Uarda: a Romance of Ancient Egypt

t-Anat and her followers had knocked at

he mighty globe of light whose rays pierced the fine white dust which hung over the declivity of the hills that enclosed the city of the dead on the west. The li

only man defied the heat of the summer day. Undisturbed he accomplished his daily work, and only laid his tool

ho crossed from eastern Thebes was crowd

erhoods or noble houses, were enjoying a rest till the parties they h

for cooling the water, had set up his stall, and close to him, a crowd of boatmen

itis." A game still c

frequently represente

monuments are collec

lustrirte Ze

of a palm tree, there in the full blaze of the sun, from those burning rays they protected

the weight of heavy burdens, which had to be conveyed to their destination at the temples for sacrifice, or to th

reeks, non, called

ara

s poured water under the runners, that the heav

of the leaders sounded muffled and hoarse, though, when after their frugal meal they enjoyed an hour of re

o the very heart of the City of the dead, where they joined themselves to the flies and wasps, which swarmed in countless crowds around the slaughter houses, cooks' shops, stalls of fried fish

in the broad north-west valley, where in the southern slope the father of the reigning king had cau

s seemed scorched by the sun in many blackened spots, and looked like a ghostl

a sort of doorway, and through this, indifferent to the hea

n and a flowing head-cloth of gold brocade; the mid-day sun played on their smooth, moi

rched necks and flowing tails to express their pride in the gorgeous housings, richly embroidered in silver, purple, and blue and golden ornaments, which they wore-and even more in th

, and kept the rays of the sun off the face of their mistress wit

e wife of Mena, in her gilt litter, borne by eight tawny bearers, who, running with a swift and equa

e first time in daylight, were of rema

without losing its youthful grace. No drop of foreign blood flowed in her veins, as could be seen in the color of her skin, which was of that fresh and equal line which holds a medium between golden yellow and bronze brown-and

that of her friend, her skin was fairer, her blue eyes kind and frank, without tricks of glance, but clear and honest, her profile was noble but sharply cut, and resembled that of her father, as a lan

ome down to us of Rame

ed at Turin. A liken

with its slightly aqu

leon

he wore a blue and white striped silk kerchief; its carefully-pleated fo

serpent which was ado

onsequence of its swi

wanting to the diad

he sign of her royal birth. She wore a purple dress of fine, almost transparent stuff, that was confined with a gold belt and straps.

d her charioteer, an old

ce, and lastly a crowd of wand-bearers to drive off the idle populace, and of lightly-armed soldiers, who-dressed only in the apron and head-c

n their steady heads, and at a sign from any one who was thirsty were ready to give him a drink. With steps as light as the gazelle they often outran t

ses, who were tormented as they ran, by annoying gadflies; while the runners and soldiers, the litter-bearers and fan-bearers, the girls with their jars and the panting slaves,

f the dethroned race were interred, the procession stopped at a sign from Paaker, who preceded the princess,

f a servant, he sprang from his chariot, and after

to whom thou, O princess, dost deign to do such high

the princess, "and leave

rs left their litters, and the fan-bearers and chamberlains were about to accompany their mistress on foot into the

with the noon-tide heat; but she moderated her steps as soon as she

eir walk. The valley was perfectly still and deserted; on the highest pinnacles of the cliff, which rose perpendicularly

being the sacred animals of

ith Anion and Chunsu

of the kingdom"-the

ted to

n silently follo

e left cliff of the valley, built of bricks made of dried

ranches, briars and straw, roughly thrown together. A heart-rending cry of pain from within the hut trembled in the air and arrested the steps of the two women. Nefert st

rst into t

wed to th

how dare we step over his threshold. Thou

at Bent-Anat, but the pri

fear of defilement." Th

ion; so, with a shrug of her shoulders, she left her companion behind with the Mohar, and stepped through an opening in the hedge into a little court,

from the gloomy but wonderfully strange picture, which riveted her attention and her sympathy. At last she went up to the doorway, which was too low for her tall figure

el what trenchant discord her appearance offered to all that surrounded her, and the discord pained her; for she could not conceal from herself that misery and external meanness were here entitled to give the key-n

more deeply she felt the impotence of her princely power, the nothingness of the splendid gifts with which she approa

nd unequal illumination; on one side the light came through the door, and on the other through an opening

d on a group, which was clear

features and tangled hair that had long been grey. Her black-blue cotton shi

feet of the sick girl almost touched the threshold. Near to them squatted a benevolent-looking old man, who wore only a coarse apron,

old woman, was graceful and regular in form, her eyes were half shut-like those of a child, whose soul is wrapped in

and when the young surgeon Nebsecht-who sat by her side, near his blind, stupid companion, the litany-singer-lifted the ragged cloth that had been thrown over her bosom, which had been crushed by the

