Three Novels of Ancient Egypt

My lord, aided in triumph by the spirit of the Lord Amun and His blessings, may the Lord grant that this letter of mine reach you to whom Thebes has opened its gates so that you might enter at the head of the Army of Deliverance to tend to its wounded and make happy the souls of Seqenenra and Kamose. For ourselves, we shall not leave Dabod. I have thought long about the matter and have found that the best way for us to share with our tormented people in their pain is to remain in our exile where we are now, living the agonies of separation and homesickness until such time as we smash the shackles that bind them and they are relieved of their trials, and we may enter Egypt in security and take part with them in their happiness and peace. Go on your way aided by the Lord's care, liberate the cities, suppress the fortresses, and cleanse the land of Egypt of its enemy, leaving it not one single foothold on its soil. Then summon us and we shall come in safety.

Ahmose raised his head and folded the message, saying discontentedly, “Tetisheri says that she will not enter Egypt until we expel from it the last Herdsman.”

Hur said, “Our Sacred Mother does not want us to cease fighting until we have liberated Egypt.”

The king nodded his head in agreement and Hur asked, “Will my lord not enter Thebes this evening?”

Ahmose said, “I will not, Hur. My army shall enter on its own. As for me, I shall enter it with my family when we have thrown out the Herdsmen. We shall enter it together as we left it, ten years ago.”

“Its people will suffer great disappointment!”

“Tell anyone who asks after me that I pursue the Herdsmen, to throw them beyond our sacred borders; and let those who love me follow me!”

14

The king returned to the royal tent. It had been his intention to issue an order to his commanders telling them to enter the city in their traditional fashion, to the tunes of the military band. However, an army officer came and said, “My Lord, a group of the leaders of the uprising have charged me to ask permission for them to appear before you and offer your High Person gifts chosen from the spoils they took during the uprising.”

Ahmose smiled and asked the officer, “Have you come from the city?”

“Indeed, sir.”

“Have the doors of Amun's temple been opened?”

“By the insurgents, my lord.”

“And why has the Chief Priest not come to greet me?”

“They say, my lord, that he has sworn that he will not leave his retreat so long as there is a single Herdsman in Egypt — who is not either a slave or a captive.”

The king smiled and said, “Good. Call my people.”

The man left the tent and went to the city. He returned followed by large numbers of people walking company by company, each pushing before it its gift. The officer asked permission for the first company to enter and a band of Egyptians, naked but for kilts around their waists, did so, their faces bespeaking hardship and poverty. They were pushing before them some Herdsmen with bared heads, matted beards, and brows stained with grime. The Egyptians prostrated themselves to the king until their foreheads touched the ground. When they raised their faces to him, he saw that their eyes were flooded with tears of happiness and joy. Their leader said, “Lord Ahmose, son of Kamose, son of Seqenenra, Pharaoh of Egypt, its liberator and protector, and the lofty branch ofthat towering tree whose roots were martyred for the sake of Thebes the Glorious, who came to bring us mercy and make amends for our past ill-treatment…”

Ahmose said, smiling, “Welcome, my noble people, whose hopes are my hopes, whose pains spring from the same source as mine, and the color of whose skin is as the color of my skin!”

The faces of the people lit up with a radiant light and their leader now addressed the Herdsmen, saying, “Prostrate yourselves to Pharaoh, you lowest of his slaves!”