The Mummifier´s Daughter - A Novel in Ancient Egypt

by Nathaniel Burns

  Asim ducked, and the pot shattered against the wall behind him. The same moment the spilled oil from the lamp caught fire. He regained his feet, stepping on the shards of pottery that sheared through the instep of his left foot, as he turned to limp as speedily as possible from the room, leaving a trail of bloody footprints in his wake.

  Neti rose from the bed, moving as swiftly as she could, and started to put out the fire as the oil continued to spread over the floor. A commotion in her doorway caused her to look up, recognizing one of her neighbors, who appeared stunned by the sight and then turned from the room.

  Shabaka rushed toward Neti’s home, his heart racing as he hurried through the slowly awakening streets. The young boy who had summoned him had only mentioned a disturbance at her home. However, his stomach churned when he turned into the street leading up to her house and saw the people gathered outside, his steps for a moment faltering.

  He halted for a moment outside her door, confused, as he looked at her doorway, glancing around to ensure that he was indeed at the correct house, before pushing aside the mat to enter. He glanced about the room, his heart dropping to his feet, swallowing against the bile that rose in his throat at the sight of the bloody prints leading from her room. A numb sensation took hold of him as he reluctantly made his way toward the doorway. He knew what to expect, but was uncertain if he could face what lay behind the fabric partition. The smell of burnt oil and reeds filled his nostrils as he took a deep breath to steady his nerves, before moving the fabric out of his way, already chiding himself for not having checked up on her recently.

  The room was empty. The broken shards of the pot lay next to the wall, with a black charred patch on the floor next to the bed. A bolt of relief flushed through him on sight of the room’s disarray, thankful that he was not greeted with a bloody sight and her mutilated body. He froze an instant later, registering her absence from the room and seemingly the house, instantly resisting the thought that the killer could have taken her. His stomach turned at that thought, for he had no idea as to where to look for her, or the killer.

  A noise from the other room drew his attention, and caused him to move towards it, halting dead in his tracks at the sight of her. “Neti,” he hoarsely gasped, causing her to look at him, moments before closing the distance between them and drawing her into an embrace. He finally found his voice and hoarsely exclaimed, “By Ra! I thought he had got you.”

  He held her for several moments before drawing back slightly to look at her, asking, “Are you wounded? He did not hurt you?”

  Neti shook her head at that, her gaze remaining lowered. Shabaka looked her over, noting the strip of bandage around her one wrist, and took hold of her arm, demanding, “What happened?”

  “I hurt it while putting out the fire,” Neti reluctantly replied, pulling her arm from his grasp and stepping from him.

  “Did you see who it was?” Shabaka questioned, stepping closer to her, not wanting too great a distance separating them.

  Neti nodded her head in response, pursing her lips as her gaze remained fixed to the floor.

  “Did you recognize him?” Shabaka hurriedly demanded.

  Neti again gave a nod of her head.

  “Who was it?” Shabaka demanded, watching as she swallowed.

  “Asim,” Neti weakly replied.

  “Asim!” Shabaka exclaimed, shocked.

  Neti simply confirmed.

  “That’s it,” Shabaka started heatedly, “From now on every guard will search for him until he is found!” He moved towards the door, halting dead in his tracks when Suten Anu entered the room.

  “Neti,” the elderly scribe called to her, “I just heard.”

  Neti instinctively moved into the older man’s arms, and Shabaka felt himself envying the instinctive reaction, clenching his fists and clamping his jaw as the elderly man held her close.

  Neti stepped back a few moments later, and looked at the scribe, who glanced around the room.

  “I dare say he had easy access, but it is strange for it to occur now,” Suten Anu started before looking at Neti.

  “Why do you say that?” Neti hesitantly asked.

  “Ah, it is just me, being an old man,” Suten dismissed it, “but I cannot understand why he would come back for you now.”

  “Possibly because he needed the business that her father provided with his death,” Shabaka spoke up, his voice gruff, failing to hide his discontent.

