Beauty of Re

by Mark Gajewski

  “You wouldn’t marry me because you didn’t want me to have to choose between Nefer’s son and yours as my heir. But she’ll never have a son. And its not likely you’ll have a child at your age.”

  “I suppose that’s true.”

  “My point is, Mery, that all the reasons you had for not marrying me years ago no longer exist. They’re like leaves that have fallen from a tree. Don’t you think Nefer would be happy for you? The two of you could never be rivals.”

  Tears rose in my eyes. I’d wanted to be Thut’s for so long. Maybe he was right about Nefer. Maybe Thut and I didn’t have to be apart anymore. Fact was, after having him to myself these past months, I didn’t know if I could give him up again. I’d had to do so far too many times in my life.

  “Don’t we owe ourselves some happiness?” Thut gently asked.

  It amazed me that Thut was still in love with me and still wanted me after so many years and so much time apart. What might happen upon our return to Kemet, if I took him as husband, suddenly didn’t matter. I knew I’d feel guilty for betraying Nefer, but I was tired of denying myself the man I loved. I wanted Thut for myself. He was right – I could have been executed tonight. Then I never would have had him as husband. So I put thoughts of Nefer aside, allowed myself the luxury of putting myself first. “Who am I to contradict a king?” I asked. “Especially when I don’t want to.”

  “You’ll be my wife, Mery? You really will?” The joy in Thut’s voice was unmistakable.

  “Yes, My Love. Finally. I will.”

  Thut beamed. “So, I’ve finally won my greatest campaign. Just like I promised you I would.”

  I embraced Thut, kissed him passionately for a very long time. Then I lay with my head in the crook of his shoulder, his strong arms around me. I was satisfied, happy, content, gazing up at the stars, knowing my life would never be the same again.

  Suddenly a comet streaked across the sky, from west to east.

  “A sign from the gods!” Thut exclaimed, sitting up. “They bless our marriage, Mery! And victory will surely be ours!”

  “I hope so. But, at the very least, Thut, the gods have just given us the stars we need to find our camp,” I said practically.

  ***

  Thut and I lounged before a blazing campfire not far from the marshy shore of Lake Niy in the Orontes Valley. His closest companions were with us, as usual, their faces illuminated by the firelight – generals Djehuty and Thutiy, Ahmose, Amenmose, Dedu, Amenemhab. Si–Bastet, the royal barber, sat not far away, busily sharpening his copper blade for use in the morning. From my leather seat next to Thut I could see the moon rising over the lake, the moon path shimmering whitely on its waters. Servants waited on us, bearing food and drink, ordered about by Montu–iywy, one of the royal butlers. I noted that Intef, Thut’s marshal, was busily arranging our nearby tent. The far less grand tents of the army sprawled some distance in both directions along the shore, clustered around countless campfires. Soldiers were thick around them, eating and relaxing. I heard horses whinnying and a few donkeys braying from the section where carts full of tribute were parked. The adjoining area where prisoners were under guard was silent. I heard splashing in the lake, no doubt soldiers bathing, their raucous cries carrying on the warm night air, competing with the chirping and humming and buzzing of insects, the scattered calls of nightbirds.

  The king’s scribe and friend, Tjanuni, sat cross–legged close to the fire, by its light writing on a sheet of papyrus spread on his lap with a reed dipped in black ink. He was updating the king’s military daybook. Tjanuni had accompanied Thut on every one of his campaigns, beginning with Megiddo, and Nefer and I had used copies of his scrolls to teach the children in the harem about Thut’s exploits.

  Thut addressed Tjanuni. “Do not fail to mention I am the first king of Kemet to enter the land of the Mitanni since my grandfather.”

  “And thoroughly conquered it, moving far beyond what he did, Majesty,” General Djehuty added. “The stela you placed beside his on the east bank of the Euphrates, with your names and the details of your victories over the Mitanni, will stand as testament of your success for all time.”

