#CRITICAL RACE THEORY PRESENTS THE FEMALE PHAROAH’S CONSORT PART ONE

#CRITICAL RACE THEORY PRESENTS

THE FEMALE PHAROAH’S CONSORT

PART ONE

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THE FEMALE PHAROAH’S CONSORT

A NOVEL OF ANCIENT EGYPT’S 18th DYNASTY

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Eugene Stovall

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#HISTORICAL FICTION #WOMENS STUDIES #BLACK STUDIES #ANCIENT EGYPT #HAPSHEPSUT #AHKENATON

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“Senen-Mut designed the symbol that appears on all Hat-Shep-Sut’s images,” the Egyptian sage informs his initiate. “What does that mean, Master?” “Senen-Mut reveals the secret of Hat-Shep-Sut’s reign in her symbol.” “Master, what makes Senen-Mut’s design differ from those created for other pharaohs of the eighteenth dynasty?” “What Senen-Mut created had never been seen before and has never been seen since.”

“But Master, is not Senen-Mut’s symbol for Hap-Shep-Sut merely a pun of her name?” “You should know, Initiate, that mysteries are hidden in many ways.”

“I know that a mystery is a riddle.”

“Then you need no further instruction to unraveled the mystery of Senen-Mut’s symbol.”

“I do not know the mystery of Senen-Mut’s symbol, Master.”

“Tell me, Oh Initiate of the Outer Temple, does Hep-Shep-Sut remind you of any other Pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty?” “She reminds me of Ak-Hen-Aten.” “Ah ___ the heretic!” the master exclaims. “You are a clever student. Pharaoh Maat-Ka-Re Hap-Shep-Sut and Pharaoh Ak-Hen-Aten were mirror images of each other.” “If they were images of each other, who desecrated Hat-Shep-Sut’s monuments, cartouches and even her sarcophagus?” the young student asks. “ ____ and why?” the master adds. “Of course, one question remains: was Hap-Shep-Sut’s sarcophagus defaced before her coffin was installed?? ___ or afterwards?” “Is this the mystery, my wise Master?”

“Everything in the universe has a beginning and an end ____ as does this mystery, my ?young initiate?”

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The ancient Egyptians were clever. Though they lived in a Garden of Eden, as did the rest of Africa. Yet they fashioned their society on the fear of death. Ancient Egypt’s social classes, rituals and symbols were meant to have but one single purpose: a belief that the upper classes, priests and Pharaoh, himself, knew the secret of of cheating death. Modern man is not so easily deceived. Except for the lower classes, anti-intellectuals and superstitious, the world is not mysterious ___ it is quite orderly and understandable. The? modern man turns his turns the lower classes fear of death into a religion ___ a death cult that inspires fear of death in others. In modern civilization, war is religion, politics is the art of acquiring massive stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction and the God’s will becomes the extermination of the lower classes and uncivilized around the world.

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PROLOGUE

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To the east and west of Ancient Egypt, Hapi, the great god of the Nile River, creates a majestic valley ____ a black, fertile land that holds back Seth’s burning deserts on either side and supplies a bounty of all the good things that make life possible.

In the south, great cataracts divide the Nile River and establish the centuries-old boundaries that separate Egypt and Nubia. Flowing north in a serpentine fashion from the cataracts of Upper Egypt where the land narrows and resembles the stem of a lotus plant and emptying ?itself into the Great Green Sea, the Nile feeds the fertile lands that spread out like the bloom of a lotus flower. Lower Egypt is a fertile delta producing an? abundance that is coveted by the Semitic peoples of the north and the Asiatic of the east. Nomadic tribes migrate into the Nile delta from Palestine, Persia, Lebanon and Syria. Victims in their own land, these tribes settle into the lush Egyptian land and claim it as their own.

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Along the banks of the Nile, naked men toil at their shadoofs scooping up water from the river and pouring it into canals. Shadoofs are great canvas containers, balanced on long poles and swivel back and forth from the Nile to the canals. Shadoof workers sing sad songs and chant in rhythm. Like all the gods, Hapi loves music and eases the Shadoof workers’ labor. Shadoof ?workers do not complain about their miserable lives. They are taught to be happy serving Pharaoh, to whom Ra gives power and Hapi gives riches. The priests teach the shadoof workers to obey as they teach everyone else in the Two-Lands, that the sole purpose for their existence is to serve Pharaoh. As a reward to all who obey and serve Pharaoh, the priests promise an afterlife where they may continue to obey and serve Pharaoh.

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Pharaoh is personality, par excellence. He is power in action. If Pharaoh runs, he is the perfect symbol of human movement. If Pharaoh shoots an arrow, he personifies the principle of force. At the helm of his royal barge, Pharaoh is the principle of control. When he uses his enemy as a footstool, Pharaoh shows his power to control hostile forces. Pharaoh is the everlasting idea of life incarnate and personifies eternal existence.

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Pharaoh owns the Two-Lands of Upper and Lower Egypt. He owns everything on, over and in the Two-Lands. Every person living in the Two-Lands of Upper and Lower Egypt belongs to Pharaoh. Pharaoh is the Supreme Ruler; he is the Chief Priest; he is the Civil Administrator; he is the Chief Justice and he is the? Supreme Commander of the Army. The Two Lands are divided into forty-two nomes, each ruled by a nomarchs responsible for collecting Pharaoh’s revenues and administering Pharaoh’s justice. Nomarchs exercise absolute power and administrative authority over their lands, villages and towns in their nomes. Only the priests are independent of Pharaoh’s nomarchs. The priests answer to the gods. The Supreme God in Egypt is Amen-Ra, the invisible manifestation of the raw absolute power of the universe. The only authority that challenges Pharaoh’s will is the chief priest of Amen-Ra.

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The Thirteenth Dynasty was swollen with riches and wealth. But Thebes, its capital, located seventy iteru south of the Great Green Sea, was too far to hinder stop the nomadic tribes wandering into Lower Egypt and seizing control of Hapi’s fertile lands as it were their own. Not only is Pharaoh too far away, he is too weak and too comfortable to stop the invaders flowing into Lower Egypt speaking a foreign language, worshipping strange gods and imposing their will. Despite its wealth, the Thirteenth Dynasty collapses when the Hyksos invade the nomes of Lower Egypt and colonize its people. The Hyksos army possesses lightening quick chariots and superior bronze weapons. Hyksos fighters easily outmatch and slaughter Pharaoh’s Egyptian soldiers armed with tin swords and wooden shields. The Hyksos burn Pharaoh’s cities, raze his temples, and enslave his people. Pharaoh’s nomarchs in the north either ‘kiss the ground’ before their Hyksos masters or decorate Hyksos pikes with their heads. In the Egyptian cities of Sais, Bubastis and Avaris, Hyksos warlords employ Egyptian scribes and administrators to send the bounty of Egypt’ fertile delta back to the Hyksos kingdom. The Hyksos build temples honoring Astarte, the Hyksos goddess of war, in each of the Egyptian cities and force the people of Lower Egypt to worship her. For two hundred years the Hyksos rule Lower Egypt, allowing the weak pharaohs of the thirteenth and fourteenth dynasties to remain in Thebes, ruling over a smaller and humbler Upper Egypt. Then Apophis, the Hyksos king, sends a messenger to the court of the Seventeenth Dynasty Pharaoh, Seqenen-Re Tau-aa, in Thebes.

“The hippopotamuses of the Nile, with their constant bellowing, disturb the sleep of my master, King Apophis,” the Hyksos messenger complains. “My master orders that Pharaoh deliver all the hippopotamuses of the Nile to the capital of my master. Furthermore, he desires that Pharaoh deliver the hippopotamuses to him personally and then kiss the ground at his feet.”

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Outraged by the insult, ?Pharaoh gathers his army and engages the Hyksos invader in a titanic war of liberation. Pharaoh Seqenen-Re Tau-aa loses his life on the battlefield ____ as do the next three pharaohs.

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The first pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty, Ka-Moses, stares at his military advisors.

“What serves my strength when Hyksos bandits resides in Avaris?” Pharaoh shouts. “I can tolerate the pollution of these foreigners no longer.”

Ka-Moses sends an army south to crush a Nubian insurrection instigated by the Hyksos king. Ka-Moses, himself, leads another Egyptian army north to challenge the Hyksos invader. He blockades the Nile at Memphis and chokes off Hyksos’ access to Lake Moneris where they obtain fresh drinking water. The Hyksos are forced into the cities where they lose their chariots’ military advantage. Ka-Moses attacks the Hyksos strongholds, one at a time. But in the terrible battle for Sais, Pharaoh Ka-Moses is pierced by a Hyksos arrow and falls mortally wounded.

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Ah-Moses becomes pharaoh and continues Egypt’s War of Liberation for another six years. Attacking and capturing numerous Hyksos’ strongholds until only the great city of Avaris remains under Hyksos control, Ah-Moses forgoes another bloody frontal assault. decides. Ah-Moses crosses the Sinai desert and attacks the Hyksos fortress of Sharuhen in southwest Palestine. Annihilating the garrison and capturing the town of Gaza, Pharaoh seizes the military and trade routes into Egypt from Palestine that serve the Hyksos war machine. Cutting off the Hyksos supply line to Avaris, Ah- Moses conducts a siege. Within six months, the Hyksos lose control of Avaris. Thus ends two centuries of asiatic domination over the fertile Egyptian delta of northern Egypt. Ancient Egypt’s Eighteenth Dynasty emerges as the world’s first military and economic superpower.

