The First Book of Samuel - SAREJESS (chrysanthemum read aloud TXT) 📗

of temples, more or less in good order now fifty years later a number of these were no more, having been dismantled and used by the Coptic Christians.

The locals had even begun to remove the limestone blocks which covered the vast expanse of the pyramids; this Samuel found very sad. It reminded him of the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in 70 AD. As a Jew, this had been a heart breaking moment, to see the temple, the place around which Israel revolved been destroyed. The temple was the place which according to the priests was the earthly domain of God. The life which Samuel led had shown him that Judaism had nothing to offer him and it had no answer to his dilemma. Now six centuries after being cursed to wander till he found salvation, he was still no nearer to finding the solution.

A bead of sweat ran down the side of his face. He wiped it away and swatted a fly as it buzzed angrily around his head. Dismounting, he wandered round the vast complex looking in amazement at the vast stone tombs. It was not his first visit here but it never ceased to amaze him that men could build such monuments to the dead. He had left in the early hours of the previous day; he planned to spend the night in a Bedouin tent near the pyramids. Exploring the area hoping to maybe find a clue as to his predicament, he knew that once he had been cursed by the carpenter of Nazareth that the Holy family had traveled to Egypt. Now six centuries later he was hoping to find some clue as to how the curse under which he lived worked. He did not look a day over thirty-eight yet he was six hundred and twenty seven years old. When night began to fall, he found a spot in the tents of the Bedouins. Settling down, he ate with the nomads and later he watched as night fell over the vast edifice. He fell asleep listening to the voices of the nomads. Occasionally a camel would snort but the night was quiet. He awoke suddenly needing to answer a call of nature. Wandering out into the desert he saw that the moon had risen and that the pyramids were bathed in an unreal light from the moon. On one side brightly shining was the white limestone, on the other long shadows were cast across the dunes. In the distance he saw the head of the Sphinx standing proud of the desert like a mighty beast set to watch over the tombs of the departed pharaohs. The shadows seemed ominous filled with dead and the fear of the unknown. How many Egyptians wondered Samuel, had faced the afterlife with fear and feelings of inadequacy about facing the underworld. Samuel had heard that some tombs had been broken open and the mummified remains destroyed. Samuel thought it strange that some one would want to do this. In Israel there had never been a problem with the earthly remains of the departed which were sealed in the rock tombs. They dead of Israel were left there until the Day of Judgment. The fascination that Egyptians had with preserving the body for the afterlife was something that Samuel found very strange. The wind had dropped now. The desert was cold. In the distance Samuel noticed some one throwing wood on a fire at one of the Bedouin camps. Feeling the chill just then, he pulled his cloak about him. Samuel returned to the tent and settled down falling into a restless sleep, his mind filled with the sight of the pyramids in the moon light. Dreaming of the afterlife, images of tomb paintings rose up in Samuel’s mind. Samuel dreamed he was trapped in a tomb. He was running out of breath, cold air surrounding him, and coming to a room in the tomb he was faced with the image of one of the deities of the Egyptian Parthenon, a blue skinned god of fearsome countenance. Samuel turned and ran only to once again be confronted by Thoth, a dog headed deity. Turning he ran back the way he had come only to be once more confronted by the god Amen. “What you seek you won’t find here” thundered the god. Samuel awoke, the howl of the dog headed god Thoth still ringing in his ears. It was late. The sun was already up and the Bedouins were already starting to break camp as he emerged from the tent.

The next stop in his journey was Karnack. For most of the day the caravan moved across the desert towards this ancient site. The desert wind blew hot and most of the travelers kept cool by the long robes they wore. Samuel noticed that even the few north Europeans who were in the caravan had adopted the loose flowing robes of the Bedouin. At mid day the caravan halted at an oasis to rest out the heat of the day. It would be another two days before they reached the shores of the Nile where they would take a ferry boat to the opposite shore before resuming there journey to the ancient site. Samuel remembered the first time he had visited the site about forty years earlier. Back then there had been few visitors to Karnack. He remembered a conversation he had with an old man who said he was in his seventieth year. He said his name was Thothmet he claimed to be one of the last worshipers of Amen the ancient god of Egypt. On further questioning, Thothmet had said that his family had worshiped Amen from time in memorial at this ancient site where the great pharaohs of Egypt had build temples to the gods and mortuary temples to themselves. They steadfastly believed that at death they would be elevated to the rank of deity. Thothmet was busy that day with offerings of bread and beer to the deity of Ramses II a great pharaoh said Thothmet. It was he who had made Egypt great. Of course there were other deities whom Thothmet did worship too, like the great Pharaoh Tuthmosis who had fought many battles and had brought the bodies of the rulers of the enemies of Egypt to this place tied to the bow of his great war barge. But today it was the spirit of the god Ramses II who was being worshiped.

