The Golden Falcon

by David C. Clark

  Some few months later, I was summonsed to join Khaemwaset for dinner in his apartment. The invitation requested I wear my finest garments, noting I would meet a guest of some importance. Believing I was to meet some visiting noble, I presented myself, suitably attired, at the appointed hour. Unusually, no servant attended his quarters, so I strolled out onto the terrace overlooking the river. Hearing a slight noise behind me, I turned to find an elegantly dressed woman standing in the shadows. I made to introduce myself thinking her the wife of the noble we would dine with this night. Before I could speak she said, “I am Neferure and you are Sennefer. We have not met before but I know of you from my father and brothers.” She extended her hand in greeting. I took her hand, felt myself blushing and stumbled through a clumsy greeting in return.

  “Perhaps you will sit with me before we dine? My brother sends his apologises as he has been detained on some important matter of state and cannot join us. You do not mind dining with me alone, do you, Lord Architect?”

  We had moved closer to each other and now stood under a flaring torch, its flames highlighting her head and body. She had the same hair as her father, burnished copper tresses shone in the light. Tall, slender with high cheekbones, her mother’s golden skin and her father’s long fine nose. I am rarely at a loss for words but I stood like a ka-statue, no words coming readily to my lips.

  “Come, Sennefer, do I disquiet you? My brother tells me you are eloquent and speak our language with some fluency. Perhaps a goblet of wine will restore your senses and let me know you have a voice.” She laughed mischievously at my discomfort. Taking my hand in hers, she walked me to the couch, clapped her hands and a servant arrived with a flask of wine, two fine glass goblets and a platter of dates and cheese.

  I began “Princess…” “No, Sennefer, when I am with you I am only Neferure. I apologise, the builder of mighty monuments was about to speak. Please continue.” She laughed again, a magic tinkling like a shaken sistrum.

  “Neferure, this is a rare pleasure.” I mumbled. “Your brother made no mention of your visiting Memphis. I had not imagined you to be so beautiful. You have left me quite speechless.”

  “Four sentences. At least it is a beginning. May I suggest we dine on the terrace where perhaps you can manage of few more words as I have waited many years to meet the man who has brought so much honour to my father. He sends his warmest greetings and blessings.”

  The dinner with Neferure was one of the most enchanting moments of my life. Inevitably, as our attraction grew over the next months and matured into a deep love, I summoned my courage, travelled to Pi-Ramess to ask the king for his daughter’s hand in marriage. His response was immediate and enthusiastic.

  “You have chosen well and it pleases me greatly to see you smile again. Neferure is very close to my heart, though she needs a strong man to tame her but with gentleness. You are such a man. Keep in mind, I believe if she was a man she would make an excellent ruler.”

  “Master, I doubt if I had anything to do with making a choice. I am embarrassed to admit the choice was made by your daughter as I was rendered powerless from our first meeting. The thought of her being by my side gives me new life.”

  “I am glad, my friend. You may not know it but my daughter had waited patiently for your visits to Pi-Ramess for years and took every opportunity to spy upon you in the most shameless manner. A man needs a woman to make his life whole and you are the only man I know who can bring her to full flower. A little news. I have also taken a new wife, Sutereray, and unlike the daughters I have married, she warms my bed wonderfully. We may both regain some measure of youth.”

  “Sennefer. Lord architect, are you still with us or does your mind wander more frequently in your declining years?” queried Ramesses, possibly discerning the reason for my silence. I stopped my reverie and gathered my thoughts.

  “Thank you, Ramesses, for your words of kindness. Both women have enriched my life immeasurably and, yes, I believe my mind is still functioning. Years ago, we discussed the reason for being entombed surrounded by treasured possessions and I questioned how the dead could enjoy the funerary goods within a tomb. I now understand that when the ba bird visits my remains, it will derive comfort amongst the reminders of this life.”

  Khaemwaset said “A reasonable interpretation. Our mortal shell is made imperishable by embalming, so it is fitting it rests amidst representations of the first stage of a journey that ends in eternity.”