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EPISODE ONE

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Senen-Mut pretends not to hear Amen-Nen-Het calling him to return to work. Senen-Mut hides in the tall reeds until his older brother wearies of searching for him and returns to the huts where the other workers are preparing flax for the looms. With his brother gone, Senen-Mut slips out of his hiding place and returns to the pond to watch the fish swim from the canal to the feeder that Senen-Mut installed to attracts fish into his pond. Since Ra-Moses’ youngest son began using his marvelous feeding device to attract fish into the pond, Senen-Mut’s mother has never had so many fresh fish for her family’s meals. Hat-Nofer is so proud of Senen-Mut that his older brother, Amen-Nen-Het, has become extremely jealous. None of Hat-Nofer’s other children resent the special bond between Hat-Nofe and her youngest son. Neither should Amen-Nen-Het. The oldest son will inherit his father’s entire estate, including the flax plantation that Ra-Moses operates for Amen-Nati, the Nomarch of Wast. Ra-Moses, a veteran of the wars in the north has two hundred workers and an equal number of slaves to grow and harvest the flax that produces the finest linen in the Two-Lands. Amen-Nen-Het oversees the plantation for his father and expects Senen-Mut as well as his other two brothers and two sisters to jump whenever Amen-Nen-Het barks ____ ?just as if they were one of his father’s workers or slaves. But, unlike his other brothers and sisters, Senen-Mut ?does not jump when Amen-Nen-Het barks. Senen-Mut questions everything.

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Few commoners in Wast are as wealthy and important as Senen-Mut’s father. And Ra-Moses believes that his youngest son has the potential to become an initiate ?___ the necessary requirement to become a scribe or even a priest. As a Confidant and Friend of Lord Amen-Nati, Nomarch of Wast, Ra-Moses continually gives Senen-Mut opportunities to demonstrate his talents. Senen-Mut’s family lives in Armant, a town in the southern part of the Nome h Wast, barely fifteen iteru south of Pharaoh’s capital of Thebes. Today Senen-Mut watches his pond so that he may bring his mother enough fish to trade in Armant’s marketplace. So often has Hat-Nofer boasted of her son’s ability to produce fish in his pond that Armant’s fishmongers have challenged her to bring his ‘wondrous’ fish to the market so they can judge for themselves. Finally, Senen-Mut selects four fat cat fish, the kind that Egyptians love to bake, and two Nile perch, the fish prized by even the fishmongers. Egyptian value Nile perch for their taste and fishmongers will trade anything to obtain them. Pleased with himself for having avoided his overbearing brother, Senen-Mut strings his fish on a line and races home to his mother.

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Senen-Mut’s family lives in a charming country home that sits to the side of the marsh where workers labor to harvest fields of flax ____ pulling the stalks up by the root from the soft soil before the blue flowers wilt. Others gather the flax stalk, tearing the flowers from the stems by holding a wooden comb on the ground with one foot and pulling the stalks of flax through the comb with both hands. After the stalks are combed, they are bundled and stored in huts to dry. Once the flax has dried, it is rippled to remove the seeds and retted to expose the inner fibers. Afterword’s, the tow and strick are removed and the flax stalks are cut it into equal lengths in preparation for the flax to be spun into linen. Sitting some distance away from the flax fields, the family home is actually a compound fronted by a courtyard and bordered on three sides by gardens and orchards of sycamores and date palms. The main residence is a rectangular building with a second floor rising in the rear. Three additional buildings are joined to the main residence by a covered walkway. All the structures are plastered over to resemble the limestone exteriors of the mansions and palaces occupied by the nobility. Inside, the high walls of the buildings are covered with strick and tow weaved into wicker patterns. Small windows high up on the weaved walls are supported by brightly colored cornices. Great double doors, cut from a rare ebony tree, open inward from the courtyard.

Entering the courtyard of his parent’s home, Senen-Mut sees his mother, hovering over the cooking mound, overseeing the cooks who prepare the noonday meal. But before he can run over and give his mother the fish, his father appears from nowhere.

“What fish have you caught today, my son?”

“I have caught many fish for your wife and my mother, my father,” Senen-Mut replies, keeping the fish from his father’s sight.

“Have you caught any perch?” Ra-Moses asks.

“Yes father,” Senen-Mut confesses. “I have caught two perch and several of the cat fish that you love, so well.” Senen-Mut glances at his father’s round belly.

“My son, take the perch and present them to our lord Amen-Nati’s cook,” Ra-Moses instructs.

“May the Lord Amen-Nati continue to bless us and keep us prosperous,” the youngster mumbles, turning away before his father can see the disappointment in his face. Slowly Senen-Mut ?walks over to his mother and passes Hat-Nofer the catfish.

“Oh! Senen-Mut!” Hat-Nofer exclaims. “These are the fattest catfish yet.”

Then she gives her son a big hug and a kiss on his cheek.

“I have two perch, but Ra-Moses, your husband, directs me to give your perch to Lord Amen-Nati,” Senen-Mut says, half expecting to see disappointment on his mother’s face. But instead, Hat-Nofer gives a little laugh.

“My husband and your father want the Nomarch of Wast to continue to favor us with his blessings,” Hat-Nofer says, smiling. But Hat-Nofer understands that her youngest son is disappointed and why.

Since he was a small child, Senen-Mut has always wanted to please her. His father always seemed so stern, so distant ___ as if Ra-Moses’ didn’t love his wife, Senen-Mut’s mother. Senen-Mut always does everything he can to show his mother how much he loves her and it hurts him to give the coveted perch to Lord Amen-Nati’s cook. Senen-Mut does not realize that his mother knows how much he loves her and she loves him no matter that he cannot give her the coveted perch. Hat-Nofer loves each of her six children. She even loves Amen-Nen-Het. Hat-Nofer’s love is dispensed to her children not on the basis of merit but upon the basis of need. Many on Ra-Moses plantation hate Amen-Nen-Het for his cruelty. This is why, of all of her children, Hat-Nofer knows her oldest son her love, and the love of his siblings, the most.

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“I thought that you wanted to go to the marketplace today,” Senen-Mut says. “You could have traded my perch for the image of Sekhmet that you’ve been wanting.”

“My son,” Hat-Nofer laughs, “those perch are more valuable to this household than an image of Sekhmet.”

“But you told me that Sekhmet’s image could overcome any affliction of the body caused by Seth,” Senen-Mut persists. “Who knows when Seth will strike and we will need Sekhmet’s assistance.”

Senen-Mut worries that Hat-Nofer grows older and weaker. He wants Sekhmet’s image available to protect his mother in her old age.

“My husband and your father says that these fish are to go to the Lord Amen-Nati,” Hat-Nofer chides her son. “Your father is fortunate to have the Nomarch of Wast as his patron and friend. Soon you will learn that to be successful, you must always consider your master’s will above your own.”

“Then I will take these fish to the Lord Amen-Nati’s cook,” Senen-Mut replies. Now that he no longer has a reason to be sad, he changes his mood, happy that his mother is not disappointed. “I will tell the cook that my father and Hat-Nofer’s husband, Ra-Moses, presents these fish for the nomarch’s table with fond esteem and in continued friendship.”

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During a battle in Pharaoh’s War Against the Northern Nomes, a contingent of enemy soldiers attacked Pharaoh’s army in a desperate attemp to stave off defeat by killing Pharaoh’s captain of captains and general of the army, Amen-Nati. In the ensuing battle, Ra-Moses rallies the defense to save Amen-Nati’s life, killing several enemy soldiers. After the war, pharaoh appoints his general, Nomarch of Wast and Amen-Nati rewards Ra-Moses with Wast’s largest flax linen plantation and a residence for his family in Armant. And through the years that the two men have remain friends, Ra-Moses knows that Amen-Nati loves nothing more than a meal of delicious Nile perch.

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Under Pharaoh Amen-Hotep, the guiding principle of the Eighteenth Dynasty is perpetual hostility towards the Semitic foreigners remained in Lower Egypt’s fertile delta and a bitter enmity towards those nomarchs remaining loyal to them. Pharaoh continues waging bloody battles to clear Egypt of the foreign invaders, completely ____ pitting Egyptian against Egyptian in hand-to-hand encounters. Amen-Hotep’s war is a merciless campaign of extermination against those identified as disloyal. Over time, the Egyptian army improves its military tactics and killing efficiency. Egyptians Adopting the Hyksos’ bronze battle-ax, the Egyptians develop their own unique bronze sword known as the kapesh. Razor-sharp, the kapesh can rip and tear through shields and hack and puncture enemy soldiers. In addition, Egyptian soldiers wear battle armor. But his most important innovation of the Egyptian army is the adoption of Hyksos-style war chariots.

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In battle, Ra-Moses never flinches nor flees; neither does he question or doubt. But, in addition to his devotion and loyalty, Ra-Moses does what so many other Egyptian soldiers fail to do in Pharaoh’s war ____ he stays alive. And by staying alive, Ra-Moses rises through the ranks to retire, not only is Ra-Moses one of pharaoh’s officers but as a member of Pharaoh’s prestigious Order of the Golden Fly, .

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“Bow down to his lordship, Vizier of Wast, my sons,” Ra-Moses shouts out as he escorts Amen-Nati’s grim-faced vizier, Menkh, through the great ebony doors into the central room of his family residence. “And pray to Amen that you have brought no shame upon my house this day.”

Senen-Mut immediately falls to his knees with his head resting on the matted floor as do his other brothers besides him. The vizier of Wast is tall, with a slightly gaunt look. His bald head is covered with a skullcap. He wears a white linen cloak over his kilt and around his wrinkled neck hangs a golden chain, an insignia of his office, an ankh over a golden scepter.

“Rise!” Menkh orders as he surveys each of Ra-Moses’ sons with an imperious glare. ?

When his gaze falls upon, Senen-Mut, it changes from imperiousness to curiosity and disapproval.

“Your school-master informs me of your behavior, young man,” the vizier addresses Senen-Mut.

“My son,” Ra-Moses asks, “can you explain your behavior to his lordship?”

“I might explain my behavior better, Father,” Senen-Mut replies, keeping his eyes fixed upon the aged priest, “if I knew what behavior most concerns his lordship.”

