The Egyptian by Mika Waltari

Posted by admin_akashic on Mar 4th, 2022 in Stories

should have made Horemheb suspicious of them, but his belligerent success had blinded him, and he himself hoped for peace to consolidate his power in Egypt and at last be married to princess Beketamun — for far too many years he had already waited for Beketamun, and the wait had incited his unbearable lust for royal blood. Thus he suspected nothing and did not notice the cunning of the Hittites.

But since the death of her husband and submitting to sacrifice to Amun, Queen Nefertiti had been unable to endure the thought of being set aside from ruling Egypt and that any other woman in the golden house was her equal. She was still beautiful despite her age, though her beauty was worn and washed many times over and a lot of care and beautification substances were required for its preservation. With her beauty, she won many of Egypt’s nobles to her side; they lived their days in the golden house like useless drones about the inconsiderable Pharaoh. By her intelligence and guile, she also won the friendship of princess Beketamun, whose innate haughtiness she fanned to a blazing fire that consumed her heart so that Beketamun’s pride was finally closer to madness than natural human self-esteem. She became so proud of her sacred blood that she would not suffer the touch of any ordinary mortal nor even allow anyone to brush her shadow. She had proudly preserved her virginity in the belief that there was no man in Egypt worthy of her, since the blood of great Pharaohs flowed in her veins. Thus she was already past the normal age for marriage, and I think that being untouched went to her head and made her heart ill, though a good marital bed might have cured her. She was still very beautiful, and her posture and pride made her beauty timeless, and she guarded her beauty relentlessly though did not allow the slaves touch her.

Nefertiti did her best to fan her pride, persuading her that she was born to achieve great things and to liberate Egypt from the hands of low-born usurpers. Nefertiti spoke to her of the great Queen Hatshepsut, who fastened a royal beard to her chin and girded herself with a lion’s tail and ruled Egypt from the throne of Pharaohs. Together they wandered amongst the glowing white pillars and myrtle platforms of Hatshepsut’s rock temple, looking at the images of the Great Queen, and Nefertiti made Beketamun believe that her beauty resembled that of the Great Queen.

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Nefertiti also spoke to her much evil of Horemheb so that Beketamun in her virginal pride began to dread Horemheb, who was a man of low birth and a head taller and more robust than Egyptian nobles — and she could not bear the thought that Horemheb might possess her and violate her in the rough manner of the warriors, defiling her sacred blood. Yet the human heart is inconsistent and fickle, and so I believe she started to hate Horemheb most because she was secretly fascinated by his strength and roughness, and when Horemheb as a youth had arrived to the golden house, she had watched him too much and been inflamed by his glance, although she had never admitted that to herself.

All this made it easy for Nefertiti to exert influence over her when Ay’s and Horemheb’s plans became evident and when Pharaoh Tutankhamun withered away as the war in Syria drew to an end. And I do not believe that Ay attempted to conceal his plans from Nefertiti, because Nefertiti was his own daughter. Thus it was easy for Nefertiti to find out which great game Ay and Horemheb played in secrecy. But Nefertiti hated her father, because he had thrust her aside after he had made what use he could of her, keeping her hidden in the golden house since she was the consort of the accursed Pharaoh and not allowing her to participate in court festivities. I think there might also have been other reasons that had made Nefertiti hate her father, but I do not want to talk about these reasons, since I am not sure of them nor do I believe all the rumours of the golden house — though I know Pharaohs’ golden house is a dark house and hides many horrible things within its walls. All I can say is that beauty and intelligence united in a woman whose heart the years have hardened is a dangerous combination and more dangerous than unsheathed knives and more destructive than the copper scythes of chariots. And I do not believe there is anything more dangerous and destructive in the world than a woman who has enough beauty and intelligence but no heart. The best proof of this lies in the scheme Nefertiti contrived and in which she persuaded princess Beketamun to join.

This cunning plot came to light when Horemheb, having arrived in Thebes, began in his impatience to loiter about the apartments of princess Beketamun in order to see and speak with her, although Beketamun didn’t want to receive him and refused to see him.

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