  “I do not follow,” Suten said turning his attention towards the Nubian.

  “Asim was here this morning,” Shabaka stated flatly.

  “Asim?” Suten Anu returned in disbelief. “But he would never harm Neti. He has watched her grow up.” Suten turned to look at Neti for confirmation, and Neti just nodded her head in response. “I find that hard to believe.”

  “Well believe it or not, we have to find the man,” Shabaka firmly decreed, “before he hurts anyone else.”

  “Yes that is understandable,” Suten replied nodding, before turning to Neti and gripping her shoulders, “And here I was hoping that this would be a day for celebration.”

  “Celebration?” Neti asked, confused.

  “I received word from the Kenbet late yesterday,” he started, noticing how both Neti and Shabaka listened with renewed interest. “They have ruled that if you are capable of settling the outstanding amount to Ma-Nefer, the stipulation in the will can be negated.”

  “You mean I no longer have to marry him?” Neti asked eagerly.

  “I have sent a footman to him to collect the records of what your father owed him, also to inform him of the Kenbet’s ruling. He should arrive there shortly.

  “I do not think he will be pleased with that,” Neti replied.

  Ma-Nefer was just sitting down to his breakfast when the old scribe’s footman arrived, demanding to see him. The footman entered the room and nodded his head in greeting before holding out a scroll for the portly man to take. Ma-Nefer took the scroll and opened it, before turning to one of the female attendants, instructing, “You, go call Zahar for me,” then scrunched the scroll together, before placing it to the side.

  The woman nodded her head in response and set off to call the old Nubian slave, while Ma-Nefer went about his breakfast.

  Zahar entered the room with his head lowered, greeting, “You called, Master.”

  “Read that,” Ma-Nefer commanded, pointing toward the scroll, and then continuing with his meal.

  The Nubian picked up the scroll and opened it, his eyes moving over the hieroglyphics, before starting, “In accordance with the Kenbet ruling, all records of outstanding debt, and monies owed by the Ne-ith estate, are to be forwarded to the estate overseer, Suten Anu, for payment. The courts have ruled that if the estate is capable of settling all debts, that the heir will no longer be required to fulfill the obligations set in the final section of the testament.”

  “What!” Ma-Nefer exclaimed rising from his seat. “That cannot be!” His exclamation sent all the slaves present scurrying in various directions.

  Ma-Nefer turned to face the old Nubian slave, who had also moved from his side, having dropped the scroll in his haste. He glanced past him at Thoth, before angrily demanding, “What are you laughing at, you useless piece of flesh!” and reaching for his whip. The slaves all scattered in various directions, as he swung it, aiming it at Thoth, exclaiming, “You who is the sickest bastard of them all,” as the whip connected with Thoth’s back. Thoth screamed in pain as the whip tore through his flesh. Ma-Nefer drew back the whip, before swinging it again, “You, stupid idiot, that covets his own sister!” the man continued as the whip once again came down on Thoth’s back, drawing more blood. “You are not man enough for any woman. You have nothing to offer them. You are nothing but a useless slave,” he continued as another blow struck home. Thoth fell to the ground in pain long before Ma-Nefer lowered the whip, “That will teach you not to laugh at your Master,” Ma-Nefer wheezed before looking about the room, and then at the Nubian
slave who had remained at the doorway. “Well get him out of here!” he commanded, huffing slightly, before turning back to the footman, “I’ll send the information to your master, at my convenience.”

  The footman bowed his head in acknowledgement before turning from the room.

  Zahar and one of the other slaves carried Thoth’s battered body to the sleeping barracks, and one of the female slaves followed, bearing a bowl of water and cloths.

  They placed him on his sleeping mat and the woman kneeled next to him, and carefully started tending to his wounds.

  “Neti?” Thoth whimpered, at the woman’s touch.

