The Field of Reeds (Imhotep Book 4) Read online

  The Field

  of Reeds

  A novel by Jerry Dubs

  The Field of Reeds is published by Imhotep Literary, LLC

  [email protected]

  This book is a work of fiction. Although based on historical events and figures, the names, characters, places, and incidents described in the novel are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.

  Copyright 2015 by Gerald B. Dubs

  All rights reserved.

  Copy editing by Ted Palik

  [email protected]

  Cover designed by Kyle Mohler

  [email protected]

  ISBN 978-0-9846717-5-5

  Novels by Jerry Dubs

  IMHOTEP NOVELS

  Imhotep, published 2010

  The Buried Pyramid, published 2013

  The Forest of Myrrh, published 2014

  The Field of Reeds, published 2015

  SUTI THE SCRIBE

  Suti and the Broken Staff, published 2016

  OTHER FICTION

  Kaleidoscope, published 2011

  The Earth Is My Witness, published 2011

  For Deb,

  My companion traveling

  into the unknown

  Author's Note

  “The Field of Reeds” is the fourth and final novel of a tetralogy about the ancient Egyptian architect, scribe, vizier, and physician named Imhotep.

  Although the stories are peopled with actual historical figures who lived through recorded events in well-known places, these are novels, not histories. And, be warned, they are novels in which time travel occurs.

  If this is the first “Imhotep” novel you have downloaded, I suggest putting it aside until you have read the first three novels. These are time-travel stories; you don't need the added confusion of reading them out of order.

  Which brings me to the point of this note.

  The first novel in this series is “Imhotep.” The second is “The Buried Pyramid.” The third is “The Forest of Myrrh.” The fourth is this novel, “The Field of Reeds.”

  “Suti and the Broken Staff” continues the story.

  ­­Jerry Dubs, August, 2015, updated December, 2016

  Table of Contents

  Novels by Jerry Dubs

  Author's Note

  Table of Contents

  Characters

  Section One

  Kebu the survivor

  Baboons

  The Fist of Amun

  Seni’s hopes

  Impostor

  Pawura

  Kebu and the mole rats

  On to Waset

  The Breath of Shu

  Pharaoh's Blood

  Within the storm

  Alive

  Seni arrives in Waset

  Kebu and the Bushbaby

  Lightning rods of history

  Hatshepsut's tooth

  Surviving

  Kebu and the Baboons

  Men-Nefer

  Seeking an audience

  Thoughts and deeds

  Kebu and the hunters

  A secret meeting

  Pawura's promise

  Spiders

  A Favor

  Glory and the gods

  Pentu’s mystery

  Pharaoh arrives

  The Last Hours of Night

  A blood sacrifice

  Two Gods

  Kebu at peace

  Section Two

  Festival of Isis

  Three sisters

  Sand and memories

  Kebu, master archer

  Pharaoh Hatshepsut rests

  Arrival in the Two Lands

  Goddess of love

  Hearts lost

  Tears of the gods

  Fire of the god

  The King of Kadesh

  Pharaoh's scribe

  Unfulfilled Desire

  An Unfair Universe

  Safekeeping

  What the heart allows

  Realm of the Gods

  Reality

  The Days Upon The Year

  That which is hidden by moonlight

  Parted

  Emmer shoots

  Leaving

  Secrets

  At night in Hut-ka-Ptah

  Father Ptah

  Imhotep speaks

  Thanuny

  Planning

  Section Three

  Men-Nefer: Belief

  Men-Nefer: Patience

  Men-Nefer: Plans

  Men-Nefer: Departure

  Men-Nefer: Drafted

  Tjaru

  Gaza

  Departure

  This Minute

  The Aruna Pass

  Into the Mountains

  Unharnessed

  Tomorrow We Will Fight

  Campsites

  The Battle of Megiddo

  Kebu

  The False Doorway

  The Blue Lotus Guesthouse

  Epilogue

  What is real

  Hear me!