The boy has a contemptuous manner, Menkh notes. In this one, Amen-Nati has mistaken the slyness of Seth for the wisdom of Thoth. “Did you learn your insolent manner from your teachers at the temple or here in your home?” the vizier asks ___ his eyes narrowing into slits and his lips curling into a sneer.

“Master?” Senen-Mut responds wearing a look of wide-eyed innocence, which prompts the vizier’s disapproval, even further.

“Heretics have begun freely criticizing the will of the gods, lately,” Menkh announces. “It has been reported to the high priest of Amen that you are one of those heretics.”

Menkh’s eyes remind Senen-Mut of the eyes of a cobra preparing to strike.

“I am no heretic, master,” Senen-Mut replies.

“Why, then, do your teachers report you as such?”

“I only seek answers to the questions that occur to me.”

“You may leave,” Ra-Moses tells his other three sons. “This is between the Lord Menkh and Senen-Mut.” At the door, Amen-Nen-Het turns and gives Senen-Mut a smirk. After their departure, Menkh continues. “The heretics say ‘the priests have become too powerful’ and ‘blind obedience to priests led to the fall of the Thirteenth Dynasty.’ ?Is that what you believe, son of Ra-Moses?”

“Master!” Ra-Moses addresses Menkh. “Does his lordship believe that my fifteen-year-old son really understands these matters?” Ra-Moses gazes steadily at the vizier. “Neither children nor commoners can possibly know what is being discussed in Thebes.”

Menkh studies the flax farmer who wears his prosperity about his middle.

“You and your youngest son may join me.” Menkh turns on his heel and strides through the ebony doors, into the courtyard. “I wish a tour of your lands,” the priest orders.

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Ra-Moses takes the vizier of Wast through the courtyard and onto a path that leads through the vegetable garden. They walk for some distance in silence before coming to an orchard of date palms and doum-nut trees enclosing a circular resting area.

“How beautiful,” Menkh comments, surprised at the commoner’s ability to mate the universal principles so well within his gardens and orchards. ?

“Colors glow in your garden and rejoice the eye,” he observes. “Birds sing and delight the ear; perfumes burst from every flower and delight the nostrils. And what a beautiful pool!” Too idyllic an estate for a commoner, the vizier thinks. Many a noble would consider this residence above Ra-Moses’ station.

“Thank you, Your Excellency,” Ra-Moses replies, bowing his head in respect. He does not know whether Menkh’s comments are genuine or cynical. “Know that my wife designed the pool and planned the entire garden. She has worked tirelessly since we moved here some years ago.”

Menkh pauses in front of a bench sheltered by a trellis. He can delay discussing the purpose of his visit, no longer.

“The Lord Amen-Nati wants to know if your son is fit to be sent to the royal school,” Menkh confides in Ra-Moses.

“Ask the questions the Lord of Wast wants to know,” Ra-Moses replies. Amen-Nati warned Ra-Moses that Menkh believed his youngest son to be a heretic and unfit for the royal school. Menkh is the eyes and ears of Seth-Mesy, the high priest of Amen, and intends to thwart plans for Senen-Mut’s education at the royal school. An initiate of the outer temple, Menkh is not only a professional administrator, but also a priest and a member of the Seeing Waters, the secret group that reports heresies and other acts of disobedience directly to Seth-Mesy at Karnak.

“Know you, young man, how your father found himself enrolled among heroes of the Living God in the Order of the Golden Fly?”

“Yes, my lord,” Senen-Mut replies without hesitation. “My father fought bravely in several battles against Pharaoh’s enemies. He has taken many hands of Pharaoh’s enemies and has taken other of Pharaoh’s enemies captive.”

“Yet, on more than one occasion, you have questioned your teachers about why nomarchs of the north are called enemies of Pharaoh. Is this correct?”

“I asked how can Egyptians be Pharaoh’s enemies when they worship Amen?” Senen-Mut replies. “Are not Amen, Ra and Ptah worshipped by all who serve the Living God?” Senen-Mut isn’t afraid of Menkh, but this fearlessness, this inquisitiveness makes Ra-Moses’ youngest son a heretic in Menkh’s eyes. Priests demand blind obedience from commoners, else how could the priests, themselves, withstand Pharaoh’s awesome powers? Menkh cannot imagine any greater heresy than a student questioning a priest.

“How dare you question the will of Pharaoh?” Menkh roars out. “You see, Ra-Moses! Your son utters the same heresy that is rampant in Thebes. This heresy is worse than those plagues that Seth sends to wipe out you commoners, every so often.”

“I do not question Pharaoh,” Senen-Mut replies. His voice is quiet and mature. “I question my own ability to understand what others seem to understand, without difficulty.”

“What is there for you to understand, foolish boy?” Menkh asks. “Pharaoh is the Living God. He is the human personality; he is wisdom and power in action. His gestures give meaning to nature’s movement. If Pharaoh declares the birds of the air and the fish in the river his enemies, who are you to question the Living God?” Menkh glares at Senen-Mut before continuing. “The divine Pharaoh owns the land and everyone on it. He is ruler, chief priest of every cult, head of the civil administration, lord chief justice and supreme commander of the army.”

“I’m certain the boy means nothing by his words, your lordship,” Ra-Moses intervenes. “Sometimes young boys become confused by all that they learn in school. Senen-Mut is just a bit slower than the other lads in understanding the existence of the Living God.

“Well your son had better speed up his learning a bit hadn’t he?” Menkh snarls.

As a member of the Order of the Golden Fly, Ra-Moses is also called upon to provide army intelligence. He knows that the vizier of Wast is a member of the Seeing Waters and an informant. Amen-Nati even warned that Menkh suspects Ra-Moses, himself, of heresy.

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Ra-Moses continually relives the war. Not a day passes when he does not pray for the KAs of the men he slaughtered on the battlefield. They were good Egyptian soldiers who prayed to Amen, Ra and Ptah, just as he and Amen-Nati did. Ra-Moses and his family live magnificently because he killed many Egyptians ____ some of whom were not even given proper burials. Sadly, their KAs wander about, unable to enter the afterlife. When Ra-Moses first started discussing these things with his youngest son, the troubled war veteran believed that Senen-Mut was too young to understand his words. Now Ra-Moses realizes that he was mistaken to introduce Senen-Mut to his own doubts about the slaughter he witnessed.in the northern nomes. Please Amen, Most Merciful, do not force my son to suffer for my sins, Ra-Moses prays.

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“When our Lord, Amen-Nati, the Ruler of Wast, asked my opinion about the fitness of your son to enter the Royal School,” Menkh says. “I confess that I did not believe Senen-Mut could represent Wast suitably.”

“Praise be to Amen,” Ra-Moses prays. “I am certain that his Excellency will search the wisdom of his heart and make the proper recommendation.”

Menkh smiles outwardly, but vows to himself, Before the son of this flax farmer gets access to the secrets of the outer Temple, I will see him in the army, in the front ranks. Let this heretic face Pharaoh’s enemies in person. Blasphemers such as he should learn of their errors in the afterlife.

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Before Menkh reports his observations to Amen-Nati, Senen-Mut’s youngest sister is all over her brother. She had been listening to the entire conversation from their secret hiding place in the garden. Senen-Mut knew she was there, listening. When Menkh takes his leave and returns to the Palace of Wast, escorted part of the way by Ra-Moses, Nof-Ret-Hor leaps from her hiding place to confront her brother. Senen-Mut and Nof-Ret-Hor share a bond. Each was able to enter the other’s dreams when they were small children.

“Your mother will be sad if you leave her now,” Nof-Ret-Hor blurts out. “Even when you attended temple school, your mother worried. I know she will not want you to leave Armant and go to Thebes.”

“Every day I attended temple school,” Senen-Mut tells his sister, “my mother sent you or Ah-Hotep to bring me bread and beer, as well as onions and lettuces. She made certain that you brought the fish and fowl that I love to eat. My mother wants me to get an education and so does my father. My mother wants me to become a scribe or even a priest.” Tears flow from his sister’s eyes. Nof-Ret-Hor does not want him to leave. Senen-Mut stares at the ground. “If given the chance, I must accept the nomarch’s command to represent Wast at the royal school. My mother will understand.”

“Mother loves you and condemns nothing you do,” Nof-Ret-Hor replies. “But see how happy she is since you designed that fish pond. Everyone at the marketplace treats your mother as if she were a member of the nomarch’s own family. Even we, your sisters, receive great respect.”

“That must mean that the eligible young men are paying more attention to my sisters than usual,” Senen-Mut teases. Nof-Ret-Hor and Ah-Hotep continually scheme to get some young man to marry them. Now that Senen-Mut’s magical fish pond has become discussed in the marketplace, both sisters are receiving the attention of every eligible bachelor in Armant.

“You just wait until I tell your mother what terrible things you said when I insisted that she would miss you.” Nof-Ret-Hor turns her back so that Senen-Mut cannot see her tears. Both remain silent. Finally she confesses. “You are right, my brother; it is I who doesn’t want you to go to the Royal School. But it is not because I want to catch a husband.” Nof-Ret-Hor sits down near the base of a doum-nut tree. “I will miss you terribly, if you go.” She starts to cry, again. “I will miss you because I know I will never see you again.”

“I will miss you, as well, Nof-Ret-Hor,” Senen-Mut replies taking her hand. He tries to say something comforting, but there is nothing to say. Both have shared the same dream and both know what she says is true. “Are you still having your dreams?” he asks, not knowing what else to say.

“Uh-huh,” Nof-Ret-Hor shakes her head affirmatively.

“I will miss you telling me about them.”

“Do you want to hear about the one that I had last night?” Nof-Ret-Hor climbs up onto the bench to face Senen-Mut.

