Chapter LIII
So in the month Hator, after thirty-four years of rule, died the Pharaoh Mer-Amen-Ramses XII, the ruler of two worlds, the lord of eternity, the giver of life and every happiness.
He died because he felt that his body was growing weak and useless. He died because he was yearning for his eternal home and he wished to confide the cares of earthly rule to hands that were more youthful. Finally he died because he wished to die, for such was his will. His divine spirit flew away, like a falcon which, circling for a time above the earth, vanishes at last in blue expanses.
As his life had been the sojourn of an immortal in the region of evanescence, his death was merely one among moments in the existence of the superhuman.
Ramses XII woke about sunrise; leaning on two prophets, surrounded by a chorus of priests, he went to the chapel of Osiris. There, as usual, he resurrected the divinity, washed and dressed it, made offerings, and raised his hands in prayer. Meanwhile the priests sang:
Chorus I. "Honor to thee who raisest thyself on the horizon and coursest across the sky."
Chorus II. "The pathway of thy sacredness is the prosperity of those on whose faces thy rays fall."
Chorus I. "Would that I might go as Thou goest, O sun! without halting."
Chorus II. "Mighty wanderer in space, Thou who hast no lord, for thee hundreds of millions of years are merely the twinkle of an eye."
Chorus I. "Thou goest down, but endurest. Thou multipliest hours, days, and nights, and remainest in solitude according to thy own laws."
Chorus II. "Thou dost illumine the earth, offering thy own self with thy own hands, when under the form of Ra Thou comest up on the horizon."
Chorus I: "O star, emerging great, through thy light, Thou thyself formest thy own limbs."
Chorus II. "And, not begotten of any, Thou givest birth to thyself on the horizon." [Authentic hymn]
At this point the pharaoh spoke:
"O Thou radiant in the heavens! Permit that I enter eternity. Let me join the revered and perfect shadows of the upper land. Let me, together with them, behold thy rays in the morning, and in the evening, when Thou joinest thy mother Nut. And when Thou turnest thy face to the West let my hands join while praying in honor of life, which is going to sleep beyond the mountains." [Authentic]
Thus spoke the pharaoh with upraised hands, surrounded by a cloud of incense. All at once he ceased, and dropped into the arms of the priests behind him.
He was no longer living.
Intelligence of the pharaoh's death flew through the palace like lightning. Servants left their occupations, overseers ceased to watch over their slaves, the guard was roused; all entrances were occupied.
In the main court a throng began to gather; cooks, cellarers, equerries, women of his holiness, and their children. Some inquired: "Is this true?" Others wondered that the sun shone in heaven, but all cried at once in heaven-piercing voices,
"O our lord! O our father! O beloved! Can it be that Thou hast gone from us? Oh it is true, he is going to Abydos! To the West, to the West, to the land of the just ones! The place which Thou hast loved groans and weeps for thee!" [Authentic]
Terrible uproar was heard throughout all the courts, throughout the whole park. It was echoed from the eastern hills, on the wings of the wind it flew across the Nile, and disturbed the city of Memphis.
Meanwhile, the priests, amid prayers, placed the body of the deceased in a rich closed litter. Eight stood at the poles of the litter; four took ostrich feather fans in their hands, others censers, and they prepared to go forth.
At this moment Queen Niort's ran in, and, seeing the remains in the litter, threw herself at the feet of the dead pharaoh.
"O my husband! O my brother! O my beloved!" cried she, carried away with weeping. "O beloved, remain with us, remain in thy house, withdraw not from this place on earth in which Thou art dwelling!" [Authentic.]
"In peace, in peace, to the West," sang the priests. "O mighty sovereign, go in peace to the West."
"Misfortune," said the queen, "Thou art hastening to the ferry to pass to the other shore! O priests, O prophets, hasten not, leave him; for ye will return to your houses, but he will go to the land of eternity."
"In peace, in peace to the West," sang the priestly chorus. "If it please the god, when the day of eternity comes, we shall see thee, O sovereign! For now Thou art going to the land which brings all men together."
At a sign given by the worthy Herhor, the attendants drew the queen from the feet of the pharaoh, and led her by force to her chambers.
The litter, borne by priests, moved on, and in it the sovereign, dressed and surrounded, as if living. On the right, and on the left, before and behind him, went generals, treasurers, judges, chief scribes, the bearers of the mace and the bow, and above all a throng of priests of various dignities.
In the courtyard, the servants fell on their faces, groaning and weeping, but the troops presented arms and the trumpets sounded, as if to greet a living pharaoh.
Between Memphis and the "Tableland of Mummies," lay a peculiar division of the city. All its buildings were devoted to the dead, and it was inhabited only by dissectors and embalmers.
This division was the forecourt as it were, of the cemetery proper, the bridge which joined living society with the city of endless rest. To this place were brought corpses, and mummies were made of them; here families stipulated with priests, touching the cost of funerals. Here were prepared sacred books and bandages, coffins, implements, vessels, and statues for the departed.
This district was a couple of thousand yards from Memphis. It was surrounded by a long wall provided with gates here and there.
The retinue bearing the remains of the pharaoh halted before the richest gate, and one of the priests knocked at it.
"Who is there?" inquired those within.
"Osiris-Mer-Amen-Ramses, the lord of two worlds, has come and desires that ye prepare him for his eternal journey," replied the priests.
"Is it possible that he, the sun of Egypt, is quenched? That he is dead who himself was breath and life?"
"Such was his will," answered a priest. "Receive, then, the lord with due honor and render all service to him, as is befitting, lest punishments meet you in this and the coming life."
"We will do as ye say," said a voice from within.
The priests left the litter, and went away hurriedly, so that the evil odor of remains accumulated in that place should not fall on them. Only civil officials under the lead of the supreme judge and treasurer remained there.
'After they had waited a considerable time, the gate opened, and from ten to twenty persons showed themselves. They wore priestly garments and their faces were covered.
"We give you," said the judges, on seeing them, "the body of our lord and yours. Do with it what the rules of religion enjoin, and omit nothing, so that the great deceased may not experience unquiet in that world through your fault."
The treasurer added,
"Use gold, silver, malachite, jasper, emerald, turquoise, and the most rare kinds of incenses for this lord, so that nothing be lacking that he may have whatever is best. I, the treasurer, say this to you. And if the wretch should be found who, instead of noble metals, gives counterfeit, and instead of genuine stones, gives Phoenician glass, let him remember that his hands will be cut off and his eyes dug out."
"It will be as ye wish," replied one of the veiled priests.
Others raised the litter and bore it to the interior of the district of the dead.
"Thou art going in peace to Abydos! Mayst Thou go in peace to the Theban West. To the West, to the West, to the land of the just ones!"
The gate closed, the supreme judge, the treasurer, and the officials accompanying them returned to the palace.
The hooded priests bore the litter to an immense building where only the remains of pharaohs were embalmed, or those of high dignitaries who had gained the exceptional favor of a pharaoh.
The priests stopped in the antechamber, where stood the golden boat on wheels, and took the corpse from the litter.
"Look ye!" cried one of the cowled priests, "are they not criminals? The pharaoh died in the chapel of Osiris, so he must have been in ceremonial costume, while here oh! instead of gold ornaments bronze; the chain is bronze, too, and on his breast false jewels!"
"True," said another. "I am curious to know who fitted him out thus: priests, or scribes?"
"Surely priests. Oh, would that your hands withered, ye scoundrels! And some wretch they are all such dared command us to give the deceased what was best."
"It was not they, but the treasurer."
"They are all rogues."
Thus discoursing, the embalmers took from the deceased his garments of a pharaoh, put on him a gown of cloth of gold and bore the remains to the boat.
"Thanks to the gods," said one of the cowled men, "we have a new pharaoh. He will bring the priests to order. What they have taken with their hands they will bring back with their mouths."
"Uuu! they say that he will be a shrewd ruler," put in another. "He is friendly with the Phoenicians; he passes time willingly with Pentuer, who is not of priestly family, but of such poor people as we. But the army, they say the army would let itself be burnt and drowned for the new pharaoh."
"Besides, he conquered the Libyans most gloriously a few days ago."
"Where is he now, that new pharaoh?" asked another. "In the desert? I am afraid that misfortune may meet him before he comes back to us."
"What will any one do to him when he has an army behind him? May I not live to an honest burial if the young lord will not treat the priests as a buffalo treats growing wheat."
"O Thou fool!" interrupted an embalmer who had been silent till that moment. "The pharaoh conquer the priests!"
"Why not?"
"But hast Thou ever seen that a lion tore down a pyramid?"
"Nonsense!"
"Or that a buffalo tossed it apart?"
"Of course he cannot toss it."
"Or that a tempest overturned it."
"What has this man begun at today?"
"Well, I tell thee that sooner will a lion, a buffalo, or a tempest overturn the great pyramid than the pharaoh put an end to the priesthood. Even if that pharaoh were a lion, a buffalo, and a tempest in one person."
"Hei ye, there!" cried men from above. "Is the corpse ready?"
"Yes, yes; but its jaw has fallen," answered they at the entrance.
"All one give it up here, for Isis must go to the city an hour from now."
After a while the golden boat with the dead pharaoh was raised by means of ropes to an internal balcony.
From the entrance it went into a great hall, painted in the color of the sky, and ornamented with golden stars. Through the whole length of the hall, from one wall to the other, was fixed a balcony in the form of an arch the ends of which were one story high and the centre a story and a half.
The hall represented the dome of heaven, the balcony the road of the sun in the sky. The late pharaoh was to represent Osiris, or the sun, which passes from the east to the west.
On the pavement of the hall stood a throng of priests and priestesses who, while waiting for the solemnity, conversed about indifferent subjects.
"Ready!" cried they from the balcony.
Conversation ceased. Above was heard the sound of a metal plate beaten thrice and on the balcony appeared the golden boat of the sun in which the late pharaoh was advancing.
Below sounded the hymn in honor of the sun:
"Behold he appears in a cloud to separate the sky from the earth, and later to connect them.
"Hidden unceasingly in all things, he alone lives, in him all things exist through eternity."
The boat moved gradually upward on the balcony; finally it halted at the highest point.
Then at the lower end of the arch appeared a priestess, arrayed as the goddess Tsis, with her son Horus, and with equal slowness she began to ascend. That was an image of the moon, which follows the sun.
Now the boat from the top of the arch began to go toward the west, and the chorus below sang again:
"The god incarnate in all things, the spirit of Shu in all gods. He is the body of a living person, the creator of the tree which bears fruit, the causer of fertilizing overflows. Without him nothing lives in the earthly circle." [Authentic hymn.]
The boat vanished at the western termination of the balcony, Isis and Horus stopped at the summit of the arch. A crowd of priests ran to the boat, took out the corpse of the pharaoh and placed it on a marble table, as Osiris to rest after his toils of the day.
Now to the dead man came the dissector, dressed as the god Typhon. On his head were a horrid mask and a red tangled wig, on his shoulders the skin of a wild boar, and in his hand an Ethiopian stone knife.
With this knife he began quickly to cut off the soles of the dead pharaoh's sandals.
"What art Thou doing, O Typhon, to thy sleeping brother?" asked Isis from the balcony.
"I am scraping the feet of my brother Osiris, so that he may not befoul heaven with earthly dust," replied the dissector dressed as Typhon.
When he had cut off the soles, the dissector took a bent wire, thrust it into the nostrils of the deceased and began to extract his brains. Next he made an opening in his body, and through that opening drew out quickly the heart, lungs, and viscera.
During this time the assistants of Typhon brought four great urns adorned with the heads of the gods Hape, Emset, Duamut and Quebhsneuf, and in each of those urns he placed some internal organ of the deceased pharaoh.
"But what art Thou doing, O brother Typhon?" inquired Isis a second time.
"I am purifying my brother Osiris of earthly things, so that he may become more beautiful," replied the dissector.
At the side of the marble table was a vat of water with soda in solution. The dissectors, when they had cleaned the body, put it into the vat where it was to soak seventy days.
Meanwhile Isis, when she had passed over the entire vault, approached the chamber where the dissectors had cleaned the pharaoh's body. She looked at the marble table, and, seeing that it was empty, inquired in terror,
"Where is my brother? Where is my divine consort?"
Thereupon thunder roared, trumpets and bronze plates sounded; the dissector disguised as Typhon burst into laughter, and cried,
"O beautiful Isis, who in company with the stars delightest the night, thy consort exists not. Never again will the radiant Osiris sit in the golden boat, never again will that sun appear on the firmament. I have done this, I, Set, and I have hidden him so deeply that none of the gods, nor all the gods together will find him."
At these words the goddess rent her garments, she groaned and tore her hair. Again sounded trumpets, thunder, and plates; among the priests and priestesses an uproar began, then shouting and curses. Suddenly all rushed at Typhon crying,
"Cursed spirit of darkness! Thou rousest the whirlwinds of the desert, Thou rousest the sea, darkenest the light of day! Mayst Thou fall into the pit from which the father of the gods himself could not free thee. Cursed! Cursed Set! May thy name be a disgust and a terror!"
While cursing in this way they all attacked Typhon with fists and clubs; the red-haired god fled, and rushed at last out of the building.
Again the bronze plates sounded thrice, and the solemnity was ended.
"Well, that is enough!" cried the senior priest to the assembly which had begun to fight in earnest. "Thou, Isis, mayest return to the city, but the rest of us must go to other departed ones who are waiting for our services. We must not neglect the ordinary dead, for it is unknown how much they will pay us for this one."
"Not much indeed!" interrupted the embalmer. "People say that there is nothing in the treasury, while the Phoenicians threaten to cease lending unless new rights are given them."
"May death destroy all those Phoenicians! Soon a man will be forced to beg a barley cake of them; even now they have snatched away everything."
"But unless they lend the pharaoh money we shall get nothing for the funeral."
Conversation ceased gradually, and those present left the heavenly hall. Only at the vat where the body of the pharaoh lay steeping was a guard left.
All this solemnity, representing the legend of the slaying of Osiris (the sun) by Typhon (the god of night and crime), served to open and clean the body of the pharaoh, and in this way prepare it for the embalming proper.
During seventy days the departed must lie in a solution of soda, in memory, it seems, of this, that the wicked Typhon had sunk the body of his brother in the Soda Lakes. During all these days a priestess, dressed as Isis, came to the heavenly hall, morning and evening. There, groaning and tearing her hair, she inquired of all present whether any one had seen her divine consort and brother.
At the expiration of that time of mourning, Horus, the son and heir of Osiris, with his suite appeared in the hall, and they were the first to see the vat with the solution.
"Might we look here for the remains of my father and brother?" asked Horus.
So they searched and found; amid the immense delight of the priests, with sounds of music, they removed the body of the pharaoh from the strengthening bath.
The body was put into a stone cylinder through which passed a hot breeze for a number of days, and, when the body was dried they gave it to the embalmers.
Now began the most important ceremonies, which were performed by the supreme priests of the court of the dead:
The body of the departed, turned head southward, they washed with consecrated water and the interior with palm wine. On the pavement, which was sprinkled with ashes, sat wailing women who tore their hair and scratched their faces; they bewailed the late pharaoh. Around the couch where the body lay were assembled priests dressed as gods. These were Isis naked with a crown of the pharaohs, the youthful Horns, Anubis with a jackal head, bird-headed Tot with tablets in his hands, and many others.
Under the inspection of this worthy assembly, specialists began to fill the body with strongly odorous plants and sawdust, they even poured in odorous resin, all amid prayers. Then in his eye-sockets they inserted glass eyes set in bronze. After that the whole body was sprinkled with powdered soda.
Another priest appeared now who explained to those present that the body of the departed was the body of Osiris, that his qualities were the qualities of Osiris. "The magic qualities of his left temple are the qualities of the god Turn and his right eye is the eye of the god Turn, whose rays pierce through darkness. His left eye is the eye of Horus, which dazzles every living creature; the upper lip that of Isis, and the lower that of Nefthys. The neck of the departed is the goddess, his hands are divine spirits, his fingers the heavenly serpents, sons of the goddess Setkit. His sides are the two feathers of Amon, his back the backbone of Sib, his belly is the good Nue." [Maspero]
Another priest spoke,
"A mouth was given me for speaking, feet for walking, hands to overturn my enemies. I rise from the dead, I exist, I open heaven; I do what has been commanded me in Memphis." [Authentic]
Meanwhile on the neck of the departed they hung a scarab made of a precious stone, on which was this inscription: "O my heart, heart which I received from my mother, which I had when I was on earth, O heart do not rise against me and do not give evil witness in the day of judgment." [Authentic]
Next priests wound around each arm and foot, each finger and toe of the dead, strips on which were written prayers and spells. Those strips they fastened with gum and balsam. On the breast and on the neck they placed complete manuscripts of the Book of the Dead with the following meditations which the priests read aloud over the body,
"I am he before whom no god puts an obstacle.
"Who is that?
"He is Turn on his shield, he is Ra on his shield, which rises in the east of heaven.
"I am Yesterday and I know Tomorrow.
"Who is he?
"Yesterday is Osiris, Tomorrow is Ra on the day when he annihilates the enemies of the Lord who is above all and when he consecrates his son Horus. In other words, in the day when his father Ra meets the coffin of Osiris. He conquers the gods at command of Osiris, the lord of the mountain Amenti.
"What is that?
"Amenti is a creation of the soul of the gods, at command of Osiris, the lord of the mountain.
"In other words, Amenti is that impulse roused by Ra. Every god who arrives there carries on a battle. I know the great god who dwells there.
"I am from my country, I come from my city, I destroy evil, I set aside that which is not good, I remove uncleanness from myself, I betake myself to the country of dwellers in heaven, I enter through the mighty gate.
"O ye comrades, give me a hand, for I shall be one of you." ["Book of the Dead."]
When every member of the departed was covered with prayer bandages, and furnished with amulets, when he had a sufficient supply of meditations to find the way in the region of the gods, it was proper to think of a document which would open the gate of that region. For between the tomb and heaven forty-two terrible judges were waiting for the dead man; these, under presidency of Osiris, examined his earthly life. Only when the heart of the departed, weighed in the scales of justice, appeared equal to the goddess of truth, when the god Dutes, who writes on his tablets the deeds of the dead, considered it just, only then did Horus take the soul by the hand and lead it before the throne of Osiris.
So that the dead might be able to justify himself before the court it was necessary to wrap the mummy in a papyrus on which was written a general confession. While they were winding him in this document the priest spoke clearly and with emphasis, so that the dead might not forget:
"Lords of truth, I bring thee truth itself. I have not done evil to any man treacherously. I have not made any one near me unfortunate. I have not permitted myself any lewdness or abusive word in the house of veracity. I have had no intimacy with evil. I have committed nothing bad. As a superior I have not commanded my subordinates to work beyond their strength. No one through my fault has become afraid, poor, suffering, or unhappy. I have done nothing of any kind which the gods would despise. I have not tormented a slave. I have not killed him with hunger. I have not forced tears from him. I have not slain. I have not commanded to kill a slave treacherously. I have not lied, I have not plundered the property of temples. I have not decreased incomes devoted to the gods. I have not taken away the bread or the bandages of mummies. I have not committed sin with the priest of my district. I have not taken from him or decreased his property. I have not used false weights. I have not snatched away an infant from the breast of its nurse. I have never committed anything bestial. I have not caught in nets birds devoted to the gods. I have not hindered the inundation of water. I have not turned away the course of canals. I have not quenched fire at a time that was improper, I have not stolen from the gods offerings which they had chosen. I am pure I am pure I am pure." ["Book of the Dead." This is one of the loftiest documents left us by antiquity.]
When the departed was able, thanks to the Book of the Dead to help himself in the region of eternity, and above all when he knew how to justify himself before the court of the forty-two gods, the priests furnished him still further with an introduction to this book, and explained to him orally its immense importance. In view of this the embalmers who surrounded the fresh mummy of the pharaoh withdrew and a high priest of that quarter came and whispered into the ear of the departed:
"Know that through the possession of this book Thou shalt belong to the living and attain to great significance among gods. Know that, thanks to it, no one will dare to oppose thee. The gods themselves will approach thee and embrace thee, for Thou wilt belong to their company.
