THE GOD'S WIFE by LYNN VOEDISCH

Author:LYNN VOEDISCH
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: National Book Network
Published: 2011-08-09T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

Neferet’s ears were still ringing with the sound of her mother’s carping. The woman yelled and screamed about how Neferet shouldn’t “take liberties,” even though she had no right to lecture the God’s Wife so. Neferet seeing Kamose upset Meryt the most. Neferet shook her head, trying to dislodge the memories of their recent altercation, then stormed to the temple. Her recent talk with Father had turned Meryt into a harridan, but Neferet would turn a deaf ear to orders from Mother. She’d see Kamose as often as she’d like. Then she sighed inside because she really hadn’t had an opportunity to be with Kamose at all, thanks to palace politics.

She set her mind to the task at hand. It was time to get ready for the Heb-Sed festival, a time-honored ritual to prove that the Pharaoh had the requisite fitness to stay in command. Every thirty years, they repeated the ceremony. Because the Pharaoh took office at the age of sixteen, no one suspected he had turned senile, yet the festival was required to take place regardless of outward appearances. In the Heb Sed court, the king must run around markers that symbolized the various outer regions of Kemet. In earlier days, the serious tasks, such as archery and spear throwing, marked the course. Now mere ceremony took over. Heb Sed no longer stood as a time test of strength or endurance. However, for a man of forty-six, getting old by the standards of his time, it remained an important showing of the ruler’s continued vitality.

Escorting the dignitaries who showed up from all the main cities of Kemet became Neferet’s project at Heb Sed. She also attended to the ambassadors of neighboring lands. Many of them would have to travel for several weeks. They would be housed in unused priests’ quarters at Karnak, and Neferet ordered her many servants to spruce up the often dingy lodgings, making them resplendent enough to boost the Pharaoh’s reputation as a generous host.

Each visiting representative would bring with him images from local temples to bear witness to the Pharaoh’s virility. These icons, too, would be housed in the temple. To do this duty, Neferet gave the keys of the storeroom to Deena, who would need to pick up a fair amount of Kemet’s language and show an unswerving loyalty to Neferet. The God’s Wife had faith in her assistant.

Over the next few weeks, in the land surrounding the palace, work crews guided by Kamose strained and lifted, building a new, temporary temple to Amun, plus a plaza with a wide arching colonnade with ornate pillars.

Tasked with organizing the cooks and arranging recipes for the various Heb Sed feasts, Meryt presented a sullen face to nearly everyone since she had her run-in with Neferet. Meryt ran about business in a huff, checking the fatness of pigs and the milk of goats with her head held high. Neferet knew Meryt considered herself above this job, which could have been handled with ease by the head palace chef.

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