The Double Crown: Secret Writings of the Female Pharaoh (34 page)

This is what Ahmose had to tell me. He slid into his seat opposite me at the tavern obviously bursting with news. As soon as we had our beer in hand, he leaned forwards and whispered conspiratorially: “I have a juicy rumour for you today, brother!”

“What is it?” I asked, warily.

“You know that the Division of Sobek is quartered here in Thebes as we speak?”

“Yes, I know. General Khani’s division. I used to see him at the palace sometimes, before he departed to the North with two other divisions.”

“Some of the soldiers in the barracks here in Thebes are talking sedition,” whispered Ahmose.

“Sedition? What are they saying?” I felt positively ill. “Have you actually heard them, yourself?”

“Well, no, but I gamble with a group of men which includes one who knows the soldiers. He tells me that they are saying that promotion has gone to General Khani’s head. That he now feels he should be the Great Commander of the Army instead of Commander Thutmose. That he is laying plans to eliminate the Commander by arranging for him to die in the next battle by a mercenary’s hand.”

“But Khani has always been a most exemplary soldier. Why should he now …”

“But that is not all they say,” whispered Ahmose, his scarred face contorted with glee. The man is an inveterate gossip and I am sorry that I ever became involved with him. I do not want to hear these things. “They say that this will be merely a preliminary to General Khani’s ultimate ambition, which is to eliminate King Ma’atkare Hatshepsut also …”

I drew in a sharp, hissing breath.

“Hush, brother, do not exclaim … to become the first Nubian on the Double Throne, and to consolidate the empire of Egypt with his country, after which he will march to the Euphrates and subjugate all of Egypt’s vassal lands that are currently restive in the north-east. And he will reign over the greatest empire ever seen.”

There. I have written it. And reading it over, I fear, I greatly fear it sounds as if it might well be true. By the Ka of Thoth, it would be a magnificent revenge for all the times the Egyptian soldiers have quelled rebellions by the wretched Nubians, for the massacre in which all of General Khani’s relatives were killed, and in particular for the execution of his father as a rebel when they were brought to the Black Land in chains. Nor would it be the first time that a general in the army becomes the Pharaoh. There are precedents. Also, for the Great Commander and the Pharaoh to be one and the same would consolidate enormous power in one person. I can see that it would seem highly desirable to a man of ambition, and General Khani is, I believe, an ambitious man.

Yet for all its plausibility it remains a rumour and nothing else. I cannot in good conscience pass it on. Or not before I have at least heard it from more than one source. This could cause far, far greater trouble than the previous rumour. This could be perfectly disastrous. Maybe I should just … just warn Her Majesty to have a care, without stating anything specific. Or perhaps it would be best to remain silent altogether while the Great Commander Thutmose is away in the South and General Khani in the North. When they return … then we shall see. Yes, we shall see.

THE NINETEENTH SCROLL

The reign of Hatshepsut year 13

The wonderful plants that the expedition from Punt had brought were exactly what were needed to complete the gardens at Djeser-Djeseru in a manner pleasing to Amen-Ra. Among many other treasures, Nehsi had brought back baskets of incense and myrrh, but to my mind the most precious things were thirty incense trees, half of them frankincense and half myrrh, which would provide us with the precious resins required to manufacture excellent incense ourselves.

When the new plants arrived from Punt, the gardens surrounding my mortuary temple were already superb. As each terrace was completed, from the topmost one down, gardens had been laid out and planted on either side. Trees that had been planted when building began – sycamore, acacia, tamarisk and willow – had grown to a good height. Ornamental ponds stocked with fish and waterfowl had been made, around which bulrushes and lotus lilies flourished. The green oasis so created soon attracted a myriad of colourful birds, butterflies, and plenty of frogs. The new incense trees were planted in the gardens with great care, providing the finishing touch to a glorious creation. The whole was enclosed in a thick limestone wall with an ornamental gate.

In the thirteenth year of my reign the temple at Djeser-Djeseru was at last complete. Directly after the expedition from Punt had landed, I had given orders that the history of this great undertaking be carved in relief upon the temple walls. The artists who did the work were two young men who had actually been members of the expedition, and they depicted the events and the people involved with amazing liveliness. The large numbers of colossal sculptures of my majesty had been completed and were in place.

Now that the gardens were flourishing, all was ready for the God to be brought across the river to spend one night with Hathor, goddess of love, beauty and joy, at Djeser-Djeseru. Usually, of course, Amen dwelt in isolation in the dark and lonely shrine at the heart of his temple at Karnak. But for the Feast of the Valley a group of priests would carry him out of his deep seclusion into the brilliant sunlight on his golden barque, then transport him across the river on his barge to the new temple, where religious rites would be performed. Excited crowds of people dressed in their best, together with dancers, jugglers and acrobats, would accompany the procession as far as they were allowed.

Once he reached the cool, dark heart of his own shrine, cut deep into the living rock behind the temple, only the Pharaoh and designated priests might gain access to perform the secret, sacred rites by the light of guttering torches and to set out the offerings to the God: meat and bread, wine and beer.

The people would depart to spend the night in the private tomb-chapels of their relations and ancestors. The night would be whiled away merrily with feasting and drinking by the light of hundreds of torches, as Thebans celebrated their reunion with the transfigured dead. At the dawning of the new day a religious ritual would wind up the festivities, and then the God would be conveyed back to the east bank and his gloomy, reclusive home at the heart of the Karnak temple.