"Know that this book informs thee of what was at the beginning. No man has uttered it, no eye has seen it, no ear has heard it. This book is truth itself, but no one has ever known it. Let it be seen only through thee and through him who will behold thee in it. Add to it no commentary which thy memory or imagination might suggest to thee. It is written entirely in the hall where the departed are embalmed. It is a great secret which no common man knows, not one in the world.
"This book will be thy nourishment in the lower region of spirits, it will give thy soul means of sojourn on the earth, it will give it life eternal, and effect this, that no one will have power over thee." ["Book of the Dead."]
The remains of the pharaoh were arrayed in costly garments, with a gold mask on the face, with bracelets on the wrists, and with rings on the hands, which were crossed on the breast. Under the head was put a support of ivory, such as Egyptians were accustomed to sleep on. Finally the body was enclosed in three coffins: one of paper covered with inscriptions, one of cedar which was gilt, and one of marble. The form of the first two corresponded accurately to the form of the body; even the sculptured face was like the original, though smiling.
After a stay of three months in the quarter of the dead the mummy of the pharaoh was ready for a solemn funeral; therefore it was taken back to the palace.
Chapter LIV
During seventy days, in the course of which the revered remains were steeping in the solution of soda, Egypt was in mourning.
The temples were closed; there were no processions. All music ceased; no feasts were given. Dancing women became wailers; instead of dancing they tore their hair; this also brought them income.
No one drank wine, no one ate meat. The highest dignitaries went in coarse garments and barefoot. No one shaved (with the exception of priests); the most devoted did not wash, they smeared their faces with mud, and scattered ashes on their hair.
From the Mediterranean to the first cataract of the Nile, from the Libyan desert to the peninsula of Sinai reigned sadness and silence. The sun of Egypt had quenched, had gone to the West, the giver of life and gladness had deserted his servants.
In the highest circles the most fashionable conversation touched the universal sorrow, which was communicated even to nature.
"Hast Thou not observed," said one dignitary to another, "that the days are shorter and darker?"
"I did not wish to unburden myself of this before thee," replied the other, "but it is so in reality. I have even noticed that fewer stars shine at night, and that the full moon lasts a shorter time, and the new moon longer than usual."
"The shepherds say that cattle at pasture will not eat, they only bellow."
"And I have heard from hunters that lions are reduced by weeping; they do not attack deer, for lions eat no meat at present."
"A terrible time! Come to me this evening and we will drink a glass of mourning liquor which my cellarer has invented."
"Thou hast, I suppose, dark beer of Sidon?"
"May the gods forbid that at this time we should use drinks which rejoice people. The liquor which my cellarer has invented is not beer; it is more like wine mixed with musk and fragrant plants."
"A very proper drink when our lord is sojourning in the quarter of the dead, where the odor of musk and embalming herbs is always prevalent."
Thus during seventy days did dignitaries mortify themselves.
The first quiver of delight ran through Egypt when it was announced from the quarter of the dead that the body of the sovereign had been taken from the soda bath, and that embalmers and priests were performing ceremonies over it.
That day for the first time people cut their hair and whoso had the wish washed himself. But in fact there was no need of mortification, since Horus had found the remains of Osiris. The ruler of Egypt, thanks to the art of embalmers, had received life, and, thanks to the prayers of the priests and the Book of the Dead, he had become equal to the gods.
From that moment on, the late pharaoh, Mer-Amen-Ramses, was called "Osiris" officially; unofficially, he had been called that since his death.
The innate joyfulness of the Egyptian people began to gain the victory over mourning, especially among warriors, artisans, and laborers. Delight took on, among common people, forms which at times were inappropriate. Reports began to circulate, it was unknown where they had originated, that the new pharaoh, whom the whole people loved instinctively, intended to occupy himself with improving the condition of earth-tillers, laborers, and even captives. For this cause it happened, an unheard-of thing, that masons, cabinet makers, potters, instead of drinking quietly and speaking of their own occupation, or family interests, dared to complain in dramshops, not only of taxes, but even to complain of the power of the priesthood. And earth-tillers, instead of devoting time free of labor to prayers and the memory of their ancestors, told one another how well it would be if each man had some bit of land as his own, and could rest one day in seven.
Of the army, and especially foreign regiments, nothing was to be said. Those men imagined that they were the most noted class in Egypt, and if they were not, they would soon be, after some fortunate war in the near future.
But the nomarchs, the nobility living on estates, and above all, the high priests of various temples mourned their deceased lord with solemnity, though they might have rejoiced, since the pharaoh had become Osiris.
Taking things as they were, the new ruler had interfered with no one thus far, hence the cause of grief for dignitaries lay in those same reports which delighted common people. The nomarchs and the nobility grieved at the thought that their earth-tillers might be idle fifty days in a year, and, what was worse, possess land, though even of an extent on which a tomb might be erected. Priests grew pale and gritted their teeth when they saw the management of Ramses XIII and the way in which he treated them.
In fact, immense changes had taken place in the pharaoh's palace.
The pharaoh had transferred his residence to one of the wing buildings, in which almost all the chambers were occupied by generals. In the cellars Greek warriors were quartered, on the first story the guard, in the chambers along the wall, Ethiopians. Guard around the building was kept by Asiatics, and near the chambers of his holiness was quartered that squadron from which were selected the warriors who had accompanied their lord when he hunted Tehenna through the desert.
What was worse, his holiness, in spite of the recent rebellion of the Libyans restored to them his favor; he condemned none to punishment, and gave them his confidence.
That corps of priests who had been in the main palace remained with him it is true, and performed religious ceremonies under the direction of his worthiness Sera. But as the priests did not accompany the pharaoh to meals, to dinners and suppers, their food was far from exquisite.
In vain did the holy men declare that they must feed the representatives of nineteen dynasties, and a multitude of gods. The treasurer, noting the intention of the pharaoh, answered that flowers and perfumes were sufficient for gods and ancestors, and that prophets like themselves, as morality commanded, should eat barley cakes and drink beer or water. To support these rude theories the treasurer referred to the example of Sem, the holy high priest, who lived like a penitent, and what was worse, he told them that his holiness, with the generals, had a military kitchen.
In view of this, the priests of the palace began to consider whether they had not better leave the stinted house of the pharaoh and go to their own dwellings at temples where their duties would be easier, and where hunger would not twist their entrails.
They would have done this before, had not the worthy Herhor and Mefres commanded them to remain in their places.
But the position of Herhor near the new pharaoh was not favorable. The all-powerful minister, who had till of late almost never left the chambers of the pharaoh, sat now alone in his villa, and frequently he did not see the new ruler for ten days in succession. He was still minister of war, but he gave out almost no orders. The pharaoh himself settled all military questions. He alone read reports of generals; he alone decided doubtful questions, while his adjutants took from the minister of war the necessary documents.
If his worthiness Herhor was ever called before the sovereign it was only to be reprimanded.
Nevertheless, all dignitaries acknowledged that the new pharaoh worked with great diligence.
Ramses XIII rose before sunrise, he bathed and burnt incense before the statue of Osiris. Immediately afterward he heard the reports of the supreme judge, the chief scribe of the granaries and stables in the whole country, the high treasurer, finally, the chief of his palaces. This last dignitary suffered most, for there was no day when his lord did not tell him that the court cost too much, and kept too many persons.
In the palace dwelt several hundred women of the late pharaoh with a corresponding number of servants and children. The chief of the palace, being reproached continually, dismissed from day to day a number of persons, and limited the allowances of others. At the end of a month, therefore, all the ladies of the court ran weeping and wailing to Queen Niort's, and begged her to rescue them.
The worthy lady betook herself to the pharaoh, and, falling on her face, begged him to take compassion on the women of his father, and not let them die in destitution.
The pharaoh listened to her with frowning brows and commanded the chief of the court not to extend his saving farther. But at the same time he told the most worthy lady that after the funeral of his father the women would be removed from the palace and sent to the country.
"Our court," said he, "costs about thirty thousand talents yearly, or once and a half as much as the whole army. I cannot expend such a sum without ruining myself and the kingdom."
"Do as may please thee," answered the queen. "Egypt is thine. But I fear that the persons rejected from the court will become thy enemies."
At this he took his mother by the hand, led her to the window, and pointed to a forest of spears held by infantry drilling in the courtyard.
This act of the pharaoh produced an unexpected effect. The queen's eyes, which a moment before gleamed with pride, were filled with tears. All at once she bent and kissed her son's hand, saying with emotion,
"Thou art, indeed, the son of Isis and Osiris, and I did well when I yielded thee to the goddess. Egypt at last has a ruler."
From that time the worthy lady never appealed to her son in any question. And when she was asked for protection, she answered,
"I am the servant of his holiness and I advise you to carry out his commands without resistance. All he does comes from inspiration of the gods. And who can oppose the gods?"
After breakfast the pharaoh was occupied in affairs of the ministry of war, and the treasury; about three in the afternoon, surrounded by a great suite, he went to the troops encamped outside Memphis, and reviewed them.
Indeed, the greatest changes had taken place in the military condition.
In less than two months his holiness had organized five new regiments, or rather he had reestablished those disbanded during the reign of his father. He dismissed officers addicted to drunkenness and gambling, also those who tortured warriors.
Into the military bureaus, where priests alone had held office, he introduced his most capable adjutants, who very soon mastered important documents relative to the army. He commanded to make a list of all men in the state who belonged to the military order, but who for years had not fulfilled any duty. He opened two new schools, one for the education of officers, and one for children of twelve years, and renewed a custom then in abeyance, that youths in the army should receive breakfast only after three hours' marching in line and in column.
Finally, no division of the army was permitted to dwell in villages, all must live in camps or in barracks. Each regiment had its fixed field of exercise, where for whole days the warriors hurled stones from slings or shot arrows from bows at marks from one to two hundred yards distant.
A command was issued to all families of military rank that the men should exercise themselves in hurling missiles under direction of officers and decurions of the army. The command was carried out straightway, therefore Egypt looked like a camp in no longer than two months after the death of the twelfth Ramses. For even village or city children, who before had played as scribes and priests, now, imitating their elders, began to play as warriors. So on every square and in every garden, from morning till evening, stones and arrows were whistling, and the courts were filled with complaints about bodily injuries.
Egypt was transformed, as it were, and in spite of complaints a great movement reigned in it, and all because of the new ruler.
The pharaoh himself was pleased and his pride increased, seeing that the whole state arranged itself to his wishes.
But a moment arrived when he became gloomy.
On the very day that the embalmers took the body of Ramses XII from the soda bath, the chief treasurer, when making his usual report, said to the pharaoh,
"I know not what to do. We have two thousand talents in the treasury, and for the funeral of the dead pharaoh we need at least one thousand."
"How, two thousand?" asked Ramses, with astonishment. "When I assumed power Thou didst tell me that we had twenty thousand."
"We have expended eighteen."
"In two months?"
"Our outlays are enormous."
"True, but new taxes come in every day."
"The taxes, I know not why, have decreased again, and do not come in so plentifully as I expected. But they too are expended. Be pleased to remember, holiness, that we have five new regiments; hence, about eight thousand men have left their occupations and live at the cost of the treasury."
The pharaoh grew thoughtful.
"We must," said he, "make a new loan. Come to an understanding with Herhor and Mefres, so that the temples may lend to us."
"I have spoken with them. The temples will lend us nothing."
"The prophets are offended," said the pharaoh, smiling. "In that case we must call in unbelievers. Send to me Dagon."
Toward evening the pharaoh's banker came. He fell on the pavement before Ramses and offered him a golden goblet set with jewels.
"Now I can die!" said Dagon, "since my most gracious sovereign has mounted the throne."
"But before thy death, find me a few thousand talents," said his holiness to the kneeling banker.
The Phoenician was alarmed. Could he feign great embarrassment?
"Rather command me, holiness, to seek pearls in the Nile, for I shall perish at once, and my lord will not suspect me of ill-will toward him. But to find such a sum today!"
Ramses XIII was astounded.
"How is this?" inquired he. "Then have the Phoenicians no money for me?"
"Our blood, our lives, our children we will give thee, holiness. But money where can we find it?
"Formerly the temples gave us loans at fifteen or twenty per cent yearly, but since, as heir to the throne, Thou wert in the temple of Hator at Pi-Bast the priests have refused us every credit.
"If they could they would expel us from Egypt, or, more gladly, they would destroy us. Ah, what we suffer because of them. The earth-tillers do what they like and whenever they like. As rent they give us what drops from their noses. If we strike one of them they rebel to the last man, and if an unfortunate Phoenician goes for redress to a court he either loses his case or pays terribly.
"Our hours in this land are numbered," wailed Dagon.
The pharaoh frowned.
"I will take up these matters," answered he, "and the courts will give thee justice. Meanwhile, I need about five thousand talents."
"Where shall we get them, O lord?" groaned out Dagon. "Find us purchasers, holiness, and we will sell all our property movable and immovable, only to carry out thy commands. But where are the purchasers? There are none except the priests, who would value our property at a trifle, and then not pay ready money."
"Send to Tyre, to Sidon," interrupted Ramses. "Each of those cities might lend, not five, but a hundred thousand talents."
"Tyre and Sidon!" repeated Dagon. "Today all Phoenicia is collecting gold and jewels to pay the Assyrians. Envoys of King Assar are circling about through our country and they say that if we pay a liberal sum yearly the King and the satraps not only will not oppress us, but will offer us more profits than those which we have now in Egypt, O holiness, through thy favor."
The pharaoh grew pale and set his teeth. The banker noted this and added, quickly,
"But why should I waste thy time, holiness, with my stupid talk? Here in Memphis is Prince Hiram; he perhaps will explain all this to my lord far better than I can, for he is a sage and a member of the supreme council in our cities."
"Send him hither quickly," replied Ramses, "for thy conversation with me, Dagon, is not that of a banker, but of a wailing woman at a funeral."
The Phoenician touched the floor once again with his forehead, and inquired,
"What if the worthy Hiram cannot come immediately? It is late now, it is true. But he is in such fear of the priests that he would rather come at night to do homage, O holiness."
The pharaoh bit his lips, but agreed to that project; so he sent Tutmosis with the banker to conduct Hiram to the palace by secret passages.
Chapter LV
ABOUT ten in the evening Hiram stood before his lord. He was dressed in the dark robe of a Memphis huckster.
"Why dost Thou steal in thus, worthiness?" inquired Ramses. "Is my palace a prison, or a house of lepers?"
"Ah, our sovereign!" sighed the old Phoenician. "Since Thou hast become lord of Egypt the criminals are those who dare to see thee and not give account of what Thou art pleased to tell them."
"To whom must ye repeat my words?" inquired the pharaoh.
Hiram raised his eyes and hands to heaven.
"Holiness, thou knowest thy enemies," said he.
"Thou knowest, worthiness, why I have summoned thee. I wish to borrow a few thousand talents."
Hiram made a hissing noise through his teeth, so that the pharaoh permitted him to sit in his presence, which was the highest honor. When he had disposed himself comfortably and rested, Hiram said,
"Why shouldst Thou borrow, holiness, when Thou mayst have a rich treasury?"
"I know, when I shall get Nineveh," interrupted Ramses. "That time is distant and I need money this day."
"I speak not of war," answered Hiram; "I speak of an affair which would bring large sums to the treasury immediately, and a permanent yearly income."
"How?"
"Permit us, holiness, and assist us to dig a canal which would join the Red Sea with the Mediterranean."
"Art Thou jesting, old man?" cried the pharaoh, springing up from his seat. "Who could do such a work, and who could wish to endanger Egypt? The sea would inundate the country."
"What sea? Neither the Mediterranean nor the Red Sea would," answered Hiram calmly. "I know that Egyptian priests who are engineers have examined this work and have calculated that it would give immense profit, it is the best work on earth. But they wish to do it themselves, or rather they do not wish that the pharaoh should do it."
"Where are thy proofs?" asked Ramses.
"I have not the proofs, but I will send a priest, holiness, who will explain the whole affair to thee, with plans and estimates."
"Who is this priest?"
Hiram thought a moment and then asked,
"Have I thy promise, holiness, that no one will know of him except us? He, lord, will render more service than I. He knows many secrets and many iniquities of the priesthood."
"I promise," answered the pharaoh.
"This priest is Samentu. He is a great sage, but needs money, and he is very ambitious. And since the high priests degrade him he will overturn the order of priests; for he knows many secrets oh, many!"
Ramses meditated. He understood that that priest was a great traitor, but he estimated the magnitude of the service which the man might render.
"Well," said the pharaoh, "I will think of this Samentu. But now let us suppose for the moment that it is possible to make such a canal; what profit shall I have from it?"
Hiram raised his left hand, and counted on his fingers.
"First, holiness, Phoenicia will give thee five thousand talents of unpaid tribute; second, Phoenicia will pay for the right of doing this work; third, when the work begins we will pay one thousand talents of yearly rent, and besides as many talents as Egypt furnishes us tens of laborers; fourth, for every Egyptian engineer we will give to thee, holiness, a talent a year; fifth, when the work is finished Thou wilt give us the canal for one hundred years, and we will pay for that one thousand talents yearly. Are those small gains?" inquired Hiram.
"But now, today," asked Ramses, "would ye give me those five thousand talents tribute?"
"If the treaty is made today we will give ten thousand, and we will add three thousand as an advance of rent for a three years' period."
Ramses meditated. More than once Phoenicians had proposed the cutting of this canal to the rulers of Egypt, but they had always met the unbending resistance of the priesthood. The Egyptian sages explained to the pharaoh that that canal would expose the country to inundations from the Red Sea and the Mediterranean. But Hiram asserted that such a thing would not happen; the priests knew that it would not.
"Ye Phoenicians," said the pharaoh, after a long time, "promise to pay one thousand talents yearly for one hundred years. Ye say that that canal dug in the sand is the best affair in the world. I do not understand this, and I confess, Hiram, that I am suspicious."
Hiram's eyes flashed.
"Lord," replied he, "I mil tell thee everything, but I abjure thee by thy crown, by the shade of thy father, not to discover the secret to any one. This is the greatest secret of the Chaldean and Egyptian priests, and even of Phoenicia. On it depends the future of the world."
"Well, well, Hiram," answered the pharaoh with a smile.
"To thee, O pharaoh," continued the Phoenician, "the gods have given wisdom, nobility, and energy, therefore, Thou art on our side. Thou, alone, of earthly rulers mayst be initiated, for Thou art the only one who will be able to accomplish great objects. For this reason Thou wilt have power such as no man has ever reached before thee."
Ramses felt the sweetness of pride in his heart, but he mastered his feelings.
"Praise me not for what I have not done; but explain to me what profit will come from this canal to Phoenicia and to Egypt?"
Hiram straightened himself in the chair, and began in a lowered voice,
"Know, lord, that east, north, and south of Assyria and Babylon are not morasses inhabited by strange monsters, but immense states and countries. Those countries are so great that thy foot warriors, O holiness, renowned for marching, would have to move eastward two years without halt before they could reach the end of them."
Ramses raised his brows like one who permits some man to lie, but knows that he is lying.
"Southeast of Babylon, ac the great sea, dwell one hundred millions of people who have mighty kings, who have priests wiser than those of Egypt, who have ancient books, and skilled artisans. Those people know how to make woven stuffs, implements and vessels as beautiful as those of the Egyptians, and from time immemorial they have temples above ground and underground, which are grander, richer, and larger than the temples of Egypt."
"Speak on, speak on!" said the pharaoh. But it was impossible to learn from his face whether his curiosity was roused by the description, or he was indignant at the untruth of the Phoenician.
"In those countries," continued Hiram, "are pearls, precious stones, gold, copper; in those countries grow the most curious grains, flowers, and fruits; finally they have forests where a man might wander whole months among trees thicker than the columns in the temples of Egypt and taller than palms. The inhabitants of those countries are mild and simple. And, holiness, if Thou wouldst send thither two regiments on ships, Thou wouldst be able to win an area of land larger than Egypt, richer than the treasures of the labyrinth. If Thou permit, I will send thee to-morrow specimens of the woven stuffs of those regions, with bronzes and woods from them. I will send also two grains of a wondrous balsam from those countries; if a man swallows this balsam, it opens the gates of eternity before him, and he experiences the happiness which falls to divinities only."
