Orphan of the Sun (31 page)

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Dr Morris Bierbrier, former assistant keeper in the Department of Egyptian Antiquities at the British Museum, for reading through the manuscript and answering my endless queries. His comments were invaluable, and his own book,
The Tomb-builders of the Pharaohs
, was one of several specialist books about Deir el Medina that I could not have managed without. However, any historical inaccuracies in the novel are mine, and mine alone.

Thanks to my agent, Rosemary, my editors, Emma and Helen at Bloomsbury, and all the friends who saw me through the penniless and nail-biting months of the first draft, especially Gill, Anna and Sue – the Farina's crew! Thanks to Lesley and Rosie for commenting on the completed novel. And a big thanks to my sister, Sal, for her unwavering belief in me.

Ahmes Nefertari
A real queen, the mother of Amenhotep I, who was worshipped in the village of Set Maat as a goddess. She lived roughly 350–400 years before Meryt-Re's time.

Amenhotep I
One of the first kings of the New Kingdom, who was worshipped in the village of Set Maat as a god. The villagers regularly consulted his oracle.

Amenhotep III
A New Kingdom king who built a magnificent mortuary temple on the plains below the village of Set Maat.

Amen-Re
A combination of Amun, the great god of Waset, and the sun god Re. In the New Kingdom he was worshipped as king of the gods.

Ammut the devourer
A monster who waited in the Next World to gobble the hearts of people who had not led a good life. She had the head of a crocodile, the front paws of a lion and the hindquarters of a hippopotamus.

Bes
A dwarf-like god with a lion's mane who was believed to protect children and women during childbirth.

blessed spirit of Re
A name given by the villagers to relatives who had died.

Black Land
The fertile land close to the Nile. See
Red Land
.

carnelian
A red or reddish-brown semi-precious stone that was found in the Egyptian desert. It was often used in jewellery.

Deir el Medina
The modern Arabic name for the village of Set Maat. It means ‘the monastery of the town'.

Dream Book
An Egyptian guide to interpreting dreams. It was very old indeed – even in Meryt-Re's time, it was considered ancient.

deben
A measurement of copper. There was no money in ancient Egypt – people bought things with grain or just swapped one item for another. But they estimated how much things were worth in copper
deben
. For example, a good-quality shawl was worth about eight
deben
.

emmer wheat
The particular kind of wheat that the villagers received as wages and used to make bread.

faience
A kind of glazed ceramic material made mainly from quartz. It was used to make pottery and jewellery.

Fields of Djame
The ancient Egyptian name for the site of the great mortuary temple of Ramesses III. This temple was the centre for administration on the west bank of the Nile at the time of Meryt-Re's story. Today, it is called Medinet Habu.

Great Place
The villagers' name for the valley where the kings' tombs were built. Today we call it the Valley of the Kings.

Hathor
The cow-headed goddess of love, beauty and music.

Hatshepsut
A queen of Egypt who built a wonderful temple dedicated to Hathor in the cliffs not far from Set Maat.

Horus
One of the oldest Egyptian gods. He was the ancient falcon-headed king of the living world, who defeated his evil uncle Seth to avenge the death of his father Osiris. Egyptian kings were believed to be the living manifestation of Horus.

Horus the Child
The ancient Egyptians worshipped
Horus in several forms, not just as a falcon. As Horus the Child, he was revered as the young son of Isis and Osiris.

Ipet Isut
The ancient name for Karnak, the big temple complex on the east side of the river at Waset. It was dedicated to the worship of Amen-Re, his consort Mut and his son Khonsu.

Isis
One of the most ancient and powerful Egyptian goddesses, wife of Osiris and mother of Horus. She embalmed the body of Osiris in order to bring it back to life.

kenbet
The name for the village council of elders in Set Maat.

Ken-Her-Khepeshef
A man who actually lived in Set Maat before Meryt-Re's time. He was a scribe, and collected a big library of ancient teachings.

kohl
A black powder used as eye make-up.

lapis lazuli
A semi-precious stone often found in ancient Egyptian jewellery. Only rich people could afford it, as it came all the way from modern-day Afghanistan.

lotus
A beautiful blue waterlily that grew in the River Nile, now known as the Egyptian Lotus, the Blue Lotus or the Blue Waterlily. The Egyptians believed it had magical and medicinal properties.

maat
The principle of truth and justice that underpinned Egyptian beliefs. There was also a goddess by this name.