  Thut and Djehuty made no idle boast, I thought. I recalled the initial battle in the campaign, which had taken place months ago. Thut and I had returned from the enemy camp after our spying expedition, roused the army, crossed the Euphrates on the pontoons, then attacked the Mitanni at dawn as they slept in their tents. The rout had been complete, the retreat of the Mitanni survivors precipitate, the cost in dead and wounded to our army negligible. Thut had taken hundreds of prisoners that day, including thirty members of King Saustatar’s family. Several were with us now as hostages. I was already well–acquainted with them, already spending part of each day preparing them for their new lives in Kemet. After that first battle, Thut had swept through the Mitanni empire like a scythe through emmer, moving virtually unchallenged from city to city, pillaging at will, demanding and collecting tribute. Outside of one town we’d faced resistance from a weak band of militia; Thut had swatted it aside like a man might a pesky fly. We’d eventually even taken the capital, Washukanni. Our task complete, we’d embarked on our journey home exactly one month ago. Thut had vowed to celebrate his great triumph upon our return to Waset by dedicating many prisoners and much of the plunder he’d gained to Amun’s temple.

  “Everything that you and General Djehuty mentioned I have already written, Majesty,” Tjanuni replied. “Right now I am recording the tally of your hunt this past week. Seven lions, a rhino, twelve bulls. And, today, 120 elephants.”

  “My grandfather hunted elephants in these very marshes when he campaigned in Setjet,” Thut said. “It has always been my ambition to do so.”

  “I can attest to that,” I said. “You announced it first at the cataract, when we brought back the obelisks.”

  “Now you have twelve new bull’s tails to drape on your chariot,” Djehuty said.

  “Which you live to ride in because of me, Majesty,” Amenemhab cheerfully reminded Thut.

  Which was true. I’d watched in horror earlier this very afternoon as the largest elephant in the herd charged Thut who, fleeing on foot, found himself trapped knee-deep in a shallow streambed, with large slippery boulders at his back and to each side. Just when I thought he’d be trampled Amenemhab had appeared out of nowhere, dashing into the water in front of Thut, slashing wildly with his long dagger, slicing off the elephant’s trunk. A mighty cry of pain and anger had issued from the beast and he’d stopped dead in his tracks. Thut had quickly buried an arrow in his brain and others had let fly, including me, though I never knew if my arrow had pierced or merely bounced off the elephant’s tough hide. Thut himself had sawed off the elephant’s tusks afterwards. They were two in what was now a quite large pile.

  “I suppose you’ll be wanting gold for your exploit,” Thut said.

  “Naturally,” Amenemhab laughed.

  “I’ve made you a wealthy man, my friend,” Thut said affectionately.

  “And I’ve earned every bit of it,” Amenemhab replied. “After all, I brought you three prisoners in the country of the Takhis.”

  “For which I gave you flies of valor and four bracelets and two helmets of gold and a tame lion and a female slave and a male slave, if I recall correctly.”

  “You do, Majesty. During this campaign I captured three prisoners in Naharina, and thirteen prisoners and seventy asses and thirteen basons of iron at Khalep, and more prisoners at Carchemish, and I brought you a hand at Senzar.”

  “For that hand I’ve already given you two rings of gold and silver,” Thut said. “As for the rest, you’ll be amply rewarded during the triumphal feast I shall hold when we return to Waset.”

  Tjanuni stood. “I have composed a hymn in your honor, Majesty.”

  “Let’s hear it.”

  “I, Amun–Re, set your glory and the fear of you in all lands,

  And the terror of you as far as the four supports of the sky.
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  The rulers of all foreign countries are gathered together within your grasp.

  I have stretched out my hands to bind them for you.”

  “Excellent. I’ll have it carved on some temple wall.”

  “You should have Nefer carve the record of all your campaigns on a wall – perhaps in Ipet–Isut – perhaps even erect a new hall there,” I said. “No king has waged so many, over such a wide area. They should be written publicly so they can be remembered by your descendants.”

  Tjanuni nodded at me enthusiastically. “An interesting idea, Majesty.”

  I was slowly getting used to being addressed by that title. On the field of victory after our first battle with the Mitanni, sitting on Saustatar’s throne, Thut had announced that he had taken me as his wife. After what I’d done at Yapu, and then in Naharina, his soldiers had embraced me as one of their own. They seemed almost as happy at my good fortune as I was. Now, when I went about camp, I wore the vulture crown and uraeus, and the cheers of the men for me were genuine.