"I beg thee to send specimens of the stuffs, and the utensils. As to the balsam, never mind! We shall enjoy eternity and the gods without it sufficiently after death."
"But far, very far east of Assyria," added Hiram, "lie still greater countries, countries which have two hundred millions of inhabitants."
"How easy millions come to you Phoenicians," laughed Ramses.
Hiram placed his baud on his heart.
"I swear," said he, "by the souls of my ancestors, and by my honor that I am telling truth."
The pharaoh was moved; such a great oath arrested his attention.
"Speak on speak!" said he.
"These last lands," continued the Phoenician, "are very wonderful. They are inhabited by people with yellow skin and sloping eyes. Those people have a sovereign who is called the Son of Heaven, and he governs through sages, who are not priests, however, and have not such power as priests have in Egypt. Still those people are like the Egyptians. They honor dead ancestors and take great care of their remains. They use writing which calls to mind the writing of Egyptian priests. But they wear long robes of such stuffs as are unknown in this country; they have sandals which are like little benches, and they cover their heads with pointed boxes. The roofs of their houses are pointed too at the top, and are turned up at the edges.
"Those uncommon people have a grain which is more plentiful than Egyptian wheat, and they make of it a drink which is stronger than wine. They have a plant the leaves of which give strength to the members, gladness to the mind, and which enables them even to dispense with sleep. They have paper which they adorn with many colored images, and they have clay which after it is burned shines like glass, and is as resonant as metal.
"Tomorrow, if Thou permit, holiness, I will send specimens of the works of these people."
"Thou art narrating wonders, Hiram. But I do not see the connection between those things and the canal which Thou wishest to dig."
"I will tell in brief," replied the Phoenician. "When there is a canal all the Phoenician and Egyptian fleets will sail on the Red Sea and beyond it; in the course of a couple of months they will reach those rich countries which by land are almost inaccessible.
"But dost Thou not see, holiness," continued he, with gleaming eyes, "the treasures which we shall find there? Gold, precious stones, grain, woods? I swear to thee, lord," added he with enthusiasm, "that gold will be cheaper than copper is now, wood will be cheaper than straw, and a slave cheaper than a cow. Only let us, lord, dig the canal, and hire fifty thousand of thy warriors."
Ramses, too, was excited.
"Fifty thousand warriors," repeated he. "But what will ye give me for this?"
"I have said already, holiness. One thousand talents yearly for the right to work, and five thousand for the workmen, to whom we will give food and wages."
"But ye will kill them with work?"
"May the gods forbid! There is no profit when workmen perish. Thy warriors, holiness, will not work more at the canal than today on roads and at fortresses but what glory for thee, lord! what income for the treasury, what profit for Egypt! The poorest earth-tiller will have a wooden cottage, some cattle, tools, and furniture, and as I live, a slave. No pharaoh has ever raised the state to such a height or carried out such a work.
"What will dead and useless pyramids be in comparison with a canal to facilitate the passage of treasures to the whole world?"
"Yes," added the pharaoh, "and fifty thousand warriors on the eastern boundary."
"Of course!" exclaimed Hiram. "In view of that force, which will cost thee nothing, holiness, Assyria will not dare to stretch a hand toward Phoenicia."
The project was so brilliant and promised such profit that Ramses XIII felt dazed by it. But he mastered himself.
"Hiram," said he, "Thou art making splendid promises. So splendid that I fear lest Thou art concealing behind them some less favorable outcome. Therefore I must think over this matter deeply and take counsel with the priests."
"They will never consent of themselves!" exclaimed the Phoenician. "Though may the gods forgive me the blasphemy I am certain that if today the highest power were in the hands of the priests they would summon us in a couple of months to make the canal for them."
Ramses looked with cold contempt at Hiram.
"Old man," said he, "leave me to care for the obedience of the priests, and do Thou present proofs that what Thou hast said is true. I should be a very poor sovereign were I unable to remove obstacles springing up between my will and the interests of Egypt."
"Thou art indeed a great sovereign, our lord," whispered Hiram, bending to the floor.
It was then late at night. The Phoenician took farewell of the pharaoh and left the palace with Tutmosis. The following day he sent through Dagon a box with specimens of wealth from the unknown countries.
The pharaoh found in it statues of gods, woven stuffs, rings from India, small morsels of opium, and in a second division handfuls of rice, leaves of tea, two porcelain cups ornamented with pictures, and a number of drawings made on paper with China ink and colors. He examined them with the greatest attention and confessed that those articles were new to him: the rice, the paper, the pictures of people with pointed hats and sloping eyes.
He had no doubt now that a new region existed which differed in every way from Egypt: in mountains, trees, houses, bridges, ships.
"And that country has existed for ages undoubtedly," thought he; "our priests know of it, they know of its wealth, but say nothing. Evidently they are traitors who wish to limit the power of the pharaoh and impoverish him so as to push him down from the height of the throne afterward.
"But O ye my ancestors and my heirs," said he in spirit, "I call you to witness that I will put a limit to these iniquities; I will elevate wisdom, but I will stamp out deceit, and I will give Egypt hours of rest from labor."
Thinking thus, he raised his eyes and beheld Dagon waiting for an answer.
"Thy box is very curious," said he to the banker, "but this is not what I asked of thee."
The Phoenician approached him on tiptoe and, kneeling before him, whispered,
"Deign holiness, to sign a treaty with the worthy Hiram, then Tyre and Sidon will place all their treasures at thy feet."
Ramses frowned. He was displeased by the insolence of the Phoenicians who dared to lay down conditions to him; so he answered coldly,
"I will reflect and give Hiram my answer. Thou mayst withdraw, Dagon."
After the Phoenician had gone, Ramses meditated again; a reaction began in him,
"Those hucksters," said he in his heart, "consider me as one of themselves, nay more, they dare to hold up to me a bag of gold from afar so as to extort a treaty! I know not that any of the pharaohs admitted them to such confidence! I must change. The men who fall on their faces before the envoys of Assar may not say to me, 'Sign and Thou wilt get!' Stupid Phoenician rats, who steal into the pharaoh's palace and look on it as their own den a moment later!"
The longer he thought over it the more precisely he recalled the bearing of Hiram and Dagon, the greater the auger that seized him,
"How dare they how dare they lay conditions down to me? Hei, Tutmosis!" cried he.
His favorite stood before him immediately.
"What dost Thou command, my lord?"
"Send some one of the younger officers to Dagon to inform him that he has ceased to be my banker. He is too stupid for such a lofty position."
"But to whom dost Thou predestine the honor, holiness?"
"I know not at the moment. It will be necessary to find some one among Egyptian or Greek merchants. In the last resort we will turn to the priests."
Information of this resolve went through all the palaces, and before an hour it had reached Memphis. Throughout the whole city people said that the Phoenicians were in disfavor with the pharaoh. Towards evening the Egyptians had begun to break into the shops of the hated foreigners.
The priests drew a breath of relief. Herhor even made a visit to holy Mefres and said to him,
"My heart felt that our lord would turn from those unbelievers who are drinking the blood of the people. I think that it is proper for us to show him gratitude."
"And perhaps open the doors to our treasures?" asked Mefres, rudely. "Hasten not, worthiness, I have divined this young man woe to us if ever we let him get the upper hand."
"But if he has broken with the Phoenicians?"
"He will gain by that; for he will not pay his debts to them."
"In my opinion," said Herhor, after some thought, "now is the moment in which we can regain the favor of this youthful pharaoh. He is hasty in anger, but he knows how to be grateful. I have experienced that.
"Every word is an error," interrupted the stubborn Mefres. "First of all, this prince is not the pharaoh yet, for he has not been crowned in a temple. Second, he will never be a real pharaoh, since through contempt he will never be ordained a high priest. And finally, we do not need his favor, while he needs the favor of the gods, whom he insults at every step he makes."
Mefres, who had been panting from anger, stopped and began anew,
"He spent a month in the temple of Hator, he listened to the highest wisdom, and immediately afterward betook himself to the Phoenicians. What do I say? He visited the idol house of Astarte and took thence a priestess an offence against all religions. After that he reviled my piety, in public; conspired with such frivolous minds as his own, and with the aid of Phoenicians stole state secrets. And when he ascended the throne I speak incorrectly, when he had barely stood on the first step of the throne, he tried to make the priests odious; he disturbed the earth-tillers and the warriors, and renewed vows with his friends the Phoenicians.
"Dost thou, worthy Herhor, forget all this? And if Thou remember, dost Thou not understand the dangers which threaten us from this milksop? Still he has under his hand the rudder of the ship of state, which he pushes in among rocks and eddies. Who will assure me that this madman, who yesterday summoned to his presence the Phoenicians, but quarreled with them today, will not do something to-morrow which will expose Egypt to destruction?"
"And therefore, what?" inquired Herhor, looking into his eyes quickly.
"This we have no reason to show him gratitude, which would really be weakness. But since he wants money at once, we will not give him money."
"But but then what?" inquired Herhor.
"Afterward he will govern the state and increase the army without money," answered the irritated Mefres.
"But if his famished army wants to rob temples?"
"Ha! ha! ha!" burst out Mefres, but suddenly he grew serious and bowing said in an ironical tone,
"That pertains to thee, worthiness. A man who for so many years has directed the state should prepare for such dangers."
"Let us suppose," said Herhor, slowly, "that I can find means against dangers to the state. But canst thou, worthiness, who art the senior high priest, provide against insults to the priestly order and the temples?"
They looked each other in the eyes for a moment.
"Dost Thou inquire whether I can? Whether I can? I need make no effort. The gods have placed in my hands a thunderbolt which will destroy every author of sacrilege."
"Pst!" whispered Herhor. "Let that take place."
"With the consent or without the consent of the supreme council of priests," added Mefres. "When a boat is overturned there is no time to discuss with the oarsmen."
They parted in a gloomy state of mind. That same day in the evening the Pharaoh summoned them.
They came at the appointed time, each high priest separately. Each made a profound obeisance to his lord, and each stood in a separate corner without looking at the other.
"Have they quarreled?" thought Ramses? "No harm in that!"
A moment later the holy Sem and the prophet Pentuer came in. Then Ramses sat on an elevation, indicated to the priests stools in front of him, and said,
"Holy fathers! I have not summoned you thus far to counsel because all my orders related to military questions exclusively."
"Thou hadst the right, holiness, not to call us," put in Herhor.
"I have done what I was able in such a short time to strengthen the defensive power of the state. I have formed two new schools for officers and I have restored five regiments."
"Thou hadst the right, lord," answered Mefres.
"Of other military reforms I do not speak, since those questions do not concern you, holy people."
"Thou art right," said Mefres and Herhor together.
"But there is another question," continued the pharaoh, satisfied with the assent of the two dignitaries from whom he had expected opposition. "The funeral day of my divine father is approaching, but the treasury does not possess sufficient funds."
Mefres rose from his stool.
"Osiris-Mer-Amen-Ramses," said he, "was a just lord who for many years assured peace to his people, and praise to the gods. Permit, holiness, that the funeral of this pious pharaoh be performed at the expense of the temples."
Ramses XIII was astonished and was moved by the homage rendered his father. He was silent for a while as if unable to find an answer; at last he replied,
"I am very thankful to you for the honor shown my father, who is equal to the gods. I permit the funeral, and once more I thank you greatly."
He stopped, rested his head on his hand and meditated, as if struggling with himself. Suddenly he raised his head; his face was animated, his eyes were gleaming.
"I am moved," said he, "by this proof of your good-will. If the memory of my father is so dear to you ye cannot have ill-will toward me."
"Thou hast no doubt, I think, holiness, touching our goodwill?" said the high priest Sem.
"Thou art speaking truth," continued the pharaoh. "I suspected you unjustly of prejudice toward me. I wish to correct my suspicion; I will be sincere with you."
"May the gods bless thee, holiness," said Herhor.
"I will be sincere. My divine father, because of age, illness, and perhaps priestly occupations, could not devote so much time to affairs of state as I can. I am young, in health, free, hence I wish to rule, myself, and will rule. As a leader must direct his army on his own responsibility and according to his own plan, so shall I direct the state. This is my express will and I shall not draw back from it.
"But I understand that even were I the most experienced I could not succeed without faithful servants and wise counselors. Therefore I shall ask your advice sometimes on various questions."
"To this end we constitute the supreme council near thy throne," remarked Herhor.
"I shall use," continued Ramses with animation, "your services immediately, even from this moment."
"Command, lord," said Herhor.
"I wish to improve the condition of the Egyptian people. But since in such affairs over-hasty action may only bring injury, I give them at first a small thing: After six days' labor the seventh for rest."
"Such was it during the reigns of the eighteenth dynasty. That law is as old as Egypt itself," said Pentuer.
"Rest every seventh day will give fifty days to each laborer during a year, or it will take from his lord fifty drachma. On a million of laborers the state will lose ten thousand talents yearly," said Mefres. "We have calculated that in the temples."
"That is true," answered Pentuer, quickly, "but the losses will be during the first year only, for when the people increase in strength by rest they will recover all and more in the following years."
"That is true," answered Mefres, "but in every case it is necessary to have ten thousand talents for that first year. I think even that twenty thousand talents would not be amiss."
"Thou art right, worthy Mefres," said the pharaoh. "In view of the changes which I wish to introduce in my state twenty thousand, and even thirty thousand talents would not be too great a sum; therefore," added he quickly, "I shall ask assistance of you holy men."
"We are ready to support every measure of thy holiness with prayers and processions," said Mefres.
"Very good; pray and encourage the people to pray. But besides that give the state thirty thousand talents," answered the pharaoh.
The high priests were silent; Ramses waited a while, then turned to Herhor,
"Thou art silent, worthiness."
"Thou hast said thyself, O sovereign, that the treasury has no means, even to bury Osiris-Mer-Amen-Ramses. I cannot even divine, therefore, where we could get thirty thousand talents."
"But the treasury of the labyrinth."
"That is a treasury of the gods, to be touched only at a moment when the state is in supreme need," replied Mefres.
Ramses XIII boiled up with anger.
"If earth-tillers do not need this sum, I do," said he, striking his fist on the arm of the chair.
"Holiness," replied Mefres, "Thou canst in the course of a year receive more than thirty thousand talents, and Egypt twice as much."
"How?"
"Very simply. Give command, sovereign, to expel the Phoenicians from Egypt."
It seemed that the pharaoh would rush at the insolent high priest; he grew pale, his lips quivered, his eyes stared. But he restrained himself in one moment, and said, in a tone of wonderful calmness,
"Well, sufficient. If ye are able to give only such counsels I shall get on without them. The Phoenicians have our signatures that we will pay them our debts faithfully. Has this occurred to thee, Mefres?"
"Pardon, holiness, but at that moment other thoughts occupied me. Thy ancestors, not on papyrus, but on bronze and stone carved out the statement that the gifts made by them to the gods and the temples belonged and would belong forever to the gods and the temples."
"And to you priests," added the pharaoh, sneeringly.
"As much to us," replied the haughty high priest, "as the state belongs to thee, sovereign. We guard and increase those treasures; but we have not the right to spend them."
The pharaoh left the hall panting with anger, and went to his own cabinet. His position was presented to him with terrible distinctness. Of the hatred of the priests toward him he had no doubt any longer. Those were the same dignitaries who, giddy with pride, had the past year refused him the corps of Memphis, and who had made him viceroy only when it seemed to them that he had performed an act of penitence by withdrawing from the palace the very same who watched every movement of his, made reports regarding him, but did not tell him, the heir to the throne, even of the treaty with Assar, the very same dignitaries who had employed deceit against him in the temple of Hator, and who at the Soda Lakes slaughtered prisoners to whom he had promised freedom.
The pharaoh recalled the obeisances of Herhor, the looks of Mefres, and the tones of voice which both used. Beneath the show of good-will, their pride and their contempt for him appeared each moment. He asks for money, they promise prayers. Nay! they dare to tell him that he is not sole ruler in the land of Egypt.
The young sovereign laughed in spite of himself, for he called to mind the hired herdsmen who told the owner of the flock that he had no right to do what he liked with it. Besides the ridiculous aspect there was in the case a point which was terrible. The treasury contained perhaps a thousand talents which, according to the recent rate of outlay would last from seven to ten days. And then what? How would the officials, the servants, and above all how would the army, exist, not only without pay, but without sustenance?
The high priests knew this position of the pharaoh if they did not hasten to assist him they wished to ruin him, and to ruin him in the course of a few days, even before the funeral of his father.
Ramses recalled a certain event of his childhood.
He was at a school of the priests when, on the festival of the goddess Mut, after various amusements they introduced the most famous buffoon in Egypt. This artist represented an unfortunate hero: when he commanded he was not obeyed, his anger was answered with laughter, and when, to punish those who made sport of him, he seized an axe, the axe broke in his hands. At last they let out a lion at him and when the defenseless hero began to flee it turned out that not a lion was chasing him, but a pig in a lion's skin.
The pupils and the teachers laughed at those adventures till the tears came; but the little prince sat gloomily; he was sorry for the man who was eager for great things but fell covered with ridicule.
That scene and the feelings which he experienced then were revived in the memory of the pharaoh. "They want to make me like that buffoon," thought he. Despair seized him, for he felt that his power would end when the last talent was issued, and with his power his life also.
But here came a certain revulsion. He halted in the middle of the room and thought,
"What can happen to me? Nothing save death. I will go to my glorious ancestors, to Ramses the Great But then, I could not tell them that I died without defending myself. After the misfortunes of this earthly life eternal shame would meet me. How was it to end? He, the conqueror at the Soda Lakes, to yield before a handful of deceivers against whom one Asiatic regiment would not have much trouble? For the reason, then, that Mefres and Herhor wish to rule Egypt and the pharaoh, his troops must suffer hunger, and a million men are not to receive rest from labor? But did not his ancestors rear these temples. Did they not fill them with spoils? And who won the battles? The priests, or the warriors? Who, then, had a right to the treasures, the priests, or the pharaoh and his army?"
Ramses shrugged his shoulders and summoned Tutmosis. Though it was late at night the favorite came to him straightway.
"Dost Thou know," asked the pharaoh, "that the priests have refused me a loan, though the treasury is empty?"
Tutmosis straightened himself, and asked,
"Wilt Thou command to take them to prison?"
"Wouldst thou?"
"There is not an officer in Egypt who would hesitate to carry out an order from our lord and leader."
"In that case," said the pharaoh, deliberately, "there is no need to imprison any one. I have too much power on my side and too much contempt for the priesthood. A man does not put into a box bound with iron the carrion which he meets on the highway; he merely passes around it."
"But a hyena is confined in a cage," whispered Tutmosis.
"It is too early yet. I must be gracious to those men, at least till my father is buried or they might commit some indignity on his revered mummy, and destroy his spirit. But go tomorrow to Hiram and tell him to send me that priest of whom we have spoken."
"That will be done. But I must remind thee, holiness, that today people attacked Phoenician houses in Memphis."
"Oho! That was not needed."
"It seems to me, too," continued Tutmosis, "that since Thou hast commanded Pentuer to investigate the condition of earth-tillers and laborers the priests are exciting the nomarchs and nobles. They say that it is thy wish to ruin the nobility for the sake of the people."
"But do the nobles believe that?"
"There are some who believe, but there are others who say directly that it is an intrigue of the priests against the pharaoh."
"But if I wish indeed to improve the condition of earth-tillers?"
"Thou wilt do, lord, that which pleases thee," answered Tutmosis.
"Oh, I understand my position!" exclaimed Ramses. "Be at rest, and tell the nobility that not only will they lose nothing in carrying out my orders, but their own condition will be improved notably. The wealth of Egypt must be taken at last from the hands of the unworthy and given to faithful servants."
The pharaoh dismissed his adjutant and went to rest satisfied. His temporary despair seemed to him laughable.
About noon of the following day it was announced that a deputation of Phoenician merchants had come to his holiness.
"Do they wish to complain of the attack on their houses?" inquired the pharaoh.