Late one afternoon, some weeks before the Feast of the Valley, Senenmut and I sat at ease in one of my reception rooms, as we so often did. He had a large jug of beer; he never really enjoyed wine very much. I thought that he looked tired, as well he might, for the last few months had been a strain.

“Well,” I said, “my dear, devoted friend, it is done at last. Did you ever think, that first time that we saw the bay of Djeser-Djeseru together, and conceived of creating an extraordinary building there, that it would come to pass?”

“I always knew we could do it,” he said. “I knew that we had the determination – you, Majesty, and I. We dreamed it and we built the dream.”

“You built it,” I said. “Without your dedication, there would have been nothing.”

“Without your vision and unfailing support, there had been nothing either.”

“Well, there it stands. The most beautiful building in all the world.”

“Majesty is gracious,” he said, his tired face lighting up with pleasure.

“It requires a very special celebration,” I said, musingly. An idea had come to me. Some might say, an outrageous idea. Yet having thought it, it filled me with delight.

“Soon the Feast of the Valley will take place, and the God will come to the temple,” he reminded me.

“I know it. The God will have his night. One night of freedom and love. Just that once, the God may follow his heart in its time of fire and night. If the God may be allowed such freedom …”

He was staring at me.

“Why not the Pharaoh?” I whispered. “Why should we not celebrate the completion of Djeser-Djeseru together?”

“Majesty? I do not understand.”

I jumped up and began to stride up and down, speaking excitedly but in a low voice. The guards were on duty as usual, but out of earshot, and I had sent my ladies and the slaves away. It was almost impossible for us to achieve true privacy for any length of time. Always there were slaves and servants hovering around and guards at hand, if not directly in sight, with household officials going about their duties. Several ladies-in-waiting constantly attended on me. But I had thought of a plan.

“Two nights from now, the moon will be full,” I said, urgently. “As Pharaoh, I could journey to my mortuary temple then and carry out some rites to consecrate it. Then from there I could continue the journey to visit my palace at Heliopolis, where I have not been for some time.”

“Yes, Majesty?” He too was on his feet, concentrating on my muttered words.

“I will arrange that we be transported to the temple, you and I, for a … for a private ceremony at sunset. A royal barge from Thebes can take us there, but they shall have orders to depart. Then … yes, yes, I see how it may be arranged! Another royal barge from Heliopolis can come to take us further.”

“Ah,” he said. “We shall have an hour or so, between barges.”

“Not so,” I told him softly. The plan had fallen into place in my mind. “If we inform my servants at Heliopolis that the ceremony is to take place at sunrise on the following day, not sunset, they will not come till morning. Don’t you see? The early part of the night will belong to the God. But the rest of the night will belong to us.”

He drew a deep, wavering breath. “Majesty proposes to spend the night alone on the west bank? The abode of the spirits?”

“Not alone, Senenmut. You will be there with me. And why should I fear the spirits of the transfigured dead? There are more people in the Afterlife who loved me, and whom I loved, than are left in the world of the living.”

He reached out a hand and gripped my arm. This was forbidden, but given what I had just proposed, I could hardly object. “You will risk this? To be …”

“To be with you,” I murmured. Tears pricked in my eyes. “Just this once, let me not be the King. Let me not be the God, and alone. Just once.”

My lady of the bedchamber arrived to assist me to my rest. Her plucked eyebrows rose at the sight of a commoner touching the Pharaoh.

Senenmut promptly let go of my arm and stepped back, making a deep obeisance. “Pharaoh has spoken,” he said.

I gave the orders. Naturally, there were remonstrations. Surely I should be accompanied by priests, to assist in the rites? No, I said. This was for me to do as Pharaoh, for it was my mortuary temple. The priests would have their turn during the Feast of the Valley, soon. But one barge could undertake the whole trip, why need one come from Heliopolis? Because the Vizier of the North wished to see the completed temple, and he had offered to come and fetch me, I said. But surely I would require my ladies-in-waiting? Others would be arriving almost immediately from Heliopolis to attend on me, I said. I could survive a brief span of time without them. But how could I spend even a short time unprotected by my guards? This was not advisable. Nonsense, I said. It would be for a short time only, I would have Senenmut at my side, and in any case, most people were terrified of the west bank at night. I doubted any attacker would have the courage to land there.

With sweet reason, I overcame all objections to the plan. I had set my will on this and I would not be gainsaid. It would happen, and Senenmut would make all the arrangements, including the orders to the contingent from Heliopolis, so that they would know exactly what to do. With some reluctance everyone capitulated.

Two days later, we set sail from Thebes just as the sun was about to drop below the horizon. It had been a brilliant day, and hot, but it was as always somewhat cooler on the river. The stately barge was rowed out among the river craft that plied the waterway. As we moved steadily onward to the rhythmic thumping of the rowers’ gong, the sun began to colour the water all around us. The surface of the water, a little choppy due to a light breeze, took on the appearance of a sheet of living gold stretching to the north and the south and bearing us up. The thick vegetation on the verges looked darkly soft and shadowy. On we sailed upon this magical river as if in some rich fantasy.

They set us down upon the west bank and then the royal barge took off again towards Thebes. Senenmut hefted two baskets that he had packed according to my instructions and we began to walk along the broad sweep of the avenue. On either side of us crouched the rows of sphinxes, each one with my face. But I was looking ahead, to the temple set against the towering crags. The sun had now dropped below the horizon and the cliffs in front of us, stark and glittering by day, were softened by the fading rose-tinted light. For a few moments they appeared to have been hewn from amethyst. Against that dramatic background the graceful limestone temple gleamed pearly white. All around us the fragrant gardens bloomed.