(Chapter 2): The History of Time
"And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith."
Matt 21:22
The goddess Nut, who swallows the sun god, Amen-Ra, at night to give birth to it anew in the bright morning gives rise to a new day with the sun awaking all of Egypt. As Amen-Ra's millions of light-rays shine down on the brown dessert fields, to view the colors where everything was gray. The early morning is just beginning.
I, Lapis, also awake to the birth of Amen-Ra, feeling the sun already burning my tan skin in the early dawn that comes through an opening of outside with the flames from the sun forcing me to open my tired eyes to see my surroundings once more as I rise from the floor to sit. A room built with bricks made out of mud mixed with straw. Even with the hot sun shining down in the small room where I sleep with my sister, Sharifa, it is still fresh and shady. I get up from the ground where I sleep, removing the sheets away from me, and I carefully try not to step on my older sister, who is also sleeping on the floor soothingly. I change quickly out of my tunic into a beautiful yet simple dress, and I brush my hair slowly to look acceptable. I walk out of the room to meet my parents that are probably already in the kitchen enjoying breakfast of warm, fresh bread with some delicious scrambled eggs.
"Ouch!" I yell loudly when I feel a sharp jab on my right foot, but I rapidly cover my mouth with my tan hands as I quickly glance back on my sleeping sister that is still sleeping soundly. Good. I check on the ground to see what nudged my foot, and I see the board game, Senet, scrambled on the floor. "You got to be kidding me." I breathe slowly, bending down to rub my right foot lightly to soothe it. "I thought I cleaned the Senet up last night?" When the pain finally fades away, I take a turn to the kitchen again to my awaiting parents.
"Oh! I almost forgot." I say to myself quietly, stopping in my tracks to go back to the room quickly again to get a wooden and plain box of mine that I have hidden, for I have valuable possessions inside of it. I open the wooden cover to unlock its insides as I look through it, searching for a particular treasure. "Ah! Here it is." I grab the simple gold necklace with an Ankh amulet, the symbol of life, that is adorned with Turquoise jewels. I put it on my neck as I hold the medallion tight.
Oh, gods, bless my family and me on this day. I pray as I clutch my necklace tightly on my chest while looking out the opening of my room to view the yellow fields of sand. And I beg of you to please cure the strange illness of Pharaoh Thutmose to make him king all of Egypt for a lifetime so Prince Amenhotep, his brother, will not take the throne because the prince will get rid of all the existence all of you my gods. I hope this blasphemy is all but a lie and will not come true, for it is too much for my heart to endure.
And for a strange reason, the sun rays shine more brilliantly for a second, at least now I know for certain that Amen-Ra has heard my prayer. I smile reassuringly to the sun as I give thanks to Amen-Ra silently. I officially walk out of the room to the kitchen where Father and Mother are waiting for my sister and me for breakfast, glancing at my sister sleep peacefully before I go.
"Ah, Lapis. You are finally awake." Father, Ziyad, tells me when he sees me entering the warm kitchen, sitting at the small, round, and wooden table on the floor, enjoying breakfast. "Breakfast is already served, you know." He takes a bite of the scrumptious eggs.
"Yes, Father," I answer him as I sit beside Mother, Tabia, that is also enjoying a bite of the scrambled eggs as I get a handful of the still-warm eggs and bread on a plate made of clay. "For an unknown reason, I feel that I want to go to the temple and pray for the sick king. Could this be a hidden message from the gods?"
"Here is the bread." Tabia sets the bread down on the table, interrupting my thoughts. I being the first one to take bread from the wooden basket as I smile teasingly at my parents for beating them on taking the first bread, and they, in return, shake their heads.
When all of the breakfast is complete.
"Lapis, let us head to the fields again," Father states to me as he gets up from the floor to stand up, wiping his loincloth for any uncalled dust.
"Father, may I head to the temple first? To pray that Pharaoh Thutmose will heal again?" I question both of them, hoping they will let me go.
"All right, my daughter; just do not take a long time." Father sighs with both of his hands on his hips.
"Thank you, Father." I bow down in appreciation, officially leaving the kitchen to the temple of the gods.
