high inaccessible walls guarded by sentries who walked up and down them. The entire right-hand half of the enclosure was occupied by tiny rammed earth cells built one against the other, the rows of them separated by long narrow gangways. There were similar tiny cells in the left-hand corner. The anterior left-hand corner was surrounded by a low wall and a strong smell of ammonia came from there. Vessels for water stood near the door. Here a long strip of ground had been plastered with clay and was swept clean: this was the place allotted for eating, as Pandion learned later.
All the free space in the square was trampled hard and smooth, not a single blade of grass relieved its dusty grey-surface. The air was heavy and stifling, it seemed as though all the fiery heat of the day was poured into that sunken square, cut off by high walls and open to the sky. This was the shehne, the slave compound, one of hundreds scattered throughout the land of Tha-Quem. Slaves of all nations were crowded in these compounds — they constituted the labour power that was the foundation of the wealth and beauty of Aigyptos. The compound was silent and deserted — the slaves were out at work, only a few sick men were left lying listlessly in the shade of the wall. This particular shehne was designed for newly arrived captives who had but recently fallen victims to the land of slavery and had not established families to increase the number of hands toiling in the Black Land.
The Land of Foam Page 7
