“Let’s go. Let’s leave this place at once.”
“As soon as the cattle are rested and fattened, we will go back to Canaan,” Abram promised.
****
Pharaoh Mentuhotep II was unhappy.
This was not good news, for when the king was unhappy, people inevitably suffered. Now as he made his way toward the temple, the priests bowed before him, their foreheads pressed against the earth. He passed through them without a glance and gave no notice to the large sphinxes lining the avenue toward the entrance of the temple. As he entered the courtyard all the priests and workers threw themselves forward on their faces. Pharaoh stopped before a group of the priests, who kept their faces pressed against the flagstones.
“Where is Menhades?”
“O great Pharaoh, he is preparing himself to minister. He is in the pool.”
Pharaoh turned and walked across the courtyard, entering a carved doorway into a massive room, the walls of which were covered in paintings of the gods. Because Mentuhotep had built this magnificent temple, he knew every square inch of it. All pharaohs were interested in the gods, but Mentuhotep more than most. He stopped before a figure of Re seated on his throne. The idol had the face of a hawk, with a large crimson ball on his head, representing the sun. Next to Re was a figure of Shu, the son of Re, the god of the air. Shu’s daughter appeared next. Her name was Nut, the sky goddess, who was married to her brother Geb, god of the earth.
For one moment the pharaoh stood staring at the images, then whirled and entered another area with a large pool some twenty feet square, surrounded by trees and flowering plants. A priest was washing himself in the pool, and when he looked up and saw the pharaoh, he emerged naked. One of the lesser priests, dressed as a god with the mask of an ibis head perched over his head, stepped forward and handed him a large white linen towel.
“I was preparing to offer sacrifices, O great Pharaoh.”
“Get on with your preparations, but we have to talk.”
Menhades proceeded to allow his underlings to dry him off. He chewed natron, a kind of salt, to purify his mouth and then inhaled incense from a smoking pot to purify his mind.
The high priest Menhades was in his early thirties and in the prime of life. He was at least a head taller than any other priest, strong, with handsome features. As he allowed his servants to dress him so that he might make his offerings to the gods, he listened carefully to the pharaoh. The pharaoh was the center of all things to the high priest, as he was to the rest of Egypt. Menhades had been born into a priestly family and was gifted with a keenly analytical mind. He had learned the hierarchy of the gods of Egypt while yet a youth, but now he spent more time studying the pharaoh than he did the pantheon of gods that Egypt worshiped.
Finally Menhades was ready and spoke sharply to his assistant. “We will make the offerings now.”
“Yes, O great Lord.”
“No!” Pharaoh said suddenly. “Come with me. You can make your offerings later.”
Menhades did not argue with the pharaoh, since he valued his life. He had discovered other subtler and less dangerous ways of manipulating his king, ensuring that he keep his position and his head.
The two men walked quickly out of the temple, Menhades listening to the pharaoh’s incessant talk. Menhades saw his ruler was in a foul mood and was surprised to see that they were headed toward the house of women. Keeping Pharaoh supplied with wives and concubines had proven to be an exasperating task. Pharaoh was not an impressive man, being short and chubby for his thirty-odd years. However, despite his appearance, his sexual appetite was voracious, and Menhades had to constantly search for new women to keep the king interested. I don’t know why he’s so unhappy with his women, Menhades thought wryly. He’s got enough of them!
“Look at them,” Pharaoh said, waving his arms before him. Women were everywhere—wives, concubines, slave girls. As they stood watching the harem, Ahut, Pharaoh’s harem keeper and one of his chief advisors, came at once and bowed before him.
“You honor us, O God, with your presence.”
Ordinarily Pharaoh was pleasant enough, but today he was in one of his moods and didn’t return Ahut’s greeting. The harem keeper exchanged glances with the high priest, and both men knew there was trouble in the air. They soon found out what it was about.
“Look at them! They all look just alike. They’re boring! Boring!”
Having made a long study of the pharaoh’s moods, the two men knew where this was leading.
Menhades nodded. “Of course, master. You need a different kind of woman.”
“Exactly! A different kind of woman! Ahut, find me one, and don’t let her look like these, and don’t let her babble like these. Bring her quickly, or you may find yourself out of a job—and maybe without a head.”
Pharaoh whirled about and walked away.
“What am I going to do, Menhades?” Ahut moaned.
“You know how he is when he gets an idea in his head.” Menhades’ lips twisted cynically. “He’s a god and must be obeyed. I’d advise you to find a woman immediately—and don’t let her look like one of these!”
****
Ahut was desperate. He had racked his brain trying to think of how to find a woman who would please the pharaoh, but he had come up with nothing. The day was only half gone, yet Ahut was already drunk, having guzzled goblet after goblet of wine. Finally he was joined by Noestru, a close friend of his.
Noestru sat down and asked, “Why are you drunk this early in the day, my friend?”
“This job. It’s terrible!”
Noestru grinned. “It’s not too bad. You get plenty to eat and drink and anything else you want. You’re an important man to the pharaoh.”
“I wish I were more important. He’s going to kill me if I don’t find a woman to please him.”
“A woman! Why, he’s got enough women for a hundred men!”
