“Magnificent. Absolutely magnificent. Finally, a gift from the great land of Egypt. The Pharaoh Teppy, the husband of my daughter Kiya, has delivered the gold that his father promised me,” said Tushratta. “Mitanni’s friendship with Egypt has spanned hundreds of years, but it is because of me and my camaraderie with the Egyptian kings that Mitanni reaps the rarest and most valuable of their golden treasures.”
Tushratta’s bluster masked the true reason for his joy over the Egyptian gift.
There had not been another sighting of his son Shattiwaza after he had banished the prince from Mitanni ten years earlier. Ornus’s search for him in the Milid Valley had proven to be fruitless, so Tushratta had assumed the merciless Hittites had captured and killed him. True to his word, Tushratta had punished Ornus’s failure by executing his wife and children and, worse, by keeping him alive to suffer from it as he himself suffered. Possession of the Egyptian gold statue would help assuage his guilt over causing the loss of his own son.
As Tushratta admired the statue, he focused on a small mark on the leg. When he examined it closely, it appeared to be a crack. He poked at it with his finger and right away a fragment of gold broke off from it and landed on the ground. Under the gold plating Tushratta caught a glimpse of stone. The statue was not made of solid gold as the pharaoh had led him to believe. It was a worthless fake and now his shame in front of his entire royal family.
CHAPTER 16
At the beginning of Teppy’s fourth year as pharaoh, he and Nefertiti were nurturing two young daughters: Meketa and Mayati. By the end of that same year she had given birth to their third daughter, Senpaten. Their decision to name her in honor of the Aten god sparked outrage among the entire hierarchy of the Amun priesthood. Sia, in particular, issued proclamations denouncing Teppy’s blasphemy against Amun. He warned that the pharaoh’s actions would halt the annual flooding of the river, which could lead to deadly famine throughout Egypt. The Amun priests’ plan was to frighten the Egyptian people into revolting against him.
The priests refused to make the customary offering to Hapi, the god of the inundation for the flood, hoping it would trigger a famine in Egypt that they could blame on Teppy. The pharaoh prayed to his god, the Aten, and although the Amun priests had warned the citizens that the needed flood would not occur without the power of their gods Hapi or Amun, the inundation did occur because of Teppy’s incessant prayers and the power of his god—the Aten.
Nefertiti had prayed and petitioned the Aten god for a male heir, but in its perfection and wisdom, the Aten gave her not what she desired, but what she needed for her heart to be joyful: their beautiful baby girl, the princess Senpaten. She was a gift of replenishment to Teppy and tending to her was his favorite way to pass the time during the annual flood.
Teppy cradled his daughter in his arms, while Nefertiti and his two eldest daughters swam in the river and explored its treasures. They were known by their birth names, Meketa and Mayati, to the people of Egypt, and only Nefertiti knew their secret birth names of Naeemasha and Sagiramala.
“Father, look, we picked lotus flowers for you,” said the four-year-old Meketa. She walked into his chamber hand-in-hand with her two-year-old sister, Mayati from their swim in the river. The girls were the love of Teppy’s life, and, along with his wife Nefertiti, made up the world of femininity with which he longed to be surrounded. He had his own family now, one that loved him and would never reject or abandon him.
Nefertiti took Senpaten from Teppy’s arms, and Mayati jumped in his lap for her turn of his nurturing. She handed him the lotus flowers, anticipating his kiss of approval.
“They’re beautiful, just as you are, my little one,” said Teppy as he embraced her and kissed her forehead.
“What about me, Father?” asked Meketa. “I have lotus flowers for you too.”
“And I have kisses for you as well, my little princess. Come to me,” he replied.
Meketa jumped into her father’s lap next to her sister, and he gave them both the longest embrace they could endure. When Nefertiti placed Senpaten down in her little bed, the newborn cried.
“Sing the lullaby to her,” said Meketa.
“Yes, sing the lullaby to Senpaten, Father, please” Mayati repeated.
Teppy’s singing voice was not pleasant to his own ears, but to his daughters it was like a musical instrument they could make him play whenever they wanted. He would always sing to them the same lullaby his mother, Ty, had sang to him as a child when he would cry. Teppy leaned over Senpaten, and with the help of his two daughters, sang to her softly.
Little baby in the dark house,
You have seen the sun rise.
Why are you crying? Why are you screaming?
You have disturbed the house god.
‘Who has disturbed me?’ says the house god.
It is the baby who has disturbed you.
‘Who scared me?’ says the house god.
It is the baby who has scared you.2
By the time they had repeated the verse three times, Senpaten had stopped crying and was looking up at her father and sisters with big bright eyes. She was a beautiful baby, one that Teppy predicted from among all his daughters would be a queen of Egypt.
WHEN AY ENTERED THE AMUN TEMPLE that morning, he was startled by shouts and murmurs. The commotion emanated from the outer sanctuary where the nine-cubit-high solid gold statue of Amun stood. The priests had surrounded it, and fellow worshipers formed a crowd around the towering structure. There were gasps and awes as they witnessed what appeared to be blood dripping from the corners of the golden statue’s mouth.