"No," replied the adjutant, "they wish to offer thee homage."
In fact a number of Phoenicians, under the leadership of Rabsun, declared that, according to ancient custom they had made bold to lay an insignificant gift at the feet of the sovereign who gave life to them and security to their property.
Then they placed on the tables gold plates, chains, and goblets filled with jewels.
After that, Rabsun placed on the steps of the throne a tray with the papyrus by which the Phoenicians bound themselves to give all things necessary for the army to the amount of two thousand talents.
That was a considerable gift, since all that the Phoenicians had brought represented a sum of three thousand talents.
The pharaoh answered the faithful merchants very graciously, and promised protection. He dismissed them in happiness.
Ramses XIII drew a breath of relief: bankruptcy of the treasury, and therefore the need of using violent measures against the priests was deferred ten days longer.
In the evening, again, under the guardianship of Tutmosis, the worthy Hiram stood in the cabinet of his holiness. This time he did not complain of weariness, but he fell on his face and cursed the stupid Dagon.
"I have learned," said he, "that that mangy fellow dared to remind thee, holiness, of our talk concerning the canal to the Red Sea. May he perish! May the leprosy devour him! May his children become swineherds and his grandchildren Hebrews. But do thou, sovereign, only command, and whatever wealth Phoenicia has she will lay at thy feet without bond or treaty. Are we Assyrians or priests," added he in a whisper, "that one word of such a mighty potentate should not suffice us?"
"But if I should require a really large sum?"
"Such as?"
"For example, thirty thousand talents."
"Immediately?"
"No, in the course of a year."
"Thou wilt have it, holiness," answered Hiram, without hesitation.
The pharaoh was astonished at this liberality.
"But must I give you a pledge?"
"Only for form's sake," replied the Phoenician. "Give us, holiness, the quarries in pledge, so as not to rouse the suspicions of priests. Were it not for them, Thou wouldst have all Phoenicia without pledge or paper."
"But the canal? Am I to sign a treaty at once?" asked Ramses.
"Not at all. Thou wilt make, O holiness, a treaty when it pleases thee."
It seemed to the pharaoh that he was uplifted in the air. At that moment it seemed to him that he had tasted for the first time the sweetness of regal power, and tasted it, thanks to the Phoenicians.
"Hiram," said he, controlling himself no longer, "I give thee permission this day to dig a canal which shall join the Red Sea with the Mediterranean."
The old man fell at the feet of the pharaoh.
"Thou art the greatest sovereign ever seen on earth," said he.
"For the time Thou art not permitted to speak of this to any one, because the enemies of my glory are watching. But that Thou shouldst feel certain, I give thee this from my own finger."
He took from his finger a ring adorned with a magic stone on which was engraved the name Horns, and put it on the finger of the Phoenician.
"The property of all Phoenicia is at thy command," said Hiram, moved profoundly. "Thou wilt accomplish a work which will herald thy name till the sun quenches."
The pharaoh pressed Hiram's iron-gray head and commanded him to sit down before him.
"And so we are allies," said he, after a while, "and I hope that from this will rise prosperity for Egypt and Phoenicia."
"For the whole world," added Hiram.
"But tell me, prince, whence hast Thou such confidence in me?"
"I know thy noble character, holiness. If thou, sovereign, wert not a pharaoh, in a few years Thou wouldst become the most renowned of Phoenician merchants and the chief of our council."
"Let us suppose that," replied Ramses. "But I, to keep my promises, must first bend the priests. That is a struggle the issue of which is uncertain."
Hiram smiled.
"Lord," said he, "if we were so insignificant as to abandon thee today when thy treasury is empty, and thy enemies are insolent, Thou wouldst lose the battle. For a man deprived of means loses daring easily; from an impoverished king his armies turn away as well as his dignitaries and his subjects. But if thou, sovereign, have our gold and our agents, with thy army and thy generals Thou wilt have as much trouble with the priests as an elephant with a scorpion. Thou wilt barely set thy foot on them and they will be crushed beneath it. But this is not my affair. The high priest Samentu is waiting in the garden, he whom Thou hast summoned. I withdraw; it is his hour. But I refuse not the money. Command me to the extent of thirty thousand talents."
He fell on his face again and then withdrew, promising that Samentu would present himself straightway.
In half an hour the high priest appeared. As became one who honored Set he did not shave his red beard and shaggy hair; he had a severe face, but eyes full of intellect. He bowed without excessive humility and met the soul-piercing gaze of the pharaoh with calmness.
"Be seated," said the pharaoh.
The high priest sat on the floor.
"Thou pleasest me," said Ramses. "Thou hast the bearing and the face of a Hyksos, and they are the most valiant troops in my army." Then he inquired, on a sudden,
"Art Thou the man who informed Hiram of the treaty of our priests with Assyria?"
"I am," replied Samentu, without dropping his eyes.
"Didst Thou share in that iniquity?"
"I did not. I overheard the conditions. In the temples, as in thy palaces, holiness, the walls are honeycombed with passages through which it is possible to hear on the summit of pylons what is said in the cellars."
"And from subterranean places it is possible to converse with persons in upper chambers?" asked the pharaoh.
"And imitate voices from the gods," added the priest seriously.
The pharaoh smiled. Then the supposition was correct that it was not the spirit of his father, but priests who spoke to him and to his mother.
"Why didst Thou confide to Phoenicians a great secret of the state?" inquired Ramses.
"Because I wished to prevent a shameful treaty which was as harmful to us as to Phoenicia."
"Thou mightst have forewarned some Egyptian dignitary."
"Whom?" inquired the priest. "Men who were powerless before Herhor; or who would complain of me to him and expose me to death and tortures? I confided it to Hiram, for he meets dignitaries of ours whom I never see."
"But why did Herhor and Mefres conclude such a treaty?" inquired Ramses.
"In my opinion, they are men of weak heads whom Beroes, the great Chaldean priest, frightened. He told them that for ten years evil fates would threaten Egypt; that if we began war with Assyria during that time we should be defeated."
"And did they believe him?"
"Beroes, it seems, showed them wonders. He was even borne above the earth. Beyond doubt that is wonderful; but I cannot understand why we should lose Phoenicia because Beroes can fly above the earth."
"Then Thou dost not believe in miracles?"
"It depends upon what they are," replied Samentu. "It seems that Beroes does perform unusual things; but our priests merely deceive people as well as rulers."
"Thou hast a hatred for the priestly order?"
"Well, they cannot endure me, and what is worse they insult me under pretext that I am a minister of Set. Meanwhile, what do I care for gods whose hands and feet must be moved by strings. Or priests who pretend to be abstemious and devout, but have ten wives, spend some tens of talents yearly, steal the offerings placed on altars, and are little wiser than pupils of a higher school."
"But dost Thou take presents from Phoenicians?"'
"From whom should I take them? The Phoenicians are the only men who really honor Set; they fear lest he might wreck their ships. With us the poor alone revere him. Were I restricted to their offerings I should die of hunger, and my children also."
The pharaoh thought that this priest was not a bad man, though he had betrayed a temple secret. And moreover, he seemed wise and he spoke truth.
"Hast Thou heard anything," inquired Ramses again, "of a canal which is to join the Red Sea with the Mediterranean?"
"I know of that affair. Our engineers have been developing the project for some centuries."
"But why has it not been carried out ere this time?"
"Because the priests are afraid that strangers would come who might undermine our religion, and with it the priestly income."
"Is there truth in what Hiram says of people living in the distant East?"
"Perfect truth. We know of them for a long time, and no ten years pass that we do not receive from those countries products, precious stones, or pictures."
The pharaoh meditated again, and asked suddenly,
"Wilt Thou serve me faithfully if I make thee my counselor?"
"I will serve thee, holiness, with life and death. But were I to become thy counselor, the priests, who hate me, would be indignant."
"Dost Thou not think it possible to overthrow them?"
"It is possible and very easy."
"What would thy plan be, if I had to free myself of them?"
"To obtain possession of the treasures in the labyrinth."
"Couldst Thou go to it?"
"I have many indications; the rest I can discover, for I know where to search for them."
"What further?" inquired the pharaoh.
"It would be necessary to bring an action against Herhor and Mefres for treason, and for secret relations with Assyria."
"But the proofs?"
"We should find them with the help of the Phoenicians."
"Would no danger come of that to Egypt?"
"None. Four hundred years ago the pharaoh, Amenhotep IV. overturned the power of priests by establishing the faith in one god, Re Harmachis. It is understandable that in those conditions he took treasures from the temples of the other gods. And at that time neither the people, nor the army, nor the nobility took part with the priesthood. What would the case be today when the old faith is greatly weakened?"
"Who assisted Amenhotep?" inquired Ramses.
"A simple priest, Ey."
"But who, on the death of Amenhotep, became his heir?" asked Ramses, looking quickly into the eyes of the priest.
Samentu answered, calmly,
"Events show that Amenhotep was incompetent, more occupied in honoring Re than in governing Egypt."
"Indeed, Thou art a real sage!" said Ramses.
"At thy service, holiness."
"I appoint thee my counselor," said the pharaoh. "In that case Thou mayst visit me in secret, and Thou wilt dwell with me."
"Pardon, lord, but until the members of the supreme council are in prison for negotiating with enemies of Egypt, my presence in the palace would bring more harm than profit. So I will serve thee, holiness, and advise, but in secret."
"And wilt Thou find the way to the treasure in the labyrinth?"
"I hope, lord, that before Thou returnest from Thebes, I shall succeed in this matter. But when we transfer the treasure to thy palace, when the court condemns Herhor and Mefres whom Thou mayst pardon afterward, with permission, I will appear openly and cease to be the priest of Set, who only frightens people and turns them from me."
"And dost Thou think that everything will go well?"
"I pledge my life on it!" cried the priest. "The people thee, holiness, so it is easy to influence them against traitorous dignitaries. The army obeys thee as no army has obeyed a pharaoh since Ramses the Great. Who will oppose, then? In addition, holiness, Thou hast the Phoenicians behind thee, and money, the greatest power on earth."
When Samentu took farewell, the pharaoh permitted him to kiss his feet, and gave him a heavy gold chain and a bracelet ornamented with sapphires. Not every dignitary received such favor after long years of service. The visit and Samentu's promises filled the pharaoh's heart with new hope.
What if he should succeed in getting the treasure of the labyrinth! For a small part of it he might free the nobles from Phoenician debts, improve the lot of the laborers and redeem the mortgaged property of the court.
And with what edifices might the state be enriched!
Hence the treasure of this labyrinth might remove all the pharaoh's troubles. For what was the result of a great loan from the Phoenicians? It would be necessary to pay a loan some time, and, sooner or later, mortgage the rest of the pharaoh's property. That was merely to defer ruin, not avoid it.
Chapter LVI
In the middle of the month Famenut (January) spring began. All Egypt was green with growing wheat. On black patches of land crowds of men were sowing lupines, beans, and barley. In the air was the odor of orange blossoms. The water had fallen greatly and new bits of land were laid bare day by day.
Preparations for the funeral of Osiris-Mer-Amen-Ramses were ended.
The revered mummy of the pharaoh was enclosed in a white box, the upper part of which repeated perfectly the features of the departed. The pharaoh seemed to see with enameled eyes, while the god-like face expressed a mild regret, not for the world which the ruler had left, but for the people condemned to the sufferings of temporal existence. On its head the image of the pharaoh had an Egyptian cap with white and sapphire stripes; on its neck, a string of jewels; on its breast, the picture of a man kneeling with crossed hands; on its legs, images of the gods, sacred birds, and eyes, not set into any face, but, as it were, gazing out of infinity.
Thus arrayed, the remains of the pharaoh rested on a costly couch in a small cedar chapel, the walls of which were covered with inscriptions celebrating the life and deeds of the departed sovereign. Above hovered a miraculous falcon with a human head, and near the couch night and day watched a priest clothed as Anubis, the god of burial, with a jackal's head on his body.
A heavy basalt sarcophagus had been prepared which was to be the outer coffin of the mummy. This sarcophagus had also the form and features of the dead pharaoh. It was covered with inscriptions, and pictures of people praying, of sacred birds and also scarabs.
On the 17th of Famenut, the mummy, together with its chapel and sarcophagus, was taken from the quarter of the dead to the palace and placed in the largest hall there.
This hall was soon filled with priests, who chanted funeral hymns, with attendants and servants of the departed, and above all with his women, who screamed so vehemently that their cries were heard across the river.
"O lord! Thou our lord!" cried they, "why art Thou leaving us? Thou so kind, so beautiful. Thou art silent now, Thou who didst speak to us so willingly. Thou didst incline to our society, but today Thou art far from us."
During this time the priests sang,
Chorus I. "I am Turn, who alone exists."
Chorus II. "I am Re, in his earliest splendor."
Chorus I. "I am the god who creates himself."
Chorus II. "Who gives his own name to himself, and no one among the gods can restrain him."
Chorus I. "I know the name of the great god who is there."
Chorus II. "For I am the great bird Benut which tests the existent." ["Book of the Dead."]
After two days of groans and devotions a great car in the form of a boat was drawn to the front of the palace. The ends of this car were adorned with ostrich plumes and rams' heads, while above a costly baldachin towered an eagle, and there also was the ureus serpent, symbol of the pharaoh's dominion. On this car was placed the sacred mummy, in spite of the wild resistance of court women. Some of them held to the coffin, others implored the priests not to take their good lord from them, still others scratched their own faces, tore their hair, and even beat the men who carried the remains of the pharaoh.
The outcry was terrible.
At last the car, when it had received the divine body, moved on amid a multitude of people who occupied the immense space from the palace to the river. There were people smeared with mud, torn, covered with mourning rags, people who cried in heaven-piercing voices. At the side of these, according to mourning ritual, were disposed, along the whole road, choruses.
Chorus I. "To the West, to the mansion of Osiris, to the West art Thou going, Thou who wert the best among men, who didst hate the untrue."
Chorus II. "Going West! There will not be another who will so love the truth, and who will so hate a lie."
Chorus of charioteers. "To the West, oxen, ye are drawing the funeral car, to the West! Our lord is going after you."
Chorus III. "To the West, to the West, to the land of the just! The cities which Thou didst love are groaning and weeping behind thee."
The throng of people. "Go in peace to Abydos! Go in peace to Abydos! Go Thou in peace to the Theban West!"
Chorus of female wailers. "O our lord, O our lord, Thou art going to the West, the gods themselves are weeping."
Chorus of priests. "He is happy, the most revered among men, for fate has permitted him to rest in the tomb which he himself has constructed."
Chorus of drivers. "To the West, oxen, ye are drawing the car, to the West! Our lord is going behind thee."
The throng of people. "Go in peace to Abydos! Go in peace to Abydos, to the western sea." [Authentic expression.]
Every couple of hundred yards a division of troops was stationed which greeted the lord with muffled drums, and took farewell with a shrill sound of trumpets.
That was not a funeral, but a triumphal march to the land of divinities.
At a certain distance behind the car went Ramses XIII, surrounded by a great suite of generals, and behind him Queen Niort's leaning on two court ladies. Neither the son nor the mother wept, for it was known to them then (the common people were not aware of this), that the late pharaoh was at the side of Osiris and was so satisfied with his stay in the land of delight that he had no wish to return to an earthly existence.
After a procession of two hours which was attended by unbroken cries, the car with the remains halted on the bank of the Nile. There the remains were removed from the boat-shaped car and borne to a real barge gilded, carved, covered with pictures, and furnished with white and purple sails.
The court ladies made one more attempt to take the mummy from the priests; again were heard all the choruses and the military music. After that the lady Niort's and some priests entered the barge which bore the royal mummy, the people hurled bouquets and garlands and the oars began to plash.
Ramses XII had left his palace for the last time and was moving on the Nile toward his tomb in Theban mountains. But on the way it was his duty, like a thoughtful ruler, to enter all the famed places and take farewell of them.
The journey lasted long. Thebes was five hundred miles distant higher up the river, along which the mummy had to visit between ten and twenty temples and take part in religious ceremonies.
Some days after the departure of Ramses XII to his eternal rest, Ramses XIII moved after him to rouse from sorrow by his presence the torpid hearts of his subjects, receive their homage and give offerings to divinities.
Behind the dead pharaoh, each on his own barge, went all the high priests, many of the senior priests, the richest landholders, and the greater part of the nomarchs. So the new pharaoh thought, not without sorrow, that his retinue would be very slender,
But it happened otherwise. At the side of Ramses XIII were all the generals, very many officials, many of the smaller nobility and all the minor priests, which more astonished than comforted the pharaoh.
This was merely the beginning. For when the barge of the youthful sovereign sailed out on the Nile there came to meet him such a mass of boats, great and small, rich and poor, that they almost hid the water. Sitting in those barges were naked families of earth-tillers and artisans, well-dressed merchants, Phoenicians in bright garments, adroit Greek sailors, and even Assyrians and Hittites.
The people of this throng did not shout, they howled; they were not delighted, they were frantic. Every moment some deputation broke its way to the pharaoh's barge to kiss the deck which his feet had touched, and to lay gifts before him: a handful of wheat, a bit of cloth, a simple earthen pitcher, a pair of birds, but, above all, a bunch of flowers. So that before the pharaoh had passed Memphis, his attendants were forced repeatedly to clear the barge of gifts and thus save it from sinking.
The younger priests said to one another that except Ramses the Great no pharaoh had ever been greeted with such boundless enthusiasm.
The whole journey from Memphis to Thebes was conducted in a similar manner and the enthusiasm of people rose instead of decreasing. Earth- tillers left the fields and artisans the shops to delight themselves with looking at the new sovereign of whose intentions legends were already created. They expected great changes, though no one knew what these changes might be. This alone was undoubted, that the severity of officials had decreased, that Phoenicians collected rent in a less absolute manner, and the Egyptian people, always so submissive, had begun to raise their heads when priests met them.
"Only let the pharaoh permit," said people in inns, fields and markets, "and we will introduce order among the holy fathers. Because of them we pay immense taxes, and the wounds on our backs are always open."
Among the Libyan hills, about thirty-five miles south of
Memphis, lay the country of Piom or Fayum, wonderful through this, that human hands had made it.
There was formerly in this province a sunken desert surrounded by naked hills. The pharaoh Amenhemat first conceived the daring plan of changing this place into a fruitful region, three thousand five hundred years before the Christian era.
With this object he divided the eastern part of the depression from the rest and put a mighty dam around it. This dam was about eight meters high, one hundred yards thick at the base, and its length more than four hundred kilometers.
In this way was created a reservoir which held three milliards of cubic meters of water, the surface of which occupied about three hundred square kilometers. This reservoir served to irrigate two hundred thousand hectares of land, and besides, in time of overflow, it took in the excess of water and guaranteed a considerable part of Egypt from sudden inundation.
This immense collection of water was called Lake Moeris, and was considered one of the wonders of the world. Thanks to it a desert valley was changed into the fertile land of Piom, where about two hundred thousand people lived in comfort. In this province, besides palms and wheat, were produced the most beautiful roses; oil made from these went to all Egypt, and beyond its boundaries.
The existence of Lake Moeris was connected with another wonder among works of Egyptian engineers, Joseph's canal. This canal, two hundred yards wide, extended about three hundred and fifty kilometers along the western side of the Nile. It was situated fifteen kilometers from the river, served to irrigate lands near the Libyan mountains, and conveyed water to Lake Moeris.
Around the country of Piom rose a number of ancient pyramids and a multitude of smaller tombs. On its eastern boundary was the celebrated Labyrinth (Lope-rohunt). This was built also by Amenhemat and had the form of an immense horseshoe. It occupied an area one thousand yards long and six hundred wide.
This edifice was the great treasure-house of Egypt. In it reposed the mummies of several famous pharaohs, renowned priests, generals, and architects. Here lay the remains of revered animals, above all, those of crocodiles. And here was kept the property of the Egyptian state, brought together in the course of ages. Of this structure it is difficult to gain an idea at present.
The labyrinth was neither inaccessible from the outside, nor watched over-carefully; it was guarded by a small division of troops attached to the priests, and some priests of tried honesty. The safety of the treasury lay specially in this that with the exception of those few persons, no one knew where to look for it in the labyrinth, which was divided into two stories, one above ground, the other subterranean, and in each of these there were fifteen hundred chambers.
