Nikolas turned to Kiya. “Thirty-two, payment here and now!” and again walked slowly on.
“Thirty-three!” replied the merchant.
“No. Thirty-two; that’s the final figure! We’re leaving!” said Kiya and turned away.
“All right, Mistress! Thirty-two! Please return, Mistress!”
Nikolas and Kiya returned to the stall and watched the jewellery being carefully wrapped. Nikolas paid from his own purse, this being much beyond the meagre resources he had allowed to Kiya.
As he walked away, small parcel in hand, Nikolas considered his position. He had in a morning spent over twenty times the amount of his initial ‘investment’ in Kiya. ‘Still, some things are worth more than money!’ he thought reluctantly.
CHAPTER 6 – MEMPHIS
Year 52. Month Mesut-Ra. 4th Shomu.
Early August 1223 BC
Kahun tiredly trudged through the darkening streets of Memphis.
He was wearing his ‘civilian’ clothes, inasmuch as the kilts traditionally worn by Egyptian men varied. For the fourth day running he and his assistants had been questioning both the respectable apothecaries and the hucksters and purveyors of items of claimed medicinal value throughout the city. Kahun had himself interviewed fifteen today and Userhet and Quenymin had been as busy. Kahun was amased at the number of people who made a living supplying items they claimed to be therapeutic. The search had been methodical, street by street through the large city.
Few of the hucksters even knew what hemlock, cyanide or aconite were. They in the main specialized in selling crushed beetles, powdered falcon dung and similar items to the gullible.
Most apothecaries knew the substances, but few stocked any or all of them. No unusual sales were reported by the professional apothecaries, either of large amounts or to people who were not regular customers. Indeed, Kahun was surprised at how difficult it would be to obtain the silent killers.
He was walking through a street that he had covered two days previously, a respectable commercial street near the Grand Market.
After carefully negotiating a course around a pile of fresh donkey manure he lifted his eyes and saw a stout and aged man with his young assistant clearing a table placed in front of a small shop, the signs of which indicated he was an apothecary; the shop was closing for the day. Kahun was sure that he hadn’t visited this store previously and paused briefly to wipe the sweat from his brow and then approached. The aged man turned and greeted him as a potential customer. “Greetings, young Master! What service may I be able to do for you today?” he asked.
Kahun quietly replied, “I’m looking for a man who can supply hemlock, aconite or cyanide.” No explanation was offered.
The apothecary’s eyes narrowed with suspicion. “That’s a strange collection of drugs that you want. One or maybe two I can perhaps understand. But three deadly substances seems a little extreme to me! I think perhaps that I should call the Snaw of the City Watch!”
Kahun paused then drew Pharaoh’s Seal from his belt, showing it to the apothecary. “I am Kahun, idnw n mSa ‘Leader of One Thousand’ in Pharaoh’s Guard. I’m commissioned to seek out information regarding a poisoning case.”
“I’m Hemaka and as you can see I’m an apothecary. I recognize and respect Pharaoh’s Seal,” he said, stooping to kiss the seal. “What do you want to know?” he asked
“We seek purveyors of the substances I mentioned. Aconite, hemlock and cyanide, to see who has purchased them within the last few weeks.”
“I’ve been away from the city for three weeks visiting my sick mother.” Hemaka paused and thought carefully. “I’ll check my records, but I do recall an unusual sale about six weeks ago. Most of my sales are of a regular nature to the recognized physicians in the city. Much of my stock is of a specialized nature and not for use by the ignorant or untrained.” Hemaka went inside and carefully consulted the ledgers in the shop. “Yes, a little over six weeks ago, a man bought five seniu weight of hemlock powder. He was not a regular customer or a man that we knew of. That was nearly my entire stock; I was away from the shop at the time and my assistant, Wsir, made the sale. I doubt that I would have sold that much to a stranger.”
“And five seniu? How potent would that be?” asked Kahun
“That would easily kill ten men,” replied Hemaka.
