When We Were Gods

Chapter 1: Return to Thebes

The waters gently pulsated against the bow of the galley. The river ebbed like the living artery of a beating Earthly heart. It swept steadily through the papyrus beds and fed the ebony, nutrient-rich silt onto the awaiting shores. The inundation this year was late by a few days, but the arrival was still praised in an overwhelming uproar from the resident farms, towns, villages and temples that lined the barren shores. The Mother River, the Nile, was the lifeline that traced the destiny in every Egyptian's life and that beyond that of the physical being, the Afterlife.

The oarsmen on the sailing galley heaved the bulk of the hull into the flow of the inundation, paddles of the oars stroking the surface smoothly, like a lover's touch. Their backs were tanned by the sun and desert, and their arms taut with bulging muscles from the rigorous training and the pull of many a strong current. A few men stood and either end of the galley. They encouraged the oarsmen in their stokes with merry song and rhythmic snaps of the whips on the wooden decks.

Vegeta stood poised on the poop deck with an air of arrogance. He looked over the galley's crew, observing their exceptional speed and powerful strokes. He grinned inwardly, today's hunt had been a fine sport and not without success, he thought. He appeared an awesome sight, adorned in full regimental armour of the Guards of Horus. The tough hide of crocodile and hippopotamus was strong, sturdy armour but lighter than bronze. In his pectoral plate of the tough reptilian hide was studded by rosettes of bronze. The linen schenti was dyed a radiant blue, the colour of Upper Egypt, and was fastened neatly with a firm knot. He wore the upper armband of bronze with the finely detailed engraving of the Wounded Eye of Horus. It was a protection for the person's soul against evil and rival djinn. The military men wore it as a reassurance in waring times.

A tall man with untamed hair, much like Vegeta's wild flame of obsidian, wondered up next to him. He wore the same armour, but due to his height, his pleated schenti appeared shorter than most and settled about his mid-thigh. His breastplate was dull in colour and some of the rosettes were missing but, despite his tattered armour, his demeanour was jovial. A broad smile never once leaving his face as he greeted his fellow officer.

"We are nearing Thebes. It will be good to see the faces of the populace once more," he beamed. Vegeta shifted his position slightly as he glanced over to the man beside him. Smirking at the jovial nature of his comrade, he heartily replied.

"You were always a bleeding heart when it came to departing the port of Thebes. By Seth's foul breath, we have been away but for two days and yet you still pine away for every whore you've left in the Capital. I honestly wonder why you became a soldier in the first place, Kakarott?" The tall man grinned sheepishly, embarrassed by the words, he scratched the back of his head. The first sign of a man in denial Vegeta thought.

"I don't 'pine' for all of them," Kakarott corrected, "just one."

"Well, you will be at her bed before dusk, good man. I see the White Walls to the far east of the River's bend."

The journey back to Thebes had been a rather tiresome affair and now that the city was just on the horizon gave the men a new sense of strength. They pulled away from the pulsing current and steered hard into the next bend, their efforts laboured by the goods in which they carried. The galley was built for speed in times of war. It was the lightest vessel in Egypt's armies. It was made from the rarest material, which Egypt, in all her majesty, could not offer. Wood was sought after in the kingdom and only the extremely wealthy could afford it. The traders transported the various types of wood from the wild lands of Cush further to the south. Galleys were made of the sturdiest, but the lightest wood that was provided, thus not making them the best vessel from transporting anything other than that of their crews and weapons for battle.

Vegeta bellowed orders to his crew, spurring them on in their efforts to win the current over, and with their training and faith in Vegeta, they managed the galley in her turns with military profession and ease. Upon the approach to port, two other military vessels greeted them, the small squadron that Vegeta had left behind to guard the city. His squadron of six galleys were gently directed by the pair of greeting galleys into the ebb of Thebes's populace.

Cheers echoed off the nearest buildings and carried out over the Nile waters. Women and children threw lotus petals into the water and scattered them across the wooden boardwalks and down the beaches. Few of the small and dainty petals drifted in the warm air, settling down aboard the decks of the approaching galley fleet. A massed congregation of people, men, women and children, lined the shores of the beaches, shouting praise to the Gods and to the Guards of Horus. Waders quickly brought in the carcasses of the crocodiles, which the six galleys had towed, ten men to each reptilian beast. They hauled the mass of flesh and scale onto the sands and awaited the butchers to start their work.