  “No Thoth, it is I, Yani. Rest now, and let me see to your wounds,” the woman said as she set to clearing the blood, wincing slightly as Thoth jerked beneath her touch.

  “It is not true,” Thoth muttered.

  “What?” Yani gently asked.

  “Neti is not my sister. She loves me,” he murmured.

  “Shh now Thoth, do not upset yourself,” Yani replied as she reached for the salve Neti had made for Thoth. They all used it on their welts. She nodded her head at the thought of the young woman escaping their condemnation. “She is lucky to escape this,” the woman said softly, her voice portraying her longing for freedom as she started smoothing the salve over Thoth’s wounds, wondering if there would be enough to tend to all of them. Yani stopped for a moment and looked at the young man before her, her heart feeling heavy as he started humming quietly, a tune she had been told he had hummed since childhood. She would go to see Neti later, and ask her for more of the salve. Neti had never complained when they requested more, and was always willing to help them, especially Thoth.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  The steadily rising sun’s reflection played on the waters of the Nile as a fish eagle motionlessly hung in mid-air, its wingtips playing in the breeze as it floated over the river’s surface, before suddenly swooping down, its claws clasping at the surface as it lifted a fish from the water. Its powerful wings beat upwards to lift it from the water’s surface before it flew into the distance.

  Crocodiles lay sunning themselves on the riverbank, lazily gazing out over the water, while wild Egyptian geese and ducks moved along the reeds foraging for insects and food.

  Further upstream, a ferry was moored. Guards looked on as bearers loaded and secured the crates containing the pharaoh’s gems, along with other goods and taxes bound for his palace in Pi-Ramesses. Scribes commissioned by Ramesses II, for the inscription of the Ramesseum walls and chambers, also made their way to the ferry, in order to return to their work on the western bank after their day of rest.

  Not far from there, women were doing their washing, many of them chanting and singing familiar songs, while others drew water for their homes, caught up with the latest gossip, or bartered goods and services. Children cheerfully ran amok, playing and chasing one another along the lower grasses, while their older siblings searched the reeds and long grasses for duck and wild geese eggs.

  A high pitched, blood curling scream sounded from the nearby reeds, causing everyone in the immediate area to halt their activities in mid-action, and look in its direction. A mother, having recognized her daughter’s voice, bustled toward the sound. She pushed through the reeds until she reached her child, gasping at the sight before her. Flies buzzed about the half eaten body of a man, his flesh already starting to rot, with the stench steadily increasing.

  Others also pushed through the reeds and came to a halt, slightly behind the woman, many visibly gagging as they saw the body. One of the mothers turned to her son and told him to call the guard, and the young boy turned and ran for the gates.

  Some time later, the guard situated at the gate, along with his recruit, pushed through the gathered group and came to a sudden halt. He took one look at the body and signalled for his recruit to summon Shabaka to the scene.

  As the young recruit left, the guard started ushering people away from the body, telling them to keep well clear of the area.

  Shabaka made his way to the river, already disgruntled by the morning’s earlier events. He did not feel up to dealing with the half-eaten body of a man, who had carelessly gone into the river while crocodiles were about. There were certain areas of the river that were considered out of bounds, dangerous, and most citizens avoided them. However, there were always those who tempted fate.

  He stepped past the gathering crowd and came to a standstill next to the guard, looking down at the body. Both arms and most of the man’s lower body had been consumed, with only his upper chest and head remaining. Shabaka gawped at the body for a moment, noting the marking on the side of his head, before speaking, “Is he not one of the guards assigned to the North Gate?”

  The guard looked at the body, before nodding his head, “Yes, his name is Apopois … but he had been sent to Abydos on an errand for the mayor,” the man concluded.

  “It looks like he has then met a very untimely death,” Shabaka replied looking around the area, before continuing, “He possibly came to bathe after his trip, and got dragged into the river by a crocodile.” Shabaka moved slightly to the side, checking between the reeds, before adding, “There is no way we can tell how long he has been here, only that it has been some time, due to the stench.”

