The Women and the Boatman

by Mark Gajewski

  Amenia appeared terrified at being singled out by Grandfather. She was seated cross–legged between Ipu and Nykara, tightly clutching the leather pouch holding Ipu’s herbs and charms and ointments and potions. Her eyes were firmly fixed on the ground in front of her and she was blushing. She was the plainest–looking girl I’d ever seen – scrawny, ribs showing, her unkempt light brown hair, laced with gold highlights, cascading over the front of her right shoulder nearly to her waist, skin fairly brown, legs long, her face without any distinguishing feature. A few smears of dried clay stood out whitely on her skirt and forearms. She apparently made pottery in her grandfather’s works when she wasn’t assisting Ipu. She’d cared for me during my illness too, sitting beside me every night for an entire week while Ipu slept, administering potions, softly chanting to the falcon god, bathing my fevered brow with cool water. She’d been compassionate and tender and had enveloped me in a feeling of well–being and contentment. I hadn’t seen her since I’d regained my health.

  “Amenia won’t repeat anything,” Ipu replied.

  “Then let’s proceed.”

  “I’ve celebrated alongside you, Aby, and your brother Depy and your father Gehes,” Ipu said. “I confirmed both Depy and you as our rulers. You’ve led Nekhen well for many years. Our settlement has prospered under your guidance. Nekhen’s ruler has always served for life. Why do you want to step aside?”

  “I still intend to serve Nekhen, Ipu. But in a different and more important way,” Grandfather assured her. “The reason goes back to when your ancestor and mine arrived in this settlement together, five hundred years ago.”

  “Tiaa and Ankhmare,” Ipu said knowingly.

  I knew their story well, having memorized Grandfather’s telling of it. Rawer knew it too, as did Nykara and Tai. I’d told Nykara the story myself the day he’d moved into Grandfather’s hut.

  “My ancestor Ankhmare was, like me, a boatman and trader,” Grandfather said. “When he first came here Nekhen was a small isolated settlement. He and Tiaa convinced the patriarchs who led the dozens of hamlets in Nekhen’s vicinity to pledge fealty to Nekhen’s ruler. Ankhmare and Tiaa, in effect, created the unified region I lead today. They’re the ones who defined its northern and southern boundaries, ensured Nekhen’s rulers would control the water flowing through it, the crops planted upon its plains, the minerals that lie on and beneath it, the people who inhabit it. Because of them all of us in this region have a shared identity, common traditions, common customs, even worship the same primary deity, the falcon god.” He nodded at Ipu. “But Ankhmare dreamed of far more. He envisioned every settlement in the valley looking to Nekhen’s ruler as their own. For him, the path to that future was trade. So he launched regular expeditions to the main settlements in the southern section of the valley. But his dream died with him. Trade virtually stopped with his passing. For the past five hundred years Nekhen’s rulers have looked inwards, not outwards.”

  “Until you took control of the fleet, Aby,” Nykara interjected.

  Had he really spoken? I was incredulous.

  Nykara might be Grandfather’s stepson, but to me he was an interloper, a boy of common birth elevated to prominence due to an accident of fate. Ever since Grandfather joined with Tai I’d regarded Nykara and everything he did with suspicion. I was certain Nykara had merely feigned interest and enthusiasm in Grandfather’s nightly stories in an attempt to worm his way into Grandfather’s good graces, to set himself up for exactly the situation we faced today. At first, after I’d heard about the joining, I’d pondered whether I should turn away from Rawer and cozy up to Nykara instead. If he was named ruler, and given the fleet, and I became his woman, we’d control the transportation network and thus the elites. But Nykara was no pushover like Rawer, and as considerable as my charms might be I doubted I’d ever be able to fully control him. I wouldn’t be able to rule Nekhen from behind the scenes, the way I would with Rawer. I had no idea if Nykara would use the fleet to pursue my family’s quest either. It was more likely he, a commoner, would use it to build his own power base. That’s if the elites didn’t rise up against him first because of his background, plunging Nekhen into conflict. After considerable thought, I’d concluded Nykara was risky and Rawer, weak as he was, a sure thing, and so I’d cut Nykara out completely. I hadn’t deigned to acknowledge his presence at Grandfather’s fire the night of Tai’s joining. I’d purposefully ignored him on every subsequent visit to Grandfather’s, never spoken to him civilly even once. It rankled he’d been grudgingly accepted into the ranks of the elite boys due to his relationship with Grandfather and they, like commoners, had turned to him as a leader. To my mind that made Nykara an extremely dangerous rival to my ambitions. To say I despised him now hardly captured the depth of my dislike.

