The King's Man (47 page)

Horus who protects Osiris, who fashions him by whom he

himself was fashioned,

Who gives life to him by whom he himself was given life,

who perpetuates

the name of him by whom he himself was begotten.

The King is liberated from the humanity which is in his

members …

Horus receives him between his fingers, he purifies him in

the lake

of the jackal, he brushes the flesh of the royal double.

Oh arise! You have received your head, your bones are

reassembled, your members

Are rejoined to you. Shake off the dust!

I am Iuf, the soul of Ra. I have come here to see my body in

order to inspect

My image which is in the Duat.

Come then to us, thou whose Flesh sails, who is led towards

his own body …

The sky is for thy soul, the earth for thy body …

Illumine the primordial darkness so that the Flesh may live

and renew itself …

Thou art he who becomes, he who metamorphoses himself

towards

the east.

The soul of the Master of Heaven is born and shall become.

The King returns to the right hand of his father …

Akh is for heaven, kha is for earth …

Thou livest now, flesh, in the earth.

Again Huy paused.
So Ra, the divine principle of light, becomes Iuf, flesh. At this point I think I’m losing my grasp of what I’m reading. Akh is spirit, my spirit. Kha is my body. I have the feeling that all I can do is allow my memory to absorb the words and try to understand them later
. He read on.

To me belongs today and I know tomorrow.

Who is this?

Yesterday is Osiris and tomorrow is Ra.

O Isir! Thy mouth is opened for thee with the thigh of the

Eye of Hor …

with the hook of Upual … with this metal born of Set,

the adze of iron,

with which is opened the mouth of the divine entities.

My mouth is opened by Ptah with celestial iron

scissors …

I have come to you, Osiris. I am Thoth, my two hands

united to carry Ma’at.

Ma’at is in every place that is yours …

You rise with Ma’at, you live with Ma’at, you join your

limbs to Ma’at, you make

Ma’at rest on your head in order that she may take her seat

on your forehead.

You become young again in the sight of your daughter

Ma’at, you live from

the perfume of her dew.

Ma’at is worn like an amulet at your throat, she rests on

your chest, the

divine entities reward you with Ma’at, for they know her

wisdom …

Your right eye is Ma’at, your left eye is Ma’at …

Your flesh, your members, are Ma’at …

Your food is Ma’at, your drink is Ma’at …

The breaths of your nose are Ma’at …

You exist because Ma’at exists …

And vice versa.

There was a great deal more. The scroll was thick, and Huy was tempted to hold it open by placing the clay cups on it, but the fear of harming it kept him in his seat. He read steadily, so absorbed that he was unaware of the passing of time until at last he saw the words;

There, where everything ends, all begins eternally.

Nothing more was presented in that exquisite hand, but following a portion of blank papyrus Huy saw a scattering of words written in a way he recognized as identical to the clarifications that had been added to each of the Book’s scrolls he had seen.
It’s you, Imhotep, I know this is you, and I wish I’d brought my palette with me because, although every word of the Book itself sinks perfectly into my memory, your additions fade with time, a proof that the author of the Book is indeed Atum, dictating to Thoth
. Stretching until his spine cracked, he glanced out into the shadows of the extensive room. The thin rays of light illuminating the uppermost tiers of stored scrolls had gone and the small, high windows themselves showed only diffused patches of bronze sky.
I’ve been sitting here all day
, Huy thought with a shock.
I’m neither hungry nor thirsty, and the dose of poppy I always take at noon still rests in Perti’s leather bag
. Suddenly oppressed by a weight of fatigue, he looked down, concentrating on the commentary the great Imhotep had penned so many hentis ago.

The King is Ma’at on earth. He spans the gulf beween earth and the Beautiful West. His limbs are the hypostases of Atum and he is the living Ra as Iuf, Flesh, as Horus himself, one of the mighty three. The heb sed not only renews the King’s strength, it transmutes him. These words of Atum confirm it. It is the sacred heb sed that gives him the limbs of Atum and the Flesh of Ra. This is the way the King truly becomes a god.

