“Not all the tombs in the Valley are for kings. Important officials and relatives of the Pharaoh are also buried here. The tomb to be used today is reserved for Ramesses’ sons, although he has some favourite daughters buried there also. Beyond that simple and unadorned entrance are a hundred rooms cut into the rock. Many are already occupied by those sons who have died before him, and some daughters also – given the extremely long life of the Pharaoh a number of his children have already died. Others are public rooms for the family to come and visit their departed relatives. Yet others are rooms full of treasure. Others again are empty chambers awaiting their occupant.” Lorentis gave a wry smile and continued, “Ramesses is not a wasteful man and one room full of gold and precious items can adequately provide for all of his children in the Afterlife, and a couple of priests can perform the daily rites for all those already buried here. Hence his burying them all in one place.”
Nikolas gave a small smile of amusement. “Cheaper by the dozen,” he commented.
They came to the funerary chapel, a large but obviously temporary building made of mud-brick with a reed-thatch roof. It wasn’t overly ornate or well-decorated as it was intended as a temporary building to accommodate burials in the two adjacent tombs. Outside the tomb entrance the High Priest of Amun performed the Opening of the Mouth ceremony, so that the deceased would be able to partake of the spiritual nourishment provided, to breathe and to speak.
“O Royal One I open your mouth for you with the adze of Upuaut… Horus has split open the mouth, using that with which he split open his father’s mouth, using that with which he split open Osiris’ mouth, with the metal which issued forth from Seth, with the adze of metal which split open the mouths of the gods.”
Ra-em hotep would now be able to have the use of his organs in the Afterlife, and be able to feed himself, recite magical spells, give commands and to see.
The mummy, inside the sarcophagus, had been anointed with seven oils and the Priests recited:
“Osiris, I have filled thine eye for thee with metchet oil.”
“Osiris, there hath been presented unto thee that which hath been pressed out from thy face.”
“Osiris, the Eye of Horus hath been presented unto thee, and Set hath been made weak in respect of thee thereby.”
“Osiris, the Eye of Horus hath been presented unto thee, that it may unite itself unto thee.”
“Osiris, the Eye of Horus hath been presented unto thee, that the gods may be brought unto thee thereby.”
“O ye Oils, O ye Oils, which are on the forehead of Horus place ye yourselves on the forehead of the Osiris, make ye him to smell sweet in possessing you, make ye him to become a khu through possessing you, make ye him to have his sekhem in his body, make ye him to have openings before his eyes, and let all the khu see him, and let them all hear his name. Behold, Osiris, the Eye of Horus hath been brought unto thee, for it hath been seized that it may be before thee.”
The black bull had its legs tied together and was slaughtered, its head and right-foreleg removed, and the other sacrifices assembled.
“Osiris, Re, Thoth, Ma’at, we make sacrifice of bread, drink, beef, geese and all good things,” chanted the priests.
The Muu dancers, wearing short linen kilts and crowns made of woven reeds danced in pairs outside the tomb entrance for half an hour. Then the wooden sarcophagus and canopic jars were carried inside, followed by the close family members. An hour later they emerged and returned to the funerary temple for the traditional feast, and the guests were invited to either pay their last respects to the deceased or join the feast. Nikolas and his party joined many others entering the tomb.
The tomb entrance faced north-west across the valley towards the entrance of Ramesses’ own empty tomb waiting nearby on the other side of the valley, less than fifty paces away. The tomb entryway was some three paces wide and consisted of a dozen steps leading down a distance of five paces to the first chamber. This had a gilded altar to the left, statues of the principal gods of the Egyptian pantheon and was decorated with carved and painted images of Ramesses and the gods, but was currently unattended.
They passed through another doorway into a second slightly smaller chamber decorated with scenes of Ramesses and some of his sons making offerings to the various gods and containing a table behind which stood two servants providing cups of fruit juice, beer or wine. About a dozen well-dressed guests, male and female, were walking through the two rooms, either entering or leaving the tomb.
The next doorway had painted carvings of the goddess Ma’at on both sides; several steps down led into a huge chamber sixteen paces square with sixteen columns supporting a flat ceiling painted black and decorated with stars made of real gold. The ceiling of the tomb was quite high, just being able to be reached by a man extending his arm upwards, but the further they progressed into the tomb complex the ceiling became lower, and the more uncomfortable Nikolas became, feeling very restricted and hemmed-in.
Oil lamps stood in sconces on each pillar and along the walls; these lamps illuminated paintings on the plastered columns and walls which appeared to be of Ramesses and various other persons, presumably already deceased sons, meeting with deities and making offerings to them. They walked on the right-hand side of the room and Nikolas examined a scene of four princes with a priest and sections from the Opening of the Mouth ritual. This large room contained many mourners milling around, looking at the paintings or adding bouquets of fresh flowers to the two already overflowing folding wooden tables that been set up on the left side of the room.