T T T T
Kahun arranged with Hemeka to borrow the services of Wsir. No payment was sought but Kahun intended to ensure that the patriotic apothecary was suitably rewarded for his assistance. Wsir was stationed at a stall selling cool drinks just outside the main entrance of the palace, from which he could observe the comings and goings of Court. After five days of careful watching he finally indicated a man to one of the secret-police placed nearby by Kahun for that purpose. The man was discreetly followed, and was discovered to be on the staff of the Pharaoh’s Chamberlain, Lord Zineb.
T T T T
As evening approached Kahun walked carefully through the darkening streets, trying to avoid stepping in the various offensive substances littering the footpaths. Userhet was at his side and two guards lurked behind. Their contact, an agent placed in the house of Lord Sennedjem, had arranged to meet them at dusk at the tomb of the Queen of Khafra at Giza, north-west of Memphis. He had advised that he had special and urgent information about the investigation.
Darkness was on hand by the time they passed through the Necropolis and past the semi-ruined remains of the Valley Temple of Khafra and reached the mastaba tomb of the Queen. The great bulk of the Sphinx loomed close nearby to the north, less than a hundred paces away.
There was no sign of their contact, but the many buildings and walls made it difficult to see any distance, which was no doubt why the agent had specified the location. Kahun and Userhet walked about, allowing themselves to be seen and approached. When no response occurred they leaned against the low stone wall of the causeway that led to the Mortuary Temple of Khafra and made a few uncomplimentary comments regarding both the tardiness of the agent and also his parentage.
Suddenly dark-cloaked shapes appeared in the gathering gloom, brandishing weapons as they attacked with hardly a sound. The two guards Kahun had brought were swiftly swarmed under. Kahun and Userhet shouted out for help, pulled out their knives and prepared to defend themselves. A dark shape rose behind Kahun, raising a bludgeon; after a flash of pain everything went dark.
Much later light slowly seeped through his closed eyes. Pain throbbed in his head. Kahun stirred, remembered what had happened and raised his head cautiously. The sun was rising above the horizon. His face rested against gritty sand. Before moving he gently felt the back of his head. A large lump behind his left ear was covered in dried blood and caked with sand.
Feeling ill, he slowly pushed himself to his knees and looked around. His head wound had bled freely and a pool of dried blood had soaked into the sand where he had fallen.
Four shapes lay sprawled on the ground nearby. Kahun forced himself to his feet. The closest body was Userhet, lying face down and the back of his head beaten to a bloody pulp. The two guards lay with their throats cut, lying close to each other with their blood staining the sand. The other was the informer they were due to meet, his throat also cut and head hanging limply.
Kahun fell to his knees, sobbed for a few minutes before lifting his face to the rising sun and pledged vengeance against those responsible for the attack, before he rose to stagger off towards the city and assistance.
T T T T
Attacks on the secret-police were taken seriously, particularly by the secret-police themselves. The dead agent had been working at the house of Lord Sennedjem.
With clearly with nothing to lose Ramesses ordered a raid. As darkness settled over the city a hundred soldiers rushed the house, cutting down the guards who sought to bar entry and quickly moved through the building to seize control. It soon became clear that Lord Sennedjem had left the day before, taking his barge and heading south. The servants who remained knew littl
e and a search revealed nothing. Pharaoh sent word by fast chariot to the garrisons to the south to detain Sennedjem and return him to Memphis.
T T T T
That evening in the palace at Pi-Ramesses Chamberlain Zineb sat at his ease lounging in a chair in the apartment of Rahotep, the Tjaty or Grand Vizier of the Two Kingdoms. A table with the remains of a meal sat between Rahotep and Zineb. Rahotep was a tall, spare man with hawk-like features, a shaved head and a neatly trimmed goatee beard, wearing the distinctive Snp gown worn only by Viziers. He was sprawled back in his chair, his left hand holding a cup of wine, sloshing it in a circular motion to the left, occasionally pausing to take a sip. The two were alone in the room with all servants having been dismissed.
“So, how is the investigation going, Zineb my friend?” asked Rahotep in a deep gravelly voice.
“Excellently! The Greek found nothing here in the North and has left for Thebes, where he won’t find anything either. The Court will be moving south to Thebes shortly, so we presumably will have him back amongst us then, but we both know he’s not going to find out anything worthwhile down there!” replied Zineb.
