AT sunrise of the twenty-first of Hator there came from Memphis to the
camp at the Soda Lakes an order by which three regiments were to march
to Libya to stand garrison in the towns, the rest of the Egyptian army
was to return home with Ramses.
The army greeted this arrangement with shouts of delight, for a stay of
some days in the wilderness had begun to annoy them. In spite of
supplies from Egypt and from conquered Libya, there was not an excess
of provisions; water in the wells dug out quickly, was exhausted; the
heat of the sun burned their bodies, and the ruddy sand wounded their
lungs and their eyeballs. The warriors were falling ill of dysentery
and a malignant inflammation of the eyelids.
Ramses commanded to raise the camp. He sent three native Egyptian
regiments to Libya, commanding the soldiers to treat people mildly and
never wander from the camp singly. The army proper he turned toward
Memphis, leaving a small garrison at the glass huts and in the
fortress.
About nine in the morning, in spite of the heat, both armies were on
the road; one going northward, the other toward the south.
The holy Mentezufis approached the heir then, and said,
"It would be well, worthiness, couldst Thou reach Memphis earlier.
There will be fresh horses half-way."
"Then my father is very ill?" cried out Ramses.
The priest bent his head.
The prince gave command to Mentezufis, begging him to change in no way
commands already made, unless he counseled with lay generals. Taking
Pentuer, Tutmosis, and twenty of the best Asiatic horsemen, he went
himself on a sharp trot toward Memphis.
In five hours they passed half the journey; at the halt, as Mentezufis
had declared, were fresh horses and a new escort. The Asiatics remained
at that point, and after a short rest the prince with his two
companions and a new escort went farther.
"Woe to me!" said Tutmosis. "It is not enough that for five days I have
not bathed and know not rose perfumed oil, but besides I must make in
one day two forced marches. I am sure that when we reach Memphis no
dancer will look at me."
"What! Art Thou better than we?" asked the prince.
"I am more fragile," said the exquisite. "Thou, prince, art as
accustomed to riding as a Hyksos, and Pentuer might travel on a red-hot
sword. But I am so delicate."
At sunset the travelers came out on a lofty hill, whence they saw an
uncommon picture unfolded before them. For a long distance the green
valley of Egypt was visible, on the background of it, like a row of
ruddy fires, the triangular pyramids stood gleaming. A little to the
right of the pyramids the tops of the Memphis pylons, wrapped in a
bluish haze, seemed to be flaming upward.
"Let us go; let us go!" said Ramses.
A moment later the reddish desert surrounded them again, and again the
line of pyramids gleamed until all was dissolved in the twilight.
When night fell the travelers had reached that immense district of the
dead, which extends for a number of tens of miles on the heights along
the left side of the river.
Here during the Ancient Kingdom were buried, for endless ages,
Egyptians, the pharaohs in immense pyramids, princes and dignitaries in
smaller pyramids, common men in mud structures. Here were resting
millions of mummies, not only of people, but of dogs, cats, birds, in a
word, all creatures which, while they lived, were dear to Egyptians.
During the time of Ramses, the burial-ground of kings and great persons
was transferred to Thebes; in the neighborhood of Memphis were buried
only common persons and artisans from regions about there.
Among scattered graves, the prince and his escort met a number of
people, pushing about like shadows.
"Who are ye?" asked the leader of the escort.
"We are poor servants of the pharaoh returning from our dead. We took
to them roses, cakes, and beer."
"But maybe ye looked into strange graves?"
"O gods!" cried one of the party, "could we commit such a sacrilege? It
is only the wicked Thebans may their hands wither! who disturb the
dead, so as to drink away their property in dramshops?"
"What mean those fires at the north there?" interrupted the prince.
"It must be, worthiness, that Thou comest from afar if Thou know not,"
answered they. "Tomorrow our heir is returning with a victorious army.
He is a great chief! He conquered the Libyans in one battle. Those are
the people of Memphis who have gone out to greet him with solemnity.
Thirty thousand persons. When they shout."
"I understand," whispered the prince to Pentuer. "Holy Mentezufis has
sent me ahead so that I may not have a triumphal entry. But never mind
this time."
The horses were tired, and they had to rest. So the prince sent
horsemen to engage barges on the river, and the rest of the escort
halted under some palms, which at that time grew between the Sphinx and
the group of pyramids.
Those pyramids formed the northern limit of the immense cemetery. On
the flat, about a square kilometer in area, overgrown at that time with
plants of the desert, were tombs and small pyramids, above which
towered the three great pyramids: those of Cheops, Chafre, and Menkere,
and the Sphinx. These immense structures stand only a few hundred yards
from one another. The three pyramids are in a line from northeast to
southwest. East of this line and nearer the Nile is the Sphinx, near
whose feet was the underground temple of Horus.
