The Egyptian by Mika Waltari

Posted by admin_akashic on Mar 4th, 2022 in Stories

garden that I love deeply, and though I squeeze you as I might squeeze a pomegranate so that the seeds spurt out between my fingers, yet like a good gardener, I would not harm the trees but only gather in the harvest from time to time. Remember also that I give you a great war — greater than you ever dreamed — and in times of war a man who is wealthy enough is always destined to become wealthier; the longer the war, the wealthier he becomes, and no power in the world can prevent this, not even Pharaoh’s taxation department. Therefore you should be grateful to me, and I send you home with my full blessing. Go in peace and continue working hard and become fat like pregnant louses since no one can prevent that anyway. And I have nothing against it if you occasionally send me additional gifts for you have to keep in mind that I plan to conquer back Syria, and you know well what it means to Egypt — and more precisely to you if my memory of you is pleasant once I have taken over Syria. Weep then, if you want to and if it makes you feel better. I am eager to hear you weep since it jingles in my ears like gold.”

With these words, he dismissed the rich men, and they departed, groaning, lamenting and rending their garments, yet as soon as they had passed the doors, they ceased their outcry and began busily calculating their losses and planning means to repair them. But Horemheb said to me, “This war is a gift to them, and from now on, when they rob the people, they may blame the Hittites for all calamities just as Pharaoh can blame the Hittites for the famine and misery the war brings on the land of Kem. In the end, it is of course the common people who must pay for everything, and the wealthy will rob them of many times the sum they lend to me after which I can then squeeze them again so that fat sizzles. This method suits me better than levying a war tax since if I levied such a tax on the people, they would curse my name, but by robbing the rich to pay for the war, I win the blessing of the people and their favour as a just man. I have to guard my reputation carefully for the sake of the high office I am about to get.”

At this time, the land around the river delta was in flames, as the roving Hittites set fire to the villages and grazed their horses on the sprouting corn. Refugees came in hordes to Memphis, bringing such hideous tales of the Hittite’s frenzy for destruction that my heart quailed and my limbs started shaking, and I begged Horemheb to hasten. But he smiled calmly and said:

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“The Egyptians must have a taste of the Hittites if they are to be persuaded that no grimmer fate can befall them than to be bound to the Hittites in slavery. I would be mad to set forth with untrained troops and no chariots. But rest assured, Sinuhe. Gaza is still ours — Gaza is the cornerstone on which I will build this war, and until Gaza is in their hands, the Hittites dare not send their main force into the desert, since they have no supremacy at sea. I also have men in the desert to incite the bandits and voluntary troops, and I am not as idle as you seem to think in your impatience. You see, Egypt is menaced by no exceptional danger until the Hittites are able to bring their infantry to the Black Land across the desert. They have built their war on chariots, but the irrigation ditches render chariot movements difficult in the Black Land, and they waste their time driving inconveniently back and forth while laying waste meaningless villages and treading fields. The less corn there is on the ground, the more willingly the men of Egypt will step under my lion’s tail where everyone knows they get their measure of grain and even beer.”

Men were streaming into Memphis from every part of Egypt — hungry men, men who in Aten’s name had lost homes and families and no longer valued their lives; men who lusted for the spoils of war and adventures. Heedless of the priests, Horemheb pardoned all who had shared in the foundation of Aten’s kingdom and freed the prisoners from the stone quarries to serve in the army. In this manner, Memphis soon resembled a vast war camp, and life there became restless, and every night there was fighting and wounds in the pleasure houses and beer taverns — and the peaceful people locked themselves into their houses and spent their days in fear and trembling. But the din and thunder came from workshops as blacksmiths forged arrows and spearheads, and so great was the fear and hate of the Hittites that even poor women gave up their copper ornaments to be forged into arrowheads.

Ships were still putting in at Egyptian ports from the islands in the sea as well as from Crete, and because of the war, Horemheb expropriated all ships, taking their crews and captains into his service.

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