Rahotep inspected the fingernails of his right hand before raising his eyes to Zineb. “You seem very sure of yourself,” he commented.
“Well, Khonsirdais’ recommendation was inspired. An apparently suitable candidate, who by the very fact that he is a foreigner with no contacts at Court has no sources of information, other than the secret-police that you control, has virtually no chance of finding out anything we don’t want him to find. He’s an intelligent enough lad, but a babe in the desert when it comes to the manoeuvrings in the Egyptian Court. And Kahun’s a soldier. By definition they can’t think of anything for themselves, so things are safe enough.”
“And how do you explain the attack on Kahun at Giza?” queried Rahotep.
Zineb pulled a wry face. “I really can’t. It looks as if he may have stirred something else up, but I can’t see that having anything to do with us.”
Rahotep frowned, but gave a grudging nod of agreement. “A stroke of genius, Zineb. Well done,” said the highest official in the land.
T T T T
Lorentis sent a servant to each of the occupants of the townhouse and they gathered in the garden. “Come and look,” she said as she led them to the riverbank and pointed.
“Praise be to Hapi!” exclaimed Kiya as she saw the rising discoloured water thick with sediment rush past. It carried with it rubbish, branches and vegetation – together with dead animals and general detritus. “The Inundation has arrived!”
CHAPTER 7 – THEBES
Year 53. Month Dhhwty. 1st Akhet.
Mid August 1223 BC
Pamose sighed as he sat at the table with Nikolas, Kiya and Lorentis for the midday meal. “I don’t know how useful it is, but I’ve heard a rumour up at the barracks that Ra-em hotep was none too popular with the priests of Amun at Karnak. The rumour goes that he secretly worshipped the god Aten. If he became Pharaoh he was going to re-introduce the edicts of Akhenaten and persecute all religions except the worship of the Sun-God Aten, a return to the bad old days. It’s been suggested that it was a pre-emptive move to remove him before he got any closer to the throne. I don’t know how much faith to put in it, but if it was true it would be a pretty powerful motive.”
“It has some logic to it,” said Lorentis. “Pharaoh Akhenaten stripped nearly all the wealth away from the other temples and they’d be terrified of it happening again.”
Nikolas nodded. “Perhaps. It’s certainly worth looking at. I’ll see what Senni thinks of it and what his sources can come up with. In the meantime it may be worthwhile calling in to see the High Priest of Amun and asking some questions. What is his name?”
“Amunenthat,” replied Lorentis.
“Pamose, can you see if you can set up a meeting at the temple for tomorrow? You might need to flash Ramesses’ Seal to show your authority and get an audience.”
That afternoon Nikolas spent some time with Senni, the local imy Hry-ssta chief of the Theban secret-police at his headquarters, passing on the rumour. Senni promised to have several of his men look into it, both at the Temple of Amun and also at the much smaller Temple of Aten, and to also make enquiries at the Temple of Aten in Aswan, where Ra-em hotep was usually based. When he returned to the house Nikolas found Pamose had left a message that he had arranged an appointment to see the High Priest of Amun at Karnak at mid-morning the next day.
Rising early to beat the heat of the day they walked along an avenue lined by stone human-headed sphinxes leading from the Luxor temple in the south to the Karnak temple to the north. As they walked between the rows of evenly-spaced statues Pamose, who was familiar with Thebes and its monuments, explained the complexities of Egyptian religion to Nikolas with the assistance of Lorentis. Kiya also listened closely. As a commoner she knew the basics of the gods and the Book of the Dead, but much of the religious details and practices known to the nobles and priests were unknown to her.
“You’ll already know the main thrust of our religion and our main gods,” commented Pamose. “Amun, the god of Creation, created from himself Shu, the god of Air, Nut, the goddess of the Heavens and Stars, Tefnut, the goddess of Water and Geb, the god of the Earth. Geb and Nut had four children, Osiris, Isis, Seth and Nephthys.” Pamose went on to explain the relevance and relationships of the main deities.
Nikolas nodded and after a pause queried, “Why is there such concern amongst the nobles and rich to preserve their bodies, and about the Afterlife? The temples and funeral arrangements for the Pharaohs in particular must act as a great burden on the land.”
