House of Scorpion

by Mark Gajewski

  “Pe and Dep control the west delta,” Sety said. “Maadi controls the east. Both consider themselves part of the North. That’s where their loyalties lie. Farkha has traded with Tjeni for hundreds of years. Its ruler, Heby, is Tjeni’s friend. But if Pe and Dep allied itself with Maadi they could squeeze Farkha between them. No goods from the North would reach Tjeni.”

  “Father, I believe Sabu’s discussions with Antef at Nekhen may have awakened a sleeping giant,” I said. “Sabu promised Antef rule of the North when they agreed to their alliance. I’m sure that whetted Antef’s appetite for power. And he is hungry for power – that’s why he was willing to go behind his father’s back and negotiate with Sabu. If I was him, I’d ally myself with King Ika and convince him to attack us, promising to launch an attack of my own from the North in support. Then, while Tjeni’s occupied with Nubt, I’d seize the entire delta for myself and leave King Ika to face our wrath alone. It’s a blueprint for conquest that Sabu handed Antef at Nekhen.”

  “Antef’s hundreds of miles from Tjeni,” Mekatre scoffed. “He’s not king. His father is. Ny-Hor’s weak. He won’t challenge us.”

  “Yes. Ny-Hor’s weak. So Antef will do what he wants and Ny-Hor won’t even try to stop him,” I said. “All Antef has to do is take control of the river, and the goods we need to keep our elites in line will never reach us, nor copper for our weapons. In time we’ll become as weak and unimportant as Nekhen. Whoever controls the delta controls the river, and whoever controls the river will be our master.”

  “You have no idea what you’re talking about,” Mekatre said disdainfully. “What is it, Iry? Are you afraid to fight?” He laughed.

  My still swollen eye and mass of bruises and aching ribs proved that comment wrong.

  “Iry’s right,” Father said. “The foundation for an alliance between Sabu and Antef is already in place. All it would take is one messenger to reactivate it. We should take Iry’s conjecture seriously.”

  “If we attack Nubt, Majesty, we’ll have to deal with enemies both north and south at the same time,” Sety said. “Pulling that off will be costly. More than twice as many of all the resources you named before. Split focus for you. Disgruntled elites to rule over in the settlements and hamlets you occupy. Enough troops to station throughout the valley to hold every place you’ve captured, diminishing your fighting force with every settlement and hamlet you take. We don’t have the manpower to attack Nubt directly right now – much less all that.”

  “I disagree. We only have to worry about elites,” Mekatre argued. “Lapwings throughout the valley will follow us meekly once their current masters pledge you fealty, Father. Those elites who refuse? Execute them. The rest will think twice about opposing us.”

  “They’ll pledge fealty to save their lives,” I predicted. “A few will even mean it. But some will work against us, in the dark, and be a constant nuisance or worst. The occupying forces Sety mentioned will be necessary. And kept busy.”

  “What would you have me do, Sety and Iry?” Father asked. “Leave the attack on Heria unavenged? Make my threat to crush Nubt a lie? I’m a king, blessed by Horus, equal to the gods. I’m a great lion rampaging across this valley. I’ve fought barbarians in the western desert and slain my share. Those jars lined up along the wall? Penises and hands cut from enemy dead, a reminder that no one should challenge me.” His eyes swept the circle. “Including anyone in this hall.” He straightened his shoulders and clenched his fist. “If I have to arm every man in Tjeni I will! If I have to use every resource at my disposal, I will!”

  “Majesty, what if you could permanently secure unlimited access to the trade goods of the North at the same time you’re building up your forces to take on Nubt, without fighting?” Sety asked.

  “Impossible!” Mekatre snapped. “Your map shows our enemies, Sety. We have too many. The amount of territory to control is too vast. You said so yourself.”

  “Simultaneous neutralization,” Sety replied.

  “What does that mean?” Father asked, puzzled.

  “First, Majesty, instead of attacking Nubt, blockade it,” Sety urged.

  “For how long?” Father asked.

