‘It’s good to see you Merit,’ he said. ‘I need to talk something over with you.’
Merit’s curiosity was matched by that of the women by the well. As Yuya and Merit got nearer, Merit called over to them.
‘This is the Lord Yuya, Master of the King’s Chariotry and Favourite of the god.’
They immediately sank to their knees, open mouthed. Never had they been in such close proximity to someone of this station. They wondered if Merit was making fun of them, but they could not risk that being the case.
‘Please rise ladies,’ Yuya said as he passed. ‘I’m not royalty, and today I’m just visiting Kha and Merit, two of my greatest friends. Can you see that my horse and the charioteer get some water? It’s been a dusty ride.’
‘Kha’s not home yet,’ Merit said as they walked up the stairs to the roof. ‘Please take a seat, can I offer you some beer and bread. I have nothing else prepared for now.’
‘A cup of beer would be good, thank you Merit.’
Yuya sipped at his beer.
‘I came deliberately at this hour, Merit, as there was something I wanted to discuss with you alone. The other matter can wait until Kha arrives, but you and Asenath were so close and I need to know if you think she would approve of what I’m thinking.’
‘If you’re going to ask me if you think she’d object if you marry again, then don’t worry. We actually discussed this and she hoped that you would, at least…’ Merit was about to say something else but stopped herself.
‘You’re so like her in many ways Merit. She used to know what I was thinking even before I thought it. Are you sure that she wouldn’t mind? I haven’t told you who it is yet.’
‘Whoever it is, I’m sure that you will only marry her if you’re certain it’s right for you.’
‘It’s Tjuya,’ he said, his eyes cast downwards.
‘What? Tjuya the wife of Yey? The Tjuya whose lies sent you to prison?’
‘Yes,’ replied Yuya, ‘but she is now the widow of Yey and free to marry. You know she admitted she lied about me. The King asked her directly before appointing me Overseer of the Granaries.’
The two talked at length, and were in a good humour when Kha finally arrived home and joined them.
‘You usually meet me at the door with a cup of beer in your hand,’ he said, talking to Merit but walking over to his friend. ‘But I see you’re otherwise occupied today. Good to see you Yuya, it’s such a rare pleasure these days.’
‘I came to bring you the answer of the King to your request for land for the workers,’ he said.
‘And?’ asked Kha and Merit in unison.
‘He says that he can’t grant land to the workers. He believes he pays them fairly for their work and that they are treated better than many of his subjects.’
‘That may be true…,’ interrupted Merit.
Yuya raised his hand and she stopped.
‘However, he says that as Overseer of the Royal Workers, he sees no objections of granting land to your family. It has been agreed that you and Merit shall each be given two khas of land, how you work it and what you do with the produce is entirely up to you, so long as you pay your taxes.’
‘But that’s twice what we asked for,’ said Merit.
‘Let’s just say I’m a good negotiator,’ replied Yuya. ‘It’s turning dark, I must return to the Palace. I’ll send someone tomorrow to show you your new land. I think you will like it.’
*
The following morning the Land Overseer went with Kha and Merit. Merit more than liked what she saw. The land was directly on the road to the river, the one which the water carriers used every day to fetch the village’s water supply. It was bounded on three sides by roads and the fourth side was the river itself. This would save them the annual ritual of replacing boundary stones to demarcate the land, which was frequently a source of dispute between farmers. Equally the land would not be short of water even in years of poor inundation. ‘I can’t believe we’ve been given this. It’s one of the best parcels of land in Waset,’ she exclaimed.
‘What has happened to the owner of this land?’ she asked the Overseer.
‘It is the King’s land. The farmer who tended these fields for him died, leaving neither widow nor children.’
‘The gods were looking down favourably Merit,’ said Kha, ‘but there is too much land here, I have counted twenty fields each of hundreds of square cubits. The villagers can’t work this land and build tombs.’
‘Who said it would be the men who tended the crops?’ asked Merit, ‘at least the ones from the village. The women are ready and able, the children can help and, if necessary, we’ll hire some of the men who used to work for the farmer.’
‘Do you have everything worked out?’ he asked.
‘More or less, but I’ll need your help on one thing.’
‘And what’s that?’ asked Kha.
‘I think I’ll turn the corner of this field into a school area where the children can study while their mothers work in the fields. You said yourself that the young should be taught the basics of their trades and to read and write so they can take over from their fathers.’
‘And who exactly will teach them?’
‘Those men who are too old or lame to work. They can earn their keep again which should restore some pride in themselves and they’ll spend less time drinking, arguing and brawling. This land will supplement their diet. We can grow sufficient wheat to fill the needs of the people and pay the taxes due. The other land we can grow leeks and garlic, beans and lentils. We can have cucumber and celery.’
‘Have you finished?’ Kha asked.
‘No. We can also have radish, onions and lettuce. Maybe we can keep a few cows for milk – and goats. Maybe even bees for honey.’
‘Merit, wait. The land is not infinite. We do not have the estate of Yuya.’
‘No, I believe we can do all of that, with careful management and good husbandry. I spent a lot of time in Khent-min walking the fields and watching. I saw how Yuya’s farmers sow, tend and harvest the crops.’
