The Egyptian by Mika Waltari

Posted by admin_akashic on Mar 4th, 2022 in Stories

But the worst that came to pass was leaving the corpses to lie and rot on the square in front of the Temple for everyone pretended to know nothing about them since Pharaoh had been told only a few had got killed. The relatives were not allowed to take their loved ones from the square, except the richest whom the Sherdens sold some bodies during the first day, but on the following day, the reek made even the Sherdens flee from the square. The sugary stink of corpses poisoned the city and the water of the river, and it was not many days later when the diseases started raging in the city, and there was nothing against them as the House of Life and its storages were inside the Temple walls.

Every night fires raged in the city, houses were plundered, painted black men drank wine from golden cups, and Sherdens lay in soft beds under canopies. Day and night the priests shouted from the Temple walls cursing the false Pharaoh and everyone who disavowed Amun. From the darkness came forth all the scum of the city, all thieves, tomb robbers and footpads who had no fear of the gods, not even of Amun. Piously they blessed the name of Aten and entered his temple, which had been hastily cleansed, receiving the cross of life at the hands of the surviving priests and hung this about their necks as a protecting talisman which would enable them to steal, murder and rape at their ease under cover of night. After those days and nights, Thebes did not return to normal for many years, but power and wealth drained away from it like blood from many wounds in a fat body.

Horemheb stayed at my house where he stayed awake and lost weight, and his eyes grew more sombre every day; and he didn’t care for the food Muti tried serving him from dawn till dusk, for Muti, like many other women, was greatly taken with Horemheb and had more respect for him than for myself since I was weak and had no muscles even if my knowledge was great. And Horemheb said, “What do I care for either

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Amun or Aten, but they have let my men run wild so that many backs must come under my lash and heads must fall before I can bring them to their senses. This is a great pity, for I know many of them by name and I know their merits, and they are good fighting men when disciplined and reproached enough.”

But Kaptah grew richer every day, and his face shone with grease, and he even spent his nights at The Crocodile’s Tail, for the officers and sergeants of the Sherdens paid for their drams with gold, and in the back rooms of the tavern lay ever growing heaps of stolen treasure: jewels and coffers and carpets, which they gave in exchange for wine without asking about the price. No one attacked that house, and thieves walked wide of it, for it was guarded by Horemheb’s soldiers, and Kaptah kept them drunk throughout the day so that they guarded the house faithfully and called the gods to bless his name and they hung the head of a street robber who was caught in the act over the door as a sign and warning to rioters.

By the third day, my stock of medicines was already exhausted, and it was impossible to buy more even for gold, and my arts were vain in the face of the disease that spread through the poor quarter from the foul water and corpses. I was tired, and my heart was like a wound in my breast, and my eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep. I was sickened with everything, sickened with the poor and with wounds and with Aten, and I went to The Crocodile’s Tail where I drank mixed wine until I fell asleep, and in the morning Merit woke me up, and I was lying on her mat with her beside me. Deeply ashamed, I said to her:

“Life is like a cold night, truly it is sweet when two lonely ones keep one another warm, though their hands and eyes tell lies for the sake of their friendship.”

She yawned sleepily and said, “How do you know that my hands and eyes are lying? I am indeed weary of smiting soldiers over the fingers and kicking their shins, and here by your side, Sinuhe, is the only safe place in the city where no one will lay a hand on me. Why this should be, I really cannot say, and I am almost offended, for I am said to be a beautiful woman, and is there nothing amiss with my belly, though you have not wanted to look at it.”

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