  “What form does the Second Life take? I have studied many texts about the passage from this life to the next through the Underworld and understand the necessity of books of instruction and guidance on the difficult journey but there is scant reference to the nature of the Afterlife. What form do I take, how am I sustained, do I recognise my friends? Will I know Ipi?”

  The king answered. “It is heartening to see you may, at last, seek to escape your irreverent ways. You touch on the great unknown for none who have made the voyage to the Second Life have returned. Let my son and I try to explain the glorious story of life and our faith, as we believe it. I have studied our religion, though not as deeply as Khaemwaset. You remember I expelled a tribe of captive Canaanites as they were a troublesome people and not worth the effort of keeping them as slaves? Like Akhenaten, they worshipped one god, Yahweh, whom they believe created the world and oversaw its functions. These Canaanites were an unhappy and fractious people, much given to lamentations and breast beating. They are also a foolish people as their belief in one god makes no concession to the reality of life.”

  “We are a pragmatic people and have been from the moment Atum’s tears brought forth life and the family of gods who rule us. In his principal manifestation, he is Amum-Min-Kamutef, the original creator. As Amum-Re,he constantly regenerates the elements. From him sprang Geb, the earth god and Nut, the sky goddess, who begat Osiris, Isis, Nepthys and Seth. Other children were born of his tears and each fulfils a particular role in our lives. Khnum fashions each of us on his potter’s wheel. Our gestation, birth and early life are attended by Hathor, Heket, Nekhbet, Sobek and Theoris. The land is made fertile by Osiris from the fountainhead of his body. In this, he is supported by Tefnut, Runenetet, Mnevis, Hapi, Min, Satet and Anuqet, all of whom have separate but important parts to play in the endless cycle of birth, life, death and immortality.”

  “Anubis stands guardian of the dead, Isis the bridge between this life and eternity, Nephthys mourns the dead and revives their ba, Selket, with the sons of Horus, Amset, Duatmutef, Hapi and Qebehsenuf, protect our remains. Sokar stands guard over the Memphite necropolis whilst Meretseger protects the dead in the Great Place. In life, Amun, Re, Ptah and Sakhmet with Khepri, Khonsu, Horus, Bastet, Bes, Amaunet, Nut, Shu and Werethekau, give impetus to the great wheel of mortal existence as it turns, causing the sun to rise, stars in the night sky to gleam and the moon to shine. My hand in war is strengthened by Neith and Montu.”

  “In the Second Life, kings judged favourably become oarsmen on Amun-Re’s solar barque. During the sacred barque’s nocturnal passage through the Underworld, Seth defends Amun-Re against the incessant attacks of Apophis who seeks to destroy him as the god spreads light and warmth to the souls tending divine wheat in the verdant Fields of Reeds.”

  “As a builder, Thoth and Seshat shepherd your skills. Many of our gods form divine associations. In Memphis, Ptah, Sakhmet and Nefertem, at Abydos, Osiris, Isis and Horus and in Thebes, Amun-Re, Mut and Khonsu are holy triads. Together, the parts make a homogeneous family of deities, some living amongst us and others residing below the Western Horizon.”

  “I, above all past rulers, have been uniquely blessed by my father, Amun-Re. I know not the reason for this singular benediction but I am his son. He has blessed me with many wise and brave children and he delivered unto my hands you, Sennefer.”

  “Master, I do not believe I am endowed with any exceptional abilities. I am your willing servant, an attendant through whom you express your devotion to the gods, a mere tool
in your hands with which to fashion monuments.”

  “You are wrong, my friend. From the beginning, I merely decreed that you build and you interpreted my command with little hesitation. Your works are prodigious and the stones you took raw and unworked, house shrines to the gods in supreme glory. Thoth himself watches over you. Does not his avatar, the ibis, accompany your labours?”

  At this point, Ramesses stretched his arm outwards into the darkness that enveloped the necropolis.