For all Merit had watched the land being worked, neither she nor Kha were farmers, but with the help of Yuya, they appointed a young son of a farmer, from Khent-min. The boy had learned his trade well from his father and came highly recommended by Yuya. He had five older brothers so there was no shortage of labour on their own farm and both he and his father were grateful of this opportunity.
A small house was built for him in the corner of the field next to the open schooling area. In this way he could watch the crops without having to make a daily trip backwards and forwards.
The design of this house was exactly the same as those in the village. There was no shortage of help and the house was completed in just a few days. Built of mud bricks, there were four rooms. At the rear was an open air kitchen, with an oven. In the entrance hall a raised platform was built in one corner. This would have a dual purpose, principally a shrine, but later when needed and with the gods’ blessings, as a birthing bed for welcoming the next generation into the world. The young farmer wished the shrine to be dedicated to the fertility god Min, but Bes was also to be honoured here and the bed had a carving of the diminutive deity on its side. A staircase leading from the kitchen led to the open roof. The inside was lit during the day with clerestory windows high on the walls and oil lamps during the night. The young farmer called it his palace in Waset.
‘A place where I can have a family and a good life.’
‘We’ll need to repair it every year after the inundation,’ Kha reminded him. ‘Houses built this close to the river are not generally a good idea.’
‘I have few possessions and these can be moved out during the flood. This would be a good time for me to visit my family, as until the waters recede there is little a farmer can do.’
Yuya promised seed and any hel
p that might be needed. He also gifted his friends with a pair of strong bullocks and a plough.
‘The land won’t need much ploughing, so close to the river, the silt will only require to be turned over. This land is as good as the best in Khent-min, it will be a pleasure to work it and reap the gods’ reward at harvest season,’ the young farmer told them.
The status of Kha and Merit had already been enhanced by the visit of Yuya. Word of the high ranking visitor had quickly spread amongst the tight knit community. Now, when the whole village was invited to see the fertile fields which Kha and Merit had received and told that for their lifetimes the crops would be for the benefit of all, they grew even greater in the minds and hearts of those who had come under their care.
Over the next few years things changed radically for the better in the village. The health of the workers was improved by the more regular inclusion in their diet of fresh fruit and vegetables. An area of land around the young farmer’s house was established as an orchard. Yuya sent ten date palms and ten fig trees. At the request of the young farmer he also sent five sacred dom palm trees. This tree, a symbol of male strength and associated with Min, the god of his home town, was special to the young man. Each morning he would kneel to pray beneath these trees, seeking the blessings of Min and asking the god to make his work fruitful. For Kha, Merit, the workers and their families it seemed as if the prayers were always answered. Absenteeism from work, due to ill health, was virtually non-existent. Injured or elderly workers were cared for and fed.
In addition to these trees, Yuya sent an apple and an apricot tree with instructions to the farmer that the fruits from these trees were to be exclusively for Kha and Merit. These were fruits of royalty, or at least the very wealthy. Asenath and Merit had both loved and enjoyed them when Kha and Merit had lived with him. Yuya said he hoped the fruits would be a reminder of his wife.
‘I thank you, for these are truly my favourite fruits,’ Merit wrote to Yuya, ‘but Asenath is, and will always be, in my heart and will never be forgotten.’
At Merit’s suggestion a wall was built around the village. This was not just for extra security and privacy, but to try and develop even further the sense of belonging, companionship and entity. The work these men undertook was both important and secret. Everyone was expected to keep only to the company of other villagers and outsiders were unwelcome and treated with suspicion.
Within these walls Kha was the focal point of law and administration. He established a court for the formal hearing of disputes. Merit took responsibility for distributing not just the fruits of their labours in the fields but also the monthly payment to the workers.
As was tradition in Kemet, those who worked in the tombs were divided into two gangs. Right side and left side. Now Kha and Merit introduced this into the village. Those who were in the left side gang now lived on the left side of the road and the same applied to the right side workers. Carpenters, potters, coppersmiths and basket makers were divided equally on both sides of the street. Friendly competition was encouraged and on days off or holidays, sports would be organised.
Fishing competitions, rowing contests, spear throwing, racing and high jump were enthusiastically enjoyed. Each team was well known to the other and competition was always fierce but friendly.
The village had always been known simply as just that, Pa-demi, ‘the village’, however, after the wall was built a ceremony was held to which Yuya came and it was renamed ‘Set Ma’at’ – the place of truth.
Under the guidance of Kha and Merit this became a community of pride. Jobs were passed from father to son. All, including the women and children, were taught to read and write at the school beside the fields. Not all the children would or could work in the tombs when they grew, but they were assured of work as scribes or other important functionaries. They were amongst the most highly educated outside of the royal circle. All willingly helped Merit in her tasks and all received their fair shares of everything.