  I wouldn’t let myself think about what was going to happen once we returned to Kemet. Iset was going to be furious, and as for Nefer… I hoped Thut was right, that she would accept what I had done and congratulate me. But I feared she would not.

  “It is well I have such talented wives,” Thut said. “One to dream up excellent ideas, another to carry them out.”

  “Speaking of wives, I thought you’d take some from among the Mitanni,” Amenemhab said. He’d been drinking much wine and it had loosened his tongue. “I myself had my eye on several women in the king’s court. Or have you grown too old for such things, Majesty?” he chided.

  Thut glanced sideways at me and smiled slightly. I could attest he had not.

  “The last you took from the Nine Bows were Merti and Menhet,” Djehuty pointed out.

  “No man should have more than three wives from Retenu and Setjet, don’t you think?” Ahmose said jokingly.

  Suddenly everyone around the campfire fell silent, torn between laughing at Ahmose’s comment and not offending me, Thut’s eighth wife.

  “And every man should have to travel all the way to Naharina to marry a woman from his own home town,” I said, taking hold of Thut’s hand.

  The awkwardness was dispelled. Thut joined in the general laughter.

  “At any rate, the whole world, from Retenu to Setjet to Nubia to Naharina, is now yours,” General Djehuty said. “No king has ruled a greater empire.”

  “Even the isles in the midst of the Great Green are within my jurisdiction now, as governor of the north countries,” General Thutiy added. “Those who dwell there fear your sea power. Never in the history of the world have there been fleets like yours. Why, the king of far–off Alashiya is practically your vassal now.”

  “And Kemet has never been richer,” Amenmose added with satisfaction.

  I recalled Iamunedjeh, Thut’s royal herald, announcing the arrival of envoy after envoy from the cities of Naharina as we’d marched across that land, bringing vast quantities of tribute as a token of submission and in hopes we’d spare their towns. Then, as we’d marched from Naharina back towards the coast on our homeward journey, we’d been overtaken by envoys from the King of Great Kheta, a nascent kingdom from far to the north and east that none of us had ever heard of. They’d earned Thut’s friendship by gifting him eight massive rings of silver – together they weighed nearly 98 pounds – along with precious stone and costly wood. That tribute rested now in the carts along with all the other tribute and plunder we’d collected during the campaign. Nefer would clearly have all the resources she needed to create a new temple for Thut and carve his exploits on its walls.

  ***

  I immediately went to Nefer’s room upon my arrival at the harem in the Faiyum.

  I’d transferred from Thut’s royal boat to a smaller, more modest craft at Mennefer, going home to the Faiyum while Thut and the rest of his fleet continued on to Waset with his captives and newly–gained riches for his official triumph. We both thought that best for the present time. I needed to make peace with Nefer. Iset and Sitiah had been waiting for us at Mennefer, Thut having sent word ahead of our pending arrival, and as I’d expected Iset had been nearly apoplectic when Thut announced our marriage. He was still trying to calm her down. Sitiah, at least, was more accepting; she was used to Thut returning from campaign with a new wife by now. My parting from Thut was tearful after so many months together, but for the first time I knew that years would not pass until I was with him again. Neither of us would let that happen.

  The deck of my boat was crowded with fine decorated ebony chests; during our stay at Mennefer Thut had gifted me with fine dresses, and a diadem with three gazelles, and gold collars inlaid with faience and precious stones, and gold bracelets and earrings and pendants and rings and belts and girdles, and heart scarab necklaces, and a falcon collar, and a vulture pectoral of sheet gold, and ointment jars of green and pale blue and black, some with gold rims, and bowls, and see–faces with gold handles, and armlets shaped like cats and lions, and scarab rings of gold and lapis lazuli and steatite, and silver libation vessels, and strands of beads, and furniture, and perfumes and cosmetics, and even a silver canister inscribed with my name, items I’d never in my life expected would be mine.

