was a mighty god from the golden age, a pharaoh who ruled a great and peaceful Egypt , before Goddess Chaos split the land apart. “Holy Ramses,” Delai prayed, “bring back peace to Thy lands from Nubia to Phoenicia . Peace and obedience to the gods….” Somehow the heavy weight of the great hands, and the immutable stare of the stone faces, comforted her. Rachel, too, stood enraptured, and I thought of the Great Pharaoh’s mighty war against the Hittites, so much a part of every Canaanite and Philistine legend. “It’s good to know He’s here, and always will be,” Delai whispered. “Ramses, the Holiest Pharaoh…here to watch over His river and His people….”
Our ship glided on until the colossi were no more than shadows on the cliff side. There were tears in Rachel’s eyes. “Don’t cry, Rachel,” Delai pleaded. “Perhaps He heard our prayers.”
Rachel put her hands over her face; I moved away so that mistress and servant could be alone together; yet I could still hear most of their conversation. “Mistress…I’m sorry about crying…it’s just that we’re so far from home…we’ve been drifting for weeks, and everything’s so different….”
“But, Rachel, you wanted to come. If you’re unhappy, I can have you sent back to Askelon when Phicol returns.”
“No, I don’t want to leave you,” Rachel replied, choking down her tears. “It’s just that, back then—when I was only a slave in your
Uncle’s palace—I never worried about where I was, or where I was going; but suddenly here I am and I don’t know what’s happening…I don’t even know why I’m crying now…but I’m twenty-five years old and unmarried…I don’t know…somehow none of this mattered when I was a slave.”
“Dear Rachel, maybe you’ll meet someone to love when we settle down in Thebes .” Delai put her arm around the servant girl.
“It’s not just that…oh, I don’t know….”
“Someday—soon—there’ll be peace for us all,” Delai whispered. The two lapsed into silence; their mood passed and gave way to sleep as they sat on the deck. I continued to pace around for a while longer.
We changed to light skiffs at the Second Cataract in order to navigate the Nile ’s swift and turbulent waters. In another few days, we arrived at Semna, where Egypt ’s great fortress towered above the jagged rocks of Nubia . The blockhouses and the wall itself were crumbling in places, but the fortress still constituted an important stronghold. On the gate, a Ram’s Head Standard indicated that a regiment of the God Amon was stationed there. Little papyrus skiffs moved about the dock; they were loaded with leopard skins, ostrich feathers, and great horns of ivory which (we learned) were not horns at all, but teeth, or “tusks,” of gigantic animals living in the south. No one among us Philistines ever claimed to have seen such beasts; and, indeed, the natives themselves said that these “tusks” were taken from bone yards rather than from living animals—and so I believe that they may be horns after all.
The natives were dark-skinned Nubians; they poled their skiffs down the river to the trading posts with their wares, often accompanied by their wives and children—and even by their tame “baboon” pets, the like of which we’d also never seen.
Our party landed at the fort and received a welcome from the garrison, soldiers turned out in the best uniforms available. The Governor saluted Delai with many salaams. She’d just enough time to wash and change her dress before trumpets announced the arrival from the field of Prince Ekosh and his army. When he reached the entrance to the Governor’s hall, all of the Egyptians there bowed to the ground. We were inside the hall, but Delai curtsied low even before Ekosh entered the building, keeping her gaze on the floor, almost as if she feared to look upon her future husband.
We heard a tired but commanding voice in conversation with the major
Our ship glided on until the colossi were no more than shadows on the cliff side. There were tears in Rachel’s eyes. “Don’t cry, Rachel,” Delai pleaded. “Perhaps He heard our prayers.”
Rachel put her hands over her face; I moved away so that mistress and servant could be alone together; yet I could still hear most of their conversation. “Mistress…I’m sorry about crying…it’s just that we’re so far from home…we’ve been drifting for weeks, and everything’s so different….”
“But, Rachel, you wanted to come. If you’re unhappy, I can have you sent back to Askelon when Phicol returns.”
“No, I don’t want to leave you,” Rachel replied, choking down her tears. “It’s just that, back then—when I was only a slave in your
Uncle’s palace—I never worried about where I was, or where I was going; but suddenly here I am and I don’t know what’s happening…I don’t even know why I’m crying now…but I’m twenty-five years old and unmarried…I don’t know…somehow none of this mattered when I was a slave.”
“Dear Rachel, maybe you’ll meet someone to love when we settle down in Thebes .” Delai put her arm around the servant girl.
“It’s not just that…oh, I don’t know….”
“Someday—soon—there’ll be peace for us all,” Delai whispered. The two lapsed into silence; their mood passed and gave way to sleep as they sat on the deck. I continued to pace around for a while longer.
We changed to light skiffs at the Second Cataract in order to navigate the Nile ’s swift and turbulent waters. In another few days, we arrived at Semna, where Egypt ’s great fortress towered above the jagged rocks of Nubia . The blockhouses and the wall itself were crumbling in places, but the fortress still constituted an important stronghold. On the gate, a Ram’s Head Standard indicated that a regiment of the God Amon was stationed there. Little papyrus skiffs moved about the dock; they were loaded with leopard skins, ostrich feathers, and great horns of ivory which (we learned) were not horns at all, but teeth, or “tusks,” of gigantic animals living in the south. No one among us Philistines ever claimed to have seen such beasts; and, indeed, the natives themselves said that these “tusks” were taken from bone yards rather than from living animals—and so I believe that they may be horns after all.
The natives were dark-skinned Nubians; they poled their skiffs down the river to the trading posts with their wares, often accompanied by their wives and children—and even by their tame “baboon” pets, the like of which we’d also never seen.
Our party landed at the fort and received a welcome from the garrison, soldiers turned out in the best uniforms available. The Governor saluted Delai with many salaams. She’d just enough time to wash and change her dress before trumpets announced the arrival from the field of Prince Ekosh and his army. When he reached the entrance to the Governor’s hall, all of the Egyptians there bowed to the ground. We were inside the hall, but Delai curtsied low even before Ekosh entered the building, keeping her gaze on the floor, almost as if she feared to look upon her future husband.
We heard a tired but commanding voice in conversation with the major
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