Queen of the Heavens by Kingsley Guy

Author:Kingsley Guy
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: New Kingdom, Tuya, Sekhmet, Ramesses II, Hint-mi-re, Ramesses, Amun, Sun-Sentinel, Pharaoh, Sety, Horemheb, Horenheb, ancient Egypt, Seti I, Ramesess I, Egyptian history, Isis, Haremhab, Thoth, Osiris, Sety I, Nile, ancient Egyptian history, 19th dynasty, Neters, Queen Tuya, Egypt, 18th dynasty, Harenhab, Thebes, Golden Age of the Pharaohs, Neteroo
Publisher: Middle River Press
Published: 2012-10-01T00:00:00+00:00

XX

Had my son lived for even a few years and died, the funeral rites would have been extraordinarily elaborate. Friends of the family would have been present along with dignitaries from the government and high priests from the great temples. Lord Harenhab himself would even have attended to pray for the soul of the child who was in line to become Pharaoh. Since my child was born without life, it was as if he never existed to those outside the immediate family, so the ceremony was kept simple, with only Sety and me, our parents and three priests from the Temple of Ptah present.

After the traditional seventy days of mourning, the tiny wooden coffin containing the mummy was placed in a tomb on bone-dry land to the west of Memphis that also held the mummies of Ramesses’ mother and father and two wives. Sety and I placed offerings of food and drink on an altar outside the burial chamber to nourish the soul of the infant, and the priests recited incantations that would help guide it on the journey to the afterworld. None, save for me, recognized the futility of the ritual since my son’s body never harbored a soul.

I hoped the entombment would enable Sety and me to put the past behind us, but the weeks following the ritual were no different than the weeks before.

“I would like the two of us to spend some days together in the same villa where we stayed after we became husband and wife. We could call upon Bastet to restore excitement and caring to our marriage,” I said one night to Sety after a perfunctory session of intercourse.“I have no time for such foolishness,” Sety replied.

“You’re an angry man,” I snapped. “Your anger prevents you from showing me the love I know is within you. Take care Sety or your anger will cause your soul to suffer in this life and the next.”

Sety’s face reddened, but he did not reply. My husband left the room holding his anger within himself.

As I lay in bed, my own anger rose to a level I had never before felt. I desired the tenderness Sety had once shown me but which he now seemed incapable of providing. I wanted to share my exquisite body intimately with a man of equal attractiveness, but my handsome and athletic husband merely took what he wanted and denied me the passion I so desired.

I tried to sleep but my anger made me restless, and as I lay awake in the small hours of the morning the anger was replaced by despair. I felt as if I had been banished from the lush banks of the Nile and was wandering in the desert, with no water, no nourishment, and no hope of finding an oasis. A desire to love and to be loved burned inside me, but I saw my youth and sensuality withering away, with my soul never again to know joy in this lifetime.

How can I escape, I asked myself.

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