The Mummifier´s Daughter - A Novel in Ancient Egypt

by Nathaniel Burns

  Neti gathered up the hessian bag and made her way back into town, hoping that she would be able to exchange some of the harvest for some cloth, weaving reeds, and oil with the local shuty. Carobs were well sought after and were likely to trade easily, but she was uncertain about the melons, as they were abundant and no one needed to trade for them.

  Foreign shuties and the pharaoh’s grain shuty only accepted coins, and she needed to hold onto those she had until she could practice her trade. Therefore she limited her trips to the market to gather only essentials.

  Neti returned home to collect up her satchel and two Debben, hurriedly tidying herself before setting out to the market.

  The market was as usual bustling with activity, with people moving in all directions almost simultaneously. Children, chanting and singing as they went along, ran about between fellow market goers and the various drays, displaying a variety of produce and goods..

  Snake charmers and acrobats entertained onlookers with their skills, as others briskly stepped past them and onto the main market place.

  Most market goers were too caught up in their own activities to notice Neti, and therefore she moved about with relative ease, with those who recognized her maintaining a steady distance from her, glaring to ensure she maintained her distance.

  She gazed about the main market place, the variety of colors and produce almost overwhelming. The strong scent of exotic spices filled the air. Their rich yellow, ochre and red coloring drew the attention of many market goers, with various shuties boasting special breads and foods. Henna artists painted intricate designs on their patrons’ hands or feet, with other various salves and cosmetics drawing attention from the younger women.

  Neti moved between the drays and carts, glancing at the goods, at times halting for closer inspection. She was drawn to a dray displaying some of the finest fabrics she had ever seen, causing her to reach out and stroke the fine fabric. The shuty smiled warmly at her, his unshaven appearance giving credence to his Byblos origin. Neti nodded her head in greeting and returned her attention toward the fabric. It was not the flax or cotton she was accustomed to. Its sheer texture was soft to touch.

  Neti turned her attention to the man, asking, “What fabric is this?”

  “That is the finest silk in all of the East. So sheer you will not even know you are wearing anything.”

  “It is really beautiful,” Neti replied smiling, adding, “but it is not what I require.”

  “You are needing cloth, yes?” the man questioned, eager to assist her.

  “I need bed linen,” Neti replied, looking at some of the other fabrics.

  The man moved some of the bolts of fabric, picking up a strong and supple white fabric, before replying, “I have some right here, made from the finest cotton in all of Byblos.”

  Neti reached to stroke the fabric, smiling at its texture.

  “Only two Debben a length,” the man enthused.

  Neti shook her head in regret, “It is a fine fabric, but I fear it is above my means.”

  The man inclined his head in understanding, and Neti moved on to the next dray.

  The scent of several specialty breads wafted through the air, reminding her that she had still not eaten breakfast. She found it exceedingly difficult to attend to all the various things that required her attention, and still cook meals, and as a result limited her diet to flatbread, beer and fruit, which were easily obtainable. However, she missed her mother’s cooking.

  Her thoughts had her halt at a farmer’s dray. There were geese, eggs and beeswax on offer, and Neti looked at the geese, but then shook her head, thinking she should rather set the dove trap if she wanted meat. Then she moved on to the cart where the pharaoh’s grain shuty could be found.

  The shuty looked her over for a moment, before stating, “I only accept coinage as payment.”

  Neti nodded her head, before requesting, “I need a hekat’s worth of wheat and two hinws’ worth of barley.”

  “That will be two kite,” the shuty gruffly replied.

  Neti reached into her satchel and extracted the copper debben coin, handing it to the man. At the appearance of the coin, his whole demeanor changed as he bustled to gather the requested grains. He handed her two flax bags, and eight smaller silver kite pieces.

  She pocketed the small coins, placed the grain in her hessian bag and continued along the path. She met up with a local weaver a few drays further, and bartered the exchange of the carobs, melons and a kite for two lengths of fabric.

  It was as she moved from the dray that a bearded man bumped into her. His hands gripped her shoulders in an attempt to steady her, profusely apologizing for the incident before moving on.

  She continued along the market drays, finally halting at one bearing fresh fruits, where she bought some figs and grapes. It was when she placed the fruit in her satchel that her hand came into contact with a small scroll. She grasped it and pulled it from her satchel, looking at it in confusion, before looking about the market, seeking the bearded man that had bumped into her, thinking it his and wanting to return it. However, he was nowhere in sight.

  She looked at the scroll, turning it to read the name of the recipient, and was shocked to see her own. Then she returned it to her satchel and turned for home.

  She arrived back home and quickly placed away her purchases. Then she took hold of the small scroll and returned to the main living area. She unrolled it feeling an increase in her heartbeat, fearing that it could possibly be more bad news, or business requiring Suten Anu’s input.

  She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the scroll did not bear any official regalia, and started to read its contents. Her brow furrowed as she progressed through the contents. The scroll came from a party of elders claiming that the mayor Pa-Nasi and the slave-owner Ma-Nefer were in partnership, conspiring to keep the gates open when a killer ran loose. Also, that the mayor had not made any efforts to inform the Vizier of the murders. That in the reports to the Vizier, Pa-Nasi only included details of business agreements, harvests and taxes, and that none of the concerns voiced by the elders had been addressed. The elders were also concerned that with the discovery of a guard’s body on the river bank, the city was no longer safe, especially since the mayor did not seem too alarmed by the escalating number of murders.

