The Egyptian by Mika Waltari

Posted by admin_akashic on Mar 4th, 2022 in Stories

have seen myself. In addition to the mines, there are fertile fields and clear streams in their mountain valleys, and they grow fruit trees that fill the mountain slopes and also vines on their coast. Their droves are the greatest wealth that anyone can see.

In speaking of the great cities of the world, men will mention Thebes and Babylon and sometimes Nineveh, which I have not seen, but I have never heard them speak of Hattusa, which is the great city of the Hittites and the seat of authority and power, set in the mountains like an eagle’s nest at the heart of the hunting grounds. Yet the majesty of this city may well be compared with that of Thebes or Babylon, and when one thinks that its terrifying buildings are built from hewn stone as big as mountains and its walls impregnable and stronger than any other walls I have ever seen, I must acknowledge this city to be one of the greatest wonders I have ever seen, and I never expected to see anything like it. The city is so mysterious because its King has closed it to foreigners so that only accredited envoys are admitted to have audience with the King and deliver to him their gifts, and even these men are closely watched during the time they remain in Hattusa. Therefore, the citizens do not willingly talk to strangers even if they know their language, and should one make inquiry of them, they reply, “I do not understand” or, “I do not know,” and look about them uneasily lest someone should see them in converse with a stranger. They are not churlish by nature, however, but friendly, and they love to see foreign clothes, if these are handsome, and follow them about the streets.

The clothes of their own eminent men and officials equal the clothes of the strangers and royal envoys in their beauty for they wear coloured garments with images knitted in gold and silver, and amongst the images are wall crowns and double -axes which are the signs of their god. A winged sun is common in their festival clothes. They wear boots made of soft, coloured leather or shoes whose tips are pointy and curved upwards and tall pointy hats as well as wide sleeves that can stretch to the ground and skilfully crinkled dresses that sweep the dust. They differ from the people of Syria, Mitanni and Babylon in that they shave their chins like Egyptians, and some of the noble men shave also their hair leaving only a plaited tuft at the top of the head. They have wide, strong jaws and their noses are thick and hooked like that of a vulture.

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The officials and nobles are fat and their faces greasy for they are used to luxurious lives like the rich are in all great cities.

They do not hire soldiers, as do civilised peoples, but are themselves all warriors, the men being divided into classes corresponding to their military rank. Thus the most distinguished are those who can afford to keep a chariot, and their status is determined not by their origins but by their proficiency in arms. All men of fighting age gather yearly for military exercises under the direction of their princes and commanders. Hattusa is not a city of commerce like the other great cities but it is full of forges and workshops from which emits a steady clang of hammers, for in these workshops are forged arrowheads and spearheads and the wheels and frames of chariots.

Also their administration of justice differs from other countries for their punishments are weird and paradoxical. If a prince schemes against the King and pursues the kingship, he is not executed but sent to the borderlands to become more respected and reputable. There are not many crimes that could not be settled with gifts, for a man can kill another without a physical punishment, and all he needs to do is to compensate the damage with gifts to the family of the deceased. Adultery goes unpunished as well, for if a woman finds a man who satisfies her needs better than her own husband, she is allowed to leave her house to live with the other man, but he needs to pay a fee for her. Also marriages that are childless are publicly annulled for their King demands a lot of children from his subjects. If someone slays another in a deserted place, he does not need to pay as much if the kill took place in the city in front of the people for they think that a man who alone goes to a deserted place knowingly tempts the other to practice his killing skills. There are only two things that warrant a death penalty, and these punishments are the best witness to their senseless justice system. Under penalty of death, siblings cannot marry each other and sorcery cannot be practiced without permission, but the sorcerers need to show their skills in front of the officials and receive a license to practice their profession.

At the time of my arrival in the land of Hatti, the great King Suppiluliuma had reigned for twenty-eight years, and his name was so dreaded that people bowed and held up their hands when they heard it,

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