“But none of them satisfy him.”
“What kind does he want, then?”
Ahut drained the goblet and waved to a servant wearing only a small transparent apron, who immediately filled his goblet again. He drank of it, belched mightily, and said, “Something different. Now, what does that mean? Does he want a woman with two heads?”
Noestru listened as the keeper of the king’s women spoke. Finally he said, “I may be able to help you.”
“Humph,” Ahut sneered. “What can you do?”
“You know that new slave girl that came in from Nubia? You give her to me, and I’ll give you a woman whom Pharaoh will at least find interesting.”
Ahut was not so drunk that he couldn’t recognize a possible way out of his dilemma. “Tell me,” he said thickly and leaned forward.
Noestru began to speak. “I recently questioned a band of shepherds entering our country. They call themselves Hebrews. The leader’s name is Abram. He’s got a sister who, I think, would interest Pharaoh.”
“Is she young and beautiful?”
“Not young but very beautiful. But more important than that is her religion. She and her brother worship a god they call the Eternal One. They have no pictures of him, no statues. They say he’s everywhere—chief god over all other gods.”
Ahut listened and soon began to breathe heavily. “So she’s well spoken.”
“Very well spoken.”
Ahut made up his mind. “You can have the Nubian girl. What’s this woman’s name?”
“Sarai.”
“Well, maybe she can amuse our master. It’ll be an honor for a smelly shepherd to share his sister with Pharaoh.”
“What if he objects?”
“Then kill him and take the woman.”
****
Abram was weary as he returned to camp. He had traveled a long distance looking for grazing ground and was discouraged. It was true that along the banks of the Nile the fields were green, but these all belonged to farmland owned by individuals, much of it by the pharaoh himself. Apart from the narrow band that flanked the ri
ver, the grass was scanty. Still, it was better than the dry lands they had left.
As Abram approached the camp, he was aware that something was wrong, especially when Eliezer came running to greet him, his eyes wide and his face tense. Abram asked at once, “What is it?”
“Master, they have taken my mistress.”
Abram suddenly understood everything. “The Egyptians?”
“Yes. The one called Noestru. He came with a large guard this time. Many men, all soldiers!”
Abram’s heart turned cold as a stone. “What did he say?”
“He only said that Pharaoh had commanded that the lady Sarai be brought before him.” Eliezer’s mouth twisted. “There was nothing we could do, master. They would have killed us all. I could see it in his eyes.”
“It’s not your fault,” Abram said, thinking quietly for a moment before saying, “I must go at once to the palace. I must see Pharaoh.”
“I will go with you.”
“No, you stay here. You’re in charge, Eliezer. If I don’t come back, take the herds out farther. Move away from this place at once!”
“But you will be back soon, will you not?”
Abram only shook his head in answer. He could not know what lay in store for him at the court of Pharaoh. He readied a donkey to take him into the city. It was a huge city in his eyes, bustling with people and animals pushing their way through the noisy streets and avenues. He had to ask several people for directions.
When he finally reached the palace, he found himself barred from entering by armed soldiers. One of them, an officer, stared at him with disdain. “Get away, beggar!”
“I am no beggar. I have come to see after the welfare of my sister, who has been taken into the presence of Pharaoh.”
The officer considered this and shrugged. “Stay here. I will find out about your sister.”
The officer was gone a long time, and Abram stood, his mind reeling. I should never have come to this place. O Eternal One, deliver my wife and get us away from here!
Finally the officer returned, accompanied by a spindly man with sharp features.
“My name is Ahut,” the man said. “I am the keeper of the king’s women. Your name is Abram?”
“Yes, and my…sister. I must see her.”
“That is impossible. Come back in a week or so. I will see what I can do.”
“But I must see her right away.”
Ahut stared at the tall man before him. To Ahut he was simply a dirty shepherd like many others filing into Egypt from all directions. “Be careful, my friend,” he said coldly. “The Pharaoh is law in this land. When he is offended, very bad things happen. Come back in a week or two.”
Abram’s heart sank, and he turned and walked slowly away. Never in his life had he known such depths of despair.
Chapter 17
Sarai tried to appear unimpressed at the size of the house of women. She had been met by a man called Ahut and disliked him immediately. He reminded her of one of the cobras that infested the entire land of Egypt. He was skinny as a snake, and even his pointed features reminded her of a serpent. She half expected a forked tongue to come out of his mouth! He spoke pleasantly to her, though, and now as he brought her into the house, he said, “I hope you will be comfortable here.”
“It will do,” Sarai said coldly. She knew her safety depended upon hiding her feelings, and what she felt now was fear. She had enjoyed a life of freedom, but now she realized she was a prisoner of the most powerful man on earth. Although she had never met the pharaoh, she assumed that he would be at least as repellent to her as Ahut.
“I have chosen a servant who will take care of your needs,” Ahut said. He clapped his hands, and instantly a young woman came out from behind some pillars, where she had obviously been standing.
“Her name is Hagar. If she does not please you, let me know, and I will see that she is…reprimanded.”
“I’m sure she will be satisfactory.”