Each pharaoh, each high priest, finally each treasurer and supreme judge was bound to examine with his own eyes the property of the state immediately after entering on his office. Still, no one of the dignitaries could find it, or even learn where the treasure lay, whether in the main body of the building or in some of its wings, above the earth or beneath it.
There were some to whom it seemed that the treasure was really underground, far away from the labyrinth proper. There were even some who thought that the treasure was beneath the lake, so that it might be submerged should the need come. Finally no dignitary of the state cared to occupy himself with the question, knowing that an attack on the property of the gods drew after it ruin to the sacrilegious. The uninitiated might have discovered the road, perhaps, if fear had not paralyzed intruders. Death in this world and the next threatened him and his family who should dare with godless plans to discover such secrets.
Arriving in those parts Ramses XIII visited first of all the province of Fayum. In his eyes it seemed like the interior of some immense bowl, the bottom of which was a lake and hills the edges. Whithersoever he turned he found green juicy grass varied with flowers, groups of palms, groves of fig trees and tamarinds, amid which from sunrise to sunset were heard the singing of birds and the voices of gladsome people.
That was perhaps the happiest corner of Egypt.
The people received the pharaoh with boundless delight.
They covered him and his retinue with flowers, they presented him with a number of vessels of the costliest perfumes as well as gold and precious stones to the amount of ten talents.
Ramses spent two days in that pleasant region where joy seemed to blossom on the trees, flow in the air, and look over the waters of Lake Moeris. But men reminded him that he should see the labyrinth also.
He left Fayum with a sigh and gazed around as he traveled. Soon his attention was fixed by a majestic pile of gray buildings which stood on an eminence.
At the gate of the famous labyrinth Ramses was greeted by a company of priests of ascetic exterior, and a small division of troops, every man in which was completely shaven.
"These men look like priests," said Ramses.
"They do, because every one in the ranks has received the inferior ordination, and centurions the superior," answered the high priest of the edifice.
When he looked more carefully at the faces of those strange warriors, who ate no meat and were celibates, the pharaoh noted in them calm energy and quickness, he noted also that his sacred person made no impression whatever in that place.
"I am very curious to learn how Samentu's secret plan will succeed," thought he. The pharaoh understood that it was impossible either to frighten those men or to bribe them. They were as self-confident in looks as if each one commanded countless regiments of spirits.
"We shall see," thought Ramses, "if they can frighten my Greeks and Asiatics, who, fortunately, are so wild that they do not know pompous faces."
At the request of the priests, the pharaoh's suite remained at the gate, as if under guard of the shaven soldiers.
"Must I leave my sword too?" asked Ramses.
"It will not harm us," answered the chief overseer.
The young pharaoh had the wish at least to slap the pious man with the side of his sword for such an answer, but he restrained himself.
Ramses and the priests entered the main building by an immense court and passed between two rows of sphinxes. Here in a very spacious, but somewhat dark, antechamber were eight doors, and the overseer inquired,
"Through which door dost Thou wish to go to the treasure, holiness?"
"Through that by which we can go the most quickly."
Each of five priests took two bundles of torches, but only one ignited a torch.
At his side stood the chief overseer holding in his hands a large string of beads on which were written certain characters. Behind them walked Ramses surrounded by three priests.
The high priest who held the beads turned to the right and entered a great hall, the walls and columns of which were covered with inscriptions and figures. From that they entered a narrow corridor, which led upward, and found themselves in a hall distinguished by a great number of doors. Here a tablet was pushed aside in the floor, discovering an opening through which they descended, and again advanced through a narrow corridor to a chamber which had no doors. But the guide touched one hieroglyph of many, and the wall moved aside before them.
Ramses tried to remember the direction in which they were going, but soon his attention was bewildered. He noted, however, that they passed hurriedly through great halls, small chambers, narrow corridors, that they climbed up or descended, that some halls had a multitude of doors and others none whatever. He observed at once that the guide at each new entrance dropped one bead from his long rosary, and sometimes, by the light of the torch, he compared the indications on the beads with those on the walls.
"Where are we now?" asked the pharaoh on a sudden, "beneath the earth, or above it?"
"We are in the power of the gods!" replied his neighbor.
After a number of turns and passages the pharaoh again said,
"But I think that we are here for the second time."
The priests were silent, but he who carried the torch held his light to the walls in one and another place, and Ramses, while looking, confessed in spirit that they had not been there before.
In a small chamber without doors they lowered the light, and the pharaoh saw on the pavement dried, black remains, covered with decayed clothing.
"That," said the overseer of the building, "is the body of a Phoenician who, during the sixteenth dynasty, tried to break into the labyrinth; he got thus far."
"Did they kill him?" inquired Ramses.
"He died of hunger."
The party had advanced again about half an hour, when the priest who bore the torch lighted a niche in the corridor where also dried remains were lying.
"This," said the overseer, "is the body of a Nubian priest, who in the time of thy grandfather, holiness, tried to enter the labyrinth."
The pharaoh made no inquiry as to what happened to this man. He had the impression of being in some depth and the feeling that the edifice would crush him. Of taking bearings amid those hundreds of corridors, halls, and chambers, he had no thought any longer. He did not even wish to explain to himself by what miracle those stone walls opened, or why pavements sank before him.
"Samentu will do nothing," said he in spirit. "He will perish like these two, whom I must even mention to him."
Such a crushing, such a feeling of helplessness and nothingness he had never experienced. At moments it seemed to him that the priests would leave him in one of those narrow doorless chambers. Then despair seized the young pharaoh; he touched his sword and was ready to cut them down. But he remembered directly that without their assistance he could not go hence, and he dropped his head.
"Oh to see the light of day, even for a moment! How terrible must death be among three thousand rooms filled with gloom or utter darkness!"
Heroic souls have moments of deep depression which the common man cannot even imagine.
The advance had lasted an hour almost when at last they entered a low hall resting on octagonal pillars. The three priests surrounding the pharaoh, separated then Ramses noticed that one of them nestled up to a column and vanished, as it were, in the interior of it.
After a while a narrow opening appeared in one of the walls, the priests returned to their places, and the guide commanded to light four torches. All turned toward that opening and pushed through it cautiously.
"Here are the chambers," said the overseer.
The priests lighted quickly torches which were fixed to the walls and columns. Ramses saw a series of immense chambers filled with most varied products of priceless value. In this collection every dynasty, if not every pharaoh, had placed from what he or it possessed, that which was most peculiar, or which had the most value.
There were chariots, boats, beds, tables, caskets, and thrones gold or covered with gold plate, also inlaid with ivory, mother-of-pearl and colored wood so ornamentally that artists must have worked tens of years at them. There were weapons, shields and quivers glittering with jewels. There were pitchers, plates, and spoons of pure gold, costly robes, and baldachins.
All this treasure, thanks to dry and pure air, was preserved without change during ages.
Among rare objects the pharaoh saw the silver model of the Assyrian palace brought to Ramses XII by Sargon. The high priest, while explaining to the pharaoh whence each gift came, looked at his face diligently. But in place of admiration for the treasures, he noticed dissatisfaction. "Tell me, worthiness," inquired Ramses on a sudden, "what good comes of these treasures shut up in darkness?"
"Should Egypt be in danger there would be great power in them," replied the overseer. "For a few of these helmets, chariots and swords we might buy the good-will of all the Assyrian satraps. And maybe even King Assar himself would not resist if we gave him furniture for his throne hall, or his arsenal."
"I think that they would rather take all from us by the sword than a few through good-will," said the pharaoh.
"Let them try!" replied the priest.
"I understand. Ye have then means of destroying the treasures. But in that case no one could make use of them."
"That is not a question for my mind," replied the overseer. "We guard what is given to us, and do what is ordered."
"Would it not be better to use a portion of these treasures to fill the coffers of the state and raise Egypt from the misery in which it is at present?" asked the pharaoh.
"That does not depend on us."
Ramses frowned. He examined things for some time without very great interest; at last he inquired,
"Yes, these products of art might be useful in gaining the good-will of Assyrian dignitaries; but if war were to break out with Assyria how could we get wheat, men, and arms from nations which have no knowledge of rare objects?"
"Open the treasury," said the high priest.
At this time the priests hurried in different directions: two vanished as if in the interior of columns, while a third went up along the wall on steps and did something near a carved figure.
Again a hidden door slipped aside and Ramses entered the real hall of treasure.
That was a spacious room filled with priceless objects. In it were earthen jars containing gold dust, lumps of gold piled up like bricks, and ingots of gold in packages. Blocks of silver stored at one side formed, as it were, a wall two ells thick and as high as the ceiling. In niches and on stone tables lay precious stones of every color: rubies, topazes, emeralds, sapphires, diamonds, pearls as large as nuts and even as birds' eggs. There were single jewels which equaled a town in value.
"This is our property in case of misfortune," said the overseer.
"For what misfortune are ye waiting?" inquired the pharaoh. "The people are poor, the nobility and the court are in debt, the army decreased one half, the pharaoh without money. Has Egypt ever been in a worse position?"
"It was in a worse position when the Hyksos conquered it."
"In a few years," replied Ramses, "even the Israelites will conquer this country unless the Libyans and Ethiopians precede them. And then these beautiful stones, broken into pieces, will go to ornament the sandals of black men and Hebrews."
"Be at rest, holiness. In case of need not only the treasure itself, but the labyrinth would vanish without a trace, together with its guardians."
Ramses understood thoroughly that he had before him fanatics who thought only of this: not to let any one possess that treasure. He sat down on a pile of gold bricks, and continued,
"Then ye are preserving this property for evil days in Egypt?"
"Thou speakest truth, holiness."
"But who will convince you, its guardians, that those days have come when they are really present?"
"To do that it would be necessary to call an extraordinary assembly of Egyptians, an assembly made up of the pharaoh, thirteen priests of the highest degree, thirteen nomarchs, thirteen nobles, thirteen officers, and thirteen of each of the following: merchants, artisans, and earth- tillers."
"Then ye would give to such an assembly the treasures?" asked the pharaoh.
"We would give the necessary sum if the whole assembly, as one man, decided that Egypt was in danger, and."
"And what?"
"If the statue of Amon in Thebes confirmed that decision."
Ramses dropped his head as if to hide his great satisfaction.
He had a plan ready.
"I shall be able to collect such an assembly and incline it to unanimity," thought the pharaoh. "Also it seems to me the divine statue of Amon will confirm the decision if I put my Asiatics around it."
"I thank you, pious men," said he aloud, "for showing me these precious things, the great value of which does not prevent me from being one among the poorest of sovereigns. And now I beg you to lead me hence by the shortest way possible and the most convenient."
"We wish thee, holiness, to double the wealth of the labyrinth. As to the road, there is only one, we must return as we came."
One of the priests gave Ramses dates, another a flask of wine mixed with some invigorating substance. Then the pharaoh recovered strength and went forward cheerfully.
"I would give much," said he, laughing, "to know all the turns of this wonderful passage."
The guiding priest stopped,
"I assure thee, holiness, that we ourselves do not understand or remember this road, though each one of us has entered a number of times by it."
"Then how do ye manage?"
"We have certain indications, but if one of these were to fail us, even at this moment we should die here of hunger."
They reached the antechamber at last and through it the courtyard. Ramses looked around and drew one breath of relief after another.
"For all the treasures of the labyrinth I would not guard them!" cried he. "Terror falls on my breast when I think that it is possible to die in those stone prisons."
"But it is possible to grow attached to them," replied the priest smiling.
The pharaoh thanked each of his guides, and concluded,
"I should be glad o show you some favor; ask for one."
The priests listened with indifference, and their chief answered,
"Pardon me, holiness, but what could we wish for? Our figs and dates are as sweet as those in thy garden, our water is as good as that from thy well. If wealth attracted us have we not more of it than all the kings put together?"
"I cannot win these men by anything," thought the pharaoh, "but I will give them a decision of the assembly, and a decision of Amon."
Chapter LVII
WHEN he left Fayum the pharaoh and his retinue advanced southward a number of days up the Nile, surrounded by a throng of boats, greeted by shouts, and covered with flowers.
On both banks of the river, on a background of green fields, extended an unbroken series of huts of the people, groves of fig trees, groups of palms. Every hour appeared the white houses of some village, or a larger place with colored buildings, and the immense pylons of temples.
On the west the wall of the Libyan hills was outlined not very distinctly; but on the east the Arabian line approached ever nearer to the river. It was possible to see clearly the steep, jagged cliffs, dark, yellow or rose colored, recalling by their forms the ruins of fortresses or of temples built by giants.
In the middle of the Nile they met islands which had risen from the water as it were yesterday, but were covered with rich vegetation today and were occupied by birds in countless numbers. When the noisy retinue of the pharaoh sailed near, the frightened birds flew up and, circling above the boats, joined their cries with the mighty sound of people. Above this all hung a transparent sky and light so full of life that in the flood of it the black earth assumed a brightness, and the stones rainbow colors.
Time passed, therefore, pleasantly for the pharaoh. At first the incessant cries irritated him somewhat, but later he grew so, accustomed that he turned no attention to them. He was able to read documents, take counsel, and even sleep.
From a hundred and fifty to two hundred miles above Fayum on the left bank of the Nile is Siut, where Ramses XIII took a rest of two days. He was even obliged to halt there, for the mummy of the late pharaoh was still in Abydos, where they were making solemn prayers at the grave of Osiris.
Siut was one of the richest parts of Upper Egypt. At that place were made the famous vessels of white and black clay, and there they wove linen. It was also the chief market-place to which people brought goods from the oases scattered throughout the desert. There besides was the famous temple of the jackal-headed god, Anubis.
On the second day of his stay in that place the priest Pentuer appeared before Ramses. He was the chief of that commission sent to investigate the condition of the people.
"Hast Thou news?" inquired the sovereign.
"I have this, O holiness, that all the country blesses thee. All with whom I speak are full of hope, and say, 'His reign will be a new life for Egypt.'."
"I wish," replied Ramses, "my subjects to be happy; I wish the toiling man to rest; I wish that Egypt might have eight millions of people as aforetime and win back that land seized from it by the desert; I wish the laborer to rest one day in seven and each man who digs the earth to have some little part of it."
Pentuer fell on his face before the kindly sovereign.
"Rise," said Ramses. "But I have had hours of grievous sadness: I see the suffering of my people; I wish to raise them, but the treasury is empty. Thou thyself knowest best that without some tens of thousands of talents I cannot venture on such changes. But now I am at rest; I can get the needed treasure from the labyrinth."
Pentuer looked at his sovereign with amazement.
"The overseer of the treasure explained to me what I am to do," said the pharaoh. "I must call a general council of all orders, thirteen of each order. And if they declare that Egypt is in need the labyrinth will furnish me with treasure."
"O gods!" added he, "for a couple for one of the jewels which lie there it would be possible to give the people fifty rest days in a year! Never will they be used to better purpose."
Pentuer shook his head.
"Lord," said he, "the six million Egyptians, with me and my friends before others, will agree that Thou take from that treasure. But, O holiness, be not deceived; one hundred of the highest dignitaries of the state will oppose, and then the labyrinth will give nothing."
"They wish me, then, to beg before some temple!" burst out the pharaoh.
"No," replied the priest. "They fear lest that treasure house be emptied once Thou touch it. They will suspect thy most faithful servants, holiness, of sharing in the profits flowing from the labyrinth. And then envy will whisper to each of them: 'Why shouldst Thou not profit also?' Not hatred of thee, holiness, but mutual distrust, greed, will urge them to resistance."
When he heard this the pharaoh was calm, he smiled even.
"If it be as Thou sayst, be at rest, beloved Pentuer. At this moment I understand exactly why Amon established the authority of the pharaoh and gave him superhuman power. For the purpose, seest thou, that a hundred, even of the most distinguished rascals, should not wreck the state."
Ramses rose from his armchair and added,
"Say to 'my people: Work and be patient. Say to the priests who are loyal: Serve the gods and cultivate wisdom, which is the sun of the universe. But those stubborn and suspicious dignitaries leave to my management. Woe to them if they anger me."
"Lord," said the priest, "I am thy faithful servant."
But when he had taken farewell and gone out care was evident on his face.
About seventy-five miles from Siut, higher up the Nile, the wild Arabian rocks almost touch the river, but the Libyan hills have pushed away so far from it that the valley at that point is perhaps the widest part of Egypt. Just there, side by side, stood Tibis and Abydos, two holy cities. There was born the first Egyptian pharaoh, Menes, there, a hundred thousand years before, were laid in the grave the holy relics of the god Osiris slain by Set (his brother Typhon) treacherously.
There, finally, in memory of those great events, the famous pharaoh Seti built a temple to which pilgrims came from every part of Egypt. Each believer was bound even once during life to bring his forehead to the blessed earth of Abydos. Truly happy was he whose mummy could make a journey to that place and halt even at a distance from the temple.
The mummy of Ramses XII spent two days there; for he had been a ruler noted for devotion. There is nothing wonderful in this, therefore, that Ramses XIII began his reign by rendering homage to the grave of Osiris.
Seti's temple was not among the oldest or most splendid in Egypt, but it was distinguished for pure Egyptian style. His holiness Ramses XIII, accompanied by Sem the high priest, visited the temple and made offerings in it.
The ground belonging to the edifice occupied a space of seventy-five hectares, on which were fish ponds, flower beds, orchards and vegetable gardens, besides the houses or rather villas of the temple priesthood. Everywhere grew poplars and acacias, as well as palm, fig, and orange trees which formed alleys directed toward the cardinal points of the world, or groups of trees of almost the same height and set out in order.
Under the watchful eyes of priests even the plant world did not develop according to its own impulses into irregular but picturesque groups; it was arranged in straight lines according to direction, or straight lines according to height, or in geometrical figures.
Palms, tamarinds, cypresses, and myrtles were arranged like warriors in ranks or columns. The grass was a divan shorn and ornamented with pictures made of flowers, not of any chance color, but of that color which was demanded. People looking from above saw pictures of gods or sacred beasts blooming on the turf near the temple; a sage found there aphorisms written out in hieroglyphs.
The central part of the gardens occupied a rectangular space nine hundred yards long and three hundred wide. This space was enclosed by a wall of no great height which had one visible gate and a number of secret entrances. Through the gate pious people entered the space which surrounded the dwelling of Osiris; this space was covered with a stone pavement. In the middle of the space stood the temple, a rectangular pile four hundred and fifty yards long and in width one hundred and fifty.
From the public gate to the temple was an avenue of sphinxes with human heads and lion bodies. They were in two lines, ten in each, and were gazing into each others' eyes. Only the highest dignitaries might pass between these sphinxes.
At the head of this avenue, and opposite the public gate, rose two obelisks or slender and lofty granite columns of four sides, on which was inscribed the history of the pharaoh Seti.
Beyond the obelisks rose the gate of the temple having at both sides of it gigantic piles in the form of truncated pyramids called pylons. These were like two strong towers, on the walls of which were paintings representing the visits of Seti, or the offerings which he made to divinities.
Earth-tillers were not permitted to pass this gate which was free only to wealthy citizens and the privileged classes. Through it was the entrance to the peristyle or court, surrounded by a corridor which had a multitude of columns. From this court, where there was room for ten thousand people, persons of the noble order might go still farther to the first hall, the hypostyle; this had a ceiling which rested on two rows of lofty columns, and there was space in it for two thousand worshippers. This hall was the last to which lay people were admitted. The highest dignitaries who had not received ordination had the right to pray there, and look thence at the veiled image of the god which rose in the hall of "divine apparition."
Beyond the hall of "divine apparition" was the chamber of "tables of offering," where priests placed before the gods gifts brought by the faithful. Next was the chamber of "repose," where the god rested when returning from or going to a procession, and last was the chapel or sanctuary where the god had his residence.
Usually the chapel was very small, dark, sometimes cut out of one block of stone. It was surrounded on all sides by chapels equally small, filled with garments, furniture, vessels and jewels of the god which in its inaccessible seclusion slept, bathed, was anointed with perfumes, ate, drank, and as it seems even received visits from young and beautiful women.