  Neti could not understand why they would address her as there was little she could do, but she continued reading, and soon enough understood when they explained that they could not approach Shabaka, as all official documentation moving into, within and from the city was being screened by the mayor, and their notification would be seen as treason. They ended the note by requesting that she notify Shabaka and that the correct procedures could be undertaken to protect the people of Thebes.

  Neti rolled up the scroll, before moving to her room to collect the other and place them together on her bed. She would take them with her and discuss them with Shabaka when she went to the guardhouse. However, first she had to set the dove traps, and have some breakfast.

  The sun was already well at its zenith when Neti-Kerty stepped from her home. It had taken her longer than anticipated to prepare the barley for brewing, and she tried not to think of the list of chores that were still awaiting her attention as she walked along the hot streets. The sun-beetles were screaming and everyone moved around listlessly. Most had just consumed their main meal and were waiting for the heat of the day to dissipate before returning to their chores.

  She entered the guardhouse. The overwhelming smell of sweaty bodies was the first thing to register. The humming within the room suddenly halted, with most of the guards turning to look at her. Their actions caused Shabaka to turn his attention toward her, waving for her to approach him, adding, “I’ll only be a moment. These guards are on their way to their postings.” Then he turned his attention back to the room and addressing them, said, “I want guards stationed at all the gates of Karnak, day and night. Everybody going into it is to be checked, and listed with a scribe.”
One of the guards made to object, but Shabaka added, “You do not need to physically check the bodies, only note down and regulate their movements.” At his words the guards again settled. “Should anyone ask, you are to tell them that due to the desecrated bodies we have discovered, we are now regulating the movements of all bodies through Karnak, as a precaution.” Shabaka looked about the room before firmly stating, “You are not to interfere with processions and services.” All the guards nodded their heads in agreement.

  “Those stationed at Karnak can leave, but the Northern Gate guards are to remain, as I wish to address them separately.”

  Most of the men rose from their seats and moved toward the door, with only a handful remaining. “I would like you to be more cautious until we have determined the exact reason why Apopois was murdered,” Shabaka said once the others had left, adding, “You will at all times maintain a presence of two persons on duty. Each change of guard will see two of the new recruits assigned to the northern and southern gates, respectively. Under no circumstances may only one guard or one recruit remain at the gate. The recruits will do your running and messaging, so there is no valid reason for you to leave your post unmanned. You will from now on also carry your weapons with you. If at any stage you are threatened, you may strike in response. They have attacked one of you, and I’m not willing to lose another guard.” The men nodded their heads in agreement.

  “You are dismissed,” Shabaka concluded, allowing the men to leave before turning his attention towards Neti, stating sincerely, “It is good to see you.”

  Neti smiled in response, before replying, “I said I would come.”

  “Yes you did,” Shabaka replied, indicating toward a draped doorway, “Everything the guards found yesterday has been placed in there. I warn you it does not smell pleasant,” he added before moving the drapery out of the way.

  Neti’s nose twitched slightly before she stepped into the room, glancing about it to familiarize herself, before stepping toward the platform where various lengths of bandaging, body parts and empty canopic jars were placed.

  Neti glanced over the body parts, before shaking her head and pronouncing, “Those can be disposed of.”

  “Why?” Shabaka confusedly asked.

  “They were all dead, and have gone through some processes of embalming,” she flatly stated, momentarily turning her gaze towards him, noticing his confusion and pointing to one of the hands, explaining, “see how the flesh has darkened on this one. This is normal for bodies having been embalmed, and therefore these are not new bodies.” She turned and looked at him, before asking, “Did you ever discover what happened to that body we discovered at the Per-Nefer?”

  “We tracked it to Karnak, and then lost its trail.”

  Neti turned her attention back to the platform, silently contemplating, before stating, “If they are using bodies to move the gemstones past the guards and out of the city, it is possible that these could be some of those bodies.” Shabaka looked at her in surprise, before she continued, “After they have removed the gems they would need to dispose of the bodies…the easiest way would be to throw them in the river. The river flows north and away from Thebes. Therefore, what is not consumed by the crocodiles is washed down the river.”

  “If they are removing the gems there, where do they hide them?” Shabaka asked, “That is what I need to establish.”

  Neti looked at him before shrugging her shoulders, replying, “The Karnak Temple complex is almost four times the size of Thebes, with hardly any inhabitants. It is easy to find a hiding place there. Also it would be easy to remove the gems, because there are no guards and scribes recording merchandise.”

  “We are now recording the movement of bodies, and we cannot deny citizens access to their gods’ temples,” Shabaka replied.

  Neti nodded her head in agreement before extracting the scrolls from her satchel, moving off to one side of the platform and saying, “I was hoping to discuss something with you.”

  “What?” Shabaka asked moving closer to her side.