  I Climb Geb’s Back

  I Meet Lord Amenhotep

  Characters

  IMHOTEP’S HOUSEHOLD

  Imhotep, unofficial advisor, physician, architect, scribe

  Akila, his wife

  Maya, Imhotep’s daughter, Keeper of Wardrobe to Pharaoh Hatshepsut

  Pentu, Maya’s husband, court physician

  Neferhotep, son of Maya and Pentu, a charioteer

  AT WASET

  Pharaoh Thutmose III

  Queen Satiah, his great wife

  Thanuny, former charioteer, guard of Queen Satiah

  Queen Menhet, a minor wife, daughter of Prince Idrimi

  Queen Menwi, a minor wife, daughter of Prince Idrimi

  Queen Merti, a minor wife, daughter of Prince Idrimi

  Tjaneni, royal scribe who recorded the Battle of Megiddo

  Pharaoh Hatshepsut

  Senenmut, her lover and royal architect, holder of 41 titles

  Nehsy, chancellor of the Two Lands

  Addaya, Egyptian commissioner of southern Canaan

  Rekhmire, mayor of Waset

  Hapuseneb, first priest of Amun

  Mahu, policeman in Waset and nephew of Governor Seni

  Thuya, his wife

  Ruyu, his servant

  AT MEN-NEFER

  Puimre, first prophet of Ptah

  Useramen, his assistant, manager of the temple complex

  Hekaemsaf, priest of Ptah

  Huy, a midwife

  THE ARMY OF THE TWO LANDS

  Ahmose Pen-Nebheket, commander of the army

  Ahmose, admiral of the expedition to Ta Netjer

  Antef, director of the granaries and quartermaster to Ahmose Pen-Nebheket

  Amenhotep, quartermaster of the army under Pharaoh Thutmose III

  Amenmuse, commander of the infantry

  Djehuty, captain in the Egyptian army, general at the Battle of Megiddo

  Nebamen, supply ship captain

  Min, an archer

  CHARIOTEERS

  Pawura, commander of the charioteers known as maryannu

  Aperel, Benia, Bek, Menena, (chariot driver for Pawura)

  Minmose, Pairy, Satnem, Turo, Wah

  IN THE PROVINCE OF TA-SETI

  Seni, governor in city of Kerma

  Sabestet, his chamberlain

  Bintanath, a masseuse

  OUTLANDERS

  Durusha, king of Kadesh

  Kebu, Medjay warrior who survived the battle of Tadjoura

  Prince Idrimi, ruler of Alalakh

  Queen Ati, ruler of Ta Netjer

  Shasu, desert raiders from Canaan

  PLACES

  Abu, island
in southern Egypt, home of temple of Khnum

  Alalakh, city at the northern edge of Canaan, ruled by Prince Idrimi

  Avaris, city in the delta of northern Egypt

  Gaza, site of Egyptian fort in Canaan

  Hut-ka-Ptah, House of the Soul of Ptah, temple in Men-Nefer

  Iunet, northern city, home of the Temple of Hathor

  Kerma, capital of the province of Ta-Seti

  Men-Nefer, northern city formerly known as Ineb-Hedj, modern Memphis

  Quseir, trade-route city known for its 12 wells and 70 palms

  Saww, port city on Great Green (the Red Sea)

