From the death of Rameses XIII. till the day of his burial the state
was governed by the most worthy San-Amen-Herhor as high priest of the
Theban Amon, and viceroy of the late pharaoh.
The government of the viceroy, lasting some months, was very
prosperous for Egypt. Herhor pacified the outbreaks of the people,
and, in accordance with former times, he gave the seventh day for rest
to the working man. He introduced stern discipline among the priests;
he extended protection to foreigners, especially Phoenicians, and
concluded a treaty with Assyria, not yielding Phoenicia, however,
which remained tributary to Egypt.
In the course of this short government, justice was meted out quickly,
but without cruelty, and this or that man did not dare to beat an
Egyptian laborer, who had the right to appeal to a court if he had
time sufficient and witnesses.
Herhor occupied himself too in paying the debts which weighed on the
lands of the state and the pharaoh. With this object he persuaded the
Phoenicians to resign a certain part of the sums due them from the
treasury, and to cover the rest he drew from the labyrinth the
enormous sum of thirty thousand talents.
Thanks to these measures, in the course of three months peace and
prosperity were established in Egypt.
"May the rule of the viceroy, San-Amen-Herhor be blessed!" said the
people. "Indeed the gods predestined him to power so as to free Egypt
from misfortunes brought on by Rameses XIII., who was a woman-hunter
and frivolous."
A few days sufficed the people to forget that all Herhor's acts were
merely the accomplishment of plans made by the young and lofty-minded
pharaoh.
In the month Tobi, when the mummy of Rameses XIII. was placed in its
tomb, a great assembly of the most important personages met in the
temple of Amon. There were present almost all the high priests,
nomarchs, and generals of troops, and among them, covered with glory,
was the gray-haired chief of the eastern army, Nitager.
In this same gigantic hall of columns, where half a year earlier the
priests had judged Rameses XII., and shown dislike for Rameses XIII.,
those dignitaries assembled to settle the most important question of
state, under the presidency of Herhor. On the 25th of Tobi, exactly at
noon, Herhor, in the mitre of Amenhôtep, sat on the throne; others sat
in armchairs, and the council took place.
It was of wonderfully short duration, just as if the result had been
arranged previously.
"High priests, nomarchs, and leaders," began Herhor. "We have
assembled here on sad and important business. With the death of the
eternally living Rameses XIII., whose short and stormy reign ended in
a manner so unfortunate--" Here Herhor sighed.
"With Rameses XIII. perished not only a pharaoh, but the twentieth
dynasty, which was full of glory."
Among those present rose a murmur.
"The dynasty has not ended," interrupted the powerful nomarch of
Memphis, almost harshly. "The worthy Queen Nikotris is still living,
therefore the throne belongs to her."
After a time Herhor answered: "My most worthy consort, Queen
Nikotris--"
Now in the assembly was heard, not a murmur, but a cry, and it lasted
a number of minutes. When it ceased Herhor continued calmly and with
emphasis:--
"My most worthy consort, Queen Nikotris, inconsolable through sorrow
for her son, has abdicated the throne--"
"Permit!" exclaimed the nomarch of Memphis. "The most worthy viceroy
has called the queen his consort. This intelligence is entirely new,
and, first of all it must be verified."
At a sign from Herhor the judge of Thebes drew out an act concluded
two days before between the most worthy high priest of Amon,
San-Amen-Herhor, and Queen Nikotris, widow of Rameses XII., and mother
of Rameses XIII.
After this explanation came a grave-like silence. Herhor began
again,--
"Since my consort, who is the only heir to the throne, has abdicated,
the reign of the twentieth dynasty is ended; we must choose a new
sovereign.
"This sovereign," continued Herhor, "should be a man of ripe years,
energetic, and skilled in government. For this reason I advise you to
choose for the highest position--"
"Herhor!" cried some one.
"The most famous Nitager, the leader of the eastern army," finished
Herhor.
Nitager sat a long time with closed eyes, smiling. At last he rose,
and said,--
"Never will there be a lack of men eager for the title of pharaoh. We
have more of them perhaps than are needed. Luckily, the gods
themselves, in setting aside useless rivals, have indicated a man most
worthy of power, and it seems to me that I shall act wisely if,
instead of receiving the crown offered me graciously, I answer,--
"May he live through eternity, his holiness, San-Amen-Herhor, the
first pharaoh of a new dynasty!"
Those present, with few exceptions, repeated the shout, and at the
same time the supreme judge brought on a golden tray two caps: the
white one of Upper, and the red one of Lower Egypt. One of these was
taken by the high priest of Osiris, the other by the high priest of
Horns, and they delivered them to Herhor, who, when he had kissed the
golden serpent, put them both on his head.
Then those present began the ceremony of offering homage, which lasted
a couple of hours. After that a proper act was written; those who took
part in the election placed their seals on it, and from that moment
San-Amen-Herhor was the real pharaoh, the lord of both worlds, also of
the life and death of his subjects.
Toward evening his holiness returned wearied to his chambers of a high
priest, where he found Pentuer, who had grown thin, and on whose
emaciated face weariness and sadness were evident.
When Pentuer prostrated himself the pharaoh raised him and said with a
smile,--
"Thou didst not sign my election, thou didst not give me homage, and I
fear that I shall have to arrest thee some time in the temple of Ptah.
Well, hast thou been thinking to leave me? Dost prefer Menes?"