  “What of the work of your peers? All I see in this graveyard are monuments to men, self-exalting mortals who worshipped themselves and gave scant credence to our gods. Those in your field of architecture respect Imhotep, King Djoser’s great builder and it is right he should be so respected. But of the king himself? I judge him to have been a man of immense vanity. Where is the humility in his pyramid complex? Where is the self-effacement in any who followed his example? For centuries, kings who ordained pyramids be built, did so with one objective in mind. Our investigations confirm that the rulers who commissioned these monstrosities channelled the effort of their people and the kingdom’s resources to the creation of monuments in self worship and not to the gods who graced them with the crook and flail.”

  “The gods are slow to anger.” he continued, his face stern. “Daily, as Re-Harakhty commands the solar barque rise into the sky, so the deities present a fresh opportunity for a ruler to pause and consider his duty. Throughout his life, a ruler is rarely judged as he has total freedom to choose wisely or badly. The moment of judgement comes when a ruler stands, bareheaded, before the scales of Osiris. Then, The Ruler of the West chooses to either throw his heart to Ammut to be consumed or indicates, with his wand, a seat on the solar barque where each day is golden.”

  I could see my folly in posing innocent questions to two exponents of the faith. Ramesses poured another beaker of wine and settled more comfortably on his couch. The night would be long. Khaemwaset spoke. “Our history is extensive. It is a chronicle of endless regeneration and mortality moving over vast cycles of time. We see a representation of these cycles in our lifetime. All life is created, lives and dies at the behest of the deities. Behind this divine intervention, a more subtle cycle unfolds. Our land has experienced five lengthy revolutions of the divine wheel. From the primeval mound watered by Atum’s tears, there arose a lotus blossom from which our first King, Menes, sprung fully formed. For almost three hundred years, he and his inheritors gathered into their hands the elements we recognise as Egypt. Then, the first line collapsed amidst internal fighting and the land lapsed into chaos.”

  “Djoser, a righteous man came to the throne. He and his successors were the great pyramid builders, yet the record of royal lineage is unclear. It indicates the possibility of usurpation of the crown by several minor men until the reign of King Teti, when unity returned under a strong line of rulers though, ultimately, the last rulers of the era caused the gods to avert their eyes from our land, which again was cleft in half with one group, claiming to be the sons of Horus, ruling the north. In Thebes ,the true inheritors of the divine mantle, established a new, brave dynasty that culminated in the re-unification of the country under King Mentuhotep I.”

  Pausing to take refreshment, Khaemwaset continued. “It is not known what happened during the rule the final successor, Mentuhotep IV, other than texts that record a great famine afflicted the land until Amenemhat seized the throne and moved the capital from Thebes to Itj-tawy. Think on this. This event, which heralded the beginning of new line of dynamic rulers, happened only seven hundred years ago. The line he initiated ran some two centuries and ended with the brief reign of Queen Sobkneferu. There followed complete chaos. In a period of about one hundred and thirty years, at least fifty men claimed the throne. We have their names, there are texts, some buildings of note, unfinished pyramids litter the landscape and queens seemed to have married any commoner with a strong arm. The crown was caught by whoever could leap highest. Our work in Memphis may allow us to untangle this maze but one aspect is clear beyond dispute. Our gods were ignored and they in turn shunned the kingdom. The river failed to flood, famine and despair became the companion of all.”

  “The result of the disregard of our gods was a foregone conclusion. Like a weakened lion in its death throes, our land succumbed to the ultimate divine punishment; invasion and enslavement by the Asiatic Heka-khasut, the Hyksos, whose leaders dared, called themselves pharaohs. In the south, around Thebes, valiant men struggled to regain control of Egypt They beseeched Amun, asking him to give them the strength to defeat and expel the Hyksos. The gods detected a return to true veneration and the admission that, without our gods by their side, we could but wallow in the mire of foreign rule.”

  “Khnum turned to his potter’s wheel and fashioned the noble King Ta’a, who started the revolution that saw Ahmose finally throw the Hyksos back into the sea, their blood washing his chariot wheels. Amun-Re’s light flooded the land again and the people rejoiced until Amun’s supremacy was threatened by the fool, Akhenaten, who sought to overthrow the throne of reason with his misbegotten concept of divinity. Then, the gods were quick to react with bountiful mercy. The gods saw in Akhenaten and his son, Tutankhamen, the denigration of righteousness. Khnum fashioned another exemplary man, Horemheb, destined to restore virtue in Egypt. His decree at the Karnak temple reads. ‘Marvel at all you see before you, our gods guide us anew and justice is restored to the land and its people’.

