The Egyptian by Mika Waltari

Posted by admin_akashic on Mar 4th, 2022 in Stories

They greatly praised Horemheb who had got them drunk, sent them encouraging messages during the siege and sent them Syrian grain in small boats during the night through the chain of besieging ships. They also praised Horemheb’s cunning since once all grain was gone and the soldiers were hunting fortress rats as their food, more grain had started to fly over the walls in clay jars; and it was the Hittites themselves that threw the grain to Gaza in closed clay jars, and along with the grain they had a message from Horemheb in each of the jars, “Hold Gaza!” These supernatural incidents had encouraged them in their misery so that they regarded Horemheb equal to gods.

On every surviving Gaza soldier, Horemheb bestowed a golden chain, and it cost him little, for less than two hundred fit men were left. It was a marvel that they had held on and kept Gaza. He also gave them Syrian women, who had been imprisoned from the Hittite camp, so that they could rejoice and forget the troubles they had gone through — but in their weariness these poor Gaza soldiers no longer knew how to rejoice with women, and only poked them with spears and cut them with knives, finding joy in their screams of pain like the Hittites do. They had learned various new customs from the Hittites during the siege, for example how to flay prisoners alive and hang their skins on the wall. But they claimed to cut the women with knives because they were Syrians, saying, “Don’t show any Syrian to us, for if we see a Syrian, we will run him down and strangle him with bare hands.”

But to Roju the Stiff Old Sod, Horemheb gave a chain of green precious stones set in gold and enamel and a golden whip, and he made his men cheer in his honour so that the walls trembled at the sound — and all cheered in deep and heartfelt admiration for Roju who had managed to hold Gaza. When their shouts had died away, Roju fingered the chain about his neck suspiciously and said, “Do you take me for a horse, Horemheb, that you adorn me with a golden harness, and is this whip even plaited with pure gold or with alloyed Syrian gold?” He said also, “Take your men out of this city, for their numbers distract me greatly, and I cannot sleep in my tower at night for their noise, even though I slept soundly enough whilst battering rams were thundering at the walls and fires crackling on every side. Indeed, take your men out of this city, for in Gaza I am Pharaoh, and if I become angry, I will order my men to attack yours and slay them, unless they cease their din and let me sleep.”

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And it really proved that Roju the Stiff Old Sod could get no sleep now that the siege was over — and not even intoxicating drugs or wine could give it to him, and drinking wine made his sleep even worse. He laid down on his bed, going through the storage lists of the fortress, knowing them by heart, striving to recall and clarify what the storages had been spent for, and he wanted to recall where each spear had been thrown, and he wanted to recall all kinds of nonsense so that he was unable to get any sleep. So one day he very humbly approached Horemheb and said to him, “You are my master and above my rank. Punish me, therefore, for I am accountable to Pharaoh for all the things he entrusted me with, yet I am no longer able to account for them, since many papers were burned when the Hittites hurled their jars of fire into my rooms, and I am not able to recall everything since my memory is greatly enfeebled through lack of sleep. I seem to remember all other things, but in the stores there should be four hundred cruppers for donkeys, and I can’t find them anywhere, and my store scribes can’t find them either although I whip them every day so that they can’t sit or walk any more but only run on their fours upon the floor. Horemheb, where are those four hundred donkey cruppers, which were never needed because we ate the donkeys long ago, and they need no cruppers any more. By Seth and all devils, Horemheb, have me flogged in the sight of all, for Pharaoh’s wrath fills me with great dread, and I shall not dare to enter his presence as my rank requires if I do not find these donkey cruppers.”

Horemheb sought to calm him, saying that he would gladly give him four hundred donkey cruppers so that he could match his storage with his papers. But this threw Roju into yet greater agitation, and he said, “It is evident that you seek to lure me to deceiving Pharaoh, for if I accept these donkey cruppers, they will still not be the same donkey cruppers that Pharaoh entrusted to me when he gave Gaza to my command. You do this so that you may overthrow me and accuse me before Pharaoh, because you are envious of my great reputation and covet the post of garrison commander in Gaza. Maybe you let your unruly men steal these donkey cruppers so that you could accuse me in

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