The pyramids, but especially that of Cheops, as a work of human labor,
astound by their greatness. This pyramid is a pointed stone mountain;
its original height was thirty five stories, or four hundred and
eighty-one feet, standing on a square foundation each side of which was
seven hundred and fifty-five feet. It occupied a little more than
thirteen acres of area, and its four triangular walls would cover
twenty acres of land. In building it, such vast numbers of stones were
used that it would be possible to build a wall of the height of a man,
a wall half a meter thick, and two thousand five hundred kilometers
long.
When the attendants of the prince had disposed themselves under the
wretched trees, some occupied themselves in finding water; others took
out cakes, while Tutmosis dropped to the ground and fell asleep
directly. But the prince and Pentuer walked up and down conversing.
The night was clear enough to let them see on one side the immense
outline of the pyramids, on the other, the Sphinx, which seemed small
in comparison.
"I am here for the fourth time," said the heir, "and my heart is always
filled with regret and astonishment. When a pupil in the higher school,
I thought that, on ascending the throne, I would build something of
more worth than the pyramid of Cheops. But today I am ready to laugh at
my insolence when I think that the great pharaoh in building his tomb
paid sixteen hundred talents (about ten million francs) for the
vegetables alone which were used by the laborers. Where should I find
sixteen hundred talents even for wages?"
"Envy not Cheops, lord," replied the priest. "Other pharaohs have left
better works behind: lakes, canals, roads, schools, and temples."
"But may we compare those things with the pyramids?"
"Of course not," answered Pentuer, hurriedly. "In my eyes and in the
eyes of all the people, each pyramid is a great crime, and that of
Cheops, the greatest of all crimes."
"Thou art too much excited," said the prince.
"I am not. The pharaoh was building his immense tomb for thirty years;
in the course of those years one hundred thousand people worked three
months annually. And what good was there in that work? Whom did it
feed, whom did it cure, to whom did it give clothing? At that work from
ten to twenty thousand people perished yearly; that is, for the tomb of
Cheops a half a million corpses were put into the earth. But the blood,
the pain, the tears, who will reckon them?
"Therefore, wonder not, lord, that the Egyptian toiler to this day
looks with fear toward the west, when above the horizon the triangular
forms of the pyramids seem bloody or crimson. They are witnesses of his
sufferings and fruitless labor.
"And to think that this will continue till those proofs of human pride
are scattered into dust! But when will that be? For three thousand
years those pyramids frighten men with their presence; their walls are
smooth yet, and the immense inscriptions on them are legible."
"That night in the desert thy speech was different," interrupted the
prince.
"For I was not looking at these. But when they are before my eyes, as
at present, I am surrounded by the sobbing spirits of tortured toilers,
and they whisper, 'See what they did with us! But our bones felt pain,
and our hearts longed for rest from labor.'."
Ramses was touched disagreeably by this outburst. "His holiness, my
father," said he, after a while, "presented these things to me
differently; when we were here five years ago, the sacred lord told me
the following narrative:
"During the reign of the pharaoh Tutmosis I, Ethiopian ambassadors came
to negotiate touching the tribute to be paid by them. They were all
arrogant people. They said that the loss of one war was nothing, that
fate might favor them in a second; and for a couple of months they
disputed about tribute.
"In vain did the wise pharaoh, in his wish to enlighten the men mildly,
show our roads and canals to them. They replied that in their country
they had water for nothing wherever they wanted it. In vain he showed
them the treasures of the temples; they said that their country
concealed more gold and jewels by far than were possessed by all Egypt.
In vain did the lord review his armies before them, for they asserted
that Ethiopia had incomparably more warriors' than his holiness.
"The pharaoh brought those people at last to these places where we are
standing and showed them those structures.
"The Ethiopian ambassadors went around the pyramids, read the
inscriptions, and next day they concluded the treaty required of them.
"Since I did not understand the heart of the matter," continued Ramses,
"my holy father explained it.
"'My son,' said he, 'these pyramids are an eternal proof of superhuman
power in Egypt. If any man wished to raise to himself a pyramid he
would pile up a small heap of stones and abandon his labor after some
hours had passed, asking: 'What good is this to me?' Ten, one hundred,
one thousand men would pile up a few more stones. They would throw them
down without order, and leave the work after a few days, for what good
would it be to them?
"'But when a pharaoh of Egypt decides, when the Egyptian state has
decided to rear a pile of stones, thousands of legions of men are sent
out, and for a number of tens of years they build, till the work is
completed. For the question is not this: Are the pyramids needed, but
this is the will of the pharaoh to be accomplished, once it is
uttered.' So, Pentuer, this pyramid is not the tomb of Cheops, but the
will of Cheops, a will which had more men to carry it out than had any
king on earth, and which was as orderly and enduring in action as the
gods are.