At the end of the room was another steep but short staircase leading down. They entered a long and wide corridor with a ceiling still comfortably above head-height and with oil lamps set in sconces on the left wall every nine paces. There were sealed doors at regular intervals along both walls, eight on each side; the doorways were bricked up, plastered over and stamped with cartouches. As they passed down the corridor they had to brush against a regular flow of mourners passing on their way out of the tomb. At the end of the corridor, where it formed the two cross-branches of a ‘T’, was a square niche with a figure of Ramesses depicted as the god Osiris carved in raised relief, the tall white atef crown on his head having two ostrich feathers painted blue, the skin painted green to represent rebirth and the figure carrying the crook and flail against his chest. To the left and right were the doorways to two more corridors and they followed the flow of people to the right.
The corridor remained relatively wide and high, two and a half paces wide by somewhat less than that high, but now the floor and ceiling were more roughly cut. Again the corridor was lined on both sides with doors every few paces, some sealed and some open to reveal rooms containing a large open stone sarcophagus but otherwise empty and awaiting an occupant. These ‘stock’ rooms were plastered and partially-decorated and Nikolas assumed that the remaining decoration and depictions of the deceased would be painted after they had died and during the three months that the body was being prepared for interment. He noticed that both the distance between doors and the width of the doors themselves were not entirely regular; he also noted a slight movement of air, with the air in the chambers and corridors being relatively fresh and cool.
‘Ventilation shafts,’ he surmised. ‘Not surprising considering the complex is being constantly used.’
The walls of the passageways were covered in carefully-drawn and colourful, if somewhat stiffly formal, friezes depicting scenes from the Book of the Dead. Because this was a royal tomb there were also scenes from the Litany of Re and the Book of Gates – the dead were provided with all the knowledge and spells that they needed to meet the trials and dangers of the journey through the Duat Underworld in the Afterlife.
As Lorentis explained each panel of paintings Nikolas could appreciate another reason for the mass burial site. The long central corridor and the various common-rooms allowed ample space for the paintings. The Book of the Dead alone had 189 chapters, and individual burials w
ould not allow more than a small part of the required texts to be depicted. Lorentis explained that in the burials of nobles that the Book of the Dead was usually written on bound sheets of papyrus with just the most important passages painted on the walls of their small mastaba tombs.
The flow of people ceased at the fourth door on the left, with a small knot of people standing looking through the doorway, some chanting prayers for the dead prince. There was a short line of a dozen or so mourners waiting to take their turn at the doorway.
When it was eventually their turn to view the chamber Nikolas saw that it was that it was about three paces wide by five paces deep, lit by four oil lamps on sconces on the side walls. The walls were plastered and had a brightly coloured repetitive frieze along the top and bottom, with the left and back walls having panels of generic scenes from the Book of the Dead. Only the right-hand wall depicted paintings of Ra-em hotep himself being judged by the weighing of his heart by Anubis on the scales of Ma’at, with ibis-headed Thoth recording the outcome and Horus presenting Ra-em hotep to Osiris.
To the left was a shelf covered with small ushabti and shawabti figurines made of alabaster, stone or green faience; brightly painted models of scarab beetles; small delicate glass jars probably containing perfumes and unguents; personal items such a combs and brushes.
The large stone sarcophagus made of white granite stood towards the rear of the chamber, with the inner anthropomorphic sarcophagus of gilded black wood now placed inside and awaiting the closing of the heavy stone lid. Both the stone sarcophagus and its lid were beautifully decorated, again with painted scenes from the Book of the Dead, and included images of Ra-em hotep. Behind were stacked a disassembled bed and two chairs made of carved wood inlaid with ivory. The pottery canopic jars stood on a large wooden box to the right rear of the chamber, which Lorentis indicated probably contained bolts of fine linen. In the near right-hand corner were several large sealed pottery jars that Nikolas knew would contain grain, oil, wine and beer, all beautifully hand-painted.
The fore-section of the chamber was stacked with Ra-em hotep’s personal items for his use in the Afterlife, with just a narrow passage left to allow the workmen to enter later to close the sarcophagus before bricking up and sealing the door. After their minute or so at the doorway a white-robed, shaven-headed wab priest indicated for them to stand aside for the others behind
As they walked back down the corridor, brushing past those still proceeding to pay their respects to the deceased, Nikolas commented about the prosaic nature and lack of lavishness to the funerary goods placed in the tomb, and the small size of the tomb itself.
Lorentis replied, “As I mentioned before, Ramesses has made provision by having a room full of precious and expensive items for the use in the Afterlife of all his sons and daughters buried here. That room is off to the right-hand side of the pillared chamber as we leave; you may have noticed the two guards who are on duty all the time. He also has the Temple of Amun make offerings at dawn each day at the altar in the first chamber and place food and drink in the second chamber, again for the use of all his children.”
“This is a very impressive and large complex,” commented Nikolas.
“As are most that Ramesses has built,” replied Lorentis. “Khui tells me that there was a small tomb of a minor noble here before. Ramesses had the previous occupant removed and the tomb extended so that it now has over a hundred chambers. I understand Ramesses’ own tomb is equally impressive and nearly as large.”