  “Years, probably. As Mekatre pointed out, it’s Nubt’s elites we need to defeat. Cut off the flow of luxuries – wine, lapis lazuli, obsidian, oils, carved ivory. And necessities for Ika’s army, like copper. Nubt’s elites will eventually rise up against King Ika. Think of the resulting dissension and confusion! Which of Nubt’s elites will commoners decide to follow? One? Many? How will the elites decide who’ll come out on top and replace Ika? In the best case they’ll start fighting among themselves. Nubt’s not strong enough to wage war against you and fight a civil war at the same time. Blockade Nubt, Majesty. Give yourself the time you need to properly build up your army and stockpile food and resources as we’ve discussed. You could probably even get away with pretending to build an army. All you have to do is frighten Ika. Make him believe you’re preparing to imminently invade. He’ll have to devote a majority of his resources to defending Nubt. Resources that’ll become ever harder for him to obtain the longer our blockade lasts.”

  “Couldn’t Ika obtain supplies from the eastern and western deserts?” Lagus asked. “He has plenty of gold.”

  “Caravans can be easily intercepted,” Sety replied. “Goods are costlier to move by donkey than boat, and the quantity less, and the frequency uncertain. Goods from the desert may not be the ones elites need, nor soldiers. Anyway, by the time we do move against Nubt it’ll be considerably weakened and much easier to defeat. In the meantime, Majesty, as you assert your presence in the North, your wealth will be growing.”

  “It’s a good idea, Sety,” Father said. “But you said simultaneous neutralization. We can’t blockade Maadi, or Pe and Dep.”

  “Nor the other Northern settlements,” Sety added. “They’ve been reliable trading partners of Tjeni’s for generations, but they’re not your allies. You’ll be vulnerable to the whims of the North until you have a true presence of your own there.”

  “How can we keep Antef from allying himself with Maadi? How can we make sure Antef and Maadi don’t compromise Farkha?” I asked.

  “Make Maadi disappear,” Sety replied forcefully. “Then it’ll be easy enough for us to keep Antef pinned in his corner of the delta.”

  “Impossible!” Mekatre scoffed.

  “Quite possible.” Sety took charcoal in hand. “Found settlements here and here and here and here, Majesty.” He made marks on the map. “Each one will straddle a trade route between the North or the desert and Maadi. Each will intercept trade goods bound for that settlement. Each will transport the intercepted goods to Farkha, whether they arrive by land or sea. If no goods reach Maadi, what reason will it have to exist? It’ll dry up and blow away.”

  “It just might work,” Father said thoughtfully.

  “The beauty of the plan is you can build new settlements overnight and populate them with farmers and craftsmen from Tjeni,” Sety continued. “Minnefer can carry them north on his boats. Not only will we end Maadi, and soon, but you’ll have loyalists spread at key sites throughout the delta to keep watch on Antef.” Sety made more marks. “Supplemented by residents of these fifteen settlements which have been tied to Tjeni for nearly two centuries.”

  “As well as farmers and herders and such on the estate I founded, and those founded by my predecessors,” Father said.

  “Elephant and Bull and Conch and Canid,” Sety said. “And estates like mine and those who followed my ancestor Nykara north from Nekhen generations ago.”

  “Couldn’t men who now trade with Maadi just use different routes and go around our new settlements?” Lagus asked.

  Sety made another mark on his map, this one well outside the valley, in the land called Setjet. “Found a settlement here, Majesty, where the well-watered northlands end and the caravan trail along the seacoast through the desert begins. Collect there the goods that flow to the valley from Setjet and Re
tenu and the Sinai. Send there the goods of the valley to be distributed in the North. There’s a good harbor close by this point. It’ll be cheaper for Northern traders to carry their goods to us there than all the way to Pe and Dep.”

  “So we’ll weaken Pe and Dep the same way we’ll weaken Nubt,” I inferred.

  “Won’t this provoke Antef into moving against us to save Pe and Dep?” Father asked Sety.

  “It might, Majesty. Or, his greed might blind him to our intentions. Antef considers Maadi to be a rival. If he sees Maadi fading away he just might rejoice instead of trying to figure out why it’s happening. He won’t be entirely closed off from the Northern trade, so he may not figure out we’re targeting him until it’s too late.”

  “Antef didn’t strike me as someone who spends a lot of time thinking things through,” I said.

  “I agree,” Sety said. “At any rate, I’m sure I can convince Farkha’s ruler, Heby, to create an informal coalition of delta settlements to keep an eye on Pe and Dep. Antef won’t find it as easy as he thinks to take the delta for himself if he tries.”