This sanctuary was entered only by the high priest, and the ruling pharaoh if he had received ordination. If an ordinary mortal entered he might lose his life there.
The walls and columns of each hall were covered with inscriptions and explanatory paintings. In the corridor surrounding the peristyle were the names and portraits of all the pharaohs from Menes the first ruler of Egypt to Ramses XII In the hypostyle, or hall for nobles, the geography and statistics of Egypt were presented pictorially, also the subject nations. In the hall of "apparition" were the calendar and the results of astronomical observation; in the chamber of "tables of offering," and in that of "repose" figured pictures relating to religious ceremonial, and in the sanctuary rules for summoning beings beyond the earth and controlling the phenomena of nature.
This last kind of knowledge was contained in statements so involved that even priests in the time of Ramses XII did not understand them. The Chaldean Beroes was to revive this expiring wisdom.
Ramses XIII, after he had rested two days in the official palace at Abydos, betook himself to the temple. He wore a white tunic, a gold breastplate, an apron with orange and blue stripes, a steel sword at his side and on his head a golden helmet. The pharaoh sat in a chariot drawn by horses adorned with ostrich plumes, and was conducted by nomarchs as he moved slowly toward the house of Osiris, surrounded by his officers.
Whithersoever he looked: toward the field, the river, the roofs of houses, or even the limbs of tamarind and fig-trees there was a throng of people, and an unceasing shout which was like the roar of a tempest.
When he arrived at the temple the pharaoh stopped his horses and descended before the public gate. This act pleased the common people and delighted the priesthood. He passed on foot along the avenue of sphinxes and, greeted by the holy men, burned incense before the statues of Seti which occupied both sides of the main entrance.
In the peristyle the high priest turned the attention of his holiness to the splendid portraits of the pharaohs, and pointed out the place selected for that of Ramses. In the hypostyle he indicated to him the meaning of the geographical maps and statistical tables.
In the chamber of "divine apparition" Ramses offered incense to the gigantic statue of Osiris, and the high priest showed him the columns dedicated to the separate planets: Mercury, Venus, the moon, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. The planets stood around statues of the sun god to the number of seven.
"Thou hast told me," said Ramses, "that there are six planets; meanwhile I see seven columns."
"The seventh represents the earth, which is also a planet."
The astonished pharaoh asked for explanation, but the sage was silent, indicating by signs that his lips were sealed on that subject.
In the chamber of the "tables of offering" was heard low but beautiful music, during which a solemn dance was given by a chorus of priestesses.
The pharaoh removed his golden helmet; next, his breastplate of great value, and gave both to Osiris, desiring that these gifts should remain in the treasury of the god, and not be transferred to the labyrinth.
In return for his bounty the high priest bestowed on the sovereign a most beautiful dancer fifteen years of age, who seemed greatly delighted with her fortune.
When the pharaoh found himself in the hall of "repose" he sat on the throne, and his substitute in religion, Sem, to the sound of music and amid the smoke of censers, entered the sanctuary to bring forth the divinity.
Half an hour later, to the deafening sound of bells, appeared in the gloom of the chamber a golden boat hidden by curtains which moved at times as if some living being were sitting behind them.
The priests prostrated themselves, and Ramses looked intently at the transparent curtains. One of these was turned aside and the pharaoh saw a child of rare beauty which looked at him with such wise eyes that the ruler of Egypt was almost afraid of it.
"This is Horus," whispered the priest. "Horus the rising sun. He is the son of Osiris and also his father, and the husband of his own mother, who is his sister."
The procession began, but only through the interior of the temple. In advance went harpers and female dancers, next a white bull with a golden shield between his horns, then two choruses of priests and high priests bearing the god, then choruses, and finally the pharaoh in a litter borne by eight priests of the temple.
When the procession had passed through all the corridors and halls of the temple, and the god and Ramses had returned to the chamber of repose, the curtain concealing the sacred boat slipped apart and the beautiful child smiled at the pharaoh.
After that Sem bore away the boat and the god to the chapel.
"One might become a high priest," said the pharaoh, who was so pleased with the child that he would have been glad to see it as often as possible.
But when he had gone forth from the temple and seen the sun and the throng of delighted people, he confessed in his soul that he understood nothing. He knew not whence they had brought that child, unlike any other child in Egypt, whence that superhuman wisdom in its eyes, nor what the meaning was of all that he himself had seen.
Suddenly he remembered his murdered son, who might have been as beautiful, and the ruler of Egypt wept in presence of a hundred thousand subjects.
"Converted! The pharaoh is converted!" said the priests. "Barely has he entered the dwelling of Osiris, and his heart is touched."
That same day one blind man and two paralytics, who were praying outside the walls of the temple, recovered health. The council of priests decided, therefore, to reckon that day in the list of those which were miraculous, and to paint a picture on the external wall of the edifice representing the weeping pharaoh and the cured people.
Ramses returned rather late in the afternoon to his palace to hear reports. When all the dignitaries had left the cabinet Tutmosis came in and said,
"Holiness, the priest Samentu wishes to pay thee homage."
"Well, let him come."
"He implores thee, lord, to receive him in a tent in the military camp; he asserts that the walls of the palace are fond of listening."
Before sunset, the pharaoh went with Tutmosis to his faithful troops and found among them the royal tent, at which Asiatics were on guard by command of Tutmosis.
In the evening came Samentu dressed in the garb of a pilgrim, and when he had greeted his holiness with honor, he whispered,
"It seems to me that I was followed the whole way by some man who has stopped not far from this tent, O holiness. Perhaps he was sent by the high priests."
At the pharaoh's command Tutmosis ran out, and found, in fact, a strange officer.
"Who art thou?" asked he.
"I am Eunana, a centurion in the regiment of Isis. The unfortunate Eunana. Dost Thou not remember me, worthiness? More than a year ago at the maneuvers near Pi-Bailos I discovered the sacred scarabs."
"Ah, that is thou!" interrupted Tutmosis. "But thy regiment is not in Abydos?"
"The water of truth flows from thy lips. We are quartered at a wretched place near Mena where the priests have commanded us to clear a canal, as if we were Hebrews or earthdiggers."
"How hast Thou appeared here?"
"I implored my superiors for a rest of some days, and like a deer thirsting for a spring I, thanks to the swiftness of my feet, have hurried hither."
"What dost Thou wish, then?"
"I wish to beg favor of his holiness against the shaven heads who give me no promotion because I am sensitive to the sufferings of warriors."
Tutmosis returned to the tent, ill-humored, and repeated the conversation to the pharaoh.
"Eunana?" repeated the sovereign. "Yes, I remember him. He caused us trouble with his beetles, but got fifty blows of a stick through Herhor. And Thou sayst that he complains of the priests? Bring him hither."
The pharaoh told Samentu to go into the second division of the tent.
The unfortunate officer soon showed himself. He fell with his face to the earth, and then kneeling, and sighing, continued,
"I pray every day at his rising and setting to Re Harmachis, and to Amon, and Re, and Ptah, and to other gods and goddesses, for thy health, O sovereign of Egypt! That Thou live! That Thou have success, and that I might see even the splendor of thy heel." [Authentic]
"What does he wish?" asked the pharaoh of Tutmosis, observing etiquette for the first time.
"His holiness is pleased to inquire what thy wish is?" repeated Tutmosis.
The deceitful Eunana, remaining on his knees, turned toward the favorite, and said,
"Thou art the ear and eye of the land; Thou givest delight and life, hence I will answer thee as at the judgment of Osiris: I have served in the priests' regiment of the divine Isis ten years; I have fought six years on the eastern boundary. Men of my age are commanders of thousands, but I am only a centurion. I receive blows of sticks at command of the god-fearing priests. And why is such injustice done me? In the day-time I think of books, and at night I read them, since the fool who leaves books as quickly as a gazelle takes to flight is of low mind; he is like the ass which receives lashes, like the deaf man who does not hear, and with whom one must speak with his fingers. In spite of my love for science I am not puffed up with my own knowledge, but I take counsel with all, for from each man it is possible to learn something, and I surround with my esteem worthy sages."
The pharaoh moved impatiently, but listened on, knowing that an Egyptian considered garrulousness as his duty and the highest honor to superiors.
"This is what I am," said Eunana. "In a strange house I look not at women. I give my attendants to eat what is proper, but when my turn comes I dispute not about the division. I have a face which is satisfied at all times, and in presence of superiors I act respectfully. I never sit in the presence of an older man standing; I am not forward, and without invitation I go not into other men's houses. I am silent touching that which my eyes see, for I know that we are deaf to men who use many words.
"Wisdom teaches that the body of a man is like a granary full of various objects. Therefore, I choose at all times the good that is in me and express it. I keep the bad shut up in my person. The deceits of other men I repeat not, and as to that which is committed to me I always accomplish it in the best manner possible.
"And what is my reward?" finished Eunana, raising his voice; "I suffer cold, I go in rags, I am not able to lie on my back, it is so beaten. I read in books that the priestly order rewards valor and prudence. Indeed! that must have been at some other time, and very long ago. For the priests of today turn from men of ability and drive strength and valor out of the bones of officers."
"I shall fall asleep in presence of this man," said the pharaoh.
"Eunana," said Tutmosis, "his holiness is convinced that Thou art expert in books, but tell now in as few words as possible what thy wish is."
"An arrow does not go so quickly to its mark as my request will fly to the divine feet of his holiness," replied Eunana. "The service of the shaven heads has so disgusted me, the priests have filled my heart with such bitterness, that if I am not transferred to the army of the pharaoh, I shall pierce myself with my own sword, before which the enemies of Egypt have trembled more than one time and more than a hundred times. I would rather be a decurion, nay a simple warrior of his holiness than a centurion in priestly regiments; a pig or a dog may serve them, but not a believing Egyptian!"
Eunana uttered the last words with such mad anger that the pharaoh said in Greek to Tutmosis,
"Take him to the guard. An officer who does not like the priests may be of use to us."
"His holiness, the lord of both worlds has given command to receive thee into his guard," repeated Tutmosis.
"My health and life belong to our lord. May he live through eternity!" exclaimed Eunana, and he kissed the footstool beneath the feet of the pharaoh.
Eunana, now made happy, moved backward, falling on his face after every couple of steps, and left the tent, blessing his sovereign.
"His garrulousness irritated me," said Ramses. "I must teach Egyptian soldiers and officers to speak briefly, not like learned scribes."
"May the gods grant that to be his only failing," whispered Tutmosis, on whom Eunana had made a bad impression.
Ramses summoned Samentu.
"Be at rest," said he to the priest. "That officer who came after thee was not following. He is too stupid for commissions of that sort. But a heavy hand may be used in case of necessity. Well, now, tell me what inclined thee to such cautiousness?"
"I know, almost, the road to the treasure chambers in the labyrinth," said Samentu.
The pharaoh shook his head.
"That is a difficult task," said he in a low voice. "I ran an hour through various halls and corridors, like a mouse chased by a cat. And I confess that, not merely did I not understand that road, but I could not have even escaped from the place unattended. Death in the sunlight may be pleasant, but death in those dens, where a mole would lose its way! Brr!"
"Still we must find that road and master it," said Samentu.
"But if the overseers themselves give the necessary part of the treasure," inquired the pharaoh.
"They will not do that while Mefres, Herhor, and their confederates are living. Believe me, sovereign, the question for those dignitaries is to roll thee in swaddling clothes, like an infant."
Ramses grew pale from anger.
"Unless I wind them in chains! How wilt Thou discover the way?"
"Here in Abydos, in the grave of Osiris, I found the whole plan of the road to the treasure," said Samentu.
"But how didst Thou learn that it was here?"
"Inscriptions in my temple of Set explained that to me."
"When didst Thou find the plan?"
"When the mummy of thy eternally living father, O holiness, was in the temple of Osiris. I accompanied the revered relics and while on night service in the hall of 'repose' I entered the sanctuary."
"Thou shouldst be a general, not a high priest!" cried Ramses, laughing. "And now Thou understandest the way of the labyrinth?"
"I have understood it this long time, now I have taken indications for guidance."
"Canst Thou explain it to me?"
"Of course, at the right time, I will even show thee a plan, holiness. That way," continued Samentu, "passes in zigzags four times through the whole labyrinth; it begins on the upper story and ends in the lowest place underground, and has a number of other twists. That is why it is so long."
"And how couldst Thou go from one hall to another when there is such a multitude of doors in them?"
"On every door leading to the object there is a portion of this sentence: 'Woe to the traitor who tries to penetrate the supreme secret of the state and to stretch forth a sacrilegious hand toward the treasure of the gods. His remains will be like offal, and his soul, torn by its sins, will wander without rest, through dark places.'"
"And that inscription does not terrify thee?"
"But, holiness, does the sight of a Libyan spear terrify thee? Threats are good against common people, but not against me, who am able myself to write curses still more dreadful."
The pharaoh fell to thinking.
"Thou art right," said he. "A spear will not harm him who knows how to ward it off, and a deceitful road will not lead astray the sage who knows the word of truth. But how wilt Thou manage to make stones in the wall move apart before thee, and columns change into doors of entrance?"
Samentu shrugged his shoulders contemptuously.
"In my temple," replied he, "there are imperceptible entrances even more difficult to open than those in the labyrinth. Whoso knows the key to a mystery can go everywhere, as Thou hast said justly, O holiness."
Ramses rested his head on his hand and continued thinking.
"I should be sorry," said he, "if misfortune were to meet thee on the way."
"In the worst event I shall meet death, and does not death threaten even a pharaoh. Besides, didst Thou not march to the Soda Lakes boldly, though Thou wert not sure of returning? And, lord, think not," continued the priest, "that I must pass over the same distance as other men who visit the labyrinth. I shall find nearer points, and in the course of one prayer to Osiris I can reach a place which Thou wouldst only reach after thirty prayers."
"But are there other entrances?"
"There are, most assuredly, and I must find them. I shall not enter as Thou didst, by the main gate or in the daytime."
"How then?"
"There are external doors which I know and which the wise overseers of the labyrinth leave unguarded. In the court the watches are not numerous and they trust so much to the care of the gods, or to the fear of the people that they sleep in the night time most frequently. Besides, the priests go to pray in the temple three times between sunset and sunrise, but the guards perform their devotions in the open air. Before one prayer is finished I shall be in the edifice."
"And if Thou go astray?"
"I have a plan."
"But if the plan is imperfect?" asked the pharaoh, unable to hide his anxiety.
"But, holiness, if Thou obtain not the treasures of the labyrinth? If the Phoenicians change their minds and refuse the promised loan? If the army be hungry, and the hopes of the common people be deceived? Be pleased to believe me, lord," continued the priest, "that I amid the corridors of the labyrinth shall be safer than Thou in thy kingdom of Egypt."
"But the darkness the darkness! And the walls which one cannot break through, and the depth, and those hundreds of ways in which he who enters must lose himself. Believe me, Samentu, a battle with men is amusement, but a conflict with darkness and doubt that is dreadful."
"Holiness," answered Samentu, smiling, "Thou dost not know my life. At the age of twenty-five I was a priest of Osiris."
"Thou?" asked Ramses, with astonishment.
"I, and I will tell at once why I passed to the service of Set. They sent me to the peninsula of Sinai to build a small chapel for miners. The labor of building continued six years. I, had much free time and wandered among mountains, examining the caves in them.
"What have I not seen in those places! Corridors so long that it took hours to pass through them, narrow entrances through which if a man passes he must crawl on his stomach; chambers so immense that in each a whole temple might find room sufficient. I saw underground rivers, lakes, crystal chambers, dens totally dark in which no man could see his own hand, again others in which there was as much light as if a second sun had been shining there.
"How often have I been lost in countless passages, how often has my torch gone out, how often was I approaching an unseen precipice? I have passed many days in subterranean places, living on parched barley, licking the moisture from wet rocks, not knowing whether I should ever see this upper world again.
"But I gained experience. My vision grew sharp and I even came to love those underground regions. And today when I think of the childish recesses of the labyrinth I am ready for laughter. Edifices built by men are like mole-hills when compared with the immense structures reared by those silent and invisible earth spirits.
"But once I met a dreadful thing which brought me to change my position. West from the quarries of Sinai is a group of ravines and mountains among which subterranean thunders are heard frequently, the earth trembles, and flames are seen sometimes. I was made curious, so I went there for a longer visit. I sought, and, thanks to an inconsiderable opening, I discovered a whole chain of immense caves under the arches of which it would be possible to place the largest pyramid.
"When I wandered into those places I was met by a smell of putrefaction, a smell so strong that I wished to flee from it. But, conquering myself, I entered the cave whence it came, and beheld Imagine, lord, a man with legs and arms shorter by one half than ours, but thick, awkward, and with claws at their extremities. Add to this figure a broad tail, flattened at the side, indented like the comb of a cock, a very long neck, and on it a dog's head. Finally, dress this monster in armor covered on the back with carved spikes. Now imagine that figure standing on its feet with arms and breast resting against a cliff."
"That was something very ugly," put in Ramses; "I should have killed it immediately."
"It was not ugly," answered Samentu, shaking himself. "For think, lord, that monster was as tall as an obelisk."
Ramses made a movement of displeasure.
"Samentu," said he, "it seems to me that Thou didst visit thy caves in a dream."
"I swear to thee, holiness, by the life of my children!" exclaimed the priest, "that I speak truth. Yes; that monster in the skin of a reptile covered with a scaly armor, if lying on the ground, would with its tail be fifty paces long. In spite of fear and repulsion I returned a number of times to that cave and examined the creature most carefully."
"Then it was alive?"
"No, it was dead. Dead a very long time, but preserved like our mummies. The great dryness of the air preserved it, and perhaps some. salt of the earth unknown to me.
"That was my last discovery," continued Samentu. "I went no more into caves, for I meditated greatly. 'Osiris,' said I, 'creates lions, elephants, horses, and Set gives birth to serpents, bats, crocodiles; the monster which I met is surely a creation of Set, and since it exceeds everything known by us under the sun, Set is a mightier god than Osiris.'
"So I turned to Set, and on returning to Egypt fixed myself in his temple. When I told the priests of my discovery they explained to me that they knew a great many monsters of that sort."
Samentu drew breath, then continued,
"Shouldst Thou desire to visit our temple at any time, holiness, I will show thee wondrous and terrible beings in coffins: geese with lizards' heads and bats' wings. Lizards like swans, but larger than ostriches, crocodiles three times as long as those which live now in the Nile, frogs as bulky as mastiffs. Those are mummies, or skeletons found in caves and preserved in our coffins. People think that we adore them, but we merely save them from decay and examine their structure."
"I shall believe thee when I see them myself," replied the pharaoh. "But tell me, whence could such creatures come?"
"The world in which we live, holiness, has suffered great changes. In Egypt itself we find ruins of cities and temples hidden in the earth deeply. There was a time when that which is now Lower Egypt was an arm of the sea, and the Nile flowed through the whole width of our valley. Still earlier the sea was here, where this kingdom is now. Our ancestors inhabited the region which the western desert has taken. Still earlier tens of thousands of years ago the people were not as we are, they rather resembled monkeys, but they knew how to build huts, they had fire, and they used stones and clubs in fighting.
"There were no horses in those days, nor bulls; while elephants, rhinoceroses and lions were three or even four times as large as those beasts are in our time.
"But enormous elephants were not the first creatures. Before them lived immense reptiles: flying, swimming, and walking. Earlier than the reptiles in this world there were only snails and fish, and before them only plants, but plants such as exist not at present."
"And still earlier?" inquired Ramses.
"Still earlier the earth was empty and void, and the spirit of God moved over the waters."
"I have heard something of this," said Ramses, "but I shall not believe it till Thou show me mummies of monsters which, as Thou sayst, are in thy temple."
"With permission, holiness, I will finish what I have begun," said Samentu. "When I saw that immense body in the cave at Sinai fear seized me, and for two years or more I entered no cave of any kind. But when priests of Set explained to me the origin of such wonderful creatures my alarm vanished and curiosity rose up in place of it. I have no pleasanter amusement today than to wander in subterranean places and search for ways amid darkness. For this reason the labyrinth will not cause me more trouble than a walk through the pharaoh's garden."