  At least Nykara had had sense enough not to address Grandfather as “Father.”

  Grandfather didn’t seem to mind Nykara’s interruption. “When my brother Depy succeeded my father as ruler he turned our family’s enterprise over to me. When I succeeded my brother as ruler I built a cargo boat and appointed Shery chief trader, and he led many expeditions on my behalf to both north and south. Because of Shery and me, Tjeni and Nubt and Abu and the hamlets in their localities aligned with them started to become dependent on us once more. But when Shery was killed and my cargo boat burned all the progress we’d made was lost. Had Shery lived, he would have succeeded me as ruler when I died. Rawer would have taken Shery’s place as head of my fleet and overseer of my boatyard and craftsmen, and would have become Nekhen’s chief trader.”

  A position I’m far better suited for than my cousin.

  “But Rawer’s too young to lead a trade expedition, and no man in Nekhen is capable. So it’s up to me to take direct responsibility for trade, and expanding Nekhen’s influence, again.”

  The role I’ve been preparing myself to fill once Grandfather dies and Rawer becomes ruler.

  “Do you really have to give up rule to do that?” Nykara asked.

  “My current duties don’t allow me to leave Nekhen for extended periods,” Grandfather replied.

  “I could be a trader instead of you, Grandfather,” I offered. “I’d love to travel the valley.”

  “You’re certainly bright enough, Granddaughter. But I’m afraid no man would trade with a girl. And no crew would follow one. Besides, you’re too young, Abar. Nekhen can’t afford to wait for you to grow up.”

  “I’ve been a woman for two years,” I protested.

  “You need to be much older than fourteen to traipse around the valley at the head of a trade expedition. Anyway, expanding Nekhen’s influence in the valley is absolutely critical to our settlement’s future,” Grandfather said earnestly. “So I intend to devote the rest of my life to that quest.”

  “Why now?” Father asked.

  “I don’t have many years left to live, do I?” Grandfather replied. “Besides, no settlement in the valley is as powerful as Nekhen right now. I’m going to act before that changes.”

  “Act how?”

  “We know this much of the river’s course.” Using his finger, Grandfather scratched a line on the dirt floor of the hut. “Here’s Nekhen. Here, a week’s travel south, is Abu, at the cataract blocking the river. Here, north of us, at the southern end of a long eastward–sweeping paw of land, is Inerty. Nubt lies at the apex of the paw, at the point closest to the Eastern Sea. Hiw is at the northern end of the paw where the river straightens once more, only a few days travel south of Abdju and Tjeni.”

  I was familiar with the map. Grandfather had traced it before as he told his stories.

  “Nubt and Tjeni are major settlements, though each is less than half Nekhen’s size. Inerty and Hiw are smaller, but are led by elites – those in Hiw are particularly powerful. Those four settlements have satellites – small dependent hamlets – though none has pledged fealty to them as the hamlets in our region have to Nekhen. That’s probably because none of them has a powerful ruler. The valley narrow
s at Tjeni. The plateaus on east and west closely hem the river in there. With little effort, Tjeni could control traffic trying to pass that point by water. It currently draws its wealth from the oases in the western desert, with which it trades overland, and Hiw and Nubt.” He pointed. “Nubt controls access to the eastern desert through a wadi running all the way to the Eastern Sea. Caravans bring Nubt gold and malachite and the mudstone we use for cosmetic palettes – that stone comes only from the Black Mountains at the midpoint of the wadi. A caravan track leads from Nubt directly to Tjeni, cutting across the paw, giving Nubt access to western desert oases as well.” Grandfather pointed one last time. “Caravans from beyond the cataract deliver ivory and exotic animal pelts and ebony and other products to Abu.”

