Three Novels of Ancient Egypt Khufu's Wisdom, Rhadopis of Nubia, Thebes at War

by Naguib Mahfouz

23

  The army continued its great march, meeting -with no resistance and finding no sign of the enemy. The people of the villages and cities welcomed it, stupefied with joy, unable to believe that after two full centuries, the gods had lifted from them their anger and that he who was conquering their cities and had driven off their enemy was a king drawn from among them to revive the glories of the pharaohs. Ahmose found that the Herdsmen had fled from the cities, leaving their palaces and estates and carrying whatever they could of their possessions and wealth. Every place he came to, he heard that Apophis was fleeing fast with his army and his people to the north. Thus, the king regained in one month Habsil, Lykopolis, and Kusai, ending up finally at Hermopolis. Their entry into the latter had great significance for Ahmose and his soldiers, for Hermopolis was the birthplace of Sacred Mother Tetisheri, her birth having taken place in her ancient house before the occupation. Ahmose celebrated its liberation, and the men of his entourage, the commanders of the army and the fleet, and all the troops took part in the great festivity, the king then writing his grandmother a letter congratulating her on the independence of her first home, and assuring her of his feelings and of those of his army and people. The king, the commanders, and the leading officers all signed this.

  The army continued its triumphant march. It entered Titnawi, Sinopolis, Hebennu, and finally Arsinoe, descending between the pyramids on the great Memphis road, indifferent to the hardships of the journey and the length of the way. Along the way, Ahmose smashed the shackles with which his wretched people were bound, breathing into them, from his great soul, a new life, so that one day Hur said to him, “Your military greatness, my lord, has nothing to compare to it except your political skill and your administrative proficiency. You have changed the features of the cities, eliminating systems and constructing systems. You have drawn up the practices that should be followed and the customs that must be observed and you have appointed patriotic governors. Life flows again in the valley's veins and the people have witnessed, for the first time since the distant past, Egyptian governors and Egyptian judges. Bowed heads have risen and a man no longer suffers or is looked down on because of his dark complexion. On the contrary, it has become a source of strength and pride for him. May the Lord Amun indeed protect you, grandson of Seqenenra!”

  The king worked wholeheartedly and untiringly, knowing neither despair nor fatigue, his unswerving goal being the restoration to his people, whom abjection, hunger, poverty, and ignorance had brought close to the breaking point, of honor, self-esteem, a well-provided-for life without deprivation, and knowledge.

  His heart, however, despite his labors and preoccupations, had not been rescued from its private concerns. Love made him suffer and pride wore him out. Often he would strike the ground with his foot and say to himself, “I was tricked. She is just a heartless woman.” He had hoped that work would force him to forget and bring him solace, but he found that his spirit slipped away despite him to a ship tossing in the waves at the rear of his fleet.

  24

  The army made good progress in its march and began to draw close to Immortal Memphis of the glorious memories, whose lofty white walls now started to appear. Ahmose thought that the Herdsmen would defend the capital of their kingdom to the death. However, he was wrong, and the vanguard entered the city in peace. He found out that Apophis had withdrawn with his army toward the northeast. Ahmose thus entered the Thebes of the north in a festival the likes of which none had seen before, the people welcoming him -with enthusiasm and reverence, prostrating themselves to him and calling him “Son of Merenptah.” The king stayed in Memphis a number of days, during which he visited its quarters and inspected its markets and manufacturing areas. He made a circuit of the three pyramids and prayed in the temple of the Sphinx, making offerings. Their joy at the conquest of Memphis was unrivaled by anything but the retaking of Thebes. Ahmose marveled at how the Herdsmen could fail to defend Memphis but Commander Mheb said to him, “They will never expose themselves to the onslaught of our chariots after what they experienced in Hierakonpolis and Aphroditopolis.

  Chamberlain Hur said confidently, “Ships come to us constantly, laden with chariots and horses from the districts of the south, while all Apophis has to worry about are the walls of Avaris.”