"Forgive, holiness," answered the priest, "but court life has so
wearied me that my only desire is to learn wisdom."
"Thou canst not forget Rameses?" inquired Herhor. "And yet thou
knewest him only a very short time, while thou hast labored with me
during years."
"Blame me not, holiness, but--Rameses XIII. was the first pharaoh to
commiserate the Egyptian people."
Herhor smiled.
"O ye learned men," said he, shaking his head. "But it was thou who
didst turn the attention of Rameses to the people, and now thou
bearest mourning for him in thy heart, though he did nothing whatever
for the people. It was thou who commiserated, not he. Ye are strange
men, in spite of your powerful minds," continued Herhor. "It is the
same thing with Menes. That priest considers that he is the most
peaceful man in Egypt, though it was he who overturned the dynasty and
smoothed the road to power for me. Were it not for his letter about
the eclipse of the sun on the 20th of Paofi, perhaps I and the late
Mefres would be splitting stones now in the quarries.
"Well, go; go and greet Menes for me. Remember also that I know how to
be thankful, which is the great secret of ruling. Tell Menes that I
shall carry out every wish of his, unless he asks me, for example, to
abdicate. Return to me when thou hast rested, I will keep an important
place for thee."
And he touched Pentuer's head, which was inclined submissively.
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Transcriber's Note
Punctuation errors have been repaired.
Hyphenation, accent usage and capitalisation has been made consistent.
Page 218 has two footnote markers pointing to the same footnote. The
transcriber has duplicated the footnote for ease of reference.
There are many variations in usage of units of measurement, for example,
metres, yards, kilometres and miles are all used in different places.
These are all preserved as printed.
There is some variation in the naming of months, and in their given
correspondence to English names of months, as follows:
Phamenoth and Famenut appear as variable spellings, both
referring to December-January.
Mechir is also given as corresponding to December-January.
Pharmuthi and Farmuti appear as variable spellings, both
referring to January-February.
Pachons is also given as corresponding to January-February.
Paoni is given as corresponding to both March-April and
June-July.
Epiphi and Epifi appear as variable spellings.
Mesori and Mesore appear as variable spellings.
These variations are preserved as printed. The exception is the single
instance of Paophi, which was amended to match the high prevalence of
the Paofi spelling as follows:
Page 183--Paophi amended to Paofi--"... in the middle of the
month of Paofi the prince gave command ..."
Other variable spelling has been made consistent where there was a
prevalence of one form over the other, or where one version could be
confirmed from an alternative, reliable source, including the Polish
edition of the book, as follows:
Page 6--Sem-Amen-Herhor amended to San-Amen-Herhor--"...
San-Amen-Herhor, the high priest of Amon ..."
Page 7--Sem Amen-Herhor amended to San-Amen-Herhor--"...
San-Amen-Herhor, high priest of the great sanctuary of Amon
..."
Page 61--Neha-Ment amended to Neha-Chent--"... in the
provinces of Takens, Ses, Neha-Chent, Neha-Pechu, ..."
Page 113--Ezekiel amended to Ezechiel--"... and saw that the
overseer of the workmen, Ezechiel, son of Reuben, ..."
Page 134--Cheran amended to Cherau--"... but the cities,
Sochem, On, Cherau, Turra, Tetani, ..."
Page 157--Tanecha amended to Taneha--"In the name of the
Almighty and Eternal--Amorul, Taneha, ..."
Page 360--Teremethis amended to Terenuthis--"... and even
from Terenuthis inhabitants began to flee."
Page 461--Adonay amended to Adonai--"Amorul, Taneha,
Latisten, Rabur, Adonai have pity on me ..."
Page 475--Sotis amended to Sothis--"Rise, as radiant as Isis,
rise as Sothis rises ..."
Page 479--Cham-Sam-merer-amen-Rameses-Neter-haq-an amended to
Cham-Sem-Merer-Amen-Rameses-Neter-haq-an--"... may thou live
through eternity Cham-Sem-Merer-Amen-Rameses-Neter-haq-an."
Page 562--Tinis amended to Tanis--"Just there, side by side,
stood Tanis and Abydos, ..."
Page 593--Sebek amended to Sebak--"... he made offerings to
Horus, the god of light, and to Sebak, the spirit of
darkness."
Page 618--Emsuchs amended to Emsuch--"... also the chiefs of
the provinces of Abs, Horti and Emsuch."
The following typographic errors have been repaired:
Page vi--alway amended to always--"... with the blandishments
and physical pleasures which always attend it, ..."
Page 118--he amended to the--"... side of the oxen a driver
with a short club, ..."
Page 231--sprits amended to spirits--"... and when they had
driven away evil spirits, ..."
Page 290--man amended to men--"... then he chased after the
dart men, who vexed him by pricking."
Page 475--milleniums amended to millenniums--"... had not
closed its eyes for one instant during millenniums, ..."
Page 596--forgot amended to forget--"But be pleased not to
forget ..."
Page 651--depised amended to despised--"I have secured
everything--I alone--I, the despised priest of Set!"
The frontispiece illustrations has been moved to follow the title
page. Other illustrations have been moved where necessary so that they
are not in the middle of a paragraph. Illustration captions have been
added from the list of illustrations for the convenience of the
reader.
A table of contents has been added by the transcriber for the
convenience of the reader.
End of Project Gutenberg's The Pharaoh and the Priest, by Alexander Glovatski