  Shabaka stood looking at the body for a while. Something about the situation troubled him. Although he had at first thought it was someone who had carelessly wandered into the river, he knew that no guard, even in the dead of night, would enter an area considered to be unsafe. Also, the body was not far from where the citizens daily moved. Also if he had been attacked by a crocodile, it would be unlikely for them to even find a body.

  He also knew that after the morning’s events, it would be unlikely that Neti would be willing to have a look at another body. However, he would have liked her thoughts on it.

  Just then, a low humming started amongst some of the women gathered not far from there, some escalating into heated discussions causing him to turn in their direction, his gaze following the direction of their stares.

  Neti was on her way down to the river, carrying a pile of laundry as she stepped along the well-trodden path. He knew she would once again be rearranging her home, after the morning’s invasion, but he could not pass up on the opportunity.

  He called one of the recruits and instructed him to summon Neti, and then became utterly frustrated when the man looked at him in question, obviously unwilling to approach the woman. Shabaka then turned to one of the nearby children, whose mother was about to object when Shabaka glared at her, and requested the boy to fetch Neti for him. The young boy quickly ran toward Neti and delivered the message, and Shabaka watched as she turned to look in their direction, waving her hand in greeting before following the boy.

  “We meet again,” Neti said as she approached. The group of onlookers parted as she moved toward him.

  “I need you to have a look at a body for me,” Shabaka said indicating over his shoulder.

  “I can smell it,” Neti replied, wrinkling her nose slightly, “where is it?”

  “In between the reeds,” Shabaka returned, turning around to point her in the right direction.

  Neti placed her woven reed basket of washing on the ground, before replying, “Then let’s have a look,” and followed Shabaka to the body.

  On nearing it, she tilted her head before bending down and eventually dropping onto her haunches. She placed her hand on what remained of the man’s shoulder and shifted the body slightly onto its side, looking at the patterns there, before saying, “He wasn’t killed by a crocodile.”

  “But he’s half eaten,’ the guard spoke up.

  Neti continued to look at the body, before explaining. “Crocodiles will eat almost anything that floats on the river, even rotting meat.” She looked up at the guard, “His arms and legs would have been torn off first, as they are the easiest to dismember. The lower half of the body was consumed because it holds the most meat, also because it is easy to rip off. But
it was not the crocodile who killed him.”

  The guard looked at her in shock, for a moment appearing about to be ill.

  “These marks here,” Neti said pointing to patterns on the body’s back, “are inconsistent with the death.”

  Neti turned her attention towards Shabaka, before stating, “He was dead before ending up in the river.”

  “How can you be so sure?” the guard asked in disbelief.

  Neti turned to look at the man, before answering, “If he was killed by a crocodile, the blood would not have gathered on this side of the body.” She then lifted the body slightly and indicated the marks on the back, before continuing, “You see these dark marks? They mean that his heart stopped and the blood sank to that side, because he was lying on it.”

  “So his body was thrown into the river as a means of disposing of it,” Shabaka added, “being sure that the crocodiles would eat it, but how did it end up here.”

  Neti looked around her, before speaking up, “He could have been dragged up here by a younger crocodile, one who cannot yet hold its ground with the larger ones downstream. Most of the desirable meat has been picked off it, but it will be enough for a youngster and a few buzzards to pick at,” Neti concluded, then ran her fingers along the spine and neck, before feeling over the skull. “His neck was not broken, but he has been struck on the head with something,” she declared.

  “So he was definitely murdered?”

  “Yes, had he been killed by a crocodile his body would not look like this.”

  “So I have another murder on my hands,” Shabaka sighed dejectedly, adding, “As if we do not have enough of those already.”

  “But why would anyone want to kill a guard?” Neti asked as she rose from her haunches, adding, “He protects the city and its people. There should be no reason to kill him.”

  Shabaka turned toward her, asking outright, “Do you not know him?”