“Yes, please tell me,” Senen-Mut says. He hopes her story will ease the pain of his leaving. Though when they were very young, Senen-Mut and Nof-Ret-Hor entered each other’s dreams and remembered them afterwards, now they can only tell each other about their nocturnal adventures. Lately, both Senen-Mut and Nof-Ret-Hor have had the same dream. Senen-Mut prays that it is not an evil omen. And he hopes that attending the Royal School does not cause his mother too much pain.

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*****

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Striding between the pylons, Menkh crosses the courtyard, climbs the marble stairs and enters Amen-Nati’s palace. A long hall with a high roof, supported by a double row of pillars, leads to where an alcove dips inwards. Here a soldier guards the double door that opens into the nomarch’s study. The walls are lined with shelves containing all manner of scrolls, shards and tablets. The Lord Amen-Nati, Pharaoh’s scarred veteran, sits in a high-backed, leather-lined chair at a wooden table with legs carved into lion paws.

“Lord,” Menkh says after bowing low before the Nomarch of Wast. “I do not believe the youngest son of Ra-Moses will suitably represent Wast at the Royal School.”

“Why not?” Amen-Nati asks, slowly raising his eyes from the scroll he is studying.

“Ra-Moses’ son is insolent,” Menkh replies. “He does not understand a commoner’s place.”

“In addition to his mannerisms, did you examine his intelligence?” Amen-Nati asks,

knowing Menkh’s mind. The Nomarch of Wast is also a commoner. Most of Pharaoh Thut-Moses’ top army officers, veterans of the northern wars, are commoners. They rose through the ranks under Thut-Moses, who was the commander in chief of Pharaoh Amen-Hotep’s army. Now pharaoh because of his marriage into the royal family, Thut-Moses, himself, is a commoner. And when Thut-Moses became pharaoh, he began appointing commoners to high offices ____ offending both nobles and priests, alike. Nobles and priests, like Menkh, kept their sons from Pharaoh’s battlefield. Now they, disapprove of commoners rising through the ranks of pharaoh’s administration and giving them orders. And the nobles and priests especially resent commoners attending the Royal School at Karnak. But Menkh’s opinion doesn’t matter to Amen-Nati. The Nomarch of Wast has already decided to send Senen-Mut to the Royal School as the Student of Wast. He sent Menkh to question the boy only to observe tradition.

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“That boy holds heretical opinions,” Menkh asserts.

“The boy utters heresy?” Amen-Nati asks, raising his eyebrows.

“The boy questions Pharaoh’s war in the north,” Menkh says.

“Your opinion is based on reports you have heard from the temple school,” Amen-Nati observes, “not on an examination of the boy’s intelligence and fitness, as I instructed.”

“Since my master has also heard reports of his heresy,” Menkh asks, “why do you consider him at all?

“If he holds any heretical views at all,” Amen-Nati replies, ignoring the vizier’s insolence, “he must have learned them at the temple school.”

“Why does my master say that?”

“Where else would he learn them?” Amen-Nati asks. “Certainly you do not believe his heretical ideas originate from his own mind. Isn’t it the belief of the nobles that only the priests are capable of teaching a student what is knowable?”

“Yes, it is true that all learning is in the hands of the priests and the temple,” Menkh admits reluctantly.

“Well then,” Amen-Nati says, smiling, “if this student speaks heresy, then he must have learned it at the temple school. And that is where you should search for your heretics.”

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Amen-Nati enjoys putting his pompous vizier Menkh in his place ____ knowing that the old priest at the temple school only teaches traditional religious myths. But Menkh cannot admit that a commoner can learn from someone other than a priest without undermining the entire foundation of religious knowledge. Then the vizier, himself, could be accused of holding heretical views.

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Loyalty! That is what these priests want, Amen-Nati sneers. But Pharaoh wants people around him who can think and do more than take orders from a bunch of religious fanatics. The Nomarch of Wast is committed to giving Senen-Mut an education, not only because he promised Senen-Mut’s father, but also because the lad displays remarkable intelligence and a desire to learn. Given the opportunity, Amen-Nati believes that Senen-Mut could become a scribe or even a priest. Menkh represents the old noble class who believes the only role for a commoner is to labor, obey and die. Pharaoh has directed his nomarchs to find talented students no matter their origins. He wants a new class of administrators and priests to assist Pharaoh to change the old traditions that allowed foreigners to invade and control their land.

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“Unless you have made any additional observations of Ra-Moses’ son that you wish to share,” Amen-Nati smiles, “I have decided to send Senen-Mut to the Royal School at Karnak. This is my decision.” And without pausing to allow Menkh to reply, Amen-Nati says, “You are dismissed.”

For a moment, Menkh considers launching a protest. Anger and arrogance struggle inside his mind, but, in the end, Menkh knows it’s useless to say anything. He bows silently and departs. But even as the Nomarch of Wast savors his victory over the noble who is his servant, Amen-Nati knows that he is doing Senen-Mut no favor. In the Two-Lands, what matters most, is name and title. Senen-Mut has neither.

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When Senen-Mut receives the royal summons to present himself to the Royal School at the Palace of Ladies in Karnak,? Hat-Nofer is so excited her son has become the Student of Wast that every day for a week, she visits Armant’s market, showing Senen-Mut’s Royal Summons to anyone wishing to see it. The towns people are also excited. Never before has a commoner of Armant received such an honor. Ra-Moses is so proud that his face is frozen into a permanent smile. Senen-Mut’s brothers are jealous, but only Amen-Nen-Het expresses outright hostility.

“I should have been offered the opportunity to attend the Royal School,” he tells anyone who will listen. Most laugh.

“Amen-Nen-Het reads little and can think even less,” the towns people say. “He’s fortunate to have his father’s flax business.”

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The day comes that Senen-Mut must depart for Thebes. Both of Senen-Mut’s sisters weep, but only Nof-Ret-Hor’s tears are genuine. Armed with a scroll declaring him to be the Student of Wast, stamped with the Nomarch’s seal and addressed to the Royal Teacher, Senen-Mut boards the nomarch’s barge moored in the Wast’s private harbor and sails the short fifteen-iteru distance down the Nile to Thebes.

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EPISODE TWO

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“Make way for Wast! Make Way!” The captain of the Wast Barge shouts out as he and the pilot maneuver their sleek transport barge into the great harbor of Thebes and steer it through the channel that leads to the docking area reserved for river barges belonging to Pharaoh’s nomarchs and nobles. This channel, used exclusively by Pharaoh and Pharaoh’s co-Regent, continues past the harbor of nobles and up to Karnak.

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Before entering the Royal Channel, the Barge of Wast must maneuver past fishing boats as well as freight and transportation barges ___ all heading for public docking areas? where they can unload their cargo and passengers before heading to the vessel mooring areas. Senen-Mut has never seen so many boats in his life. Everywhere he looks, vessels of all shapes and sizes, from magnificent river ships with three banks of oars to little skiffs and fishing boats seek their assigned places in Thebes’ great harbor. He wonders how all these boats sort themselves out s itself out without crashing into each other. Even as he considers the congestion in Thebes’ harbor, a barge loaded with grain barely avoids colliding with a flatbed ship transporting gigantic blocks of limestone. Yet, before Senen-Mut’s eyes, the traffic sorts itself out and ships, reaching their intended docking areas to disgorge their passengers, goods and materials into Thebes from throughout the Two-Lands and from all over the known world.

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“Why does that boat have so many soldiers?” Senen-Mut asks the captain, pointing to a two-masted vessel with two banks of rowers.

“That is one of Pharaoh’s treasure boats,” the captain replies. “It brings gold from Nubia or semi-precious stones from the Sinai.”

“Where do Pharaoh’s treasure boats dock?” “Near the royal storehouses.” The captain says, pointing to great stone buildings overlooking the harbor. “Those boats over there,” the captain continues, “transport linen, wool, furniture and every other kind of product to the docks serving the marketplace.” All this activity amazes the Student of Wast.

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The Barge of Wast slides into the royal channel and docks neatly in a comfortable slip. Then the captain escorts Senen-Mut up to a platform sheltered from Amen’s rays by a huge multi-colored canopy under which the dock master lounges upon a high-backed dais, enjoying the panoramic view of Thebes’ great harbor.

“Good day, Excellency!” the captain of Wast says, bowing low to the dock master. Before becoming the Overseer of the Royal Dock, the dock master spent years both as a sailor and captain in Pharaoh’s naval service.

“Good day, Captain,” the dock master replies. “How can Thebes serve Wast?”

“This is the Student of Wast,” the captain says, indicating Senen-Mut. “He carries the Seal of Wast to the Teacher of the Royal School at Karnak.”

“I will see that the Seal and the Student of Wast are delivered to the Royal Teacher,” the dock master replies.

“I will convey to my master that his captain received much kindnesses from the dock master of Thebes,” the Wast’s barge captain says leaving the customary offering with the dock master’s scribe. Then, bowing once more, the captain returns to his barge.

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“Send up a dock worker,” the dock master orders his scribe.

“How may I serve my master?” the dock worker asks from his kneeling position.

“Take this royal student who carries the Seal of Wast to Karnak,” the dock master orders. “Direct him to the Royal Teacher at the Palace of Ladies.”

“Yes, master,” the dock worker replies. “Your will be done.”

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The dock worker is about the same age as Senen-Mut. His loincloth is soiled, his leather sandals are tattered and he wears a filthy skullcap. Though the dock worker’s face is dirty, his eyes are quick and intelligent and he wears a lop-sided grin on his face that disconcerts Senen-Mut. It’s as if the dock worker is laughing at him, but Senen-Mut doesn’t know why. You can be certain, Senen-Mut tells himself, that if Amen-Nen-Het caught any of his flax workers or slaves grinning like this one, he would be certain to work the grin from the offending worker’s face.