  “So, by controlling trade routes, Father, you can ensure your lines of supply will remain open in the North, you can bring the South to its knees peacefully, and you can do it without the expense of war, with no resentful elites to deal with afterwards,” I summarized. “And, by controlling trade routes, there’s no need for you to seize and occupy every settlement between Tjeni and the delta. The middle section of the valley will have to yield to you without a fight too.”

  “That’s indeed true,” Sety said.

  “It’s a good plan,” Father admitted.

  “I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out its obvious drawback, Majesty,” Sety said.

  “What’s that?”

  “As Iry pointed out, your army will be made up of farmers. My plan requires you to send many from Tjeni to the North to found your new settlements. That means fewer men at your disposal in the South to both grow crops and fight.”

  “The farmers who remain will have to plant larger fields to pick up the slack, though fewer farmers also means fewer mouths to feed,” I said. “It also means we’ll have to figure out how to fight smart, using a small army. By our sending men to the North, Nubt may gain a numerical advantage over us.”

  “Blockades. Settlements in the North. Fewer soldiers. It’ll take years to conquer Nubt at this rate!” Mekatre exclaimed. “Father, I could capture it in a month. Put me in charge of your army. I guarantee victory!”

  “I’ll command my own army when we attack Nubt,” Father growled. “And you’re sadly lacking in understanding what Sety just explained, Mekatre. I’m disappointed.” He shook his head. “We don’t have the manpower to crush Nubt right now. It’s going to take years before we can. So we’ll move forward as Sety has advised. We’ll gradually strangle Nubt while gaining a secure grip on the North.”

  Mekatre crossed his arms on his chest and fumed.

  “How do we get started?” Lagus asked.

  “I want the blockade of Nubt in place by this time tomorrow,” Father said. “No boat from Nubt will move north of Hiw at our southern border. No boat from the north will move south of Tjeni. You’ll see to it, Perneb?”

  “Yes, Majesty.”

  “Minnefer, you’ll begin identifying farmers and craftsmen and support personnel to relocate to the North. Sety, how long will you need to pick out suitable sites?”

  “Give me a month.”

  “You’ll leave with the first wave of settlers a month from now, Minnefer.”

  “Yes, Majesty.”

  “I’ve a man in mind to establish the Northern settlement,” Sety said. “We’ll need settlers for that in three months.”

  “I’ll see to it,” Minnefer promised.

  “As of today, Sety, you’re my overseer in the North,” Father said. “You’ll wield a stick of authority. Your word will be law in my delta holdings. You’ll ensure my strategy for establishing control in the North is properly executed.”

  Sety bowed. “I’m grateful, Majesty.”

  “Lagus, it’s time to begin the next stage in your preparation to rule after me. Go with Sety. Spend a few months getting a first-hand look at the North. Then return to Tjeni. You too, Mekatre and Iry. You all need to become familiar with the area.”

  “Yes, Father,” we said in unison.

  “While you boys are in the North, Perneb will have charge of war preparations. As Sety suggested, for now it’ll be mostly a pretense to provoke King Ika into wasting his resources. After you return home, Mekatre, you’ll take over from Perneb and build me an army for real. I’m going to give you the chance to earn Nubt.”

  “I won’t fail you, Father.”

  So much for my having risen in Father’s estimation. Instead of ruling Nubt with Matia at my side, I was going to take a trip to the North and when I returned to Tjeni do nothing of importance. A significant blow to my ambition to succeed Father.

  “What about Nekhen?” Lagus asked.

  “King Khab will have to pledge me fealty once Nubt falls. Either that, or be wiped from the face of the earth.”

  And then, in either case, I’d marry Heket, and many years from now take Khab’s throne, and thereafter dwell in obscurity.

  “You wouldn’t really, would you Majesty?” Sety asked, concerned. “Nekhen’s sacred to Horus, protector of kings, ancestral to us all.”

  “If I make Khab believe my aim is his utter destruction he’ll be cowed into yielding to me, Sety. I don’t anticipate having to attack Nekhen. But I will if I must.” Father’s eyes swept us all. “Mark this day well,” he concluded. “We’re stepping together onto a path that will allow me to dominate this valley as no king has before. There’s no turning back. We will not fail.”