The day arrived when Kha had, once again, to open up the tomb of the King, for it was time to lay to rest the body of Amenhotep. It was not the first time the tomb had been used. The King’s mother, Merytre had died and was buried inside. The requisite seventy day mourning period required to prepare the King’s body for its internment, gave the opportunity to check for any unforeseen rock falls or other damage of which, fortunately, there was none. Once opened and inspected, Kha was not allowed to enter the tomb again as it was to be left to the priests and the new King Thutmose to fill the chambers with all the worldly goods which the dead King would need to sustain him in perpetuity.
Kingly deaths and coronations had little effect on the lives of ordinary Kemetians. Being incarnations of god’s, they were indistinguishable one from the other in the eyes of the working man. Work still had to be done; perhaps the names carved would be different but the work was the same. After the accession to the throne of Thutmose-Mekhepure, life in the village carried on uninterrupted.
*
‘It is as though I’m being forgotten,’ Kha complained one day to Merit.
‘That’s not the case, I’m sure Kha. The King has many problems and I doubt either you or his tomb are high on his priorities.’
‘We are continuing the work on the obelisk his grandfather started in the great Temple and he’s ordered a new peristyle hall be built for commoners to have a way of talking to Amun, but all of this I’m hearing second hand from Hapu, whose young son Amenhotep has become Scribe of Recruits.’
‘You just need to do the work you’re assigned. Let others be concerned about other works.’
‘He seems to have forgotten the work to be done at Hor-em-akhet in the north. My workmen are spending more time usurping monuments of Merytre to make them appear that they are for Tiaa, the King’s wife, than they are on important works. It doesn’t seem that long ago, Merytre herself was demanding that Hatshepsut monuments were to be changed to her name. Did Thutmose not promise the god himself certain work would be done?’
‘So the story goes Kha, but perhaps it’s just not as important to him as it is to you. The way Yuya told me it seems that you planted the seeds of the King’s dream into his head. Now he has his mother demanding works of him. He has his own mark to leave on history; he must pay homage to the gods by building monuments. The carefree days of his youth are gone and he has not taken well to the obligations of his station. I think without Yuya at his side, he would falter. Be content Kha. We have all we need.’
*
Thutmose had not forgotten his promise to the god. One day a message was sent by Yuya to Kha, asking him to attend the Palace the following day. He knew that this was not a request and, dressed in his finest full length gown, he made his way to the great double gates on the west side of the Palace complex, its main entrance.
‘I’m here under command of the King,’ Kha informed the guards as he handed over the summons.
‘Then enter but wait in the courtyard until you receive further instructions.’
One of the guards, with the summons in his hand, passed through another set of double gates into the main building.
Not long after, he returned and just a few paces behind him was Yuya, who embraced his old friend and led him, with an arm over his shoulder, into the Palace.
‘Thutmose is now King, Kha,’ he said, ‘so before you can enter into his presence you will need to be bathed and shaved. I have everything ready in my quarters, including a new gown which you should keep here for future royal attendances, should there be any.’
‘Am I in trouble?’ Kha asked. ‘The summons was so formal and now I have to change and bathe before meeting him. Is there a problem, have I, or my work, displeased him in some way?’
‘Of course not, my friend. I think that he has a job he needs you to do. One I think he feels is overdue and one I’m sure you will enjoy even though it will take you away from Waset.’
Once bathed, shaved, kohled and dressed in his new royal attendance gown, Yuya accompanied Kha along a series of corridors and into a room which had a raised dais at one end.
‘This is the small throne room,’ Yuya told him as Kha looked around at the decorated pillars and painted walls and ceilings. He cast his critical eye over the workmanship.
‘The effect is wonderful,’ he said ‘but some of the detail could be improved upon.’
‘Please don’t say that in front of the King or his mother. It was her design. Now Thutmose has finally bestowed on her the title of ‘Great Royal Wife,’ which his father refused to do, she is certainly not a person to criticise, even indirectly.’
‘I wouldn’t dream of such a thing, Yuya, I was actually talking to myself.’
It was not uncommon for Kha to do this, not realise that he was voicing his thoughts.
‘It might get him in trouble one day.’ Unlike Kha, Yuya kept this thought to himself.
The new King entered, accompanied by three women. His mother Tiaa, his sister and chief wife Nefertari, and his favoured wife Mutemwiya, the Naharina Princess.
Thutmose looked taller to Kha than he remembered. He was dressed, as were the women surrounding him, in the deep blue of mourning. On his head he wore the nemes headdress, the alternating blue stripes exactly matching the colour of his gown; the gold stripes standing out against the blue.
A golden necklace, with an amulet of Horus, hung round his neck. He looked so different from the Thutmose Kha had seen in the battles in Naharina and on the hunting trip beside Hor-em-akhet.
Kha prostrated himself, and so too did Yuya, his close friendship didn’t exempt him from this ritual now Thutmose was King, at least when they were in the presence of others.
Thutmose took his seat as did the women. He spoke directly to Kha.
‘Welcome, Kha, Overseer of the Royal works and workers in Waset,’ this greeting meant, at least for the time being, he was not to lose his position under the new King. ‘You may recall that some years ago when you accompanied me and Yuya to the land of the great white pyramids, I received a vision from the god Hor-em-akhet-Khepri-Atum.’
The Awakening Aten Page 11