"While I was yet at school they taught me that the will of the people
was a great power, the greatest power under the sun. And still the will
of the people can raise one stone barely. How great, then, must be the
will of the pharaoh who has raised a mountain of stones only because it
pleased him, only because he wished thus, even were it without an
object."
"Wouldst thou, lord, wish to show thy power in such fashion?" inquired
Pentuer, suddenly.
"No," answered the prince, without hesitation. "When the pharaohs have
once shown their power, they may be merciful; unless some one should
resist their orders."
"And still this young man is only twenty three years of age!" thought
the frightened priest.
They turned toward the river and walked some time in silence.
"Lie down, lord," said the priest, after a while; "sleep. We have made
no small journey."
"But can I sleep?" answered the prince. "First I am surrounded by those
legions of laborers who, according to thy view, perished in building
the pyramids Just as if they could have lived forever had they not
raised those structures! Then, again, I think of his holiness, my
father, who is dying, perhaps, at this very moment. Common men suffer,
common men spill their blood! Who will prove to me that my divine
father is not tortured more on his costly bed than thy toilers who are
carrying heated stones to a building?
"Laborers, always laborers! For thee, O priest, only he deserves
compassion who bites lice. A whole series of pharaohs have gone into
their graves; some died in torments, some were killed. But Thou
thinkest not of them; Thou thinkest only of those whose service is that
they begot other toilers who dipped up muddy water from the Nile, or
thrust barley balls into the mouths of their milch cows.
"But my father and I? Was not my son slain, and also a woman of my
household? Was Typhon compassionate to me in the desert? Do not my
bones ache after a long journey? Do not missiles from Libyan slings
whistle over my head? Have I a treaty with sickness, with pain, or with
death, that they should be kinder to me than to thy toilers?
"Look there: the Asiatics are sleeping, and quiet has taken possession
of their breasts; but I, their lord, have a heart full of yesterday's
cares, and of fears for the morrow. Ask a toiling man of a hundred
years whether in all his life he had as much sorrow as I have had
during my power of a few months as commander and viceroy."
Before them rose slowly from the depth of the night a wonderful shade.
It was an object fifty yards long and as high as a house of three
stories, having at its side, as it were, a five-storied tower of
uncommon structure.
"Here is the Sphinx," said the irritated prince, "purely priests' work!
Whenever I see this, in the day or the night time, the question always
tortures me: What is this, and what is the use of it? The pyramids I
understand: Almighty pharaoh wished to show his power, and, perhaps,
which was wiser, wished to secure eternal life which no thief or enemy
might take from him. Drat this Sphinx! Evidently that is our sacred
priestly order, which has a very large, wise head and lion's claws
beneath it.
"This repulsive statue, full of double meaning, which seems to exult
because we appear like locusts when we stand near it, it is neither a
man nor a beast nor a rock What is it, then? What is its meaning? Or
that smile which it has If Thou admire the everlasting endurance of the
pyramids, it smiles; if Thou go past to converse with the tombs, it
smiles. Whether the fields of Egypt are green, or Typhon lets loose his
fiery steeds, or the slave seeks his freedom in the desert, or Ramses
the Great drives conquered nations before him, it has for all one and
the same changeless smile. Nineteen dynasties have passed like shadows;
but it smiles on and would smile even were the Nile to grow dry, and
were Egypt to disappear under sand fields.
"Is not that monster the more dreadful that it has a mild human visage?
Lasting itself throughout ages, it has never known grief over life,
which is fleeting and filled with anguish."
"Dost Thou not remember, lord, the 'faces of the gods," interrupted
Pentuer, "or hast Thou not seen mummies? All immortals look on
transient things with the selfsame indifference. Even man does when
nearing the end of his earth-life."
"The gods hear our prayers sometimes, but the Sphinx never moves. No
compassion on that face, a mere gigantic jeering terror. If I knew that
in its mouth were hidden some prophecy for me, or some means to elevate
Egypt, I should not dare to put a question. It seems to me that I
should hear some awful answer uttered with unpitying calmness. This is
the work and the image of the priesthood. It is worse than man, for it
has a lion's body; it is worse than a beast, for it has a human head;
it is worse than stone, for inexplicable life is contained in it."
At that moment groaning and muffled voices reached them, the source of
which they could not determine.
"Is the Sphinx singing?" inquired the astonished prince.
"That singing is in the underground temple," replied Pentuer. "But why
are they praying at this night hour?"
"Ask rather why they pray at all, since no one hears them."
Pentuer took the direction at once and went toward the place of the
singing. The prince found some stone for a support and sat down
wearied. He put his hands behind him, leaned back, and looked into the
immense face before him.
In spite of the lack of light, the superhuman features were clearly
visible; just the shade added life and character. The more the prince
gazed into that face, the more powerfully he felt that he had been
prejudiced, that his dislike was unreasonable.