Huy lifted his hands and the scroll rolled up with a tiny whisper.
Heb sed
, he breathed on an audible sigh of sheer tiredness.
A day on which every King performs the rites of regeneration, ceremonies established hentis ago in the darkness of the deep past. We think of it simply as the replenishment of his vigour. We believe that every Hawk-in-the-Nest becomes divine when he ascends the Horus Throne. But what if that is not true? Was the heb sed designed by Atum to do so much more? Have I found the practical application of all I have puzzled over through the years? The Book tells of creation, the beginning of magic, the becoming that resulted in the formation of the Neteru, the growing multiplicity of everything living on the earth, the holiness of Ma’at whose precepts we are commanded to follow. But until now, until the words contained in this last precious chapter, the Book did not speak of the nature and sanctity of kingship. Is this the culmination of all that has gone before since Ra-Atum filled the void of the Nun with his becoming? Does the King truly emerge from the heb sed as a unique being? I can’t think about this anymore today
.

He rose stiffly, walked to one of the double doors, opened it, and stepped outside. At once his men and the temple servant with them scrambled up to bow. A pleasant, warm gush of air embraced Huy. Half the sun had already disappeared into the mouth of Nut, and the light was slowly changing from hot bronze to a delicate pink. Huy addressed the servant. “Tell your master the archivist that I have finished with the scroll and that I shall want to consult with him tomorrow. He may replace it in its box now, and leave it there. You are dismissed.”

The man nodded and left. Huy beckoned Perti and together they began the short walk out of the temple grounds, along Ptah’s canal, and through Huy’s garden gate, the guard behind them. At the door to the apartment Huy released his men. “I’ll send for you tomorrow,” he told Perti. “The temple staff fed you, I hope.”

“They did, Master. They wanted to bring you food also, but I took it upon myself to forbid them.”

“Good. Go now.”
I’m both thirsty and very hungry
, Huy realized as he entered the apartment and Amunmose came sweeping towards him,
but as yet I don’t crave poppy. How strange
. “Get me hot food and a jug of beer,” he said as his steward came up to him. “I’ll eat and drink and then see to the dispatches in my room.”

Amunmose bustled away and Huy turned to Kenofer, hovering at the door to Huy’s bedchamber. All at once the full importance of the day burst upon him and he paused.
I have done what no one else has done since the time of Imhotep
, he marvelled without any sense of pride.
Indeed I know that I am simply standing in the wake of a great man worshipped by many. What else might Atum require of me now that the Book is complete?
A vision of Amunhotep’s latest son appeared in his mind’s eye, and firmly he thrust it away. “I’ve time for a massage before Rakhaka stops grumbling and cooks for me,” he said to his body servant. “I’ve been sitting all day.” Kenofer bowed briefly without speaking.
He’s learned to be quiet at last
. Huy smiled to himself as he entered the room and sought his chair. Kenofer knelt and began to remove his sandals.

14

HUY DID NOT FALL ASLEEP
until the coming dawn was a barely discernible lightening in the gloom around him. He lay on his back in a state of peaceful calm, hands behind his head, eyes open to the invisible ceiling, while he allowed the Book of Thoth to unreel slowly and steadily through his mind. Its elaborate concepts did not distress him, and he was able to form his own thoughts behind the words.
If Imhotep is correct, the Book is proof that every Pharaoh who performs the heb sed emerges invisibly transformed
, he reflected.
We have paid lip service to the idea for so many hentis that the wonder of its implication has become commonplace. The King dies, is beautified, and ascends to ride in the celestial barque among the stars with the other Neteru, who welcome him as an equal. But is he? They are archetypes, but the heb sed metamorphoses him so that he becomes Horus, Ra-Harakhti in his guise as Iuf, the Flesh of Ra. “The soul of the Master of Heaven is born and shall become,” says the Book. Atum-Ra is gestated, cocooned, and born protected by uraei. The Neteru, the divinities, are the hypostases of Atum-Ra. Therefore they participate in this activity. From the rites of the heb sed the King becomes truly holy. “Come then, Ra, in thy name of the living Khepri … that Flesh may live and renew itself.” As a god greater than everyone else but Iuf in the celestial barque
, Huy mused.
Greater than Wepwawet the Opener of the Ways, who stands in the front, or Sia, Knowledge
,
or the Lady of the Barque. Only the Great Neter Iuf stands in the central shrine, with Hu, the Word, behind him. Where does the transfigured King stand?