  “And we control a wadi leading to gold mines in the eastern desert, and routes into the western desert,” I interjected.

  Grandfather nodded. “The other settlements have elites, like Nekhen’s, though there are fewer of them and they’re far less powerful than ours. They too control fledgling enterprises that exploit and dominate their sections of the valley. They too have developed an unquenchable thirst for rare and valuable objects to set themselves apart from their commoners – though there’s less difference between them and their commoners than there is between Nekhen’s elites and our commoners. Like our elites, they’ve removed those objects from circulation, restricted their ownership to men of wealth and privilege. Based on what I’ve observed, the elites of Tjeni and Nubt in particular are on the cusp of taking the next step towards prominence by rallying behind a strong ruler. Once they do we’ll lose the advantage we now have over them. Nubt’s elites, for example, have harnessed the power of their commoners to build a wall around part of their settlement. Tjeni is not as advanced; it and its main companion Abdju are still trying to master their local habitat.”

  “What advantage?” Father asked.

  He hadn’t yet grasped what I’d seen so clearly for years. “As Grandfather said, Tjeni’s and Nubt’s and Hiw’s and Inerty’s elites seek luxury items,” I interjected impatiently. “The old stories tell of riches in the North. No doubt the stories are as well–known in those settlements as they are in Nekhen. Unless we make their elites dependent on us for unique and quality items in sufficient quantities, once they unite behind a strong ruler they’ll build their own boats and launch trade expeditions. They’re closer to the North than we are. Once they have boats the entire valley will be open to them. They’ll want to control it. That’ll give them incentive to stop us from freely passing their boundaries, as we can do now. We’ll be hemmed in here, in the South, cut off from whatever lies in the North. But if we can keep them dependent on us we’ll be able to maintain a monopoly on trade by boat. They’ll have no incentive to build fleets of their own. We’ll control the river, be able to move past them without hindrance, take charge of all trade in the valley, make Nekhen ever stronger.”

  “Abar’s absolutely correct. If Tjeni or Nubt become too powerful and block us from reaching the North they’ll stunt our growth,” Grandfather cautioned. “Nubt has satellites – Armant, Amrah, Salmany, Mesaid, Inerty and Mahasna. Tjeni, similarly, has its – Abdju is the largest. And Hiw is close enough to Tjeni to align with it.” He slammed a fist into his palm. “So we must regain and take advantage of the foothold Shery and I reestablished and work hard to make the northern settlements completely dependent on us. We can’t let them grow strong and independent and exert their will to their north and south. We must ensure someday every settlement on the river from Tjeni south recognizes Nekhen’s ruler as its own. Once that happens, once there’s union in the South, Nekhen will be powerful enough to move north all the way to the Wadjet Wer and unite this entire valley. That was Ankhmare’s dream. It should be ours. It can’t be achieved in a few years, or even a few generations, but it’s time to set out on that path. I’m resigning as ruler so I can take the first step and begin creating the southern union.”

  “What about Abu?” Father asked.

  “We’ll expand to our south someday as well, though not until the North is secure,” Grandfather replied. “Currently, Abu is only a hamlet and doesn’t block us from anything. In fact, it probably protects us from Nubian raiders. I don’t see that situation changing for many generations.”

  My heart was racing. Grandfather stirred me whenever he talked about my family’s ancient quest. I’d memorized all the old stories from Ankhmare’s day. His dream of making Nekhen all–powerful spoke to me. For as long as I could remember I’d wanted to be involved in his quest, something so much larger than the limited obedient life everyone expected me to lead. Rawer, on the other hand, looked bored. Was he even paying attention to Grandfather? He was such an idiot. Didn’t he realize his apathy might be tipping the scales of gaining control of the fleet in Nykara’s favor? For, unlike Rawer, Nykara was leaning forward, as eager as me. He obviously recognized the importance of what was being discussed. He knew our family stories too.