  Tjaru, village on the trade route through Canaan

  Ta Netjer, Land of the Gods, known as the Land of Punt

  Tadjoura, capital of Ta Netjer

  Ta-Seti, area south of ancient Egypt, also known as Nubia

  Waset, capital of the Two Lands, site of present day Luxor

  GODS

  Ammut, demon devourer of impure hearts

  Amun, ram-headed god who became a national deity during New Kingdom

  Anubis, jackal-headed protector of the dead

  Apep, serpent god of night

  Bastet, cat-headed protector of Lower Egypt

  Bes, dwarf god, patron of childbirth

  Duamutef, jackal-headed son of Horus

  Duat, place of purgatory

  Field of Reeds, paradise home of the dead

  Geb, god of earth

  Hapi, blue-skinned river god

  Hathor, cow-headed goddess of feminine love and motherhood

  Heket, goddess of childbirth

  Horus, falcon-headed son of Isis

  Imsety, son of Horus

  Ipy, protective hippopotamus god

  Isis, goddess of healing

  Khnum, ram-headed potter-creator

  Khonsu, “traveler” god of the moon

  Ma’at, goddess of truth and balance

  Mafdet, goddess known as slayer of serpents

  Mehen, protective serpent god

  Meretseger, cobra goddess, protector of workers

  Min, god of fertility

  Montu, falcon-headed god of war

  Mut, vulture, mother goddess

  Nebt-Het, Mistress of the House, daughter of Geb

  Nekhbet, protective goddess depicted as a vulture

  Nun, father of Re, primeval waters

  Nut, sky goddess

  Osiris, ruler of underworld

  Ptah, staff-carrying creator, considered father of Imhotep

  Qebehsenuef, god of protection, a son of Horus

  Re, sun god

  Renenutet, cobra goddess of the delta

  Satet, river goddess of fertility

  Sekhmet, lioness, goddess of destruction

  Selket or Serket, scorpion goddess

  Seth, god of evil and desert storms

  Shu, wind god

  Sobek, crocodile river-god

  Taweret, hippopotamus goddess of fertility and childbirth

  Tefnut, lion-headed goddess of moisture and rain

  Thoth, ibis or baboon-headed god of wisdom

  Wepwawet, jackal-headed opener of the way to the underworld

  Section One

  1467 BCE

  During the reign of Pharaoh Hatshepsut

  and Pharaoh Thutmose III,

  co-rulers during the 18th Dynasty

  of the Two Lands

  Kebu the survivor

  Something moved inside the wound in Kebu’s thigh.

  Grimacing, the injured warrior leaned against the spongy, rotting bark of a fallen tree. He heard a soft rustling in the high grass behind him and, worried about snakes, he leaned to look behind the trunk.

  Fern leaves, their surfaces glistening with moisture, crowded together, hiding the soft ground beneath them. Kebu blinked away sweat and told himself that the sound had been nothing more than a bird.

  Above him sunlight leaned heavily on leaves shaped like giant spear tips. Around him the misty air hummed from the thrum of ungainly insects struggling to stay aloft. The air in Kerma had been hot, but never so heavy with water, even along the great river Iteru. And the land there was open. Trees lined the river, and wheat, barley, chickpeas, lettuce, and onions turned the fields green, but there was space beyond and between them where a person could glimpse sand or people or approaching animals.

  Here, along the jungle route from Tadjoura to Kerma, the trail was enclosed by overhanging branches and towering ferns. The trees were covered in vines, and Kebu couldn’t see what caused the rustling in the bushes or made the tree branches bend and sway in the unmoving air.

  He closed his eyes as the shadows began a dizzying dance. For a moment he wobbled to a wave of vertigo, and then he forced his eyes open. Leaning forward, he looked again at the undergrowth on the other side of the tree. Satisfied that he wouldn’t frighten a snake or disturb a sleeping leopard, he sat to examine his thigh.

  Beads of sweat rolled down his face and dropped from his narrow chin as he unwrapped the dirty linen he had torn from his shendyt and used to bind the jagged wound. The innermost layers of the bandage were yellow and bloody and stuck to his leg.

  Gritting his teeth, he tugged the linen free, ripping a sharp pain from the long, deep gash on his thigh. The skin around the wound was tender, and the mud he had smeared on it after escaping the slaughter at Tadjoura had dried. Feeling something pinch inside the wound, he picked at the caked mud, pulling flakes of it away.

  His eyes blurred from sweat and pain. He wiped them dry with the back of his arm and bent closer to his injured leg.

  The wound was dirty and raw; the mud hadn’t bound it together.

  The mud here isn’t magical like the mud from the sacred river Iteru, he thought.