His thoughts remained serene.
Tomorrow, Archivist Penbui will acquaint me with the procedures of the heb sed, but I now understand the meaning of the Book from Egypt’s birth, through all the complex modes of material creation infused with magic, to the rituals that make every King unique. The Book is a material and spiritual history of Egypt, clear to me at last, and Atum’s desire for this blessed country is finally revealed. I feel its resolution to the core of my heart. It will be my honour and privilege to tell Amunhotep
.

And what of the baby Prince?
his mind whispered.
The present Horus-in-the-Nest, ten-year-old Prince Thothmes, will die. I have foreseen it. Does Atum want his successor in Egypt to be the creature I saw in my vision? Will he grow up to be worthy of the Double Crown, let alone the awesome gift of true godhead? What am I going to do about him? And what of the hyenas, both ghostly and corporeal, that haunt me? Where in the Book is there an explanation for their repulsive and alarming presence? I’ve always believed that they afflict me for a reason contained within the Book, and they will continue to trouble me until I know why
. Yet even the thought of the hyenas did no more than send a mild tremor through Huy, and at last, his eyelids now heavy, he turned on his side and slept.

He woke late, and before he had even opened his eyes he realized that his strong need for poppy had returned. He sat up, and Kenofer mutely handed him the vial, watching as he tipped the contents into his mouth. “Has any word come from the temple?” he asked.

“I don’t know, Master.” Kenofer took the vial and set it aside. “Either Amunmose or Paneb will have that news. I did see Paneb earlier, carrying an armful of scrolls. Will you eat?”

“I suppose I should. Bring me bread, beer, and whatever dried fruits Rakhaka is hoarding, and send Paneb to me. We might as well deal with the business from Weset while I eat, and then I’ll go to the bathhouse.”

Paneb was carrying a reed basket full of scrolls as he bowed himself in. “Do I usually see to such a magnitude of business at home?” Huy said glumly, and Paneb permitted himself a smile.

“Most of these are copies of decisions and directives the Empress has dealt with, Master,” he replied, sinking cross-legged to the floor and setting the load beside him. “She has included a letter asking you to go over them and acquaint her with any changes you want made.”

“Very astute of her.” He waited while Kenofer entered, set his meal on the couch beside his knees, and went quietly away. “Begin reading, Paneb, and do so quickly. I have no doubt that most of Her Majesty’s resolutions will agree with those I would have arrived at myself.” Ignoring the griping of his stomach as he forced down the food, he concentrated on Paneb’s words.
Tiye knows that I’ll give every detail of day-to-day government my full attention. Obviously Amunhotep has already grown bored with audiences and receptions and has handed the administration over to her. Where did we go wrong, Mutemwia? Is it my fault or yours that the weaknesses in the King’s character have engulfed the early promise he showed? Where is the intelligent, curious child we were at such pains to guide and instruct towards an enlightened rule? Are you as disappointed as I to see the fruit of all our hopes emptying the wine jug in the middle of the morning? Atum did not show me this. Why not? Because he knew I would become mer kat, and thus Amunhotep’s laziness and licentiousness would not matter? Because he knew how Tiye’s ability to govern would also compensate for her husband’s lack? She will continue to consult with me by letter, making subtle deviations from the directions I would have taken, particularly with regard to foreign policy. If I want to retain control of Egypt, I must be careful to tug on the rope holding us together once in a while
. Huy impatiently watched Paneb alternate his attention between his palette and the diminishing pile of curled papyrus, until the scribe put down his brush and flexed his ink-stained fingers.