“Look, Amun is furious. It is because we have presented him with an animal sacrifice unworthy of him!” yelled a villager.
“We must find who committed this crime and kill him before Amun curses us with disease,” said another.
Suddenly, the statue rumbled. A deep sense of fear spread among the throng in the outer sanctuary. No one was sure if it was better to flee the temple or hide in one of its many rooms. Their fear was calmed when Sia and Neper entered, dressed in their ceremonial robes.
“Help us!” a villager implored Sia. “Help us appease Amun.”
In perfect sync, Sia and Neper knelt in front of the statue, raised both their hands in the air, and bowed their heads. Ay was there when the rumbling sounds from the Amun statue subsided, and the blood stopped dripping from its mouth. Sia and Neper stood up and faced the people.
“It is not because of a sacrifice that Amun has become angered. It is because the people are building a new temple in honor of the Aten god, a place much grander than the Amun temple,” said Neper.
“The construction of the Gempaaten temple is blasphemous in the eyes of Amun,” Sia continued, “the building of this temple must stop for your own sake!”
With that, Sia and Neper led the crowd out of the Amun temple grounds and toward the Gempaaten construction site.
Teppy had commissioned the building of the Gempaaten temple in the second year of his reign in praise of his god, the Aten. It would be a site of grand beauty—a much needed improvement over the old dilapidated Aten temple near the Colonnade court.
Three times the size of the Amun temple, Teppy’s new temple had been specifically designed so that the massive structure would receive the most rays of sunlight directly from the Aten, and at night, hundreds of torches would keep it illuminated so that it would never be in a single moment of darkness. It would be a place of happiness and rejuvenation, contrary to the Amun temple that reminded him of death and despair.
Now, three years later, the Gempaaten temple had been half completed when Ay reported to Teppy that the Amun priests had halted its construction. The workers were vacating the site because of curses from the Amun priests and their worshippers. Teppy was riled and quickly mounted his royal chariot en route to Gempaaten.
Sia and Neper delighted in assisting the exodus of thousands of the pharaoh’s workers. The ones that had refused to leave, the pries
ts taunted and threatened with premonitions of a forthcoming catastrophe they said came from the mouth of the Oracle himself.
“This temple you were deceived into building pays tribute to the Aten, an enemy of the god of all gods—Amun,” said Neper.
“If you do not stop construction, your children, your animals, and the river will be cursed. The Amun god has decreed this, and I am his only messenger,” said Sia.
Neper turned and glared at Sia, surprised at the failure to include him in his proclamation.
“We are the only messengers,” Neper corrected.
“Are we not as one, my dear brother?” asked Sia.
Meri-Ra stepped forward and interrupted their exchange.
“In essence, you are instructing these workers to disobey our only living god, the pharaoh Teppy, who does, in fact, have the power of the almighty Aten at his command,” Meri-Ra said, adjusting his robe and collar necklace.
“The pharaoh would be wise to accept what has always been known since the beginning of time: the power of Amun is much greater than the Aten,” said Sia.
“Perhaps you can tell him yourself. His royal chariot has arrived at the entrance,” replied Meri-Ra.
As Teppy dismounted his chariot, his temple workers were gathering their belongings and departing in droves. The sight of it made his anger boil. When the people set their eyes on the pharaoh, they dropped what they had in their hands and bowed. Assisted by his jeweled walking cane, Teppy limped up the staircase to the top of the platform. All movement ceased, and there was no sound except that of the wind and of birds chirping. Teppy’s voice echoed off the unfinished walls.
“Don’t be fooled by what you were told. Why should you be afraid? I am the pharaoh, the living god of Egypt. Just as my father, Amenhotep, was the great builder, we will be the builders of even greater things. If you, my citizens and my workers, return to building the Gempaaten temple, I will double your compensation, and you will be supplied with beer three times daily. The Aten is the god of the sun-disk, the god of the light. He will give us all what we desire, and you, my people, will build the temple and the statue where he will reside with us for eternity.”
Teppy stepped off the platform and descended the stairs. He had no sense of whether the workers had actually listened to him and would return to building the temple or not. What he wanted most was to confront Sia and Neper privately, and it wasn’t long before they came to him, greeting the pharaoh with a perfunctory bow followed by a warning.
“What you’re doing is blasphemous to Amun,” said Sia.
“Who appointed you and your brother the judges of what is blasphemous? As a living god, I, Teppy, have the authority to do as I please. You, on the other hand, insist on challenging my sovereignty as pharaoh of Egypt. If I choose to name my beautiful baby daughter and my temple in honor of the Aten, it will be done. I’ll not continue to tolerate your interference, priest,” replied Teppy.
“We do not answer to the Aten. Amun is our god, and the god of this country. He has condemned the building of your temple as sacrilege.”
“Your Amun god is a beast with the head of a ram, a god of the night where evil lurks but cannot be seen. My god, the Aten, is the sun-disk, a bright light that brings about goodness in full view of the people. We can survive without the beast that hides in the darkness, no one can survive without the life-giving rays of the sun,” said Teppy.
“Amun was the god of your father, Amenhotep, and of your father’s father. What evil do you accuse them of, Pharaoh?”