Samuel watched as the old man and his sons washed and bathed a statue of the long dead pharaoh then opening a small vessel of perfumed oils they anointed the statue before drying it off, placing the statue in a wooden cupboard the old man then opened a barrel of beer taking a quantity he poured it on the ground in front of the deity, “a libation for the gods” chanted the old man as he then presented the bread to the statue to eat. It was poor fare for a pharaoh but then again Thothmet was only a poor farmer. Once the ceremony was at an end the cupboard was locked and food served to the congregated worshipers who consisted of Thothmet's family and a few others. Samuel was offered food but declined because he had been taught that it was wrong to eat food that had been offered to idols. Now Samuel wondered if the long dead Thothmet's children still worshiped the deity Amen and did homage to the almost forgotten pharaohs. He doubted it very much. Times had changed in the brief time that Samuel had lived in Egypt. The Coptic Church had become stronger now, if there were worshipers of the ancient idols, these things were done in secret.

Samuel was sitting under a tree when he was approached by one of the Europeans, a strange breed of men who had fair skin and hair. “Tell us” asked one of them who seemed to be a captain among their company, “what is it like to live in the land of Egypt seeing all of the wonders of the ancient land. To know our Lord lived here and saw the same wonders that we now see?”

Samuel pondered the question awhile before answering. “I see wonders every day. I see the sun rise over the desert. I see the ibis nesting near the Nile. I see the birth of their young. I see the sun set over the pyramids. Are these not wonders enough? I don't know what wonders the Lord saw when he sojourned in this land. I see the great temples that dot the landscape. I see that Egypt was once a great land blessed with abundance but that has now long passed. What I see of Egypt today is, the doctors who are famous to the known world who teach in Alexander and Cairo. I see that churches have been risen up to spread the word of Jesus. These are the wonders I see today.”

Later in the day when the sun was stating to wane the caravan resumed its journey through the desert. Samuel had become used to the rhythm of the camel’s gait and found himself dozing as the caravan wound its way through the desert. Much later when the moon was rising, the caravan reached the Nile. The night was cold. Hurriedly fires were lit and tents erected. Tomorrow it would be half a day’s journey to reach Karnack.

After eating a sparse meal, the people settled down for the rest of the night. Samuel hoped he would have a restful night. The dreams of the previous night had disturbed him and the long trek through the desert had not allowed him much time to rest.


He had been asleep for about an hour when his rest was disturbed by the appearance of the dog head god Thoth, who came nudging him. Rising from his bed in a dream-like state, Samuel wandered among the pylons coming upon the statue of the deified pharaoh, Tuthmosis. Samuel was not surprised to see the statue open its eyes, red fire burning deep within the eyes of the statue; the thundering voice of the stone statue asked “Who dare disturb the rest of pharaoh? What business have you to disturb my rest? Have I not been asleep two thousand years at peace with the world of man and now a mere man dare disturb my rest. But wait, I see it is not a lowly mortal it is an accursed thing which stands before me, bound to wander the earth till end of days. What do you want? Leave me in peace I have had my day. Did I not rule the two lands with an iron rule? Did I not make Egypt great? Leave me, thing accursed of man let me sleep.” said the deity, now closing its fearsome eyes and returning to a state of rest. Thoth pulled at the loose flowing robes Samuel wore, leading him on this demesne of the graveyard who had from time unremembered wandered the resting places of the dead.

They came again upon a pylon here and stood gazing at the bold statue of Ramses the great, rising as from sleep. The deity looked upon Samuel and Thoth, a blue green light burning from the fearsome countenance. “What do you want to of me?” asked the figure of Ramses “Did I not make Egypt free of foreign influence? Did I not defeat the Syrians? Did not Babylon bow before my greatness? What is it you would ask accursed one? Ask on for the time grows late when the name of Ramses will be forgotten and no longer worshiped here.”

“Oh great Ramses” replied Samuel “What binds me to this earth? What makes me to live so long when those born after me