On leaving the tomb complex they returned to the nearby funerary temple in time for the last of feast. Servants circulated with trays and several large tables contained a range of exotic cold finger-foods. Excellent wines were on offer, as well as beer and fruit drinks.
Nikolas noted with a smile that several of the wine and olive oil amphorae bore marks that indicated they had been imported by him and he delighted in pointing this out to Kiya, Lorentis and Pamose.
There were over two hundred family members and three times that many noble guests and officials crammed into the hall of the funerary temple and spilling outside into an area that had been covered overhead by cloth of fine linen to provide shade from the midday sun for the guests. Nikolas found the atmosphere to be surprisingly festive for a funeral.
Later, as they walked back to the palace, Lorentis explained, “The living have done all they can to equip Ra-em hotep for the Afterlife. His ba has been released from his body and has come forth into the day. He is now as ready as he’ll ever be to face his judgment. The feast was a celebration of his life, not a time to mourn his passing.”
Nikolas commented, “But ‘The Devourer’ is likely to have his heart for supper when it is weighed in the balance of his good deeds and found wanting! Everybody else here was probably just glad to get rid of him and wanted to be here to make sure that he was dead and out of the way!” Lorentis inclined her head to one side in possible agreement but said nothing.
CHAPTER 15 – ARMY ON THE MOVE
Year 53. Month Ta-ahbet. 1st Peret.
Late December 1223 BC
Three days later Nikolas and Kiya were onboard an army transport barge heading south and had reached the stage of not being sure if they were coming or going – so many boat trips heading in so many directions. The transport was carrying the army medical party and supplies. Like most of the boats the small hold was full of supplies; on this boat these included jars of unguents, baskets of herbs and bales of bandages. The bales of bandages stacked on the deck were being used as seats by the medical orderlies and doctors. Like the surgeons and the other passengers Nikolas and Kiya would sleep on blankets on the hard deck.
On the road on the shore alongside the river trotted the chariots, with spare horses following behind each chariot on long leads. The horses easily kept up with the pace of the river-borne transports, although the flow of the river was now much reduced and most of the flood-waters had receded. The chariots usually pressed ahead in the afternoon to gain distance for when they stopped for the night.
Each night the military transport vessels continued sailing in the bright moonlight. Shortly after dawn each day the chariots would be back on the shore, having caught up whatever distance they had lost in the night. The two dozen transport barges were accompanied by ten sleek war-galleys.
Nikolas and Kiya spent most of each day sitting in the shade of the sail with Sinhue who was the wer swnw Chief Medical Officer of the expedition and was a battlefield surgeon of immense experience and renown. Sinhue regaled them with stories of battles and skirmishes past, not about glorious victories or crushing defeats, but the unusual treatments of injuries he had performed at each battle. To a battlefield surgeon there are no glorious victories, only the bloody aftermath of battle, win or lose.
“Maces are one of the worst weapons I know for injuries,” commented Sinhue. “Axes and arrows kill more, certainly – but the victim is either dead of a severe injury, or can be saved by relatively easy treatment. A head smashed open, with the brain hanging out or a depressed fracture, is much more tricky. The problem is you can only treat them with a great deal of time, which you usually don’t have in the tent after a battle, so you have to leave them until last, when most have died anyway. Still, if they die in a few hours when you haven’t treated them, they probably would have died under the knife anyway! Such a waste of time! Depressed fractures, they usually hang on for a while, so you get the time to work on them properly. It’s a pity you can’t have proper facilities and good light to work on the worst injuries. It’s usually dark by the time you get to them, you have somebody waving a lamp around in front of your eyes and you spend most of your time trying not to cut your own fingers off as you’re so tired! I’ve developed this sort of circular saw. See, here it is! You cut a hole in the skull where the injury is. Usually you don’t have to clean out the gunk inside, clotted blood and whatnot, because it gets pushed out by some sort of pressure inside. I’ve done this a good dozen or so times.”
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p; “Any success?” asked Nikolas, feeling somewhat queasy.
“Oh yes!” said Sinhue. “At least half lasted a week, which meant that it wasn’t me that killed them! Three are still alive today, as far as I know.” He then continued enthusiastically, “The other thing about maces is the way they absolutely smash up the bones. A decent swipe at the arm and all you can do is take it off at the shoulder. A hit to the shoulder and you spend most of the night trying to put the small bone fragments back in place. You rarely get a decent result from a smashed shoulder. It’s nearly as bad as a sword in the guts, except that the patient usually lives but is permanently crippled – where a gut wound is almost always fatal - eventually.”
Nikolas recognized that there was much he could learn from the ‘patch them up and push them back out of the tent’ approach of Sinhue; this was practical surgery at its most basic and effective – but quite nauseating.
Eventually, many bloody stories later, the small fleet reached Aswan. For the last day the chariots had pressed on ahead and had arrived before the fleet, the charioteers reinforcing Kahun and the loyal companies. The few rebel officers had chosen either to flee or, like General Padiamun, had chosen to take their own lives. Aswan was quiet and under martial law.
Murder in the Palace: A Nikolas of Kydonia Mystery Page 33