  Kebu stared at the wound. He didn’t see anything moving under the skin. Perhaps the sensation had been nothing more than his torn muscles twitching.

  He probed the edges of the gash. It hurt, but nothing moved under the tight skin.

  Shrugging, he picked up the dirty linen to rewrap his leg. And then he saw it. A thin sand-colored leg poked out from the wound. A second leg emerged, and then a third.

  Kebu looked for a rock to smash it and then realized that in order to crush whatever was inside his leg he would need to strike his own wound. Jaw clenched, he stared at what he believed must be the legs of a spider.

  Cautiously, slowly, he slid a hand along his leg, drawing closer to the insect.

  As he waited, Kebu reasoned that the spider must have crawled into the open wound last night while he lay unconscious at the edge of the forest after fleeing the death and the fires.

  During the battle at Tadjoura a spear had buried itself in his thigh and, as he fell, someone had clubbed his head. Sparks of fire had filled his eyes and then blinked out into blackness. His last thought had been that he would awaken in Duat and he had wondered if he would be able to find his way through the underworld to the eternal Field of Reeds.

  A fourth leg appeared, its tip blacker than the sandy color of the first two joints.

  Kebu held his breath and slowly inched his hand nearer.

  A black head poked out of his leg, followed by a bulbous, yellow body.

  Kebu swept his hand across his leg, winced as he scraped over the wound and quickly closed his fist around the spider. Feeling a small pinch, he knew that the spider had bit him. He squeezed his hand tighter, killing it.

  He wiped the crushed spider on the log and then rewrapped his leg. As soon as he found a spring he would wash the wound and apply more mud.

  Now it will heal, he told himself.

  Standing, he put his weight on the injured leg. It held.

  Kebu breathed deeply and allowed himself to think that he might survive.

  He was a Medjay warrior, ready to accept death in battle. But the fight Yuya had led them to had not been a battle. There had been too many warriors from Ta Netjer and too many soldiers from the Two Lands.

  Yet Kebu had fought. />
  He and his comrades had been forced into a defensive circle, attacked on three sides by soldiers while flames from burning huts crackled in the night. They had exhausted their arrows and, spears in hand, they had faced the soldiers without fear.

  This was how a Medjay fought.

  This was how a Medjay died.

  Yet the gods had let Kebu survive.

  His companions were dead, even the mighty Yuya. No doubt the warriors of Ta Netjer had flayed the skin from Yuya to make drum heads. That was what he would have done.

  Yuya would have done it while the losing soldiers were still alive, Kebu thought.

  But now the fight was over and there was nothing for him here.

  Yet his mission was not over; the gods had let him live for a reason. He needed to return to Kerma and tell Governor Seni that they had failed, that the women had survived.

  Breathing heavily, Kebu turned and limped into the jungle’s heavy shadows.

  Baboons

  “Captain Djehuty wants the baboons moved to a different ship,” Admiral Ahmose told Imhotep as they walked along the western shore of the Red Sea, which the ancient Egyptians called the Great Green.

  “Not ours, I hope,” Imhotep said, brushing sand from his hands. Two sea gulls squawked as they passed overhead. Imhotep watched them join a squabble of birds that circled the five ships swaying offshore in the sea they had followed from the Two Lands to Ta Netjer.

  I’m always brushing sand from my hands, Imhotep thought with a wry smile.

  Admiral Ahmose shook his head, setting his several chins in motion. “Djehuty doesn’t care which ship, just so they are moved.” Ahmose paused by the edge of the camp. Behind him the sailors and surviving soldiers from the expedition were setting up tents, building corrals, cutting posts to tether animals and unloading the five ships of the armada.

  “Maybe they’ll escape,” Imhotep suggested.

  Ahmose looked quickly at Imhotep and studied him for a moment. Eyes squinted, Ahmose said, “I never can tell if you are making a joke, foretelling the future or just making conversation.”

  “I don’t foretell the future, I just remember it, bits here and there. And I’m not a very good joke teller, so you can assume that I’m usually just making conversation,” Imhotep said.