The streets of Egypt are bustling about in every direction as I focus attentively to my surroundings to view men unloading barrels that contain beer to sell in the market, while other people are shopping along, jumping from tent to tent to barter a good bargain. I now focus my gaze on merchants as they measure their produce with a scale to sell to the locals for hopefully a good barter.
"Girl! Get out of the way!"
Huh? Is someone speaking to me?I quickly look to my sides, but all I see is men and women focusing their attention on their sales. Was that statement directed towards me?
"I said, get out of the way!" I hear the deep voice growl behind me yell out loud as I quickly turn around to have my heart stop in great terror. There in front of me is a stampede of oxen rushing towards my direction! I try to quickly move out of the oxen's way, but I trip on my own feet thanks to the pain from earlier and fall face flat on the ground.
"Oh, gods, let this not be my death, please!" I pray as I am quickly trying to stand up again, but I fail when I kneel back to the ground, feeling the oxen's feet vibrating on the brown dirt that I feel is inching closer to me. I hear their horrible mooing becoming louder and louder. "Dammit, I am not about to let death take me away that easily." Again I try to stand as quickly as I can, ignoring the sharp pain in my foot and running how I can to get out of the stampede's way. I fall to the ground in shock when I am out of danger's way to see a blur of white and brown in front of me.
"What could of happen if I was caught in the middle of that stampede?" I take a quick moment to ask myself quietly at the sight of the swift oxen running rapidly in front of my eyes, but dismissing the question for I know the answer will give my heart a grand fright. I put my shaking hands on my chest to feel my heart trying to jump out of my chest, hoping my hand will shield the heart from doing an unspeakable act for if it leaves; how will I survive?
"Dammit, girl! You could have gotten killed!" I turn to face the direction of the deep voice to see a gruff man, dress in a brown cloak with a white hat in his head, standing idly on the other side of the street as I try to stand up from the ground slowly, feeling the stares from the locals pierce through me that have crowded to see the scene. "Next time, do not stand in the middle of the street!" The gruff man states as he walks off after his oxen to an unknown destination into the west.
"You do not have to be so rude!" I call out the man of the oxen before he leaves, but he only walks away without looking back. I know he did hear my statement. "Oh, and next time give a warning in time and not in one second!" I try to get back to the rude man, but it is too late, for he is out of hearing distance.
"If I had gotten myself killed by your oxen, then you will be the one that had to pay for your life also!"
I say to myself angrily, cleaning myself from unwanted dust, and I turn to face the crowd that had gathered from the little scene. "What? There is nothing to see." I glare at them like daggers with my eyes that are burning with red fury; not only the sun is hot now. In one second, the throng dispersed in every direction of the market. Some continue to shop around, while others went to their jobs to unload barrels and sell their produce.
And this is only the beginning of the early morning. What other dangers will I face through this day, oh, gods? Now I understand why fate did not want me to leave my room in the early dawn.I breathe in deeply before walking out of the markets with my thoughts intact to my mind to the direction of the temple, where I was heading earlier before the incident occur, to pray for the health of the King of Egypt. No, for our King of Egypt.
The shrine smells of incense from the herbs that the priests have burned. The main Priest, Yahya, is getting ready to do a healing ritual for the sick king to become healthy again and to drive away from the demons that are tormenting the loved Pharaoh of Egypt, so may he, if the god's permits, to be well again.
"It is time for I to enter the sanctuary." The main Priest, Yahya, states to the other Priest when he barely got done shaving and washing in the sacred lake, for it is his job to look after the gods. "I will take the goddess Sekhmet, the goddess of healing and war, to cure Pharaoh Thutmose and to drive away from the wicked, vile demons that are tormenting the king."
"Yes, chief priest Yahya." The other ten priests say in a union, all dressed in white loincloths, walking away together to the Hypostyle hall, leaving Yahya alone who is heading to the sanctuary.