Lorentis replied, “Preservation of the body is essential to participate in the Afterlife. The possessions buried with the dead, either the actual item or a miniature representation or even painted representations, are used by them in the Afterlife. The heart of the deceased is weighed against Ma’at, the Way of Righteousness. To participate in the Afterlife you must have a body. So we place much value in the preservation of the body to ensure an Afterlife, assuming Thoth enters a favourable judgment after the ‘Weighing of the Heart’. Those that can afford it in life have their body fully preserved in death; the less affluent have a less effective embalming. The poor are buried in the desert sands, which may dry and preserve their bodies. Pharaoh passes into the heavens to live with the gods. The common people share by association with Pharaoh in his preservation and riches. After all, they cannot afford the proper funeral rites themselves. His preservation and his activity in the Afterlife also provides for them in their Afterlife. Thus all the land benefits from the effort expended on Pharaoh.”
“Pharaoh is the incarnation of Horus, son of Osiris and Isis,” added Pamose.
“And your many gods?” asked Nikolas.
“As well as the principal gods, we have many minor gods that help people with their lives, or influence the daily life of the people. For example there is Bastet, goddess of households and happiness. Bes, the dwarf-god, protects against evil and misfortune. Thoth is the god of Wisdom, and so on,” said Lorentis. “We don’t actually believe that Thoth has the head of an ibis, Anubis the head of a jackal, Horus the head of a hawk and so on, or that Osiris has green skin. These are visual representations of the mystical and magic properties each has, and also help to easily identify them in the carvings and paintings. The carvings, paintings and statues are important as they allow the gods, and those dead people depicted, to move and inhabit any painting, carving or statue of them, as long as it hasn’t been defaced - literally with the face or nose removed.
The gods are worshipped in each town and city as a triad, a male god, a female goddess and a minor god. Here in Thebes the triad is Amun, the Creator, Mut, the Mother-Goddess and mother of the third god, Khons the Moon-God.”
“I must again say that I find the Egyptian obsession with death somewhat strange,” said Nikolas. “In my own land we pay little attention to the disposal of bodies. We see t
he body as simply an empty vessel of little relevance after death. Here, by middle-age any affluent person is arranging the building and decoration of his tomb!”
Pamose shook his head. “Your comment that we Egyptians are obsessed by death shows that you don’t understand us at all. We are not obsessed by death. Quite the contrary; we are obsessed by life. We live life to the fullest, enjoying all its pleasures – when you die you don’t come back for another chance. But as well as our concern with this life we are also concerned about the next life, the Afterlife. Assuming that we haven’t been evil in this life and pass the test of the weighing of the heart without it being devoured with the resultant passing into oblivion, we believe that certain things are needed to enjoy the Afterlife as we have enjoyed this life. You need a body, so we preserve as best we can the one we have had in this life. You need food and items of wealth, so these are placed in the tomb.
“For servants we place ubashi figurines in the tomb to cover that requirement, although we hear some overseas barbarians still bury real servants with their noble dead. You want your descendants to come to the tomb with offerings of fresh food and drink to sustain you in the Afterlife, but if that doesn’t happen the food placed in the tomb and the painted representations in the murals on the walls will suffice. The statues and the carvings and paintings are important because the gods and the dead can enter them at any time they wish and visit the place where the representations are placed.”
Lorentis nodded her agreement. “The dead are not gone. Their ba still inhabits the world and they still help their families. Death is just a dividing curtain; on each side of that curtain the deceased person lives in one form or another. The family provides for the dead and the dead family member assists the family in return.”
Nikolas nodded thoughtfully, still privately thinking that the Egyptian pre-occupation with the Afterlife was both strange and unhealthy, although he could see Pamose’s thoughts held a modicum of logic – from a certain point of view. Lorentis’ comments about assistance from beyond the grave were something he could not accept, but he did accept that this was a matter of simple unquestioned belief by the Egyptians. It wasn’t something for academic rational discussion; they just knew that this was what happened. The dead and the gods interacted with the living. Pharaoh was a living god. End of discussion on both topics.
Murder in the Palace: A Nikolas of Kydonia Mystery Page 13