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“Follow me, Student of Wast,” the ragged-looking dock worker says. He turns on his heel and heads up to a great dusty road teeming with jostling, pushing humanity. The road passes through a pair of pylons and leads into the heart of Thebes, the capital of the Two-Lands and the greatest city in the world.

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Thebes is layed out like a giant labyrinth, sectioned into groups of huts by winding streets and crooked alleyways. Pharaoh’s capital is noisy and overcrowded. Night and day, people jostle each other throughout the congested streets. Unimaginable smells rise up from vermin-ridden huts that, lacking sanitation facilities, are squeezed between two and three-story mud brick buildings. In Thebes’ lower sections, those immediately adjacent to the harbor, animals and livestock are domiciled in the same buildings as family members. Even administrators and scribes fortunate enough to live further away from the harbor, cannot entirely avoid ?the smells of? Thebe’s slums. Only those nobles actually living in Karnak or who have villas or mansions situated in the rolling expanse between upper Thebes and Karnak breath relatively fresh air.

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Senen-Mut’s guide leads him through lower Thebes and directly through the heart of the market district. Litters and carts clog the streets, ?transporting petty administrators, minor priests and rich merchants to their destinations. Guards with cudgels force the crowds of yelling and cursing men, women and children to the side to make way for the nobles. Thebes’ streets twist and turn so abruptly that Senen-Mut can barely keep up with his escort. More than once the Student of Wast gets completely lost and must wait until the dock worker returns to retrieve him.

”Can’t you keep up!” the dock worker snaps at Senen-Mut. “If I don’t get back to the dock master quickly, I will lose my position.” And without waiting for Senen-Mut to reply, he disappears again, this time scampering in front of a litter and a donkey cart, loaded with goods, all the while yelling, “Keep up!”

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They reach a gate that serves as the entrance into the main marketplace where guards stationed there seem more interested in their games of chance than watching the surging throng. Different smells now fill the air. The smell of salted fish and beer and bread remind Senen-Mut that he hasn’t eaten since leaving Armant. Again, the dock worker must wait for the Student of Wast to catch up.

“Master,” the dock worker says deciding to walk by the royal student’s side, “my name is Iby.”

“I am Senen-Mut.”

“My entire family works on the docks,” Iby boasts. “They either work for the overseer of the docks, the overseer of freight or the overseer of measures.”

“You must be very proud of your family,” Senen-Mut compliments his escort.

“Every day we handle all the boats coming into the harbor,” Iby boasts. “Once they’ve deposited their cargos, we moor them out there.” Iby points to the great expansive area where boats bob up and down at their anchorage.

“In what way does your family serve the Pharaoh?” Iby asks.

“My father lives on an army pension and serves the Nomarch of Wast,” Senen-Mut explains.

The dock worker’s face registers disbelief. “You’re a commoner?” he asks.

“Yes,” Senen-Mut replies.

“There are only two classes serving the Living God,” Iby says, “those of noble birth who give orders and commoners who carry them out. How is it that a commoner is admitted into the sacred sanctuary of Karnak?”

“There are only two types of people who serve Pharaoh,” Senen-Mut answers, mocking his guide, “the ones who serve the Living God with their backs and the ones who serve him with their brains.”

Iby considers the Student of Wast’s response. This one is having his jest with me, Iby decides. He’s just like those other noble brats, only this one is a bit cleverer.

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Iby hustles Senen-Mut through Thebe’s marketplace, passing merchants’ stalls displaying all sorts of produce, meats and fish. Maneuvering through the twistings and turnings, the dirt road becomes paved and the streets become wider. Here, merchants sell their wares in courtyards or inside bazaars.

“This is the upper marketplace,” Iby says. “The powerful and their servants obtain their wares and do their trading here.”

In Thebes’ upper marketplace, Senen-Mut notices that all the servants wear smiles plastered across their faces like Iby ___ and all the people bow to each other, especially happy to serve their masters. In Thebes’s upper marketplace, workers continually clean the streets and dispose of the filth.

“Over there are Pharaoh’s public houses,” Iby says. pointing to a series of large multi-story buildings as they march past.

“Public houses?” Senen-Mut repeats.

“Pharaoh’s Houses of Silver, his Granaries and other buildings where he keeps his possessions,” Iby explains.

Senen-Mut nods.

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They approach a crowd of people, clustered outside a cook shop. Inside the shop’s courtyard, bread is being prepared. In the next courtyard, a vendor solicits the crowd waiting for the fresh bread to obtain his onion seeds shouting out with a musical lilt. “My onion seeds block snake holes most effectively!”

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A litter, trailing two donkeys loaded with goods, heads towards them. Senen-Mut and Iby move aside and the merchant passes. But though the street is relatively wide, there is not enough room for the litter and donkeys to pass the crowd lined up in front of the bread shop.

From inside the litter, the merchant screams at his guards, “Get that scum out of the way!” The guards quickly begin swinging their clubs and pushing at the crowd. “Make way! Make way!” they shout.

Senen-Mut stops to watch.

“Student of Wast,” Iby cautions. “Here in Thebes, it is not wise to become distracted by what does not concern you.”

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Where the paved road divides, a group of sailors asks Iby for directions to the Street of Pleasure. Iby directs them off to the left. “They will spend a month’s pay on one night’s entertainment,” he laughs. Further up they pass the Street of Barbers. Here a patrons can learn the latest court gossip while ridding himself of unwanted hair.

“May it be written in the Book of Thoth that I do not intend a bad omen, but I’m just saying that Pharaoh should spend more time in Memphis,” one of the barbers states. “In Memphis, Pharaoh can protect us from a Mitanni invasion.”

“Do you think the priests would deliver all this loot to the Pharaoh’s House of Gold, or the Royal warehouses without Pharaoh presence?” “Of course not!” “Pharaoh must remain here, in Thebes, with his gold.”

Patrons and barbers have a good laugh.

“That’s what the Thirteenth Dynasty did and you see where it got them!” someone remarks.

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Iby and Senen-Mut pass out of earshot. Now they travel a broad, straight boulevard paved with stone. Here there are no crowds ___ only officials or administrators wearing their insignias of rank on gold chains around their neck walk past. Along this boulevard, steles and monuments record the names of pharaohs and recount their deeds. Here also are parks, tended by an army of gardeners. Scattered about are mansions and palaces. Uniformed sentries in groups of twos and threes patrol this boulevard. A pair of sentries stop them and demand their insignias. Iby shows his insignia of a dock worker.

“Why are you walking the Boulevard of Nobility,” one of the guards asks.

“This is the Student of Wast,” Iby explains. “My master the dock master ordered me to? escort him to the Royal School at Karnak where he is to report to the Royal Teacher.”

The sentry examines the Wast’s insignia on Senen-Mut’s credential. Then, without comment, he allows them to pass. Finally, after walking a great distance down the paved boulevard, they arrive at a great wall with an imposing gate ___ ?behind which sprawls Karnak, home of the gods, Living and immortal.

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“State your business!” the officer of the guard barks.

“This is the Student of Wast,” Iby replies boldly. “He is here to present himself to the Royal Teacher at the Palace of Ladies. His credential bears the Seal of Wast.”

After the officer of the guard inspects the Wast’s insignia on Senen-Mut’s credentials, he passes him through the gates. The captain assigns four soldiers to escort Senen-Mut to the Palace of Ladies.

“May the gods and fortune favor you,” Iby shouts to Senen-Mut, as he heads back to the harbor of Thebes.

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EPISODE THREE

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The Palace of Ladies is actually a complex of residences and apartments connected by gardens, walkways and secret accesses. The Palace of Ladies located inside the Royal Palace of Karnak is? surrounded by its own wall. Within the Palace of Ladies complex is contained the Nursery for the Royal Infants and the Household of Royal Children. The Royal Teacher and his assistants live in the Palace of Ladies and educate the royal children along with the children of nomarchs and other nobility. The students attending the Royal School hold the title Companions of the Royal Children. Upon arriving at the Palace of Ladies, Senen-Mut presents his credentials to Hapu-Seneb, the Royal Teacher.

“Just what we need,” Hapu-Seneb sneers to his assistant, “another commoner.” Hapu-Seneb is the high priest of Amen’s protege his most loyal servant. Hapu-Seneb received his appointment as Pharaoh’s Royal Teacher through the intercession of Amen’s high priest. Not only the Royal Teacher do nothing without the approval of his mentor, he also shares the high priest of Amen’s distain for commoners, especially those identified as ‘heretics.’

“Do not expect any special consideration here, boy,” the Royal Teacher glowers at Senen-Mut.

“No your lordship,” Senen-Mut responds, remaining in a prostrate position with his head touching the floor. Hapu-Seneb keeps the new student on his knees far longer than is customary. But he enjoys watching the commoner grovel at his feet.

“What do you make of this Student of Wast, Mes-Djer?” Hapu-Seneb asks the royal assistant at his side. Mes-Djer look like someone who has never committed the heresy of independent thinking since he has never harbored any independent thought.

“Master will undoubtedly be sorely tried by this one,” Mes-Djer replies.

“All right, get up,” Hapu-Seneb says and then, aside to his assistant, “What’s the boy’s name?”

“Senen-Mut, Master.”

“Get up, Senen-Mut,” Hapu-Seneb says. “Mes-Djer will take you to the Corps of Pages. They will see that you are properly settled and teach ?you your duties.” Then the Royal Teacher appraises Senen-Mut with a sly look. “So you aspire to become an initiate, do you?”

“I aspire only to assist Pharaoh in whatever manner my abilities allow me, Master,” Senen-Mut replies in a quiet voice.

This commoner’s response reveals a keen mind, Hapu-Seneb thinks to himself. He neither acknowledges nor denies his ambitions. “You believe that Pharaoh needs the assistance of a commoner like you?” Hapu-Seneb asks in an intentionally sarcastic manner. “I’d say that your first lesson should be to serve according to your rank.”

