Part 93 (1/2)

”Our holy one has departed,” said Nakht ”He must be prepared for the journey to eternity”

By that I assumed he must be sent to the embalmer's Only after the priests with their burden, followed by the other priests, left the courtyard, did Nakht turn to ranted him the desire of his heart,” he said

”So you kneas going to do this? And you subjected ive him

He looked hurt ”No, indeed, Goddess, how could I? I did not knohen Anubis would summon him! I only knew he had wished to live until the wohter of Isis, would rule He spoke of it, how she would crown the line of Pharaohs, and e--glorify them”

He had meant to say ”end them” Was that what they foresaw? Was I to be the last Pharaoh? ”I have ruled now for sixteen years,” I said ”There is nothing new in that You must be honest He meant until he met met the woman Pharaoh, the last Pharaoh Is that not what he meant?” the woman Pharaoh, the last Pharaoh Is that not what he meant?”

”I do not know, Goddess,” he said ”I do not knohat he meant But it was easy to foretell that he would perish by snakebite After all, he lived surrounded by theets bitten”

What a prosaic interpretation! Yet true

”How old was he?”

”Over ninety,” Nakht said ”I believe I heard hi the holyyourself”

”Six Pharaohsour reigns h the sky, quickly rising and quickly setting”

”Yes, to one stationary in the world, that is how it ht barque of Re has set out beneath the earth It is tier any shadows; the sun had set and the first stars were e The air, warainst our skin, touching it tenderly In the villages, people would be walking,this last sweetness of day as it extinguished itself But here in the temple, which followed the movements of the sun, it was time to lie down in silence and darkness

Noished I had not agreed to stay But it was too late

The chae, ihest order; therefore it sometimes stood empty for years A bed, itself unremarkable except that it was called the Bed of Dreaht hours In one corner a very old statue of Isis stood on a pedestal, keeping watch over the cha upward like bracelets

Two shts flickered at her feet I was alone in the chamber, with no one to undress or attend me I could not reed for it, tonight I felt abandoned The cold, hard bed waited, and I steeled myself to lie down on it

Utter silence surrounded ht: the sea itselfin the harbor below the palace, the faint voices of people in the city streets, sandaled feet passing outsideI felt as though I were Re, ht under the earth Indeed, the long, narrow bed felt like a barque

Here there were no distractions, no lute-player to flavor the hours delicately with music, no Iras or Charmian to come help me pass sleepless hours, no letters to read or reports to digest Here there was only ht deepened

What I had witnessed todaywhat I had heardI did not knohich washimself with the asps, or what he had said said--about the Gods of Egypt falling silent, and then seeing the last of the Pharaohs Could he be believed? Or was he just aas enfeebled as the wobbly setting sun he worshi+ped? In the sacred stories, Isis had tricked the weak sun into revealing his naed hih her own determination Isis did not accept defeat; no ht with all her skill and ht, and triumphed

The statue of the Goddess seeht I turned ht Ias well as co iainst all odds

All my life that hat I had tried to do If the old priest had glili already written It was only a warning I could change that I would would change that change that

I slept; or, rather, darkness fell around me and entered htful naht hours, with liinnings of Egypt, shadows riding in old costunized in human form some of the Pharaohs I knew only by statues (and was surprised at how small they had been in life) I sawin old, saw Antony coypt, and Caesar too, and then saar out the land And other costu the pyra at their bases Then the Nile subsided, and did not rise again, neither did it shrink

And I saw Heliopolis itself a ruin and a sandyto mark the center of the world

”Awaken, Exalted One” A soft voice spoke in my ear

I did not wake up so much as I was delivered from these apparitions Nakht stood by my bedside, lamp in hand

”Khepri nears the eastern horizon,” he said ”Soon he will ereet him there”

I felt so disoriented, so transported froreet the rising sun--I who allowed hi in Alexandria Indeed, there were ti beams into the middle of the room, before I even noticed hiht in the gloo

Outside there was no hint that daas co except that the birds had awakened Soe in the intensity of the dark, in a e could not Walking down the avenue of obelisks, the palms behind them still invisible, we passed into the orchard, then to a , their white robes swiloom In the center stood the sacred persea tree, its bushy branchesthe tree appear rounded No one spoke, and we took our places silently in the circle

Gradually the sky lightened, and--never has anything seeray bed was prepared for the sun by the clouds on the eastern ri and true, putting the night to flight It glea each of the leaves so they shone, hundreds of littleThen, as the sun climbed above the horizon, they turned and walked swiftly back to the teold-clad obelisk, standing before it in reverence

The shi+ning surface of the obelisk, its beaten gold giving back wavering reflections, waited A spark seerew there It hurt my eyes to behold it

”Ahh,” the priests exhaled

”The sun is reborn,” they intoned The burning spot at the apex intensified; then it faded Along the ridge of the obelisk a flath The sun was growing in strength, clier black, nor deepest blue, but a clear, jubilant, bursting azure The day was here The sun, the life, had returned

”Thanks be to Re,” they sang joyfully, celebrating their deliverance

As long as the sun rose each day, as long as they could behold it, their life was secure

It was their task to live each day as so contained unto itself, whereas III e the present How much easier just to celebrate the supreht passedI e the present How much easier just to celebrate the supreht passed

Now the priests turned and walked toward the ceremonial chamber, where the statue of Re must be ritually washed with purified water, and celestial food offered hi the ly wiped the face of the statue, as they had for ined needs

Starshow lovely to be attended by stars

Alexandria, Roainst the Egyptian Gods

Chapter 66

In hter of Re, I was a Ptoleypt, I was mother of the next Pharaoh, I ife of a Roman Triumvir, I was Caesar's , and Octavian's implacable enemy How fate had cast me in so many parts, I could not understand How I could play them all, and keep them separate--if indeed I did--I understood even less

Antony had returned from Armenia some months after I had returned froed byonly to inspect ha caht of all the east turned against Armenia How else could it end, but with Artavasdes in chains, a royal prisoner?

That he was in silver chains--that was the only novelty in it all That, and Antony's sudden, fierce desire to celebrate his victory in Alexandria Rome had been silent toward him, despite the proud announcement of his conquest that he had sent posthaste to Roiving decreed in the capital in his honor