The Egyptian by Mika Waltari

Posted by admin_akashic on Mar 4th, 2022 in Stories

Having cleared a broad enough path for the heavy chariots, those Hittites who survived climbed again into their chariots and drove swiftly away, thus arousing great jubilation amongst Horemheb’s men, who fancied that victory was already theirs — and they hurried to spear horses that had fallen into pits or broken their legs along with those Hittites who had fallen from chariots and tried hiding amongst the rocks. But Horemheb gave rapid orders for the sounding of horns, the replacing of rocks and the planting of spears, with points slanted toward the assailants, since that was all he could do any more for he was compelled to draw his troops to either side of the gaps away from the breached barricades to avoid needless loss of men. The scythes of the heavy chariots, turning with the wheels, would otherwise have mown down his troops like ripe grain.

This he did at the last moment, for the dust cloud in the valley had not yet dispersed when the heavy chariots, the flower and pride of the Hittite army, thundered and roared forward, crushing all obstacles in their way. They were drawn by heavy, tall horses that were a span higher than those of Egypt and whose heads were protected by plates of metal and sides by thick woollen armour. So massive were the wheels that they could overturn even large stones by their mere weight, and the horses with their mighty chests snapped the standing spears so that their spear shafts broke like dry reed. Great moaning and wailing rose from the valley as they rushed forward, and when I heard the horrible cries of the men who were crushed beneath the wheels or slashed in two by the scythes, I got up again and looked about, but there was no escape for me in any direction.

The Hittites’ great chariots burst through the dust cloud, and their horses, as they trotted forward in their colourful, quilted blankets with long bronze spikes jutting from their masks, looked like strange, fantastical beasts. They clattered forward in a long phalanx, and it seemed to me that no power in the world could halt them, and there seemed to be no obstacles in front of them and no Egyptians blocking their way to the water jars in the desert, since the Egyptians had at Horemheb’s order withdrawn from the valley to the slopes of the flanking hills. The Hittites uttered a great shout from their chariots and thundered on so that the dust rose in eddies behind them, blurring the landscape so that I threw myself face downward on the ground and wept bitterly for Egypt’s sake and for the sake of the defenceless Lower Kingdom as well as for all those who must now die because of Horemheb’s stupid obstinacy and whims.

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The Hittites were not blinded by their victory, but dropped the breaks of the chariots, ploughing the ground, and sent the light chariots to scout the terrain again, for they were careful and seasoned soldiers and wanted to be prepared for any surprises, though they did not think too much of the Egyptians nor yet did they know the cunning of Egypt. It is however difficult to control the assault of the heavy chariots once it has begun, since after gaining full speed, the giant horses would rush forward without stopping and would cut their reins and break the chariots if held back too hard. Therefore the drivers carried a wide-bladed spear with which they could in extreme urgency cut the legs of their horses if the chariots had to be instantly stopped.

But this time around, they didn’t consider stopping necessary, but let the horses run forward in a broad formation, and they had no warning when all at once the ground sank beneath them, and they fell with their chariots to a massive pit which the mud grubbers of the Nile had dug and camouflaged with bushes and brushes. This pit extended the whole width of the valley from slope to slope; and the heavy chariots fell into the pit, while several dozens of chariots flew upside down before the surprised drivers could turn their horses to drive along the pit’s edge in both directions so that the chariot phalanx scattered. When I heard the yells of the Hittites, I raised my head from the ground, and the spectacle I beheld was terrible, before the rising dust veiled all beneath it.

Had the Hittites been more circumspect and had they realised their cause was lost, they might yet have saved one half of their chariots and inflicted a heavy defeat on the Egyptians. They might have wheeled and returned with full speed through the breached barricades. But they could not understand that it was they who were defeated, being unaccustomed to being defeated, and they were not able to admit even in their hearts that the Hittites could be defeated. Thus it did not even come to their minds to flee from the Egyptian infantry but instead they drove their horses up the steep slopes to bring their chariots to a stop on the incline. Turning to inspect the field, they alighted from their vehicles to determine how best to cross the trench or to save their comrades who had fallen into it and to await the clearing of the dust cloud so that they might plan their next blow to the Egyptians.

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