Senen-Mut withholds any comment, remembering his father’s advice. “When in the presence of a noble, if there is nothing to say, say nothing.”

The Royal Teacher mistakes Senen-Mut’s silence for submission and is satisfied that the Student of Wast is sufficiently chastened.

“Now you may take our new student to the Overseer of the Pages and see that he is settled in, ” Hapu-Seneb instructs Mes-Djer.

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The Corps of Pages are housed in a dormitory where the, the Overseer of Pages assigns Senen-Mut his personal space and a sleeping mat.

“This will be your home for as long as… ” The overseer pauses. “I guess we shall see how long you actually remain in the Royal School, won’t we?” “Judging from this Senen-Mut’s behavior,” Hapu-Seneb later reports to Seth-Mesy, “Menkh correctly identified him as heretic. “Wast has always been a hotbed of heresy.” “But, Master, who could have taught this boy his independent ideas?”

“Possibly the Nomarch of Wast himself taught the boy what to say,” Seth-Mesy concludes.

“If so,” Hapu-Seneb replies, “it was done more subtly than I would have believed Amen-Nati capable.”

“This Student of Wast bears watching,” Seth-Mesy concludes.

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*****

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The Corps of Pages has one other commoner, in its ranks. Pharaoh requires the Royal Teacher and his assistants to give the commoners the same education received by all the other Pages ___ without distinction. All students are tutored in mathematics, astronomy and astrology. Each learns the science of numbers and proportion according to the fundamental principles upon which the ancient laws and traditions governing the Two-Lands have been formulated.

“The eye follows what the form reveals,” Abit, Hapu-Seneb’s oldest and most learned teacher lectures. “Sound compels bodies to make certain gestures and to move into certain positions. Form and sound arouse internal reflexes in everyone.”

?Abit is an initiate of Amen’s elite Inner Temple, the highest order anyone in the Two-Lands can achieve. Though Abit’s lesson on universal principles bores most of his students, Senen-Mut is stimulated. The commoner becomes Abit’s most favored student. Abit likes Senen-Mut’s approach to his lessons ____ seizing every opportunity to probe into the ancient mysteries and understand their inner meanings. Already Senen-Mut has mastered an understanding of what is required for initiation into the outer temple, but Abit cannot resist taking the Student of Wast further. And today’s lecture on universal principles, awakening Senen-Mut’s curiosity, gives the teacher an opportunity to further the Student of Wast’ learning.

“Is the universal principle that impacts sound the same principle that works on form?” Senen-Mut asks.

“More than one universal principle works on them both, my son,” Abit responds.

“But does the same universal principle work the same on sound as it does on form?”

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Senen-Mut’s questions irritate his fellow students; they grow restless. The noble students are indolent and easily bored. Moreover, they have no idea what Abit is talking about. The nobles take Abit’s interest in Senen-Mut as an insult ____ ?to their intelligence and to their rank.

“Proportion and sound are fashioned by all of the universal principles,” Abit explains, “Universal principles fashion everything that exists. What distinguishes a principle’s impact on form from its impact on sound is its universal effect.”

With this last statement, Abit’s draws blank stares from everyone, including Senen-Mut. The teacher tries to explain.

“Take the principle of vibration,” Abit continues. “Vibration impacts form differently than it impacts sound. Vibration alters form but enhances sounds. However, the effect of vibration is the same on both form and sound, don’t you see?”

“I still do not understand,” Senen-Mut says.

“He still doesn’t understand,” one of his fellow students sneers.

“Principles are universal when they exhibit laws that are inflexible and unchanging,” Abit explains. “There is no exception to or recourse from a universal principle.”

“Is that why the ancients taught that, to understand a universal principle, we must understand proportion and number?” Senen-Mut asks.

“Yes!” Abit replies. “That’s it! You’ve got it.”

“So a statue’s proportions correspond to a number that is invoked by a particular universal principle?” Senen-Mut says, thinking out loud.

“Yes, again,” Abit says. “Anyone who contemplates the physical form of a statue will be affected by that particular universal principle, even if only at the subconscious level.” Asfet, one of Senen-Mut’s fellow students, breaks into the conversation. He is the youngest son of the Nomarch of Hare. Asfet is very bright when he doesn’t let his arrogance get the better of him, which is not very often.

“Aren’t you just saying that the bigger the statue, monument or stele,” Asfet sneers, “the greater its impact on the observer?”

“Yes,” Abit replies, “but there is more to it than that.”

Ignoring the teacher’s comment, Asfet continues. “Then it is through form and sound that the noble class impresses illiterate commoners with the meaning of rank and privilege, ” Asfet says directing his animosity at Senen-Mut. Asfet’s fellow students join the attack by laughing at the commoner. They are grateful for the interruption and Asfet is always happy to ingratiate himself with students of whose families have wealth and titles. “Asfet points out an important fact of nature,” Abit responds. “ Nature impacts human beings and forces them to obey such gestures and forms that accord with universal laws. When the wind blows, branches bend; if words of sorrow are spoken, tears flow and if the obelisk touches the sky, the looker wonders in amazement.”

“I understand this principle with sound,” Senen-Mut remarks. “When the workers sing, their work becomes easier.”

Asfet frowns in disgust.

“Is this not the reason,” Senen-Mut blurts out, “that none can defy the will of gods, since nothing in nature can defy universal principle?”

Asfet bristles at Senen-Mut’s question. “Who is delivering this lecture, the teacher or this commoner?”

Abit realizes that he has allowed Senen-Mut to go too far. Questions concerning the gods are not permitted; no student is permitted to speak of the gods in such a sacrilegious, disrespectful manner. Abit dismisses his class. But the damage is done. Hapu-Seneb quickly learns of Senen-Mut’s heretical statement. The Royal Teacher urges Asfet to lead a vicious campaign against the Student of Wast. Hapu-Seneb leaves no doubt that Senen-Mut is nothing other than a commoner. He wants the Corp of Pages to treat him as though he were a shadoof worker. For months afterwards, the Royal Teacher targets the Student of Wast with every petty joke and cruel prank that the Corps of Pages can concoct. The constant harassment and hazing makes Senen-Mut want to escape the Corps of Pages and the Royal School, itself. Yet he knows that he must remain. Leaving the Royal School would break his mother’s heart.

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Senen-Mut has attended the Royal School for more than two years and his life alternates between pleasure of being the Royal School’s brightest student and the pain of being an outcast, a commoner. Even the other commoner, the Student of Jackal, distances himself as far from the Student of Wast, as possible. Yet, unexpectedly, things begin to change. The Royal Teacher allows Senen-Mut to attend the more interesting and challenging lectures ____ many of which are conducted by Hapu-Seneb, himself. Even more importantly, the royal couple, the Princess Maat-Ka-Re and her brother, the Crown Prince, Aa-Kheper-Ren-Re Thut-Moses II attend some of these same lectures. Over time, Senen-Mut finds himself in the presence of the royal couple on almost a daily basis. What is more exciting, sometimes Senen-Mut feels the Princess Maat-Ka-Re watching him ____ when she doesn’t think he notices. Senen-Mut tries to dismiss his feelings as fantasies. Pharaoh’s daughter is the most beautiful woman in all of the Two-Lands. How could she have any interest in the Student of Wast ___ a commoner. But one evening, Aron, the Student of Jackal, confirms Senen-Mut’s observation.

“The Princess Maat-Ka-Re always seems interested in what you have to say,” Aron remarks. He and Aron share a writing table and are engaged in copying Hapu-Seneb’s decrees. The Royal Teacher assigns the Corps of Pages secretarial tasks when his regular scribes are fully occupied. But since none of the nobles in the Corps of Pages can be assigned anything other than normal schoolwork, Hapu-Seneb’s extra work always falls on Senen-Mut and Aron.

“I have no idea what you are talking about,” Senen-Mut replies.

“You know very well what I say is true,” Aron laughs. “Your prattling during the lectures has caught the interest of the princess.” Aron’s laugh rings with jealousy. Aron’s father also served in Pharaoh Amen-Hotep’s Wars against the Northern Nomes, but Aron’s father is not a member of the Order of the Golden Fly and Aron is jealous. Aron is the tallest and most muscular student in the corps. He has a quick wit and a competitive disposition, especially when it comes to Senen-Mut. But Aron is no scholar and does not enjoy his studies. Even so, Hapu-Seneb has been instructed to see that Aron always attends the same lectures as Senen-Mut.

“I’m telling you this,” Aron confides to Senen-Mut, “so that you don’t make things harder on yourself, or me, than they already are.”

Senen-Mut doesn’t comment, but, inwardly, he is thrilled. Maat-Ka-Re is interested in me. Senen-Mut can’t believe it. His own feelings stir. The very name, Maat-Ka-Re, sends a stream of fire cursing through his body. Whenever he is near her, Senen-Mut feels something akin to a burning inside, so much that he wants to explode. But Senen-Mut must be careful. He dares not reveal his own feelings to anyone, especially not Aron. It could cost him his position as a Royal Page and Student of Wast, if not his head.

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But what will be, will be, especially when Hathor herself enkindles a great and abiding love between a man and a woman. And it does not matter that the woman is the daughter of Pharaoh and the man is the son of a commoner. Then it happens. One day when the Princess Maat-Ka-Re overhears Hapu-Seneb giving Senen-Mut and Aron a copying assignment, she requests one for herself, as well. Furthermore, Maat-Ka-Re tells the Royal Teacher that she wants the task assigned to Aron. That a Child of the Palace be given an assignment is unheard of. However, the royals are laws unto themselves; they have supreme authority over their servants, and everyone else in the Palace of Ladies.

“I do not want the commoners to learn more than I know,” Maat-Ka-Re explains when questioned by her personal tutor.