  ***

  Sety and my brothers and I set out for the delta the next morning on the boat Sety had traveled on to Tjeni, our mission urgent. Sety needed to select settlement sites before Minnefer arrived in the North with boatloads of settlers and supplies – ten vessels in the first wave, every one in his fleet. Because the river flowed from south to north Sety’s oarsmen had no need to row, and so lounged on deck as we traveled. Twenty-six days from Tjeni to his estate, Sety estimated, assuming we didn’t run aground on a sandbar or ram a hidden obstruction. Sety’s boat was wooden, around fifty feet long, with upturned bow and stern that reminded me of lotus blossoms. It was smaller than Father’s, but faster. There were half a dozen benches for oarsmen on either side. We sat in the shade of a leather-topped pavilion amidships and watched the valley pass slowly by. The stretch immediately north of Tjeni wasn’t much different than the one we’d traveled to Nekhen. Narrow plains extended east and west of the river all the way to the base of the desert plateaus, largely uninhabited, marshy, with thick undergrowths of papyrus and reeds, infested with crocodiles and other wild creatures I more often heard than saw. The banks themselves were lined with sycamore fig and willow and date palms. Countless birds of various types flitted in the marshes, brief flashes of color whistling and trilling. I sighted a few hippos, and monkeys aloft in trees. On rare occasions we passed an isolated reed-and-mud farm hut close by a field abutting the river, often with a cow or sheep or goat or two, but more often farms were clustered in the vicinity of hamlets or villages.

  I spent most of the trip seated next to Sety, questioning him about everything we encountered. Lagus occasionally joined us and sometimes paid attention. Mekatre took no interest.

  “Have you traveled the entire valley, Sety?” I asked as we passed one of the small hamlets that occurred at very infrequent intervals. A plus, I supposed, for a conqueror, that there were so few. Not as many sites to occupy if an invasion was required to gain control of the middle part of the valley.

  “Between the delta and Tjeni many times, and all the way from Tjeni to the cataract once,” he replied.

  “What’s the cataract like?”

  “A series of rapids where hard broken granite crosses the ri
ver. Miles long. No navigable channel. Boulders thrusting up everywhere or hidden just below the surface. You should see the cataract during the inundation – swirling, foaming, spray shooting high. And the noise! Few boats venture farther south than the north end of the cataract; crewmen have to haul vessels by hand through or around the rapids, the work of a day or more. The land south of the cataract isn’t like what we’re used to either. The floodplain’s narrow and can’t support many people. Numerous small islands dot the river north of the cataract. On one there’s a hamlet, Abu. It’s small but important in the ivory trade.”

  “Not worth seizing?”

  “Not particularly, Majesty. The valley’s at its narrowest the forty miles north of Abu, a region of hard sandstone. Virtually unpopulated. The cultivable strip’s only a few hundred yards wide. Wadis lead deep into the desert and intersect trade routes, so that’s a plus. Then the sandstone gives way to limestone. Towering cliffs extend to the river’s edge. North of that area the valley’s more like the stretch around Tjeni.”

  “Please, Sety. Call me Iry when we’re alone like this from now on. Not ‘majesty.’”

  “As you wish. As you know from my stories, my family first settled on the periphery of the valley nearly two thousand years ago.”

  “The stories that begin with your ancestress Aya.”

  “Her band lived on the shore of a great lake a little west of the delta. Her descendants migrated to a playa in the western desert far south of here, and then to Badari and Nekhen and the delta.”

  “I remember every story you ever told me,” I said.

  “You have an advantage over your brothers,” Sety said confidentially. “Neither has ever taken an interest.”

  We set out every morning at daybreak, drifted all day, camped before sunset. Only a fool traveled the river at night. Sandbars, an occasional drifting tree trunk, crocodiles, hippos made it too dangerous. Not to mention spirits that were said to haunt the river. Every few days we took time to hunt or fish; dried meat and smoked fish got tiring after a while. The middle part of the valley was even more sparsely populated than the area north of Tjeni had been, with little new to see. Five days into our journey we encountered an anomaly, roughly twenty small villages and hamlets strung out along a twenty-mile stretch of the east bank where sections of plateau reached like fingers into the floodplain.