Unable to look Teppy in the eye, Neper stared at the ground, his hand twitching. Teppy sensed the priest was having second thoughts about the enmity his twin was creating between him and the Amun priesthood.
“This will all be settled at the Sed-Festival,” said Teppy. “With the power of the Aten, I will prove my worthiness in making all decisions concerning Egypt to whom it matters the most—the people of Egypt.”
NEFERTITI REMOVED ALL HER CLOTHING and lay on her stomach as she waited for her maidservant to enter and rub her limbs with oils and her favorite lotus-flower perfume. This was the ritual she participated in every night in their bedchamber while Teppy visited the children’s chamber and sang them to sleep with lullabies. She looked forward to her husband’s physical reaction when he would return to their bed to find the room filled with the sweet scent of her body. It was such a delight to him, and she knew the softness of her skin was as delicate as a blossoming flower.
Someone entered Nefertiti’s chamber and began pouring the oils on her back. Feminine hands massaged them into her skin, but instead of the gentleness she was accustomed to, these hands made rough and aggressive movements.
“I would prefer the gentle touch you always provide,” said Nefertiti.
“This is the way Teppy prefers it.”
Nefertiti turned over and discovered that it was not her maidservant but Teppy’s secondary wife, Kiya.
“What are you doing here?”
Kiya picked up the bottle of perfume, but before she could pour it, Nefertiti grabbed her wrist and didn’t let go.
“I asked you a question,” Nefertiti said. “Why are you here? And where is my maidservant?”
Nefertiti released Kiya’s wrist, and the girl placed the bottle on the table.
“My husband, Teppy, sent your maidservant to his mother’s chamber to assist her. He asked me to take her place here because I am familiar with sweet oils and massage,” replied Kiya.
“Your husband?” mocked Nefertiti. “You are just a secondary wife, a mistress, an afterthought.”
“An afterthought that’s fertile and capable of bearing Teppy a son, something he deserves, and that you cannot give him. You are only good for birthing meaningless daughters.”
Nefertiti slapped Kiya across her face. “Get out and take your sweet oils with you!”
Kiya picked up her oil and perfume bottles and slowly took backward steps away from Nefertiti, concerned of what the queen might do to her next.
“You will never lay your hand on me again,” Kiya warned.
Nefertiti sneered at her and Kiya rushed out of her chamber.
CHAPTER 17
At the midnight hour, Teppy entered Nefertiti’s chamber drunk with lust and yearning to be as one with her. She lay in bed veiled by a cloth that hid the jewels of her body. Her stare was hypnotic, and he undressed himself in a hurry to join her. Without saying a word, Teppy kissed her, but this time, there was no reciprocation. He persisted, engulfed in his own desire, touching her and removing the cloth revealing her breasts. Before he could kiss them with his lips, she covered them.
“Promise me now you won’t send that woman to my chamber again,” said Nefertiti, holding the cloth over her body as collateral.
This was unusual treatment from his sweet Nefertiti. She had always returned his passion and in some instances, initiated it even in the face of Kiya.
“Why do you call her ‘that woman’? I sent her to relax you with massage and sweet oils as she has done many times for me.”
“She has nothing but contempt for me. How can you not see that?”
“She is still my wife.”
“A secondary wife is no better than a mistress, and I loathed the presence of your envious mistress in my bedchamber,” replied Nefertiti.
“Fine.”
Teppy tried again to remove the cloth, but she gripped it even tighter.
“Swear to me under oath of the Aten god that you’ll not lie with her in her chamber again,” said Nefertiti.
Teppy sat up, baffled by her request.
“How many times must you be reminded that she is my secondary wife?” he countered. “Why would I promise you such a thing?”
“You would if you truly loved me.”
“There was never a question about whom I love Nefertiti. I don’t dream of Kiya; I dream of you.”
Teppy reclined back into bed without giving her the answer she wanted. He refused to lie to her under any circumstance.
Nefertiti sensed there were much heavier concerns weighing on her husband’s heart, so she dismissed the quarrel for the moment.
“What’s really disturbing you?” she asked. “Tell me so I can help you.”
“There’s nothing you can do.”
“I’m your wife, and I have the wisdom of my father.”
Teppy nodded. As his chief wife, she indeed had the right to know.
“It’s the priests of Amun. They keep challenging my sovereignty,” he said.
“How?”
“They halted the construction of my Gempaaten temple, convincing the workers that the Amun god will curse them and their children with disease if they continue to build it. The Amun statue was even seen rumbling and blood dripped from the corner of its mouth. Again, in this new year, they’re threatening not to pray to the god Hapi for the inundation of the river.”
“Have you tried speaking directly to the workers?” asked Nefertiti.
“I offered them double compensation, even beer three times daily, but their fear of Amun stifles them.”
Nefertiti caressed Teppy’s brow with her hand. “The Amun priests are wicked and greedy, and because they’re never taxed, they continue to accumulate wealth and power.” She removed the cloth revealing her oiled and perfumed body and straddled him. Her movements were slow and deliberate.
“The Sed-Festival is where you’ll prove your vitality,” she said. “After the people witness your regeneration from the Apis bull, the workers will return to building the temple in honor of you and the Aten.”
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