  They consulted together on the direction to take, spreading out the map of the invasion in front of them. Commander Mheb said, “There is no doubt that the enemy has withdrawn from the north altogether and congregated in the east, behind the walls of Avaris. We must go there with all our forces.”

  But Ahmose was extremely cautious. He sent a small army to the west via Lenopolis, dispatched another to the north in the direction of Athribis, and went himself with his main forces and his great fleet eastward on the road to On. The days passed as they covered the miles, driven by enthusiasm and the hope that they would deliver the final blow and crown their long struggle with a decisive victory. They entered On, the immortal city of Ra. Then they came to Phakussa, followedby Pharbaithos, where they turned onto the road leading to Avaris. News of Apophis kept coming to them and thus they discovered that the Herdsmen had withdrawn from all other districts to go to Avaris, driving before them thousands of poor wretches. This news caused the king great sadness and his heart went out to those despised captives who had fallen into the Herdsmen's cruel clutches.

  Finally, the terrible walls of Avaris appeared on the horizon like a rocky mountain range and Ahmose cried out, “The last fortress of the Herdsmen in Egypt!”

  Hur said to him, as he looked at the fortress -with his weak eyes, “Smash its gates, my lord, and the lovely face of Egypt will be yours alone.”

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  Avaris was located to the east of the branch of the Nile and its wall extended eastward farther than the eye could see. Many of the local inhabitants knew the fortified city and some of them had -worked inside it or on its -walls. They told their sovereign, “Four circular, massively thick walls surround the city, beyond which is an encircling ditch through which the water of the Nile runs. Within the city are broad fields that provide for the needs of its entire people, most of whom are soldiers, the Egyptian farmers being the exception. The city is watered by channels that draw from branches of the Nile, under the western wall, and are protected by it. From there, they go east toward the city.” Ahmose and his men stood on the south side of the terrible fortress, turning their faces this way and that in amazement at the enormous towering walls, in whose lee the soldiers appeared no larger than dwarfs. The army pitched its tents, the rows of troops extending parallel to the southern wall. The fleet went forward on the river on the western side of the western wall, out of range of its arrows, in order to watch and lay siege. Ahmose listened to the words of the inhabitants concerning the fortress and examined the land around it and the river running to its west, his mind never resting. While thus occupied, he dispatched mounted and infantry forces to the villages around the city, taking possession of them without trouble and quickly completing his blockade of the fortress. However, he and his men knew that the siege would produce nothing, for the city could provide for itself from its own resources, and that the blockade could last for years without having any effect on it, while he and his army would suffer the frustration of waiting without hope amidst the horrors of the weather and its changes. On one of his circuits around the fortress, an idea came to him and he summoned his men to his tent to consult them. He said to them, “Advise me. It seems to me that the siege is a waste of our time and a dissipation of our strength. Likewise, it seems to me that an attack is futile and obvious suicide and it may be that the enemy wants us to assault him so that he can pick off our brave men or drive them into his ditches. So what is your advice?”

  Commander Deeb said, “My advice, my lord, is to besiege the fortress with a part of our forces and consider the war over. Then you can announce the independence of the valley and take up your duties as pharaoh of a united Egypt.”

  Hur, however, objected to th
e idea, and said, “How can we leave Apophis safe to train his men and build new chariots so that he can assault us later on?”

  Commander Mheb said enthusiastically, “We paid a high price for Thebes and struggle is by its nature effort and sacrifice. Why then do we not pay the price for Avaris and attack as we attacked the forts of Thebes?”

  Commander Deeb said, “We do not begrudge ourselves, but an attack on four massive walls separated by ditches full of water is a sure destruction for our troops for no gain.”

  The king was silent, plunged in thought. Then he said, pointing to the river running beneath the western wall of the city, “Avaris is well-defended. It cannot be taken and it cannot be starved. However, it can be made to feel thirst.”

  The men looked at the river and astonishment appeared on their faces. Hur said in alarm, “How made to feel thirst, my lord?”

  Ahmose said quietly, “By diverting from it the waters of the Nile.”