  “Asim,” Neti affirmed.

  “I have men out looking for him,” Shabaka quickly replied, his voice conveying his frustration.

  “He’s not the killer,” Neti professed, unrolling the first scroll. However, Shabaka reached for her shoulders, turning her towards him before saying, “I know he was a friend of your father, and you see him as a second father, but he was in your house yesterday morning. And he could have seriously hurt you. It could have been your blood that made those footprints.”

  Neti lifted her hand to brush his hands from her shoulders, before turning to the scrolls, remarking, “He did not come to hurt me. He came to give me this,” as she pointed to one of the scrolls.

  “Then why the footprints?”

  “He cut his feet on the pottery shards from the pot I threw at him. Also his feet are the same size as mine but the killer’s are larger.”

  Shabaka turned his attention toward the scroll, pointing to it and asking, “What is this?”

  “I have read some of it, and managed to make out dates and amounts, but I don’t recognize some of the hieroglyphs. I have never seen them before,” Neti said pointing to parts of the scroll.

  “These are written in Nubian trade code,” Shabaka said, looking at the hieroglyphs, adding, “They are records of gem shipments from the mines, with arrival dates in Thebes.” Shabaka looked at her, “Where would he get this?”

  “I don’t know,” Neti replied shaking her head.

  “Then he must be involved, somehow,” Shabaka said.

  “I think he is scared of something happening to him or Tei-Ka, and that’s why no one can find him.”

  “This shows that there is a group of people behind this…but we need to find them and tie them to the gem-filled bodies.”

  “This was placed in my satchel this morning when I was at the market,’ Neti said handing Shabaka the other scroll.

  He took it from her and opened it, glancing over the hieroglyphs, stating, “I still have trouble reading some of the Egyptian hieroglyphs.”

  “It’s addressed to me,” Neti started, taking the scroll from him. “It claims that the mayor and Ma-Nefer are involved in some conspiracy and that the mayor has not notified the Vizier of the murders, or some of the elders’ concerns.”

  Shabaka remained silent for a moment before replying, “The mayor does get a percentage of the taxes, and therefore he would not want to close the gates. Also, I would not have wanted the gates closed until we have discovered exactly where these gems are being moved to.”

  Neti turned to look at the various jars, before adding, “It still does not tell us who the killer is or who are behind the gems.”

  Shabaka suddenly looked at her, “In that letter, they mention that Ma-Nefer and the mayor are involved in some conspiracy. I could understand Ma-Nefer’s involvement, as the body was collected from the Per-Nefer by his men and taken to Karnak. So, he could possibly be involved, in that he provides movement of the bodies.”

  “That does not necessarily mean he knows about the gems,” Neti was quick to counter, “It is not uncommon for traders to move bodies over long distances, especially when they need to be returned to either Abydos or Aswan. We have often released bodies to traders for transportation.”

  Shabaka remained silent for some time, before pointing to the first scroll. “This indicates that there are gems coming in soon … and that in all likelihood those that are taken are somehow moved from storerooms to the Per-Nefer, without detection.”

  “The only way that would be possible is if one of the bearers or a scribe were involved,” Neti replied.

  “So we should be looking at the merchandise moved between the storehouses and the main Per-Nefer,” Shabaka reasoned.

  “That might be difficult,” Neti replied, causing Shabaka to look at her in question. “Each embalmer has their own cocktail of herbs that they use when preparing bodies. These are collected whenever they are needed. Some, like m
y father, grow the most common ones in a communal herb garden, so that they are readily available when needed. The Natron comes from Wadi Natrun and arrives every third moon. They are not only ordered in advance, they are directly delivered to the Per-Nefer chambers, where they are also stored. Beeswax and palm-wine are both locally obtained. The only thing that is brought in and possibly stored at the storehouses are the oils used for anointing the bodies.”

  “So is there anything here that can be used to identify anyone?”

  Neti looked at the empty canopic jars on the platform, replying, “These we have seen before. They are similar to those used by the new embalmer. Although I do not recognize the inscriptions on them, they are not the same as ours. However, it is not unknown for the main Per-Nefer to purchase low-cost jars and oils for the subsidized funerals.” Neti picked up one jar, turning it over slightly, before looking at the body parts, “This only indicates that these were possibly civil funded funerals,” Neti said, nodding towards the body parts. Neti then opened the only sealed canopic jar, quickly closing it when the stench escaped, scrunching her nose before stating, “Only the minimal amount of Natron was used for preservation.”

  “You can tell?” Shabaka asked visibly swallowing.

  “It would not smell like that if the body had been properly preserved.”

  Neti looked at a few more jars before selecting one, and turning to Shabaka professed, “I have seen these before. Ma-Nefer brought these into Thebes a while back. They are not proper canopic jars, but some of the private Per-Nefers have been known to use them as they are cheaper than the locally produced jars.”

  “So those jars can be traced back to him?” Shabaka asked.

  “Only in trading,” Neti replied,

  “I should request a list of embalmers who he supplied with those jars, and possibly search his premises to see if we find anything.”

  “I think you should notify the Vizier of what is happening,” Neti said placing the jar back on the platform.