"Samentu," said the sovereign, "I esteem thy marvelous daring and thy wisdom; Thou hast told me so many curious things that indeed I myself have conceived a wish to examine caves, and some time I will even go with thee to Sinai. Still I have fears as to thy conquest of the labyrinth, and in every event I will summon an assembly of Egyptians to empower me to use its treasures."
"That will do no harm," replied the priest. "But none the less will my labor be needed, since Mefres and Herhor will never consent to yield the treasure."
"And art Thou sure of success?" inquired Ramses persistently.
"Since Egypt is Egypt," said Samentu, "there has not been a man who had such means to win victory as I have. This encounter is for me not even a struggle, but an amusement. Darkness terrifies some men; I love darkness and can even see in the midst of it. Others are unable to guide themselves among the numerous chambers and corridors; I shall do that very easily. Besides, the secrets of opening hidden doors are unknown to other men, while I know them thoroughly.
"Had I nothing beyond what I have recounted I should discover the ways of the labyrinth in one month or in two, but I have besides a detailed plan of those passages and I know the expressions which will lead me from hall to hall. What then can hinder me?"
"Still doubt is concealed at the bottom of thy heart; Thou didst fear that officer who seemed to pursue thee."
The priest shrugged his shoulders.
"I fear nothing and no man," replied he with calmness, "but I am cautious. I provide against everything, and I am prepared even for this, that they may seize me."
"Dreadful tortures would await thee in that case!" whispered Ramses.
"No tortures. I shall open a door directly from the subterranean chamber of the labyrinth to the land of endless light."
"And wilt Thou not be sorry for me?"
"Why should I? I aim at a great object; I wish to occupy Herhor's place."
"I swear that Thou shalt have it."
"Unless I perish," added Samentu. "But if I go along precipices to mountain summits, and in that wandering my foot slips and I fall, what does it signify? Thou, lord, wilt care for the future of my children?"
"Go forward," said Ramses. "Thou art worthy to be my foremost assistant."
Chapter LVIII
AFTER leaving Abydos, Ramses XIII sailed up the Nile to the city of Tan-ta-ren (Dendera) and Keneh, which stood nearly opposite each other: one on the western, the other on the eastern bank of the river. At Tan- ta-ren were two famous places: the pond in which crocodiles were reared, and the temple of Hator, where there was a school at which were taught medicine, sacred hymns, the methods of celebrating divine ceremonies, finally astronomy.
The pharaoh visited both places. He was irritated when they directed him to burn incense before the sacred crocodiles, which he considered as foul and stupid reptiles. And when one of these in time of offering pushed out too far and seized the sovereign's garment with its teeth, Ramses struck it on the head with a bronze ladle so violently that the reptile closed its eyes for a time, and spread its legs, then withdrew and crept into the water, as if understanding that the youthful sovereign did not wish to be familiar even with divinities.
"But have I committed sacrilege?" inquired Ramses of the high priest.
The dignitary looked around stealthily to see if any one were listening, and answered,
"If I had known, holiness, that Thou wouldst make it an offering in that way, I should have given thee a club, not a censer. That crocodile is the most unendurable brute in the whole temple. Once it seized a child."
"And ate it?"
"The parents were satisfied!" said the priest.
"Tell me," said the pharaoh, after thinking, "how can ye sages render homage to beasts which, moreover, when there are no witnesses, ye beat with sticks?"
The high priest looked around again, and seeing no one near by, he answered,
"Of course Thou canst not suspect, sovereign, that worshippers of one god believe in the divinity of beasts. What is done is done for the people."
In the temple of Hator the pharaoh passed quickly through the school of medicine, and listened without great interest to predictions given by astrologers concerning him. When the astrologer high priest showed him a tablet on which was engraved a map of heaven, he asked,
"How often do these predictions come true which ye read in the stars?"
"They come true sometimes."
"But if ye predict from trees, stones, or running water, do those predictions come true also?"
The high priest was troubled.
"Holiness, do not consider us untruthful. We predict the future for people because it concerns them, and we tell them, indeed, what they can understand of astronomy."
"And what do ye understand?"
"We understand," said the priest, "the structure of the heavenly dome and the movement of the stars."
"What good is that to any one?"
"We have rendered no small service to Egypt. We indicate the main directions according to which edifices are built and canals are dug. Without the aid of our science vessels sailing on the sea could not go far from laud. Finally we compose calendars and calculate future heavenly phenomena. For instance, the sun will be eclipsed within a short period."
Ramses was not listening; he had turned and gone out.
"How is it possible," thought the pharaoh, "to build a temple for such childish amusements, and besides to engrave the results on golden tablets? These holy men do not know what to snatch at from idleness."
After he had remained a short time in Tan-ta-ren, the sovereign crossed over to Keneh.
In that place were no celebrated temples, incensed crocodiles, or golden tablets with stars. But commerce and pottery flourished. From that city went two roads to ports on the Red Sea: Koseir and Berenice, also a road to the porphyry mountains, whence they brought statues and great sticks of timber.
Keneh was swarming with Phoenicians who received the sovereign with great enthusiasm, and presented him with valuables to the amount of ten talents.
In spite of this, the pharaoh remained barely one day there, since they informed him from Thebes that the revered body of Ramses XII was already in the palace of Luxor awaiting its burial.
At that epoch Thebes was an immense city occupying about twelve square kilometers of area. It possessed the greatest temple in Egypt: that of Amon, also a multitude of edifices, private and public. The main streets were broad, straight, and paved with stone slabs, the banks of the Nile had their boulevards, the houses were four or five stories high.
Since every temple and palace had a great gateway with pylons Thebes was called "the city of a hundred gates." It was a city on the one hand greatly given to commerce and trade, and on the other, the threshold, as it were, of eternity. On the western bank of the Nile, in the hills and among them, was an incalculable number of tombs of pharaohs, priests, and magnates.
Thebes was indebted for its splendor to two pharaohs: Amenophis III or Memnon, who found it a "city of mud and left it a city of stone," and Ramses II, who finished and perfected the edifices begun by Amenophis.
On the eastern bank of the Nile, in the southern part of the city, was an entire quarter of immense regal edifices: palaces, villas, temples, on the ruins of which the small town of Luxor stands at present. In that quarter the remains of Ramses XII were placed for the last ceremonies.
When Ramses XIII arrived all Thebes went forth to greet him, only old men and cripples remained in the houses, and thieves in the alleys. Here, for the first time, the people took the horses from the pharaoh's chariot and drew it themselves. Here for the first time the pharaoh heard shouts against the abuses of priests. This comforted him; also cries that every seventh day should be for rest. He desired to make that gift to toiling Egypt, but he knew not that his plans had become known, and that the people were waiting to see them accomplished.
His journey of five miles lasted a couple of hours amid dense crowds of people. The pharaoh's chariot was stopped very often in the midst of a throng, and did not move till the guard of his holiness had raised those who lay prostrate before it.
When at last he reached the palace gardens where he was to occupy one of the smaller villas, the pharaoh was so wearied that he did not occupy himself with affairs of state on his arrival. Next day, however, he burnt incense before the mummy of his father, which was in the main royal chamber, and informed Herhor that they might conduct the remains to the tomb prepared for them.
But this ceremony was not performed immediately.
They conveyed the late pharaoh to the temple of Ramses, where it remained a clay and a night. Then they bore the mummy with boundless magnificence to the temple of Amon-Ra.
The details of the funeral ceremony were the same as in Memphis, though incomparably grander.
The royal palaces on the right bank of the Nile were on the southern end of the city, while the temple of Amon-Ra was in the northern part of it. These were connected by a road unique in character. This was an avenue two kilometers long, very broad, lined not only with immense trees, but with two rows of sphinxes. Some of these with lions' bodies had human heads, others had rams' heads. There were several hundreds of these statues on the avenue, at both sides of which countless throngs of people had assembled from Thebes and the surrounding region. Along the middle of the avenue moved the funeral procession. Advancing to the music of various regiments were detachments of female wailers, choruses of singers, all the guilds of artisans and merchants, deputations from some tens of provinces with their gods and banners, deputations from more than ten nations which kept up relations with Egypt. And again walkers' music and priestly choruses.
This time the mummy of the pharaoh advanced in a golden boat also, but incomparably richer than that in Memphis. The car which bore it was drawn by eight pair of white bulls; this car, two stories high, was almost concealed under garlands, bouquets, ostrich plumes, and precious woven stuffs. It was surrounded by a dense cloud of smoke from censers, which produced the impression that Ramses XII was appearing to his people in clouds like a divinity.
From the pylons of all Theban temples came thunder-like outbursts and with them loud and rapid sounds from the clashing of bronze disks.
Though the avenue of sphinxes was free and wide, though the procession took place under the direction of Egyptian generals, and therefore with the greatest order, the procession spent three hours in passing those two kilometers between the palace and the edifices of Amon.
Only when the mummy of Ramses XII was borne into the temple did Ramses XIII drive forth from the palace in a golden chariot drawn by a pair of splendid horses. The people standing along the avenue, who during the time of the procession had held themselves quietly, burst out at sight of the beloved sovereign into a shout so immense that the thunders and sounds from the summits of all the temples were lost in it.
There was a moment when that mighty throng, borne away by excitement, would have rushed to the middle of the avenue and surrounded their sovereign. But Ramses, with one motion of his hand, restrained the living deluge and prevented the sacrilege.
In the course of some minutes the pharaoh passed over the road and halted before the immense pylons of the noblest temple in Egypt.
As Luxor was the quarter of palaces in the south, so Karnak was the quarter of divinities on the northern side of the city. The temple of Amon-Ra formed the main centre of Karnak.
This building alone occupied two hectares of space, and the gardens and ponds around it about twenty. Before the temple stood two pylons forty meters high. The forecourt, surrounded by a corridor resting on columns, occupied nearly one hectare, the hall of columns in which were assembled the privileged classes was half a hectare in extent. This was not the edifice yet, but the approach to it.
That hall, or hypostyle, was more than a hundred and fifty yards long and seventy-five yards in width, its ceiling rested on one hundred and thirty-four columns. Among these the twelve central ones were fifteen yards in circumference and from twenty to twenty-four meters high.
The statues disposed in the temple near the pylons, and at the sacred lakes accorded in size with all other parts of Karnak.
In the immense gate the worthy Herhor, the high priest of that temple, was waiting for Ramses. Surrounded by a whole staff of priests Herhor greeted the pharaoh almost haughtily, and while burning a censer before the sovereign he did not look at him. Then he conducted Ramses to the hypostyle and gave the order to admit deputations within the wall of the temple.
In the midst of the hypostyle stood the boat with the mummy of the departed sovereign, and on both sides of it, two thrones of equal height stood opposed to each other. On one of these Ramses took his place surrounded by nomarchs and generals, on the other sat Herhor surrounded by the priesthood. Then the high priest Mefres gave Herhor the miter of Amenhotep and the young pharaoh for the second time beheld on the head of the high priest the golden serpent, the symbol of regal authority.
Ramses grew pale from rage, and thought: "Shall I need to remove the ureus and thy head at the same time?"
But he was silent, knowing that in that greatest of Egyptian temples Herhor was lord, the equal of the gods, and a potentate perhaps greater than the pharaoh.
During this time when the people filled the court, behind the purple curtain dividing the rest of the temple from mortals were heard harps and low singing. Ramses looked at the hall. A whole forest of mighty columns covered from above to the bases with paintings, the mysterious lighting, the ceiling far up near the sky somewhere, produced on him an effect that was crushing.
"What does it signify," thought he, "to win a battle at the Soda Lakes? To build an edifice like this is an exploit! But those priests built it."
At that moment he felt the power of the priestly order. Could he, his army, or even the whole people overturn that temple? And if it would be difficult to deal with the edifice would it be easier to struggle with its builders? The voice of the high priest Mefres roused him from disagreeable meditations.
"Holiness," said the old man; "Thou most worthy confidant of the gods" (here he bowed to Herhor); "ye nomarchs, scribes, warriors, and common people, the most worthy high priest of this temple, Herhor, invites you to judge, according to ancient custom, the earthly acts of the late pharaoh, and to acknowledge or deny to him burial."
Anger rushed to the head of Ramses. "It was not enough that they insulted him in that place, but in addition they dare to discuss the deeds of his father, to decide as to his burial."
But he calmed himself; that was only a formality, as ancient, in fact, as the Egyptian dynasties. It related not to judgment, but to praise of the departed.
At a sign given by Herhor the high priests took their seats on stools. But neither the nomarchs nor the generals surrounding the throne of Ramses were seated; there were not even stools for them.
The pharaoh fixed in his memory that insult also; 'but he had so mastered himself now that it was impossible to learn whether he noticed the disregard shown those near him.
Meanwhile the holy Mefres dwelt on the life of the deceased pharaoh.
"Ramses XII," said he, "did not commit any of the forty-two sins, hence the court of the gods pronounces a gracious verdict regarding him. And since, moreover, the royal mummy, thanks to the exceptional care of the priests, is provided with every amulet, prayer, direction, and spell, there is no doubt that the late pharaoh is now in the dwelling of the gods, sitting at the side of Osiris, and is himself Osiris.
"During his earthly life the divine nature of Ramses XII was made manifest. He reigned more than thirty years. He gave the people profound peace and erected or finished many temples. Besides, he was himself a high priest and surpassed in piety the most pious. During his reign honor to the gods and elevation of the sacred priestly order held the chief position. Therefore he was beloved of the heavenly powers, and one of the Theban gods, Khonsu, at the prayer of the pharaoh, was pleased to go to the country of Buchten, and expel an evil spirit from the king's daughter."
Mefres drew breath and continued,
"When I have shown your worthinesses that Ramses XII was a god, will ye inquire with what object that higher being came down to the Egyptian land and spent some tens of years here?
"He did so to reform the world, which, through decay of faith, is much corrupted. For who is occupied in devotion today, who thinks of obeying the will of the gods in our time?
"In the distant north we see the great Assyrian people who believe only in the power of the sword, and who, instead of giving themselves to devotion and wisdom, are subjecting other nations. Nearer to us are Phoenicians, whose god is gold, and whose worship is mere fraud and usury. There are others also: the Hittites on the East, the Libyans on the west, the Ethiopians on the south, and the Greeks of the Mediterranean, those are barbarians and robbers. Instead of toiling they rob, instead of working wisdom they drink, play dice, or sleep like tired animals.
"In the world there is only one really wise and pious people, the Egyptians; but see what is happening among us. Because of the influx of infidel foreigners, religion has fallen here also. Nobles and officials at their wine cups revile eternal life and the gods, while the people throw mud at sacred statues and make no offerings to temples.
"Excess has taken the place of devotion, riot the place of wisdom. Each man wants to wear immense wigs, and anoint himself with rare perfumes; he would have tunics and aprons woven with gold, wear chains and bracelets set with jewels. A barley cake suffices him no longer: he wants wheaten bread with milk and honey; he washes his feet in beer and quenches his thirst with wine from foreign countries.
"Because of this all nobles are in debt, the people are beaten and overloaded with labor; here and there rebellions break out. What do I say! here and there? During a certain time through the length and the breadth of Egypt, thanks to secret disturbances, we hear the shout: 'Give us rest after every six days of labor! Do not beat us without judgment! Give each man of us a plot of land as his property!'
"This is a declaration of ruin for Egypt, against which we must find rescue. The rescue is only in religion, which teaches that the people should labor. Holy men, as persons knowing the will of the gods, should indicate the labor, and it is the duty of the pharaoh and his officials to see that this labor is carried out actually.
"Religion teaches all this; according to these principles Ramses XII, who was equal to the gods, governed Egypt. We high priests, knowing his devotion, will cut out the following inscription on his tomb and on the temples:
"The bull Horus, the mighty Apes who united the crowns of the kingdom, the golden falcon wielding the saber, the conqueror of nine nations, the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, the ruler of two worlds, the son of the sun, Amen-Mer-Ramses, beloved of Amon-Ra, the lord and ruler of the Theban region, the son of Amon-Ra received as son by Horus, and begotten by Hormach, King of Egypt, ruler of Phoenicia, lord of nine nations." [Authentic tomb inscription. ]
When this proposal was confirmed by a shout of those assembled, dancers ran out from behind the curtain and performed a sacred dance before the sarcophagus, and the priests burned incense. Then they took the mummy from the boat and bore it to the sanctuary of Amon into which Ramses XIII had not the right to enter.
The service ended soon after and the assembly left the temple.
While returning to the palace of Luxor the young pharaoh was so sunk in thought that he hardly saw the immense throng of people and did not hear the shouts which rose from it.
"I cannot deceive my own heart," thought Ramses. "The high priests insult me; this has not happened to any pharaoh till my time; more, they point out to me the way in which I can gain their favor. They wish to manage the state, and I am to see that their commands are accomplished.
"But it will be otherwise: I shall command and ye must accomplish. Either my royal foot will be planted on your necks or I shall perish."
For two days the revered mummy of Ramses XII remained in the temple of Amon, in a place so sacred that even high priests might not enter, save only Herhor and Mefres. Before the deceased only one lamp was burning, the flame of which, nourished in a miraculous manner, was never extinguished. Over the deceased hung the symbol of the spirit, a man- headed falcon. Whether it was a machine, or really a living being, was known to no one. This is certain, that priests who had the courage to look behind the curtain stealthily saw that this being kept one place in the air unsupported while its lips and eyes continued moving.
The continuation of the funeral began, and the golden boat carried the deceased to the other side of the river. But first it passed through the main street of Thebes surrounded by an immense retinue of priests, wailers, warriors, and people, amid incense, music, wailing and chanting. This was perhaps the most beautiful street in all Egypt. It was broad, smooth, lined with trees. Its houses, four and even five stories high, were covered from roof to foundation with mosaic or with bas-reliefs in colors. It looked as if those buildings had been hung with immense colored tapestry or hidden by colossal pictures representing the work and occupations of merchants, artisans, mariners, also distant lands and their people. In one word that was not a street, but a colossal gallery of pictures, barbarous as to the drawing, but brilliant in colors.
The funeral procession advanced about two kilometers from the north to the south, keeping more or less the centre of the city, then it turned westward toward the river.
In the middle of the river opposite this point was a large island connected by a bridge of boats with the city. To avoid accidents the generals in command reformed the procession; they put four people in a rank, ordered them to move very slowly and forbade them to keep step. With this object the different bands of music at the head of the multitude each played different music.
After a couple of hours the procession passed the first bridge, next the island, then the second bridge, and was on the western bank of the river.
If we might call the eastern part of Thebes the city of gods and kings, the western quarter was that of tombs and mortuary temples.
The procession advanced from the Nile toward the Libyan hills by the middle road. South of this road, on an eminence, stood a temple, commemorating the victories of Ramses III, the walls of which are covered with pictures of conquered nations: Hittites, Amorites, Philistines, Ethiopians, Arabs, Libyans. A little lower down rose two colossal statues of Amenhotep II, the height of which, notwithstanding their sitting posture, was twenty meters. One of these statues was distinguished by the miraculous property that when struck by the rays of the rising sun it gave out sounds like those of a harp whenever chords snap in it.
Still nearer the road, but always on the left, stood the Ramesseum, a beautiful though not very large temple which was built by Ramses II. The entrance to this edifice was guarded by statues with the royal insignia in their hands. In the forecourt towered the statue of Ramses II to the height of sixteen meters.
The road rose gradually, and a very steep eminence became more and more visible; this was as full of holes as a sponge: those holes were the tombs of Egyptian officials. At the entrance to them, among steep cliffs stood the very strange temple of Queen Hatasu. This temple was four hundred and fifty yards long. From the forecourt, surrounded by a wall, there was an entrance by steps to the second court surrounded by columns; under this was a subterranean temple. From the court of columns the passage rose by steps again to a temple cut out in the cliff under which was another subterranean temple. In this way the temple was of two stories, each of which was divided into an upper and a lower part. The stairs were immense, without railing, but furnished with two rows of sphinxes; the entrance to each stairway was guarded by two sitting statues.