“I will leave you then, Lady Sarai. When you are rested and washed, the pharaoh will, no doubt, be ready to welcome you.”
Sarai bowed slightly to the tall man, and as soon as he left the room, she turned to face the woman before her. “Your name is Hagar?”
“Yes, my mistress.”
Hagar was a very attractive young woman, tall and shapely, which was obvious from the thin linen robe she wore. Her eyes were widely spaced and of an odd color, brown with a touch of green in them. They were painted to look even larger. Her hair was a dark brown with tints of red in it. She wore a necklace of colored stones around her neck but otherwise had no jewelry.
“Have you been here long, Hagar?” Sarai said, uncertain as to the woman’s standing in this place.
“Seven years.”
“You must have been very young when you came here.”
“I was nine years old when I was made a slave.”
“What happened to your family?”
“They were all killed.” Hagar’s voice was even, but when she spoke of the death of her family, the greenish tint of her eyes seemed to glow, and her lips drew into a tighter line. She had full lips that men would consider tempting, and she apparently had learned to control herself, for she dropped her head and said no more.
Sarai walked over to the window and looked out on a lush garden. The scent of the blooms was thick in the air, and she lifted her eyes toward the horizon, wishing she could see the camp and especially Abram.
“I hope I will not be a trouble to you, Hagar.”
Hagar looked at her, and surprise washed across her features. “A trouble? I am your slave. How could you be a trouble?”
“I imagine the owners of some slaves can be troublesome.”
“And cruel.”
“Well, I trust I won’t be that. But, in any case, I hope I will not be here long.”
Hagar suddenly said, “I too hoped that I would not be here long when I was first brought here, but here I still am, as you see.”
“I don’t know what I’m doing here,” Sarai said suddenly. She felt lonely, and the tall woman before her at least provided a listening ear. “I want to be back with my…brother,” she stammered.
“That may not be.”
Sarai was startled. “What do you mean by that?”
“It’s common talk already that Pharaoh has brought you here to be a part of the house of women.”
“Is that what people are saying?”
“Why, yes! Didn’t Ahut tell you that?”
“No one has really told me anything.” Sarai began to tremble. She turned away, and tears came to her eyes. She had never felt so lonely in her life. She was startled to feel a touch on her arm and turned to see that Hagar had come close to her. “You have nothing to fear from Pharaoh. He will lose interest in you soon enough, as he loses interest in everything that’s not new.”
“Why did he summon me here? He has so many women.”
“He’s fascinated by the gods, and from what I hear, your brother is a prophet and a priest of a different kind of god…a god that is above all other gods. And you worship this god also, I understand.”
“Yes, that is true. What might I tell Pharaoh about the Eternal One that would interest him?”
Hagar hesitated, not certain how much to trust this woman. “It is not for me to say.”
“Please, Hagar, tell me.”
“Well…all right, if you promise never to let Ahut know what I have told you. Pharaoh would be most interested in anything you have to say about your god. All he thinks about—besides women, of course—are the gods. He spends most of his time talking to Menhades and the other priests, and anyone who comes with word of a different kind of god is sure to have an audience with Pharaoh.”
Sarai trembled at the prospect that the pharaoh was going to single her out because of her beliefs. “Oh, I wish we had never come to this place!”
“So do I,” Hagar said, “but neither of us came willingly.”
“And your family is a
ll gone?”
“My parents are dead. I still have uncles and several brothers who escaped.”
“What is your family like?”
Hagar shook her head, and her long, straight hair fell down her back. “They call us a lawless tribe, and it’s true enough that our people are not bound by the laws of Pharaoh.”
Suddenly Sarai knew exactly what kind of background this woman had. She came from one of the wild tribes that roamed all over Mesopotamia and Syria, and Egypt too, apparently. They were bedouins called Amorites, and Sarai could see in Hagar’s face and the attitude of her body that there was a rebellious streak in her that was characteristic of these people. Her defiance may have been caused partly by her captivity and her position as a slave, but Sarai recognized the headstrong quality all the same. She had seen it before in her encounters with other Amorites traveling the trade routes to and from Damascus.
“Come. I will help you with your bath and then put colors on your face.”
This ritual proved to be quite an experience for Sarai. The bathing took a long time, and she managed to relax in the warm water, momentarily forgetting some of her fears. Hagar would have washed her all over, but Sarai quickly took over the job herself. She did allow the slave woman to wash her hair, however, and then Hagar took nearly an hour to fix it to her satisfaction.
“Now,” Hagar said, “let me help you with the rest of your preparations.”
As she worked, the slave woman spoke of the elements of the colors that were used by Egyptian women. She had ground malachite on a palate and mixed it with oil to make the eye paint called kohl, which she kept in small, beautifully adorned golden jars. Hagar expertly applied this with a small stick. After this she used henna to paint Sarai’s nails and would have painted her palms and the soles of her feet, but Sarai objected. Finally Hagar ground red ochre, mixed it with water, and lightly applied it to Sarai’s cheeks and lips.
After the makeup was complete, Hagar brought forth the sheer linen clothing that had been provided, but Sarai protested. “This robe is much too sheer. Why, you can see right through it!”
No Woman So Fair Page 20