Soon Senen-Mut and Maat-Ka-Re find themselves sharing evenings together and joined by her brother, the Royal Heir, Aa-Kheper-Ren-Re ___ Aak, for short. ?Over the next several months, Maat-Ka-Re and Senen-Mut meet ever more frequently over papyrus scrolls in the Copy Room. The Student of Wast intrigues the Royal Princess.

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“He’s so unlike the others,” Maat-Ka-Re confides to Aak.

“Is that so?” the Crown Prince yawns.

“Yes,” the princess smiles dreamily. “He doesn’t treat me like a ____.”

“Like a what?” the Crown Prince asks.

“Like a woman,” Maat-Ka-Re blurts out.

“How does he treat you?” Aak asks.

“He treats me like I’m as important as any of the other students,” Maat-Ka-Re replies.

“Even as important as me?” Aak asks.? The Crown Prince cannot resist shooting a jibe at his sister. Even though he loves her dearly, Aak is jealous over the favors their father, Pharaoh Tuth-Moses II showers upon his sister.

“Possibly,” Maat-Ka-Re says, doing nothing to assuage her brothers hurt feelings.

“You’re considering taking this commoner as your consort?” the Crown Prince asks.

“Possibly.” ?When Aak is Pharaoh, he and Maat-Ka-Re will wed. Their marriage will be strictly ceremonial, rather than connubial. Though he and Maat-Ka-Re love each other as brother and sister, the Crown Prince looks forward to the day when his sister must become subordinate to his will. Until then, Aak really doesn’t care who Maat-Ka-Re takes as her consort. A commoner might well fit into his plans. So, he does not object to his sister becoming intimate with the Student of Wast.

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Eventually, the awkward meetings between Pharaoh’s daughter and the Student of Wast in the Copy Room become trysts in secret places all over the Palace of Ladies.

“Tell me about your family,” Maat-Ka-Re asks one evening as the young lovers hold hands in one of the inside the Palace of Ladies’ many private gardens.

?“My father serves the Nomarch of Wast and manages his? flax plantation,” Senen-Mut says, proud of his father’s success. “But without my mother’s devotion, my father would be nothing.”

Maat-Ka-Re stares at her suitor. “Tell me about your sisters,” she urges him.

“When Nof-Ret-Hor and I were children, we could enter each other’s dreams.”

“I would like to enter my brother’s dreams,” Maat-Ka-Re exclaims. “Do you think you can teach me?”

“I can try,” Senen-Mut replies. But he quickly learns that this is a mistake.

“I don’t want you to try,” Maat-Ka-Re says, sternly, “I want you to do it!”

Senen-Mut is confounded. He doesn’t know what to say. But on this occasion, sensing his distress, Maat-Ka-Re relents. Expert in manipulating both her father and Aak, she knows when not to make impossible demands. If Senen-Mut is to further her plans, this is not the time to humiliate him into submission. Now she must cultivate her future consort’s devotion, not his fear. But Maat-Ka-Re loves to tease Senen-Mut. She begins by treating him tenderly as if to say, “I love you!” Then she behaves as if to tell him that ‘only fools fall in love.’ Senen-Mut is no fool, but he has certainly fallen in love with the most beautiful woman in the Two-Lands.

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Maat-Ka-Re wears a filmy linen slip that stretches from just below her shoulders to her ankles. A side slit, from the ankle to the knee, allows her to walk comfortably. Her firm, young breasts are barely covered by the shoulder straps supporting her dress. The straps are beaded and cut in a V-shape. Maat-Ka-Re’s skin glows with the luminescence of youth, her eyes are lovely and clear, her full lips are moistened and colored with red ochre. She perfumes her body with exotic oils from throughout the Two-Lands. Senen-Mut likens her fragrance to Hathor’s breath; it overpowers him. She speaks softly with a musical lilt. To Senen-Mut, the sweet sounds flowing from her mouth likens her body to a musical instrument. Her hair is curious. Sometimes it is dark brown with golden highlights. Then at other times it seems her hair is as black as lapis lazuli. Maat-Ka-Re walks with graceful, unhurried steps; her rounded hips, trim thighs and well-formed legs exude a sensual eroticism. Maat-Ka-Re is playful, impulsive and amazingly self-willed. None of this matters to Senen-Mut. In their secret meeting places all over the Palace of Ladies, she has completely captured her lover’s devotion. And in their \idle discussions about family and dreams, they pass the time in each other’s arms.?

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Karnak buzzes with gossip about Maat-Ka-Re and Senen-Mut. Knowledge of the princess’ scandalous behavior begin circulating not only through the Palace of Ladies but Pharaoh’s palace, as well. Their secret meetings, never very secret, are constantly observed. Maat-Ka-Re’s attempt to cover their trysts by having Ak in attendance has never fooled the gossips. All of Karnak talks about the princess affair with a commoner.

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“No fish swim in my pond,” Maat-Ka-Re complains to Senen-Mut one evening.? when They are meet in the garden adjoining her private apartments. ?“Even though my servants fill my pond with fish each day, they all disappear.” Maat-Ka-Re looks up to Senen-Mut with a comically serious look frozen on her face, as if the absence of fish in her pond was of major importance. “I have heard that you know how to get fish, even \ rare species of perch, to swim in any pond you choose.” Maat-Ka-Re measures the impact her words have on the man she has chosen to be her consort.

“I can get fish to swim into any pond that I choose,” Senen-Mut boasts.

“So you can fill my pond with fish?” she asks smiling coyly.

“I’ll bet he can’t,” Aak sneers. The Crown Prince tires of listening to the lovers teasing each other. However, Aak actually likes Senen-Mut. Maat-Ka-Re’s brother admires the Student of Wast for his intellect ___ . and his health.

“I’ll get fish to swim in your pond,” Senen-Mut promises.

From then on, the Student of Wast along with many fish of the Nile become frequent visitors to Maat-Ka-Re’s pond in her private garden in Pharaoh’s palace, the Mansion of Millions of Years.

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“Senen-Mut,” Maat-Ka-Re shouts, “come see the fish gathering in my pond.”

Today she, Senen-Mut and Aak enjoy the cooling, gentle breezes wafting off the Nile outside her private quarters. ?Maat-Ka-Re and Senen-Mut have forsaken their meeting places in the Palace of Ladies. For the past many months, they meet almost daily in her private garden in Pharaoh’s palace. Counting the fish, Maat-Ka-Re squeals with joy. Aak is also impressed ____ though not nearly as exuberant. From an early age, the Crown Prince has had a weak heart.. Maat-Ka-Re cares for her brother. And one day, when Aak is Pharaoh, Ruler over the Two-Lands, it will be important that that Senen-Mut wins Aak’s respect and approval.

“Look Aak!” Maat-Ka-Re claps her hands together as she races around her pool. “Look at that one. He’s a whopper!” Pharaoh’s daughter beckons Aak’s litter bearers to bring her brother closer. “One day, my brother, Senen-Mut will unite all in the Two-Lands under your rule in the same way that he brings me these fish.”

“Dear sister,” Aak replies, “I believe your prophecy, but I can take no comfort in it.”

“You are a terrible grouch,” Maat-Ka-Re says gaily, “what ails you today?”

Aak says nothing. He does not want his depression to spoil his sister’s happiness. Maat-Ka-Re turns back to Senen-Mut.

“Pharaoh Amen-Hotep gave your father land?” she asks,

“My father saved the life of General Amen-Nati, now Nomarch of Wast,” Senen-Mut replies.

“Did you know that the distinguished women actually saved Egypt from Asiatic and Nubian invaders?” the princess asks. She has become serious.

Senen-Mut stares at Maat-Ka-Re. He’s never certain what she will say next ___ nor when she is serious.

“How did they do that?” Senen-Mut asks, trying to keep the skepticism from his voice. But the idea of women saving Egypt from foreign invasion is beyond belief.

“When Pharaoh Seqenen-Re Tua-aa II died fighting the Asiatic, his wife, Queen Ah-Hotep, my great-grandmother, led Egypt’s military campaigns. She fought on the battlefield until she expelled the Asiatic out of Egypt. Then she ordered the executions of all the Egyptian nomarchs, administrators, scribes and priests who collaborated with the Asiatic enemy.”

“When my father fought for Pharaoh Amen-Hotep,” Senen-Mut says quietly, “long after the death of your great-grandmother, Egyptians were still killing Egyptians. My father always believed there was some other reason for the war in the north.”

“My grandmother, Queen Ah-Moses Nefer-Tiri, Queen Ah-Hotep’s daughter, directed the bloody purge of all nomarchs and their families because for two hundred years they served the Hyksos kings,” Maat-Ka-Re states. Her voice is calm, but she resents Senen-Mut’s impertinence. “The ‘Eyes of Horus’ provided a list of those exterminated.”

Senen-Mut senses Maat-Ka-Re’s irritation and says nothing.

“My great-grandmother was invested into the Order of the Golden Fly, the highest military order in Egypt,” Maat-Ka-Re continues. “All of its members fought and displayed valor in battle.” The princess scrutinizes the Student of Wast. “Your father is a member of the order, isn’t he?”

“Yes,” Senen-Mut replies, “he’s a member. But he still questions why the war killed so many Egyptians.”

“Four Pharaohs gave their lives in bloody battle, along with thousands of soldiers. They died to liberate the Two-Lands from the Asiatic,” Maat-Ka-Re says. “We fought to repel the invasion of our land from the north. The heads of those who allowed the Asiatic to freely wander about our land were put on poles along with their families and soldiers. Queen Ah-Moses Nefer-Tiri personally led the army against these traitors. This is her enduring legacy.”

Senen-Mut decides it is unwise to displease his lover with his father’s doubts. He takes her hand and pulls her to his side.

“As I said,” Maat-Ka-Re continues, “the queens of Egypt have played an important role in saving Egypt. And so will I.”

“I know you will, my princess,” Senen-Mut tells her. “And I will serve you.”