From time to time one or the other laid his hand over the heart of the sufferer, or listened to her breathi

lamentation. One of them rose at regular intervals to fill the earthen bowl by the side of the physician with fresh water. As often as the sudden coolness of a fresh compress on her hot bosom st

o been unobserved by him

tood awaiting the princess. His head-dress touched the ceiling, and the narrow streak of light, which fell through th

t, who immediately raised his hand, and half-mechanically, in a low voice, uttered the words of

o impress on the princess that she had defiled herself by touching a pa

t that he, of all men, had been selected to censure a deed of the noblest humani

om he had learned to regard as the divinely-appointed guardians of the spiritual possessions of God's people; nor was he wholly free from the pride of caste and the haughtiness which, with prudent intent, were inculcated in the priests. He held the common man, who put forth h

raschites chose his calling of his own free will.-[Diodorus I, 91]-It was handed down from father to son, and he who was born a paraschites-so he was taught-had to expiate an old guilt with which his soul had long ago burdened itself in a former existence, within

version; the man himself, sitting at the feet of the suffering

obe! Does misfortune

girl's feet by order of the leech; and his hands impelled by tender anxiety untiringly continued the sa

e that the Gods, who gave to fire the power of refining metals and to the winds power to sweep the clouds from the sky, shoul

raschites, and it seemed to him

tartle

struck down by a hawk-he remembered a moment in his own childhood, when he had lain trembling with fever on his little bed. What then had happened to him, or had gone on around him, he had long forgotten, but one image w

e of Isis for Horus-the love of a mother for her child. If these people were indeed so foul as to defile every thing

planted maternal love in the breast of the lio

nately at the wife

ed up her old features; she nodded first to the surgeon, and then with a deep sigh of relief to her husband, who, while

hands; and again he thought of his parents' house, of the hour when his sweet, only sister died. His mother had thrown herself weepin

is eternal!-thought is denied to animals; they cannot even smile. Even men cannot smile at first, for only physical life-an animal soul-dwells in them; but soon a share of the world's soul-beaming intelligence-works within them, and first shows itself in the smile of a child, which is a

and who rules the world-to that One, whom the mysteries of faith forbade him to name; and not to the innumerable gods, whom the people worshipped, and who to him wer

r recovery, but rather for the whole despised race, and for its release from the old ban, for the enlig

followed him as he took

m to cheerfulness of spirit. He began to reflect

liday processions, and at the high festivals in the Necropolis, and like all his young companions had ad

ach this lady wit

hom he towered by two heads while he was still a boy, and who used to call up his admonitions to him from below. It was true, he h

would break down like a bridge under the measured tread of soldiers, if it were allowed to let the burden of the heaviest thoughts and strongest feelings work upon it in undisturbed monotony; b

araschites' hut, and like a lightning flash the thought, "How will

ir mouths and noses, and suggest to the old folks how they ought to behave to the princess who condescended to bless them with her presence. The old woman must lay down the head that rested in her bosom, the paraschites must drop the feet he so anxiously rubbed, on the floor, to rise and kiss the dust before Bent-Anat. Whereupon-the "mind's eye" of the young priest seemed to see it all-the courtiers fled before him, pushing each other, and all crowded together into a corner, and at last the princess threw a few silv

ge appeared actually in sight he would place himself in the doorwa

come hither out o

kles the vanity of the great to find themselves once in a while in contact with the small, and it is well to have your goodness of heart spoken of by the people. If a

eaten Bent-Anat from the paraschites, but exclusively, on the contrary, of the imp

s condemning lips could not fail to

s his weapon raised to annihilate a demon of darkness, and he looked out into the valley to perc

girl. The physicians and the old people moved as if to rise; but she signed to them without opening her lips, and with moist, expressive eyes, to keep

retty

e girl smiled and moved her lips as though

e from her hair and

sick child, but who had followed every movement of the princess, n

m and said, "Forgive the

he feet of the sick girl fall,

ou Bent

ead low, and in so gentle a voice, that it seem

n flashed. Then he sai

then, it wil

iven me for that which

trod on this white breast. Look here-" and he lifted the cloth from the girl's bosom, and showed her the deep

rough the door of his hut. But Pentaur had approached

our longing for it. The fair blossom of pure benevolence is laid on your child's heart, and at your very feet, by this proud princess. Not with gold, but with humility. And whoever the daughter of Rameses approaches as her equal, bows before her,

shed from his well-cut features. He rubbed his wrist, which had been squeezed by Pentau

n yonder, who supports life by collecting the feet and feathers of the fowls that are slaughtered for sacrifice, I would not only forgive her, but console her for having made herself like to me; fate would have made her a murderess without any fault of her own, just as it stamped me as unclean while I was still a

h an Ethiopian knife,

e law requires: but in

f the deceased pursue

y wished to throw

and painful sores. But I complain to no man, and must forgive-forgive-forgive, till at last all that men do to me seems quite natural and unavoidable, and I take

Bent-Anat, who looked down on him with emotion,

ill forgive m

d in which you live, and so I made a world for myself in this hut. I do not belong to you, and if I forget it, you drive me out as an intruder

a suppliant, and with the wish of

on, but it must come out. Seven sons were mine, and Rameses took them all from me and sent them to death; the child of the youngest,

ing" which, under Se

Suez Canal; a represe

wall of the temple o

ion as the Fresh-water

the land

lled by the Ethiopians, and the last, the star of my ho

ead of the girl rested, broke out into a loud cr

ed up frightened,

he asked feebly. "For your po

hild who detects some we

The gold ring that he gave me I was fastening into my dress, when the chariot passed over me. I was just pulling the knots, when all grew black before my eyes, and I saw and

, that is stibium or

by the Asiatics at a

sally

f, and stic

e Egyptian women are f

ant taste. The ancient

uch things are found

so long lead

n Pentaur observed that his glance met that of his wife, and a large, warm tear fell from his old eyes on to his callo

ntied them, and a gold rin

es. "I came here in a lucky hour," she said, "for yo

rgeon, who had remained a silent

hen said, as he approached the princess on his knees

ous wish may not turn to a curse from th

t, towards whom the old man

the sick girl; she bent over her, kissed her forehead, laid her gol