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a golden sphinx on its prow. Yes, it had to be Pharaoh s ship!
Forgetting both fish and net, the budding fishermen
dove into the Nile and swam toward the bank in order to
alert the village. This would mean several days of feasting.
The immense hall of columns in the temple of Karnak
looked magnificent: the twelve soaring columns in the cen-
tral nave manifested the power of creation arising from the
primordial ocean.
202 Christian Jacq
It was here that Nebu, the high priest of Amon, walking
with the aid of his fine gold-plated cane, came to greet the
royal couple. Despite his rheumatism, he managed a bow.
Ramses helped him to his feet.
I m happy to see you, Your Majesty, and delighted to set
eyes on your beautiful queen.
Are you becoming a perfect courtier, Nebu?
No hope of that, Your Majesty. I ll continue to speak
my mind, as I just have.
How is your health?
The older I get, the more my joints ache, but the temple
doctors have prescribed a willow extract that seems to help.
I confess that I haven t much time to dwell on my problems
. . . you ve given me so much responsibility!
And it would appear that I have good reason to be sat-
isfied with my choice.
Nebu was in charge of eighty thousand men, nearly a
million head of livestock, a hundred-odd barges, fifty busy
construction sites, a huge amount of arable land, gardens,
woodlands, orchards, and vineyards such was the world of
Karnak, the rich domain of Amon.
The most difficult part, Your Majesty, is coordinating
the efforts of the scribes on the estates, in the granaries, the
ones in the accounting department, and all the rest of them
. . . without close supervision, the infighting would quickly
get out of hand.
You ve become quite the diplomat, Nebu.
I know of only two virtues: to obey and to serve.
Everything else is nonsense. And at my age, I have no time
for nonsense.
Ramses and Nefertari admired, one by one, the hundred
and thirty-four columns engraved with the names of the
Ramses: The lady of abu simbel 203
deities to whom Pharaoh made offerings in scene after
scene. The tall stone stalks eternally linked the floor (sym-
bolizing the primordial swamp) with the blue-painted ceil-
ing sparkling with stars.
As Seti had wished, this vast hypostyle hall would forever
attest to the glory of the hidden god, at the same time
revealing his mysteries.
Will you be stopping long in Thebes? asked Nebu.
To lead Egypt toward peace, answered Ramses, I
must satisfy the gods by providing residences fit for them,
and by completing my eternal dwelling, as well as
Nefertari s. The spark of life in our hearts is something the
gods may take back at any time; we must be prepared to
appear before them, so that the people of Egypt do not
suffer by our death.
Ramses summoned the divine force slumbering within
Karnak s naos and saluted its presence: Hail to thee, giver
of life, who brings forth gods and men, creator of my
country and of distant lands, who makes the blooming
prairies and the flood waters. All creation is full of thy per-
fection.
Karnak was awakening.
Daylight replaced the glow of oil lamps. Celebrants
filled purification vessels with water from the sacred lake,
replaced the cones of incense releasing their scent through
the chapels, decked the altars with flowers, fruit, vegetables,
and fresh bread. Processions gathered to distribute the
offerings, all in the name of Ma at. She alone could renew
204 Christian Jacq
the diverse forms of life. She alone invigorated the world
with the fresh scent of dew as the sun rose.
With Nefertari at his side, Ramses walked down the
avenue of sphinxes leading toward the temple of Luxor.
At the monumental gate, a man stood waiting for the
royal couple. A square-jawed, solid man, a former Inspector
of the royal stables. He had also been Ramses instructor in
boot camp.
Bakhen made me fight him, the king told his wife. I
still remember how proud I was not to be beaten.
After giving up the military life, the rugged young man
had changed markedly. Ramses eventually named him
Fourth Prophet of Amon, moving Bakhen to tears, and
seeing the Pharaoh again today moved him beyond words.
Since he preferred to let his work speak for him, he gave the
royal couple a tour of Luxor s impressive facade, which was
flanked by two slender obelisks and several colossal statues
of Ramses. The handsome sandstone was covered with
scenes that told the tale of the battle of Kadesh and the
King of Egypt s victory.
Your Majesty, Bakhen declared fervently, the building
is completed!
But the work must go on.
I m ready.
The royal couple and Bakhen entered the forecourt just
past the pylon, where statues of Ramses stood between the
columns, fostering his ka, the immortal energy that kept
him fit to reign.
The stonemasons and sculptors have done fine work,
Bakhen, but I cannot grant them any leave. I must even con-
fess I m about to take them on a difficult, if not dangerous,
mission.
May I ask what it is, Your Majesty?
Ramses: The lady of abu simbel 205
Erecting several places of worship in Nubia, including
a great temple. Bring the workmen together and poll them;
I ll only take volunteers.
The Ramesseum was to be the mortuary temple where
Ramses the Great s soul would be glorified forever his
Eternal Temple. Built according to the king s own plans, this
Temple of Millions of Years had become a grandiose mon-
ument, the largest on the West Bank of Thebes. Granite,
sandstone, and basalt had been used to raise pylons, court-
yards, and chapels. Several gilded bronze gates marked off
the various sections of the complex, walled all around with
mud bricks.
Shaanar had crept into an empty storeroom at nightfall.
The weapon he concealed was one that Ofir hoped would
be decisive. Now Ramses brother was waiting for total
darkness before venturing into the sacred space.
At length he sneaked down one wall of the palace under
construction and made his way across a courtyard. He
stopped short at the entrance to a chapel commemorating
Seti.
Seti, his father . . .
But a father who had betrayed him, choosing Ramses as
Pharaoh! A father who had thrown him aside, putting a
tyrant before him . . .
Once he completed this sinister errand, Shaanar would
no longer be Seti s son. But what did it matter? Contrary to
what the priestly initiates pretended, no one got past the
obstacle of death. Nothingness had claimed Seti, as it
would soon claim Ramses. Life had only one meaning:
206 Christian Jacq
grabbing all the power you could, by every possible means,
and wielding it without constraint, shoving aside the weak
and useless.
And to think that thousands of imbeciles already
thought that Ramses was a god! When Shaanar toppled
their idol, he would clear the way for a new regime.
Outdated practices would be banned as he governed
according to the only two policies worth pursuing: territo-
rial conquest and economic development.
Once he was firmly on the throne, Shaanar would raze
the Ramesseum and destroy every image of his brother.
Even in its unfinished state, the Eternal Temple was pro-
ducing energy that even Shaanar found difficult to resist.
Hieroglyphs, carvings, and paintings were living proof of
Ramses power. The very stone was steeped in it.
No, he told himself, it was only the darkness that made
it seem that way. Shaanar shook off his growing reluctance.
He carefully executed Ofir s instructions, then silently left
the temple complex.
Yes, it was taking shape; it was growing strong, this
Eternal Temple. It was the keystone of Ramses reign, and
he paid homage to it. Henceforth it would be here that he
came to draw on the force that nourished his every thought
and deed.
As at Karnak and Luxor, the architects, stonemasons,
sculptors, painters, and draftsmen had worked wonders.
The sanctuary, several chapels and side-chapels, and a small
columned hall were now completed, along with the shrine
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