“Yes,” Maat-Ka-Re says, “for you were sent to me by Hathor.”

“Why did Hathor send me to you?” Senen-Mut asks, affecting a look of innocence.

“Because I pray to Hathor every day,” Maat-Ka-Re smiles, “and she sent me you.”

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****

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“Is that royal brat still consorting with that commoner from Wast?” Seth-Mesy asks.

“I am afraid so, your Excellency,” his assistant replies. “Hapu-Seneb reports that, not only does Maat-Ka-Re keep company with the Student of Wast, but also shares his independent way of thinking. Together they challenge everything.”

“See how heresy grows, day by day,” Seth-Mesy exclaims. “What began in Thebes will soon sweep across the Two-Lands.” The high priest’s eyes blaze with zeal. “Then those who should obey, will question the gods!”

“The Royal Teacher informed me that the Student of Wast even questioned the source of the god’s authority,” the assistant adds.

?“Amen wills that this heresy shall proceed no further!” “Seth-declares.

“This heresy is intolerable,” Seth-Mesy’s assistant echoes.

“Centuries of unwavering obedience makes possible our traditions,” the high priest affirms. “We cannot allow this heresy to destroy our civilization.”

“Hapu-Seneb reports that the weak-willed Royal Heir has fallen under the spell of this commoner as well,” the assistant continues.

“I will not have it,” Seth-Mesy declares. “I do not care what you do! Slit that commoner’s throat and feed him to the crocodiles, if you must. But separate him from the royal couple, immediately!”

“Yes, lord,” the assistant responds.

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“Hi, Senen-Mut!”

An unfamiliar figure appears in the Copy Room where Senen-Mut and Aron must reproduce twenty scrolls for Hapu-Seneb before the morning. It’s been a week since Senen-Mut last has seen Maat-Ka-Re. She hasn’t attended any? lessons, nor has she responded to the messages that he left discreetly in their secret spots. Senen-Mut tries to distract himself with work. So worried has been the Student of Wast, that he hadn’t noticed the stranger, with the comical grin plastered on his face, slinking up to the copy table.

“Don’t you remember your guide, Student of Wast?” the stranger asks.

“Iby!” Senen-Mut shouts, genuinely surprised. “Is that you?”

“Yes, young Master.”

“This is the guide who brought me to the Palace of Ladies,” Senen-Mut explains to Aron.

Aron nods but continues with his work without comment.

“Why are you here?” Senen-Mut asks.

“I came to get you, Senen-Mut,” Iby says. The guide wears a dark woolen cloak over a dark linen tunic. “But not so loud.”

“You’ve come to get me?”

“Yes ____ and him, as well.” Iby gives the Student of Wast a crooked smile “How long have you been attending the royal school now?”

“Four years.”

“Four years!” Iby exclaims. “I bet 20 copper debens that you would be gone before the end of your first month.” Iby shakes his head in disbelief. “Well, time to get going.”

“Get going?” Senen-Mut says. “I’m not going anywhere.” “Oh yes you are, Student of Wast!” Iby says. “I’ve been instructed to get you and the Student of Jackal out of Karnak as quickly as possible. Your lives are in danger!”

“But why?” Senen-Mut’s eyes widen in innocence. But ?Aron immediately understands the situation. What a fool I’ve been! he tells himself, but to Iby he says, “Our friend, here, is saying that Pharaoh does not take kindly to a commoner being intimate with his daughter.”

With that, the Student of the Jackal drops his stylus and says, “I’m ready!”

So that’s why I haven’ heard from Maat-Ka-Re, Senen-Mut thinks.

“Just because Pharaoh knows that Maat-Ka-Re and I love each other doesn’t mean that I should go slinking off into the night,” he tells Iby.

Aron puts on the dark tunic and robe proffered by the dock worker.

“No?” Iby snorts. “Well what if I were to tell you that, if you return to your sleeping mat at the Corps of Pages tonight, you will certainly meet with a fatal accident.”

Senen-Mut feels a cold and clammy chill running through down his spine.

“How do you plan for us to escape?” Senen-Mut asks, somewhat chastened.

Iby thrusts a dark tunic and cloak into Senen-Mut’s hands.

“Just leave that up to me and do what I say,” Iby says. “These cloaks will help conceal you from the sentries. Don’t worry. No one is looking for you. At least not yet.”

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Outside the Palace of Ladies, Iby picks his way over dark paths that would have been difficult to find even during the day. None of the sentries standing watch on the wall surrounding the Palace of Ladies see the dark figures slinking through the palace’s secret passageways and exiting through a hidden gate in the wall. Passing through the reeded area near the royal dock, Iby leads the escapees over the shore of the royal canal back to Thebes. It is almost dawn before the three weary travelers arrive at a small cluster of mud huts a short distance from the harbor of Thebes.

“Stay here!” Iby tells the runaways. “I’ll be back.”

The Theban night is chilly. The wharf is silent. The dark hulls of river boats are barely visible in the predawn gloom. Here and there lights, glowing inside alabaster vases, twinkle on the decks of gently rocking boats. Down near the reeds, knots of people huddle around open fires, set up high on brick mounds. Somewhere an owl lets out a mournful series of hoots welcoming the new day. After a while, Iby returns.

“At first light, the Eyes of Horus will see you safely aboard the Barge of Wast ,” Iby says. “The barge will transport us down to Memphis.”

“The Barge of Wast?” Senen-Mut exclaims. “You mean the Lord Amen-Nati knows about this?”

“Of course,” Iby replies. “Who did you think is responsible for saving your life?”

“That must mean my father knows, as well,” Senen-Mut murmurs, almost in tears. He buries his face in his hands. “The Eyes of Horus?” Senen-Mut questions. “Who are they?”

“The Eyes of Horus are the ‘eyes and ears’ of Pharaoh,” Iby explains. “You must have made an impression on someone. My uncle says that without the help of the Eyes of Horus, you would have been left in the red sand as a snack for the jackals. Okay, lover boy, try to get some rest. And consider yourself expelled from the Royal School.”

“But where am I going?” Senen-Mut asks.

“We,” Iby corrects Senen-Mut.

“What do you mean, we?” Senen-Mut asks.

“You, Aron and me …, we!” Iby explains. “It was my fee for getting the two of you safely out of Karnak. The Lord of Wast and the Eyes of Horus have decided to use your unique talents in the north.”

In the gloom, Aron sits in the chilly mud hovel and wonders what trick of fate has caused him to end up here. And pulling his cloak around him for warmth, the former Student of Jackal realizes that, as much as he disliked Senen-Mut before, he really hates him now.

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In the Mansion of Millions of Years, a coded knock sounds on the door of Mut-Sherif, Pharaoh’s Grand Vizier. A servant allows a watcher for the Eyes of Horus to enter.

“Master, the Student of Wast and the Student of Jackal are headed north,” the watcher says.

Mut-Sherif nods and dismisses the messenger. So much for Seth-Mesy’s plot to slit the Student of Wast’s throat. Pharaoh’s Grand Vizier congratulates himself.

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The next morning a number of Pharaoh’s closest advisors, including his Grand Vizier and the high priest of Amen, meet in Pharaoh’s Seal Room.

“The Eyes of Horus inform me that the Wast’s independent thinker has escaped having his throat slit,” Mut-Sherif announces to Pharaoh. “Even now, he is heading towards Memphis.”

“Let us hope that our students will take advantage of their opportunities at Horus Nest,” Pharaoh comments. He and Mut-Sherif smile at each other as if sharing a private joke.

On the other hand, Seth-Mesy must hide his annoyance.

“If the Student of Wast knew where he was going,” Pharaoh’s Royal Scribe observes in a high-pitched squeaky voice, “the lad might have chosen to have his throat slit.”

Other council members politely ignore the scribe’s tasteless remark.

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Senen-Mut, Aron and Iby speed down the Nile on a seven-day journey that ends in the harbor of Memphis. Shu, the wind god and the oarsmen’s friend, blows into the Wast’s brightly colored sails, propelling the barge over Hapi’s white-capped waves. When the Barge of Wast arrives in Memphis’ harbor, the oarsmen praise Shu for making their toil so easy.

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Horus Nest is Pharaoh’s military fortress. Located apart from the island city of Memphis, the headquarters of Pharaoh’s War Council is also the barracks for Pharaoh’s largest military contingent. After arriving at Memphis, the three companions are taken directly to the section of Horus Nest reserved for training new recruits.

“The three of you have completed your studies at the Royal School at Karnak, I understand?” the training officer asks. “We’ve been told to expect you.”

Senen-Mut and Aron nod their heads; Iby says nothing.

“That must mean that the three of you have completed your education and can read and write.”

None of the them respond. Anger twists the training officer’s face into a grimace.

“When I speak, I expect an answer,” he barks. “Have you completed your education, or not?”

“Yes, Master,” all reply in unison.

“I have been told that you read and write like scribes. Is this true?”

“Yes Master!” Senen-Mut answers. “All of us can read and write.”

“Not I, sir,” Iby replies with an impish grin on his face. “I can neither read nor write.”

The officer stares at Iby.

“Ah yes,” the officer replies, “I’ve heard about you. You’re the one who can slip in and out of Karnak without the Seeing Waters or anyone else knowing.”

“Well, sir,” Iby replies, “I certainly could not have done it without assistance from the Eyes of Horus.”

“Is that so,” the officer says. “What is your name, recruit!”

“Iby, sir.”

“Well, Iby,” the officer laughs, “I’m putting you in charge. I don’t care that your friends can read and write and have the makings of scribes. What I need are soldiers. You seem to have the makings of a good one. I’m holding you responsible for these other two.”

“Yessir,” Iby replies. His lopsided grin spreads even wider on his face.

I think I am going to like the army, Iby tells himself.

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To Be Continued ...

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Copyright ? Eugene Stovall (2013)

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