"I have been doing this ritual for almost two weeks, and I have not seen any progress on the sick king." Yahya thinks somberly before entering the room, standing in front of the golden door with beautiful hieroglyphics of the gods and goddesses in a green paradise. "When I finally see results that Pharaoh Thutmose is getting well, the next day, he mysteriously gets ill again. Almost if the gods themselves are punishing the Pharaoh. But why? He is a good, no, brilliant and honest king that cares about his country and his people. Then why … –"
"No. It is not my place to speak about unknown matters." The Priest states to himself quietly as he slowly opens the door, almost as if the demons of the Pharaoh are tormenting Yahya themselves, with the door creaking loudly.
The sanctuary is all dark, but with some dim light from the candles' red flame that the other priests have lighted earlier and the walls have magnificent pictures of the Priest and the gods living with each other in harmony. Yahya strolls to the shrine of the goddess Sekhmet, each step slowing him down with unknown torment as he gets closer to the little destination.
"Nehes, nehes, nehes em hotep. Nebet hotepet, weben em hotep." The Priest recites the prayer as he gets the lion goddess out of the shrine carefully so he won't damage the statue made out of gold to the middle of the sanctuary and sprinkling water from a golden refine bowl that he has in his hands to wash the statute, but more to remove the wicked sin away with pure water. After Yahya is done with the water, he places the golden bowl on the floor and goes to get excellent quality, purple clothing to change the goddess with the new garment.
"Nutjert en Ankh, nefer em pet! Pet em hotep. Tu em hotep, nutjert asha renu!" The Priest smiles contentedly when he sees the statue is now beautify with the pretty clothing and goes to a little wooden table in the corner of the room where it has lay food and water for the gods, picking up the food up to give to the goddess. And all is done.
"Anekh brak, anekh brak. Tu a atu. Tu a atu. Nebet Sachmis!" When Yahya finally finishes his ritual for the blessing of Sekhmet he puts the big massive statue back to where it belongs, to the shrine slowly and carefully, trying to avoid more anger from the gods if anything heinous might occur with the sacred goddess's statue and leaves the door open until the evening to close them once more. As Yahya goes out, he wipes away his footprints with a broom made out of papyrus reed, to clean any unnecessary dust when he leaves.
"I will do this ritual for a lifetime, for every day in my life if I have to, to have my beloved king with me for an eternity in the earth." The main Priest thinks before leaving the sanctuary alone with its white candles shining brightly against the consuming darkness. He closes the heavy golden door slowly, with each movement creaking. To seal away any demons that may escape with anyone noticing
. . . .
I finally reach the temple that is rich in the color of gold by the golden mud bricks, filled with people from all over the country just to visit the lively temple. Some are making an offering outside of the shrine's wall to the statue of Pharaoh Thutmose, the god that is upon this earth, and other people are setting up booths for a temple festival that is going to take place later the week for the restoration of the ill king. I walk to the entrance as I eye my surroundings around me (incase for any brutal oxen might run over me) – to view the Pharaoh's statue better.
There are two gigantic statues of the Pharaoh outside of the temple's door, one on each side. It's made out of gold, with each detailing so precise that it seems I am viewing Pharaoh Thutmose itself in real life.
The day will come when I will see the King of Egypt eye to eye, face to face to thank him for everything he has done to our beautiful mother-land, and for that reason he must live. I pray inward as I reach out my hand to touch the golden statue to see how it will feel against my skin, for some sort of miracle that I have been heard but I quickly pull it away, not wanting to get in trouble and just walk away from the statue to the temple's door passing the obelisk with its top covered with gold.
Inside the Hypostyle hall, people gather to view the clay statues of the gods and goddess by rows of columns that support the roof as I get closer to my destination to the east of the hall where a priest are selling votive tablets, clay stones that people buy to offer to the gods hoping the gods will listen. I quickly go to the direction to buy the tablet, trying to get out of the way from the people that are just roaming around.
"Thank you, priest." I bow down to the man dress all in white when he hands me the votive tablet.
"Go with the gods child." The Priest tells me in good humor, I thank him again and walk away slowly to view the clay, brown tablet in my hands.