  The men looked again at the Nile, unable to believe that it would be possible to divert that mighty river from its course. Hur asked, “Can such an enormous task be undertaken?”

  Ahmose said, “We have no lack of engineers and laborers.”

  “How long will it take, my lord?”

  “A year, or two, or three. The time is not important, since that is the only way. The Nile will have to be diverted north of Pharbaithos into a new channel that goes west toward Mendes, so that Apophis is forced to choose between death by hunger and thirst and coming out to fight us. My people will forgive me for exposing the Egyptians in Avaris to danger and deathjust as they forgave me for doing the same to some of the women of Thebes.”

  26

  Ahmose prepared for the great work. He summoned the famous engineers of Thebes and proposed his idea to them. They studied it with diligence and passion, then told the king that his idea was feasible, provided that he gave them enough time and a thousand laborers. Ahmose learned that his project could not be realized in less than two years but did not give up in despair. Instead he sent messengers to the cities to call for volunteers for the great work on which the liberation of the country and the expulsion of its enemy depended. The workers came in bands from all parts and soon there were enough of them to start with. The king inaugurated the great work, taking a mattock and striking the ground with it to announce the beginning. Behind him followed the brawny arms that labor to the rhythm of hymns and songs.

  There was nothing for the king and army to do but settle in for a long wait. The troops did their daily training under the supervision of their officers and commanders. The king, for his part, passed his spare time in expeditions to the eastern desert to hunt or hold races, and to escape from the impulses of his heart and the agonies of his passion. During this period of waiting, messengers brought him a letter from Sacred Mother Tetisheri, in which she wrote:

  My lord, Son of Antun, Pharaoh of Upper and Lower Egypt, may the Lord preserve him and help him with victory and triumph: little Dabod is today a paradise ofhappiness and joy by virtue of the news of the incontestable victory granted you by the Lord that the messengers have brought. We do not wait today in Dabod as we waited yesterday, for now our waiting is bounded by equanimity and closer to hope. How happy we all are to learn that Egypt has been freed from ignominy and slavery and that its enemy and humiliator has imprisoned himself within the walls of his fortress, waiting cringingly for the blow with which you will destroy him! The Almighty Lord has willed, in His solicitude and mercy, that He should present you with a gift — you who brought low His enemy and raised high His word — and has provided you with a son as a light for your eyes and a successor to your throne. I have named him Amenhotep in honor of the Divine Lord, and I have taken him in my arms, as I took his father, and his grandfather, and his father's grandfather before him. My heart tells me that he will be crown prince of a great kingdom, of many races, languages, and religions, watched over by his dear father.

  Ahmose's heart beat as any father's must, tenderness flowed in his breast, and he rejoiced with a great joy that made him forget some of what he suffered from the pains of repressed passion. He announced the birth of the crown prince Amen-hotep to his men, and it was a day to be remembered.

  27

  The days passed slowly and heavily, though they were filled with extraordinary -works in -which the greatest minds, strongest arms, and most dedicated wills took part. None of them paid heed to the difficulty of the -work or the time that -was taken, so long as it brought them closer to their sublime hope and highest goal. One day, however, several months after the start of the siege, the guards saw a chariot coming from the direction of the fortress, a white flag flying at its front. Some guards intercepted it and found that it held three chamberlains. On being asked where they were heading, their leader said that they were envoys from King Apophis to King Ahmose. The guards sent the news flying to the king, who called a council of his entourage and commanders in his pavilion, and ordered the envoys to enter. The men were brought. They walked humbly and with downcast mien, so little left of their haughtiness and pride that they seemed not to be of the people of Apophis. They bowed before the king and their leader greeted him by saying, “The Lord grant you life, O King!”

  Ahmose replied, “And you, envoys of Apophis. What does your king -want?”

  The envoy said, “King, the man of the sword is an adventurer. He seeks victory, but may find death. We are men of war. War put your country in our hands and we ruled it for two centuries or more, during which we were divine overlords. Then it was fated that we should be defeated and we were beaten and forced to take refuge in our citadel. We, King, are no weaklings. We are as capable of bearing defeat as we were of plucking the fruits of victory….”