At the temple of Hatasu began the gloomy ravine which led from the tombs of high dignitaries to those of the pharaohs. Between these two quarters was the tomb of the high priest Retemenof, the corridors and chambers of which occupied about one hectare of subterranean area.
The road to the ravine was so steep that men had to help the draught bulls, and push the funeral boat forward. The procession moved, as it were, along a cornice cut into the cliff side; at last they halted on a broad platform some hundreds of feet above the ravine counting from the lower bed of it.
Here was the door leading to the underground tomb which during his thirty years' reign the pharaoh had made for himself. This tomb was a whole palace with chambers for the pharaoh, for his family and servants, with a dining-room, bed-chamber and bath, with chapels consecrated to various gods, and finally with a well at the bottom of which was a small chamber where the mummy of the sovereign would rest for the ages.
By the light of brilliant torches the walls of all the rooms appeared covered with prayers, and also with pictures which represented every occupation and amusement of the departed: hunting, the building of temples, the cutting of canals, triumphal entries, solemnities in honor of the gods, battles of troops with their enemies, the labors of people.
And those were not sufficient: the chambers were not only fitted with furniture, vessels, chariots, weapons, flowers, meat, bread, and wine, but they were furnished also with a multitude of statues. There were various portraits of Ramses XII, his priests, ministers, women, warriors, and slaves; for the sovereign could not dispense in the other world any more than in this with costly vessels, exquisite food and faithful servants.
When the funeral car halted at the entrance the priests drew forth from its sarcophagus the mummy of the pharaoh, and placed it on the earth resting against the cliff with its shoulder. Then Ramses XIII burned incense before the remains of his father, while Queen Niort's embraced the mummy by the neck, and said with weeping,
"I am thy sister, Niort's, thy wife; do not desert me, Thou great one! Dost Thou desire really, my good father, that I should go? But if I go Thou wilt be alone, and will any one be with thee?"
Now the high priest Herhor burned incense before the mummy, and Mefres poured out wine, saying,
"To thy second self we offer this, O Osiris-Mer-Amen-Ramses, sovereign of Upper and Lower Egypt, whose voice in the presence of the great god is truthful."
Then the wailers and the chorus of priests were heard:
Chorus I. "Complain, complain, weep, weep, weep, without ceasing, as loudly as ever ye are able."
Wailers. "O worthy traveler, who turnest thy steps to the land of eternity, how quickly they are tearing thee from us."
Chorus II. "How beautiful is that which is happening to him! Since Khonsu of Thebes was loved by him greatly, the god has permitted the sovereign to reach that west, the world of the generations of his servants."
Wailers. "O Thou who hast been attended by so many servitors, Thou art now in the laud ruled by loneliness. Thou who hadst splendid robes and didst love spotless linen art lying now in the garments of yesterday!"
Chorus I. "In peace, in peace, to the West, O our lord, go Thou in peace. We shall see thee again when the day of eternity conies, for Thou art going to the land which brings all men together." [Authentic]
The final ceremony began.
They brought a bull and an antelope which it was the duty of Ramses XIII to slay, but they were slain by his substitute before the gods, Sem, the high priest. The inferior priests dressed the beasts quickly, after which Herhor and Mefres, taking the hind legs, placed them in turn at the mouth of the mummy. But the mummy had no wish to eat, for it was not brought to life yet, and its lips were closed.
To remove that obstacle Mefres washed it with holy water and incensed it with perfumes and alum, saying,
"Here stands thy father; here stands Osiris-Mer-Amen-Ramses. I am thy son; I am Horns; I come to purify thee and make thee alive. I put thy bones again in order; I join that which was severed, for I am Horus, the avenger of my father. Thou wilt sit on the throne of Ra who proceeds from Nut, who gives birth to Re every morning, who gives birth to Mer-Amen-Ramses daily, just as Re."
Thus speaking, the high priest touched with amulets the mouth, the breasts, the hands, and the feet of the mummy.
Now the choruses were heard again,
Chorus I. "Henceforth Osiris-Mer-Amen-Ramses will eat and drink all things which the gods eat and drink. He will sit in their place, like them; he is healthy and powerful."
Chorus II. "He has power in every limb; it is hateful to him to be hungry and unable to eat, thirsty and unable to drink."
Chorus I. "O gods, give to Osiris-Mer-Amen-Ramses thousands of thousands of pitchers of wine, thousands of garments, thousands of loaves and of bullocks!"
Chorus II. "O ye who are living on the earth, when ye pass this way, if life be dear to you and death be repulsive, if ye desire that your dignities pass to your descendants, repeat this prayer for the heaven- dweller who is placed here."
Mefres. "O ye great ones, ye prophets, ye princes, scribes, and pharaohs, O ye other people who are to come a million years after me, if any of you put his name on the place of my name the god will punish him by destroying his person on earth!" [Authentic]
After this curse the priests lighted the torches, took the royal mummy, placed it again in its casket, and the casket in the stone sarcophagus which had the human form in its general outlines. Then, in spite of the shrieks, the despair, and the resistance of wailers, they bore that immense weight toward the tomb chamber.
After they had passed by the light of torches through a number of corridors and chambers they halted in that one where the well was. They lowered the sarcophagus in that opening, went down themselves, and put away the sarcophagus in a lower subterranean space, then walled up the passage to this space quickly and in such a manner that the most trained eye could not have discovered it; then they went up and closed the entrance to the well with equal effectiveness.
The priests did all this without witnesses; and they did the work so accurately that the mummy of Ramses XII remains to this day in its secret abode, as safe from thieves as from modern curiosity. During twenty-nine centuries many tombs of pharaohs have been ravaged, but that one is inviolate.
While some priests were hiding the remains of the pious pharaoh, others illuminated the underground chambers and invited the living to a feast in that dwelling.
Ramses XIII, Queen Niort's, and Sem, with some civil and military dignitaries entered the dining-hall. In the middle of the chamber stood a table covered with food, wine, and flowers, and at the wall sat a statue of the late sovereign carved out of porphyry. He seemed to gaze at those present, smile pensively, and beg them to eat in his presence.
The feast began with a sacred dance, which was accompanied by a hymn sung by one of the highest priestesses.
"Enjoy days of happiness, for life lasts but one instant. Enjoy happiness, for when ye enter the tomb ye will rest there the whole length of each day during ages."
After the priestess came a prophet, and to the accompaniment of harps he chanted,
"The world is endless change and endless renewal. That arrangement of fate is wise; the decision of Osiris deserves admiration; for as a body which belongs to past time decays and perishes, other bodies rise behind it.
"The pharaohs, those gods who were before us, rest in their pyramids; their mummies and their second selves remain, though the palaces which they built are no longer on their sites, and no longer in existence.
"Despair not, but give thyself to thy desires and thy happiness, and wear not thy heart out till for thee the day comes when Thou wilt implore, while Osiris, the god whose heart beats no longer, will not hear thy petitions.
"The mourning of a world will not restore happiness to a man who is lying in the tomb; use, then, thy days of happiness and in delight be no laggard. There is no man, indeed, who can take his goods to the other world with him; there is none who can go to that world and come back to this one." [Authentic]
The feast ended; the worthy assembly incensed the statue of the deceased once again and made ready to return to Thebes. In the mortuary temple only priests remained to make regular offerings to the deceased and a guard watching the tomb against sacrilegious attempts of robbers.
Thenceforth Ramses XII was alone in that mysterious chamber. Through a small secret opening in the rock a gloomy light barely broke in to him; instead of the rustle of ostrich plumes was the rustle of enormous bat wings; instead of music was heard, during night hours, complaining howls of hyenas, and at times the mighty voice of a lion, which greeted from the desert the pharaoh in his resting-place.
Chapter LIX
After the funeral of the pharaoh, Egypt returned to its usual life, and Ramses XIII to affairs of state. The new ruler in the month Epifi visited the cities of the Nile above Thebes. Hence he went to Sni, a city greatly devoted to trade and commerce. In Sni was the temple of Keph, or the "Soul of the World." He visited Edfu, whose temple had pylons a hundred and fifty feet high, and which possessed an immense library of papyruses, and on the walls of which were written and depicted, as it were, an encyclopedia of the geography, astronomy, and theology of that period. He visited the quarries in Chennu, in Nubia, or Kom-Ombo; he made offerings to Horus, the god of light, and to Sebek, the spirit of darkness. He was on the island Ab, which among dark cliffs seemed an emerald, produced the best dates, and was called the Capital of Elephants, Elephantina, for on that island the ivory trade was concentrated. He visited finally the city of Sunnu, situated at the first cataract of the Nile, and visited the immense quarries, granite and sienite, where rocks were split off with wooden wedges on which the quarrymen poured water which swelled them, and thus obelisks one hundred and thirty feet high were detached from the face of the quarry.
Wherever the new lord of Egypt appeared his subjects greeted him wildly. Even criminals, toiling in the quarries men whose bodies were covered with never-healing wounds experienced happiness since the pharaoh commanded to release them for the space of three days from their labor.
Ramses XIII might feel proud and well satisfied, for no pharaoh in time of triumph was received as he on his peaceful journey. So, nomarchs, scribes, and high priests, seeing this boundless attachment of the people, bent before the pharaoh and whispered,
"The people are like a herd of bulls, and we like prudent ants. Hence we will honor our new lord so that he may enjoy health and protect us from ruin."
In this way the opposition of dignitaries, very strong some mouths earlier, had grown silent and yielded to boundless obedience. The whole aristocracy, all the priests, fell on their faces before Ramses XIII; Mefres and Herhor alone were unshaken.
Hence when the pharaoh returned from Sunnu to Thebes the chief treasurer brought unfavorable news the first day to him.
"All the temples," said he, "refuse credit, and beg most obediently that thou, holiness, command to pay in the course of two years all sums which they have lent the treasury."
"I understand," said the pharaoh; "this is the work of holy Mefres. How much do we owe them?"
"About fifty thousand talents."
"We have to pay fifty thousand talents in two years," repeated the pharaoh. "Well, what more?"
"The taxes come in very slowly. During three months we have received barely one-fourth of what is due us."
"What has happened?"
The treasurer was anxious.
"I have heard," said he, "that some people have explained to earth- tillers that during thy reign they are not to pay taxes."
"Oh! ho!" cried Ramses, laughing. "Those 'some people' seem to me very like the worthy Herhor. Well, what is this; does he want to kill me with hunger? How can we meet current expenses?"
"At Hiram's command the Phoenicians lend us," answered the treasurer. "We have received from them eight thousand talents already."
"But do ye give them notes?"
"Notes and mortgages," sighed the treasurer. "They say that this is a simple formality. Still they settle on thy lands, and take what they can from the people."
Delighted with the reception given him by the people and the obedience of magnates, the pharaoh was not even angry at Herhor and Mefres. The time of auger had passed, the moment of action had come, and Ramses formed his plan that very day. He summoned for the morrow those in whom he had most reliance: the high priest Sem, the prophet Pentuer, his favorite Tutmosis, and the Phoenician Hiram. When they had assembled he said,
"Ye know, of course, the temples request me to return to them the funds borrowed by my father. Every debt is sacred, that which belongs to the gods I should like to pay first of all. But my treasury is empty, since even the taxes come in only fitfully.
"For this reason I look on the state as in danger, and I am forced to turn for funds to treasures preserved in the labyrinth."
The two priests moved uneasily.
"I know," continued the pharaoh, "that according to our sacred laws my decree is not sufficient to open to us the vaults of the labyrinth. But the priests there have explained what is needful. I must summon representatives of all orders in Egypt, thirteen men from each order, and obtain a confirmation of my will from them."
The pharaoh smiled at this point, and finished,
"Today I have called you to help me to summon that assembly of the orders, and this is my command to you:
"Thou, worthy Sem, wilt select for me thirteen priests and thirteen nomarchs. Thou, pious Pentuer, will bring to me from various provinces thirteen land-tillers and thirteen artisans. Tutmosis will bring thirteen officers and thirteen nobles; and Prince Hiram will occupy himself in bringing thirteen merchants. I wish that this assembly should meet at the very earliest in my palace in Memphis and, without losing time in vain talk, recognize that the labyrinth is to furnish means to my treasury."
"I make bold to remind thee, holiness," said Sem, "that at that assembly the worthy Herhor and the worthy Mefres must be present, and that, according to law, and even duty, they are to oppose touching the treasure in the labyrinth."
"Of course I agree to that," replied the pharaoh promptly. "They will give their reasons, I mine; the assembly will judge whether a state can exist without money, and whether it is wise to waste treasure in darkness while the state is threatened with indigence."
"A few sapphires of those which are in the labyrinth would suffice to pay all debts to Phoenicians," said Hiram. "I will go at once among the merchants and find not thirteen but thirteen thousand who will vote at thy command, O holiness."
Then the prince fell on his face and took farewell of the sovereign. When Hiram went out, the high priest said,
"I know not whether it was well to have a foreigner at this consultation."
"I needed him here; for not only has he great influence over our merchants, but, what is more important, he is obtaining money for us at present. I wish to convince the man that I remember what is due to him, and have means to pay it."
Silence followed, which Pentuer made use of, and said,
"If Thou permit, O holiness, I will go at once to occupy myself with assembling land-tillers and artisans. They will all vote with our lord, but from the multitude we must select the wisest."
He took leave of the pharaoh and went out.
"But thou, Tutmosis," inquired Ramses.
"My lord," said the favorite, "I am so certain of thy nobility and army that I make bold to turn to thee with a request for myself."
"Thou wishest money?"
"Not at all. I wish to marry."
"Thou!" exclaimed the pharaoh. "What woman has earned from the gods such a happiness?"
"She is the beautiful Hebron, the daughter of Antefa, the most worthy nomarch of Thebes," replied Tutmosis, laughing. "If Thou wilt be pleased to speak on my behalf to that revered family I had thought to say that my love for thee would be increased, but I will not say so, for I should tell untruth."
"Well, well," said the pharaoh, slapping him on the shoulder, "do not persuade me of that which I know. I will go to Antefa to-morrow and it seems to me that in the course of a few days I shall arrange a wedding. But now Thou mayst go to thy Hebron."
Left with Sem alone, his holiness said,
"Thy face is gloomy. Dost Thou doubt that we may find thirteen priests to carry out my orders?"
"I am certain," replied Sem, "that almost all the priests and nomarchs will do what may be needed for the happiness of Egypt and thy satisfaction, holiness. But be pleased not to forgot that when it is a question of the treasure of the labyrinth the final decision will be given to Amon."
"Is that the statue of Amon in Thebes?"
"It is."
The pharaoh waved his hand contemptuously,
"Amon is Herhor and Mefres. That they will not agree I know; but I have no intention of sacrificing Egypt to the stubbornness of two persons."
"Thou art mistaken, holiness," answered Sem with dignity. "It is true that very often statues of gods do what high priests wish, but not always. In our temples mysterious and uncommon things happen sometimes. At moments the statues of the gods say and do what they themselves wish."
"In that case I am at rest," interrupted the pharaoh. "The gods know the condition of the state, and they read my heart. I wish Egypt to be happy. And as I am striving to that end alone no wise and good god can hinder me."
"May thy words, holiness, be verified," whispered the high priest.
"Dost Thou wish to tell me anything more?" asked Ramses, noticing that his substitute in religion was delaying his departure.
"Yes, lord. It is my duty to remind thee that every pharaoh after reaching power and burying his predecessor must think of two buildings: a tomb for himself and a temple for the gods."
"Just so! I have thought more than once of this, but not having money I do not issue orders. For Thou must understand," added he with animation, "that if I build it will be something great, something which will command Egypt not to forget me quickly."
"Then dost Thou wish to have a pyramid?"
"No. I could not, of course, build a greater pyramid than that of Cheops, nor a greater temple than that of Amon in Thebes. My kingdom is too weak to accomplish great works. I must make something entirely new, therefore, for I tell thee that our buildings weary me. They are all alike, just as men are, and differ from one another only in proportions, as a man is bigger than a child."
"Then what?" asked the high priest, opening his eyes widely.
"I have spoken with the Greek Dion, who is the most famous architect among us, and he praised my plan. For my own tomb I wish to build a round tower with internal stairs, like that in Babylon. I shall build a temple, not to Osiris or Isis, but to the One God in whom all believe: the Egyptians, the Chaldeans, the Phoenicians, and the Jews. I wish that temple to be like the palace of King Assar, the model of which Sargon brought to my father."
"Those are great plans," said the high priest, shaking his head, "but it is impossible to execute them. The Babylonian towers are not lasting because of their form, they overturn easily, while our edifices must endure for ages. A temple to the One God we may not raise, for he needs no food, drink, or raiment. The whole world is his dwelling-place. Where, then, is the temple which could hold him? Where is the priest who would dare to make offerings before him?"
"Well, let us build a residence for Amon-Ra," said the pharaoh.
"Yes, if it is not like the palace of King Assar, for that is an Assyrian building, and it is not proper for us Egyptians to imitate barbarians."
"I do not understand thee," interrupted Ramses, with irritation.
"Listen to me, lord," answered Sem. "Look at snails, each one of them has a different shell: one is winding, but blunt; another is winding, but pointed; a third is like a box. In the same way precisely each' people build edifices according to their blood and disposition. Be pleased also to remember that Egyptian edifices differ as much from those of Assyria as the Egyptian people differ from Assyrians. Among us the fundamental form of every building is a pointless pyramid, the most enduring form, as Egypt is the most enduring among kingdoms. With Assyrians the fundamental form is a cube, which is injured easily and is subject to destruction.
"The proud and frivolous Assyrian puts his cubes one upon another, and rears a many-storied structure under which foundations yield. The obedient and prudent Egyptian puts his truncated pyramids one behind the other. In that way nothing hangs in the air, but every part of the structure is resting on the ground. From this it comes that our buildings are broad and endure forever, while those of the Assyrians are tall and weak, like their state, which at first rises quickly, but in a couple of generations there is nothing left of it but ruins.
"The Assyrian is a noisy self-praiser, so in his buildings everything is put on the outside: columns, sculpture, pictures. While the modest Egyptian hides the most beautiful columns and carving inside the temples like a sage who conceals in his heart lofty thoughts, desires, and feelings he does not ornament his shoulders and breast with them. Among us everything beautiful is hidden; among them, everything is made to show. The Assyrian, if he could, would cut open his stomach to exhibit to the world what peculiar foods he is digesting."
"Speak speak on!" said Ramses.
"Not much remains for me to say," continued Sem. "I only wish, lord, to turn thy attention to the general form of our edifices, and those of the Assyrians. When I was in Nineveh a few years ago, I observed the Assyrian buildings towering above the earth haughtily; it seemed to me that they were raging horses which had broken from the bit and reared on their haunches, but would soon fall and perhaps break their legs in addition.
"Now try, holiness, to look from a lofty point on some Egyptian temple. What does it recall to thee? This a man prostrate on the earth and praying. The two pylons are his arms. The hall 'of columns,' or 'the heavenly chamber,' is his head, the chamber of 'divine apparition' and 'the tables of offering' are his breasts, and the secret retreat of the god is the heart of the pious Egyptian. Our temple teaches us what we should be. 'Have a hand as strong as a pylon,' it says to us, 'and arms as powerful as walls. Have in thy head reason as broad and rich as the forecourt of the temple, a soul as pure as the chamber of "apparition" and of "offering," and in thy heart have God, O Egyptian!' But the Assyrian buildings say to that people: 'Tower above nations, O Assyrian; rear thy head beyond every other! Thou wilt do nothing great here on earth, but at least Thou wilt leave many ruins.'
"Wouldst thou, then, O sovereign, venture to rear in our land Assyrian edifices and imitate a people which Egypt contemns and despises?"
In spite of Sem's explanation, even now Ramses judged that the Assyrian palaces surpassed those of Egypt in beauty. But he so hated the Assyrians that his heart began to hesitate.
"In that case," said he, "I will defer the building of my tomb and the temple. But do ye sages who are kindly disposed toward me, think over plans of edifices which would give my name to the remotest generations."
"A superhuman pride fills the soul of this young man!" thought the high priest, and he took farewell of the pharaoh in sadness.