It's a beautiful clay stone-colored in blue, green, and red with the pictures of the god Horus, Pharaoh's incarnation and the goddess Hathor, goddess of the sky, love, and joy. Each god is on each side: Horus on the left side and Hathor on the right side. And in the middle of the two gods is a table of food banquet and papyrus reeds that decorate it. Underneath the gods is a little picture of men and women working in the Nile's fields, I know that the people represent us, that even if poor, we can become closer to our gods because I know they don't care if we are poor or not. (though it is kind of strange that we have to buy the votive tablet just to have our prayers heard. Isn't that supposed to be free, that our prayers come from the heart and not from a stone?)
Hopefully, the gods will listen to my prayers. I pray again as I ignore my last statement that I thought. Oh, Amen-Ra, you of all gods are my true god, for you are the only one that has taken account of me. I plead you, my god, make my king and your king healthy again to restore all Egypt and bring the wicked Amenhotep out of the picture for he is a vile, vile man. I close my eyes tightly as I let the words from my heart go through my mouth, hoping to let my words become true.
"Surely, girl, your words shall be heard."
I hear a voice beside me say to me, startling me as I quickly open my eyes as I drop the votive tablet to the ground that crashes in pieces. My eyes go wide at the sight of the tablet broken on the floor and winning eyes from the crowd again. Oh, my god!I stare at the shattered stone in pure shock, not knowing how to move. Is this a prediction? But a prediction of what?
"I see you are too shocked to move. Here, let me help you." The man from before says to me as he bends down to pick up the brown pieces that camouflage the ground.
"What? No, it was my fault." I say to the older man as I also bend down to pick up the pieces. "It is very unnecessary."
"Nonsense. Oh, you forget one."
"Thank – " I stop in the middle of my words when I finally see the man in front of me, he is dress in a white loincloth, and his head is shaved. He must be a priest! "Oh dear, please … do not put me jail for breaking the votive tablet!" I shout a little too loudly, quickly getting myself up from the floor and the Priest mimicking my same movements. "It was an accident! I swear, ask the gods if you do not believe me!" First, the wild oxen and now to jail? I should have stayed in my room today.
"Jail? You odd girl." The Priest laughs. "You are still missing a piece." He holds his hand out to me, holding the last piece of the stone.
"Uh … thank-you priest." I reply, picking up the remaining piece from his open, fair hand and bowing down.
"Please call me Priest Yahya," Yahya states, turning around and walking away from me, leaving me dumbstruck with my eyes never leaving his silhouette.
That was the main Priest Yahya?!
"I cannot believe the priest did not take her to jail." A woman's harsh voice interrupts my thoughts.
"Hey! Is she not the same girl that was about to be trampled by the oxen?" I hear another male voice say teasingly this time. I turn around to see a mob gather along to view another scene … again. They are whispering with each other about me … again.
Dammit! Don't these people have other things to do? I think angrily, clutching my fists tightly beside me. "Don't you all have other things to do?" I try to muster my calmest voice, knowing it is too early to go to jail for fighting in the temple, and they all scattered in every direction on the shrine-like before in the market.
Could the Priest Yahya have something to do with my future? I turn away from my thoughts on the more critical matter as I look through the statues of the gods and goddesses. He must be the key to save the king and to throw out Prince Amenhotep from the lineage of becoming Pharaoh, for the Priest must of already know that Amenhotep wants to change our already perfect religion.I must speak to him about this important matter, even if it takes me to jail.
I head to the direction where the Priest Yahya went to hopefully spot him and talk to him, pushing the people out of the way, not caring what they say about me because they already have spoken. And for a bizarre reason, I felt a good vibe about him.
Quick A/N: I am not in an Egyptologist, so not all things are going to be correct. While I write this story, I learn more from Egypt and its mythology.
As you can see, this chapter is more based on the history of ancient Egypt, of the ceremony, how they lived in their daily lives in the streets.
-The prayer that the Priest recites is actually a prayer to Isis in the Egyptian language, but I change it to Sekhmet (Sachmis).
Translation: Awake, awake, awake. Rise through, rise through in beauty goddess.
Beautiful in heaven, oh goddess, goddess rich in names. All praise to you, all praise to you. I adore you, I adore you Sekhmet.
-The game Senet or Senit is a board game similar to modern-day backgammon.
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