  “You expect to create this union solely through trade?” Father asked.

  “It’s the best way to expand our influence,” Grandfather replied. “Our craftsmen make many items other settlements have found useful in the past. Microdrills, fish–tailed knives, fish bones for arrowheads, gold necklaces and amulets. Once we begin trading again we’ll be able to acquire raw materials our craftsmen can turn into luxury items to trade – malachite and mudstone from Nubt, ostrich feathers and ostrich eggs and ebony and stone and exotic animal pelts from Abu, feathers and pelts from Tjeni.”

  “Ankhmare traded pottery produced by Tiaa throughout the southern valley,” Ipu reported. “Tiaa invented two styles – black–topped, and decorated polished–red ware. She tailored the decorated pottery to the individual hamlets where it was traded. Its images reflected their gods and legends and made it extremely valuable. But several generations ago the ancestors of today’s potters abandoned those styles and developed the rough cheap pottery mass–produced by all of them today. Including my son and grandsons. Only Amenia still makes the old styles, in limited amounts, and only because Nekhen’s elites like to be buried with it. I taught her, as my grandmother taught me.”

  Amenia’s eyes were downcast again, this time from acute embarrassment. She clearly hated attention. What’s it like to be so painfully meek? No one would ever accuse me of that. I was her exact opposite. I relished attention and wasn’t afraid to express my opinion to anyone. Even though I was only fourteen, I was intelligent enough that people paid attention when I spoke.

  Nykara leaned over and whispered something to Amenia.

  She blushed furiously and studiously avoided looking at him.

  Grandfather swept his eyes around the circle. “Here’s my conundrum. To expand Nekhen’s influence I need to send regular trade expeditions to the northern settlements to make them dependent on us. With Shery dead, there’s not a single man in Nekhen who’s capable of leading an expedition, much less trading successfully once he arrives at his destination. Except me. But, as I said before, as ruler I can’t leave the settlement for weeks or months at a time. I have too many duties to perform each day. Rawer’s my heir, but he’s too young to take over the fleet and boatyard and craftsmen and function as chief trader for another five or six years. We simply can’t afford to wait that long to resume trade. I’m going to yield to a new ruler so I can return to my fleet and devote all my time to assuring Nekhen’s long–term future – not just by resuming trade, but by identifying and training the man who’ll follow in my footsteps and lead expeditions long after I’m dead.”

  Now I understood why Grandfather had decided to resign. But his resignation was going to have significant consequences for all of us who lived in Nekhen. I quickly glanced at the two candidates in line to replace him – Rawer, and Grandfather’s so–called stepson Nykara.

  First, Rawer. He was currently Grandfather’s designated heir. But would Grandfather pass over him now because of his lack of performance in the boatyard?
Rawer took absolutely no interest in the fleet or craftsmen’s workshops or anything associated with transportation. That was doubtless a sign he couldn’t be trusted with something even more complicated – such as Nekhen. He was so unlike me. I already knew almost everything there was to know about Grandfather’s enterprise because I attended the weekly meetings he and Father held to discuss scheduling deliveries throughout the local valley using Grandfather’s boats and Father’s donkeys. In fact, I knew more about our beasts than Father’s own overseer, an aged and somewhat lazy man. Since boats and donkeys touched nearly every enterprise in Nekhen, I knew much about them as well. In addition, I was present daily when Grandfather listened to petitioners and rendered justice in the clearing outside his hut, and when he walked the valley after the inundation each year to mark the new boundaries of each farmer’s field with stones, and when he monitored the distribution of grain from the great communal storage bins on the threshing grounds. I understood the duties of a ruler in detail. I’d been preparing myself for years to rule through Rawer. As long as Grandfather named Rawer his replacement today, that would continue to be my fate. Still, it’d be so much simpler if Grandfather would instead name me his replacement. It would be controversial, selecting a woman. But I was certain I could win over the elites; I’d learned since becoming a woman I could bend almost any man to my will. Few indeed were those who weren’t interested in accommodating me to stay in my good graces. And if they wanted to fight, with fleet and herd at my disposal, how could they prevail against me?