  The night of our arrival in the capital I’d sat at his side during a banquet in his per’aa, flanked by a furious Iset, revealed to his officials and nobles as his wife, for the first time wearing some of my new finery. He’d given me a headdress that day, the most marvelous I’d ever seen – nine hundred rosettes hung twenty–four to a strand from rings attached to an oval plate of solid gold, each rosette inlaid with precious stones or glass or faience, several pendants dangling from it and laying against my forehead. The headdress weighed over four and a half pounds and my head ached by banquet’s end, but it was a night I’d never forget. The rest of our sojourn at Mennefer I’d worn the vulture crown or uraeus diadem and my exquisite new dresses at numerous events honoring Thut’s latest victory. But an hour before our arrival at the harem’s quay today I’d changed back into one of my old simple linen dresses, my only jewelry the Hathor amulet that meant so much to me, its details now somewhat worn after half a lifetime of my fingering it, and a new necklace with flies of valor. Thut had rewarded me again for my actions in the enemy camp. I wouldn’t wear royal regalia again until after I’d told Nefer my news.

  I entered her room with trepidation. The walls were brightly painted with scenes of the marshes and fields and lakeshores of the Faiyum, commissioned of one of our craftsmen. There was a canopied bed, beautifully decorated ebony and cedar chests, several small tables and chairs, alabaster stands for lamps. It was a little before sunset. Nefer was sitting near one of the large wide windows that opened onto the central garden, reading from a stack of papyri, her skin golden in the fading light. For a moment I just looked at her. She was still an exceptionally beautiful woman. The years had been kind to her. She felt my eyes on her and looked up. She jumped from her chair with a glad cry, ran across the room to embrace me. I hugged her tight. I’d missed her very much. We’d never been apart for so long, ever. She released me, stepped back, looked me up and down.

  “Flies of valor!” Nefer exclaimed, touching the necklace draped around my neck. “You’ve been heroic again, Mery! And recognized again… Come, tell me about it.”

  She made me sit, then called for a serving girl and ordered food and drink. Immediately a young girl entered with a jar of wine and filled our cups. As we sipped I told Nefer all about my spying excursion, about Thut’s campaign, about his hunt, about the new hostages I’d brought with me, and finally about receiving the flies of valor.

  “A number of us gathered in the courtyard outside the Window of Appearances in the per’aa at Mennefer,” I said. “General Djehuty, of course, me, Amenemhab, several captains, soldiers who’d particularly distinguished themselves in battle. Nobles and officials and soldiers crowded the courtyard so that one
could barely move. Then Thut appeared in the window, wearing the Blue Crown and his sword and his battle regalia. One by one we were called to the window. Some received flies, some were awarded the enemy soldiers or women they’d captured as slaves, some were given land, others gold. I was the last summoned before Thut. The herald announced what I’d done, then Thut placed the flies over my head. I bowed and said something – I don’t even remember what, I was so excited. That night there was a banquet in our honor.”

  “I was afraid you’d do something foolish,” Nefer said when I finished my tale. “First Yapu, now Naharina… I’m never letting you out of my sight again!”

  A second girl entered with food. By now the sun had set and a third girl lit the lamps scattered around the room.

  “You must be famished. Please, eat,” Nefer said, as plates were placed on the table before us.

  “Not just yet,” I said. “There’s something I have to tell you first.” I’d been dreading revealing my news the whole journey home. There was no sense putting it off, and no sense being delicate. “Nefer, Thut has taken me to wife.”

  The silence in the room was almost deafening. I heard birds chittering in the garden outside the window as they settled down to sleep. I heard mothers and children laughing in that same garden, infants crying in the kap across the way. I heard my heart pounding in my ears.

  “Thutmose first asked you a long time ago, didn’t he,” Nefer said after a long pause, her eyes searching my face.

  “Yes,” I admitted, surprised. “How did you know?”

  “I guessed at it. That awful day in the audience hall after Mother died he mentioned asking you something fifteen years earlier. Then he gave you the chance to ask him for anything. Being his wife was the only thing that made sense to me.”

  “Yes. Thut asked me one day when the two of us were visiting Mentuhotep’s temple.”