The Crocodile Festival of Sobek, the crocodile-headed god, was an important celebration to the people of the Nile. The priests in the Temple of Sobek would allow the culling of crocodiles at the beginning of each inundation for the feasts, on the condition that the remains of the carcasses, namely the hearts of the cold-blooded beasts, be brought as an offering to the god for his blessing and protection for another year. The culling kept the crocodile numbers at a maintainable level and gave the river residents a sense of relief and safety. Fewer crocodiles meant fewer attacks. By offering the hearts of Sobek's kin to the temple, satisfied the hunger of the god, thus preventing him from sending his crocodilian servants to the cities and towns along the river, where they claimed the lives of many children, women, farmers, fishermen and traders. When there was an increase in fatal attacks in one year, it was said to be an omen that the god was displeased with the offerings of the previous inundation, and as a result was hungering for more. Thus, the best fleets in Egypt were sent out to hunt the largest and most renowned man-eaters to sacrifice their hearts to the Devourer for a safe passage through the year.

Vegeta observed the festivities from the deck of his galley, Kakarott along side him. They watched the supervision of the butchers and skinners as they delicately separated the tough hide from the meat of over a hundred corpses. Once the skinners had removed the hide completely, they passed it to the tanners of the army. The strong material would be tanned for the use in more military armour for the recruits. The butcher removed the heart and placed it on a scale for weighing, the Official scribes recorded the weight and size, along with the appearance of the crocodile, which was documented before the skinners had begun their line of work. The meat was then butchered from the bodies and handed out among the masses to be cooked in the various bonfires that lined the beach.

A jug of three-palm brew, on of the hundreds supplied by the Vizier from Pharaoh, was shared eagerly between the two men aboard the galley.

"Who is she? This girl that you 'pine' for?" Vegeta asked, breaking the long silence between them. The sun was sinking in the horizon and the second jug of brew was nearly empty.

"A very pretty thing, she is… with eyes that even Isis herself would envy. Dark hair, and very long… it flows like the Nile at night and her smile is brighter than Amun-Ra's sun disk," sighed his comrade. A dreamy expression fell upon his face; the alcohol had some influence on his state of mind already. Vegeta chuckled; a rich sound from within his chest.

"You have had more than you can handle, ey? Well then, before you forget in your state of stupor, what is the name of this women who obviously has ensnared your senses?" Kakarott displayed a tipsy smile, a glimmer of amusement apparent in his half glazed eyes.

"I know not her name," he stammered, "nor have I ever spoken to her. But," he continued swayingly as he stood up of unsteady legs, a full jug in hand, "but I know her well enough to know that I love her and would jump in fields of paradise… flying onwards on the wings of a honk… hawnk… haw…"

"A hawk," Vegeta finished, but there was no reply. He turned to find that his friend had fallen off the deck onto the boardwalk with a wooden plonk as his head hit with the force of his weight. He leaned over the railing and admired the strength of Kakarott's thick skull. He lay passed out in a drunken grace, his legs splayed; luckily his schenti remained in a conservative arrangement. Vegeta smirked. It was safe for him to leave his brother-in-arms to awake on his own accord. It was unwise to move a drunken man from the place where he lay, for confusion destroyed all sense of direction once they had awoken in new circumstances.

With a light step, Vegeta made his way along the near empty streets of Thebes to the many taverns that offered the best sweet meats, ample wines and beer and good-humoured entertainment. There were still numerous hours yet until Amun-Ra displayed his beaming disk on the distant horizon.

More to come

Hope that you enjoyed the read so far, I promise to update to this chapter as soon as I can type it up. For the people who might feel a little lost with all the new words and Egyptian lingo, I'll put a little note at the bottom of the chapter and describe to the best of my ability the meaning etc.

Schenti- a pleated kilt of linen. It was usually knotted at the waist.
Horus- one of the main deities in Upper and Lower Egypt. Son of Osiris and Isis and God of the sky, he avenges Osiris's death by killing his brother, Seth.
Wounded Eye of Horus- a powerful amulet. Horus, in one of the battles with Seth, had his left eye wounded (it represents the moon, thus giving meaning to the different phases of the moon).
Kush- also called Ta-seti and Wawat, the African land far to the south of Egypt (Nubia), below the first Cataract; it was an area of trade. Egyptian pottery and stone was traded for ivory, gold, ebony, ostrich feathers and eggs, copper, amethyst, leopard skins, cattle, oils etc.
Sobek- crocodile-headed god of the Nile. He was said to be the beast that devoured the hearts of the evil and unjust souls when they were weighed against Anubis's scales in the Underworld and did not pass.
Isis- a goddess and mother of the god Horus, wife and sister to Osiris.
Amun-Ra- the creator god. A god of the sky and worshipped throughout Egypt and the head of the pantheon (much like Zeus in Greek mythology).

Top of Form

Bottom of Form