The Egyptian by Mika Waltari

Posted by admin_akashic on Mar 4th, 2022 in Stories

arm cannot be cut as a warning to others or no one’s nose or ears cut either, that I cannot understand, since so has been done in all times and should be done at present to maintain the respect for the law. But how could the respect for the law survive when the laws are changed daily according to Pharaoh’s whims, and the paper scrolls before me become thin and have holes in them with the texts needing to be constantly scratched off and corrected.”

He complained bitterly and said, “The priests of Amun are like wasps at my back, and they are moderate men and keep the old customs in high esteem and are ready to reconcile and make peace in reasonable terms and would allow Aten to rule next to Amun for they have also become frightened how the people have lost their respect for all gods and live like every day was their last, saying, ‘Let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die, and in death we are no longer.’ Believe me, Sinuhe, all this will end in a great abomination if Pharaoh does not come to his senses, and if he does not want to come to his senses, his skull must be opened, and we need you for that, Sinuhe. And you do not need to worry about the physician’s responsibility since others will share the responsibility with you, and I have already gathered numerous testimonies from local skull specialists and knife operators of the House of Life, and they all unanimously testify that Pharaoh Akhenaten’s illness has advanced to the point that trepanning is the last resort to cure his incessant headaches. Also his thighs swell and swell and become shapeless in their bloat, as you know, so that soon he will not be able to move any more. Many skilled doctors think that the water that so swells him has gone to his head, too, and should be released from his skull.”

I was unwilling to discuss medicine with him but asked mockingly, “Have the horns already selected his successor, or shall you select his successor, Ay?”

He became very grim and raised his arms and said, “I wish I was still a priest and lived peacefully in Iunu collecting bees’ honey and anointing my face with oil. But that damned witch brought me from there and infected my blood with her lust for power so that I am no longer free — and even in my dreams she harasses me though she’s dead, and her Ka has several times appeared to me in the garden and in the throne room. No, Sinuhe, who has once tasted power will lust for

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even more power, and this lust is the worst of all human lusts, but satisfying it brings greater joy than any other human lust. Thank your luck that you don’t know it, Sinuhe, you who are lonely. Truly, were I the lord in the land of Egypt, I would know how to pacify the people and return everything as it was, and the power of Pharaoh would be greater than ever if Amun and Aten ruled side by side, competing with each other for power. Aten would need an image for that purpose so that people would understand him and realise that he is no different from other gods, but Pharaoh Akhenaten has badly misunderstood and ruined my teaching and ideas that I fed him when he was a boy. You, Sinuhe, know how a doctor acts when the patient is enraged and becomes violent and cannot be controlled any more. Isn’t it so that the doctor sticks his knives in him and sinks his horns into his back and lets the blood flow until he calms down. Truly, had I the power, I would let his blood flow, and indeed the people would calm down.”

But I was unwilling to discuss medicine with him since I could not do anything to cure his ignorance of medical matters. So I asked again, “Have you already selected his successor, priest Ay?”

He became greatly vexed and raised his hands in a rejecting manner and said, “I won’t have any of this for I am not someone who betrays the state, and I am faithful to him, as you know. Although I negotiate with the priests, I do it in his interest and to maintain his power. But a wise man always keeps many arrows in his quiver and does not depend on a single arrow alone. Therefore I give you a hint that this Smenkhkare is just a boy, and the great royal consort has also in previous times worn a royal beard in her chin and ruled on Pharaoh’s throne. As you know, I am Queen Nefertiti’s father, and so my blood is united with the ruler’s house. I won’t say more than this to you and only give you a hint so that you would know where your interests are. As far as I know, you are way too close friends with that pompous and vain Horemheb; but he sits on spearheads, and a seat like that is uncomfortable indeed, and he might suddenly fall and hit his head on a stone. Only the blood of Pharaohs binds the thrones together, and this blood must run from century to century as the holy blood in the golden house uniting the thrones. But this blood can also rule on the female side if Pharaoh has no son.”

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