  Ramesses spoke, “Do you perceive divine intervention throughout this cycle, Sennefer? You must study our history to understand the nature of this cycle and the relationship between deities and humans. It is a partnership but never an equal bargain, as we are the god’s creatures. We need do little more than repay them for what they willingly render unto us. You will not find an evil deity as each god is part of a whole and the whole is benevolent.”

  I interjected “What of Seth, the bringer of disorder and chaos. He is called the Lord of the Deserts and Foreign Lands - not a flattering appellation. He and Horus still fight for mastery of the world. Yet, Seth stands on the bow of the solar barque where, nightly, he succeeds in overcoming Apophis, Re’s greatest enemy. Your grandfather named his son Seti, your father commenced the temple to Seth in Abydos and I remember a conversation about the appropriateness of building in honour of Seth. Your response at the time was short and very crisp. However, my confusion remains. Either Seth is a deity representing evil or he is a loyal defender of Re? Whilst ma’at represents order, isfet is the opposing concept of sin, evil and wrong-doing. Does the concept of isfet reside in Seth?”

  “Hah” said Ramesses. “I see you do not sit idly at your table playing with measuring instruments. There have been many members of my family with the name Seti. The family has, for as long as we know, resided in the Delta. My great-grandfather was the royal household’s envoy in Canaan during the reign of Akhenaten. Seth is an ancient Asiatic deity and he was worshipped as a minor deity in the eastern Delta. Khaemwaset, perhaps you can tell Sennefer of this god who is near to the heart of the Paramessu family.”

  “We do not accept Seth as a god of disorder, in fact, we acknowledge Seth as the companion of Horus, protector of the king, with whom he is shown handing the king the crown.”

  “Surely, there is a deity that embodies all that is evil?”

  “No, none embody the concept of isfet. To understand isfet, you must appreciate our fundamental theology. The gods suffer not the emotions that beset humans. There is no discord amongst them, as thoughts of sin, jealousy, lust, greed, envy and hatred do not exist. They do not compete with each other but complement each other in bringing love and prosperity to the world. We mortals experience every emotion as we are not, as yet, divine. Only after death, do we shrug off these fervent coils. Our religion teaches there is a choice in our lifetime between praising the benevolence of the deities whilst striving to achieve the inner and outward precepts of ma’at. Those who chose an opposite path and give sway to baser emot
ions will suffer the most dire fate of all – the loss of their soul.”

  “To answer your question about Ipi,” said the king. “She awaits you as do all that preceded us and, in time, we will welcome those who follow us. Enough of this serious subject, it slows my blood and all this talking has made me thirsty. We need to take some time from our labours. What better way of clearing the head than some hunting.”

  “Hunting? I rarely see a gazelle, antelope or lion in the necropolis and I am certainly past fighting crocodiles and hippopotami on the river.”

  “You become old in your ways, Sennefer. Too many days are spent poring over crumbling scrolls and reading of dead kings. Even my son here becomes stooped with the burden of learning. The next Sed Festival at Thebes is nigh, is it not?”

  “The festival is in one month, father. You need stay three days for the celebration and then you are free of religious commitments until the Festival of Min.”

  “We should go to Thebes now and spend six or seven days there as I would like to inspect my tomb. Then we can sail down to Elephantine, visit the temple and fortresses and pass some time amongst my subjects. Thereafter, we voyage northwards and stop wherever we like and take as much time as we wish. A journey from Memphis to Elephantine and back to Pi-Ramess will take at least half a year. There are palaces in every major city, our wives will make pleasant company and I will be seen by my subjects. Khaemwaset may join us as his responsibilities allow. Sennefer, what do you say?”

  “Now that Rekhmire has assumed most of my responsibilities in all but title, I have few commitments save the work in the necropolis. I planned to travel to Thebes to inspect the secret tomb anyway, so I would be honoured to join you in your travels.”