  Ahmose said angrily, “I see that you have worked out the meaning of this new channel that my people are digging and have come to propitiate us.”

  The man shook his huge head, “Not so, King. We do not seek to propitiate anyone but we do admit defeat. My master has sent me to propose to you two plans, of which you may choose what you wish. War to the finish, in which case we shall not wait behind the walls to die of hunger and thirst, but kill the captives of your people, of whom there are more than thirty thousand; then we shall kill our women and children by our own hand and launch against your army three hundred thousand warriors, of whom there will not be one who does not hate life and thirst for revenge.”

  The man fell silent, as though to gather his breath. Then he resumed and said, “Or you return to us Princess Amenridis and the captives of our people you hold and grant us safe conduct for ourselves, our possessions, and our wealth, in which case we will return to you your people and evacuate Avaris, turning our faces to the desert from which we came, leaving you your country to do with as you wish. This will bring to an end the conflict that has lasted two centuries.”

  The man fell silent and the king realized that he was awaiting his reply. However, the reply was not ready, nor was it of the kind that could be left to spontaneous inspiration, so he said to the envoy, “Will you not wait until we reach a decision?”

  The envoy replied, “As you wish, King. My master has given me till the end of the day.”

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  The king met -with his men in the cabin of the royal ship and told them, “Give me your opinions.”

  All -were agreed without need for further consultation. Hur said, “My lord, you have achieved victory over the Herdsmen in many engagements and they have acknowledged your victory and their defeat. By so doing, you have wiped out the vestiges of the defeats that we suffered in our grievous past. You have killed large numbers of them and by doing so taken revenge for the wretched dead among our own people. We cannot therefore be blamed now if we purchase the life of thirty thousand of our men and save ourselves an effort that no duty requires of us so long as our enemy is going to evacuate our country in defeat and our motherland is going to be liberated forever.”

  The king turned his eyes on the faces of his
people and found in them a shared enthusiasm for acceptance of the idea. Commander Deeb said, “Every one of our soldiers has performed his duty to the full. For Apophis, a return to the deserts would be a more punishing disaster than death itself.”

  Commander Mheb said, “Our higher goal is to liberate the motherland from the Herdsmen's rule and clear them from its territory. The Lord has granted us this, so there is no need for us to prolong the period of abasement of our own volition.”

  Ahmose Ebana said, “We shall purchase the life of thirty thousand captives at the price of Princess Amenridis and a handful of Herdsmen.”

  The king listened closely to his men and said, “Your opinion is sound. However, I think that the envoy of Apophis should wait a little longer so that he does not think that our haste to agree to a peaceful solution comes from weakness or weariness with the struggle.”

  The men left the ship and the king was alone. Despite all the reasons he had to rejoice, he was despondent and ill at ease. His struggle had been crowned with outright victory, his mighty enemy had knelt to him, and tomorrow Apophis would load his belongings and flee to the deserts from which his people came, in submission to irreversible Fate. So -why -was it that he could not rejoice? Or why was it that his joy was not pure and complete? The critical moment had come, the moment of farewell forever. Even before this moment, he had been truly despairing, though she was there, on the small ship. What would he do tomorrow should he return to the palace of Thebes, while she was taken to the heart of the unknown desert? Could he let her go without fortifying himself with a look of farewell from her? “No!” responded his heart, and smashing the shackles of resignation and pride he rose and left the cabin, whence he took a boat to the captive princess's ship, saying to himself, “Whatever reception she gives me, I will find something to say.” He climbed up to the ship and went to the chamber, where the guards saluted him and opened the door. Heart beating, he crossed the threshold and cast a look around the small, simple chamber. He found the captive sitting in the center of the room on a divan. She seemed not to have been expecting his return, for astonishment and reproach showed on her lovely visage. Ahmose examined her with a deep look and found her as beautiful as ever, her features just as they had been on the day when they were engraved on his heart on the deck of the royal vessel. He bit his lip and said to her, “Good morning, Princess.”