On the face of the Sphinx, there was no cruelty, but rather
resignation. In its smile there was no jeering, but rather sadness. It
did not feel the wretchedness and fleeting nature of mankind, for it
did not see them. Its eyes, filled with expression, were fixed
somewhere beyond the Nile, beyond the horizon, toward regions concealed
from human sight beneath the vault of heaven. Was it watching the
disturbing growth of the Assyrian monarchy? Or the impudent activity of
Phoenicia? Or the birth of Greece, or events, perhaps, which were
preparing on the Jordan? Who could answer?
The prince was sure of one thing, that it was gazing, thinking, waiting
for something with a calm smile worthy of supernatural existence. And,
moreover, it seemed to him that if that something appeared on the
horizon, the Sphinx would rise up and go to meet it.
What was that to be, and when would it come? This was a mystery the
significance of which was depicted expressly on the face of that
creature which had existed for ages. But it would of necessity take
place on a sudden, since the Sphinx had not closed its eyes for one
instant during millenniums, and was gazing, gazing, always.
Meanwhile Pentuer found a window through which came from the
underground temple pensive hymns of the priestly chorus:
Chorus I. "Rise, as radiant as Isis, rise as Sotis rises on the
firmament in the morning at the beginning of the established year."
Chorus II. "The god Amon-Ra was on my right and on my left. He himself
gave into my hands dominion over all the world, thus causing the
downfall of my enemies."
Chorus I. "Thou wert still young, Thou wert wearing braided hair, but
in Egypt naught was done save at thy command no corner-stone was laid
for an edifice unless Thou wert present."
Chorus II. "I came to Thee, ruler of the gods, great god, lord of the
sun. Turn promises that the sun will appear, and that I shall be like
him, and the Nile; that I shall reach the throne of Osiris, and shall
possess it forever."
Chorus I. "Thou hast returned in peace, respected by the gods, O ruler
of both worlds, Ra-Mer-Amen-Ramses. I assure to thee unbroken rule;
kings will come to thee to pay tribute."
Chorus II. "O thou, Thou Osiris-Ramses! ever-living son of heaven, born
of the goddess Nut, may thy mother surround thee with the mystery of
heaven, and permit that Thou become a god, O thou, O Osiris-Ramses."
[Tomb inscriptions]
"So then the holy father is dead," said Pentuer to himself.
He left the window and approached the place where the heir was sitting,
sunk in imaginings.
The priest knelt before him, fell on his face, and exclaimed:
"Be greeted, O pharaoh, ruler of the world!"
"What dost Thou say?" cried the prince, springing up.
"May the One, the All-Powerful, pour down on thee wisdom and strength,
and happiness on thy people."
"Rise, Pentuer! Then I then I."
Suddenly he took the arm of the priest and turned toward the Sphinx.
"Look at it," said he.
But neither in the face nor in the posture of the colossus was there
any change. One pharaoh had stepped over the threshold of eternity;
another rose up like the sun, but the stone face of the god or the
monster was the same precisely. On its lips was a gentle smile for
earthly power and glory; in its glance there was a waiting for
something which was to come, but when no one knew.
Soon the messengers returned from the ferry with information that boats
would be waiting there.
Pentuer went among the palms, and cried,
"Wake! wake!"
The watchful Asiatics sprang up at once, and began to bridle their
horses. Tutmosis also rose, and yawned with a grimace.
"Brr!" grumbled he, "what cold! Sleep is a good thing! I barely dozed a
little, and now I am able to go even to the end of the world, even
again to the Soda Lakes. Brr! I have forgotten the taste of wine, and
it seems to me that my hands are becoming covered with hair, like the
paws of a jackal. And it is two hours to 'the palace yet.
"Happy are common men! One ragged rogue sleeps after another and feels
no need of washing: he will not go to work till his wife brings a
barley cake; while I, a great lord, must wander about, like a thief in
the night, through the desert, without a drop of water to put to my
lips."
The horses were ready, and Ramses mounted his own. Pentuer approached,
took the bridle of the ruler's steed, and led, going himself on foot.
"What is this?" inquired the astonished Tutmosis.
He bethought himself quickly, ran up, and took Ramses' horse by the
bridle on the other side. And so all advanced in silence, astonished at
the bearing of the priest, though they felt that something important
had happened.
After a few hundred steps the desert ceased, and a highroad through the
field lay before the travelers.
"Mount your horses," said Ramses; "we must hurry."
"His holiness commands you to sit on your horses," cried Pentuer.
All were amazed. But Tutmosis recovered quickly, and placed his hand on
his sword-hilt.
"May he live through eternity, our all-powerful and gracious leader
Ramses!" shouted the adjutant.
"May he live through eternity!" howled the Asiatics, shaking their
weapons.
"I thank you, my faithful warriors," answered their lord.
A moment later the mounted party was hastening toward the river.