Medjay
The police force of ancient Egypt.

Men Nefer
The oldest capital city in ancient Egypt. The site is now known by its Greek name, Memphis, and is situated about 10 miles (15 kilometres) south of the modern capital, Cairo.

Meretseger
A cobra goddess worshipped by the villagers of Set Maat, who believed she lived in the western mountain behind the village. Her name means ‘she who loves silence'.

Mut
A goddess, the consort of Amen-Re, the great god of Waset.

Nefertari
A very beautiful queen of Egypt. Her husband, Ramesses II, built her a wonderful tomb in the Place of Beauty.

nefret
flower
A flower that was used in magical rituals. Experts still don't know exactly what kind of flower it was, so they use its Egyptian name.

New Kingdom
A period of ancient Egyptian history that lasted from 1552–1069 BC. Meryt-Re's story is set roughly a hundred years before the end of the New Kingdom.

Next World
The place that all ancient Egyptians believed they would enter after death.

oracle
A god or shrine that offered prophecies and advice, usually through its priests. There was an oracle of Amenhotep I at Set Maat, which the villagers consulted about all sorts of issues that affected their daily lives.

Osiris
The great god of the underworld. In Egyptian mythology, he was the king of Egypt until he was murdered by his brother Seth. His wife, Isis, brought him back to life to rule the underworld.

ostracon
(pl.
ostraca
) This is not an Egyptian word, but a Greek term for bits of pottery and limestone flakes that were used for writing on in ancient times.

Peak of the West
The mountain behind Set Maat and the home of Meretseger, the cobra goddess.

peret
One of the ancient Egyptian seasons, the ‘time of
emergence' (October to February). There were three seasons. The others were
akhet
, when the river Nile flooded the valley (June to October), and
shemu
, the harvest time (February to June).

Per Ramesses
The capital of Egypt in Meryt-Re's time. It is situated in the north of Egypt in the Nile Delta.

Place of Beauty
A valley to the south of Set Maat where many officials, queens and other members of royalty were buried. Some of the tombs were as beautiful as those of the kings (see
Nefertari
). It is now called the Valley of the Queens.

Place of Truth
The meaning of Set Maat.

Ptah
A very ancient creator who was the god of craftsmen.

Ramesses II
A great king of Egypt who ruled for 67 years (1279–1212 BC) and built many temples, tombs and palaces.

Ramesses III
A king who tried to follow in the footsteps of Ramesses II (1186–1154 BC). He built a massive mortuary temple at the Fields of Djame, but he had many problems during his reign.

Re
(also known as
Ra
) The sun god, who travelled in his barque across the sky every day.

rekhet
The Knowing One or Wise Woman in the village of Set Maat. Very little is known about the role of the
rekhet
, but people turned to her for advice and to foretell the future.

Red Land
The desert, seen as wild and dangerous by the Egyptians. It was the land of Seth, the enemy of Horus. The Black Land was much safer – it was the fertile area close to the Nile, where nearly everyone lived.

red ochre
A red pigment that was used in ancient
Egyptian make-up.

scarab
The dung beetle, which makes big spheres of dung and rolls them along the ground. The Egyptians believed that at dawn, as the sun rolled over the horizon, the sun god Re took the form of the scarab god Khepri.

senet
A very popular board game in ancient Egypt.

Sekhmet
A fierce lion-headed goddess of war, destruction and disease. However, she could also prevent these things. She was the wife of Ptah.

Seth
The god of chaos and destruction, the evil uncle of Horus. He was represented as a strange dog-like creature. Although he was feared, many people also worshipped him.

Set Maat
Meryt-Re's village; the village of the Egyptian kings' tomb-builders. It means the ‘Place of Truth' and is now known as Deir el Medina.

side-lock
The tuft of hair that Egyptian children grew on one side of their head. The rest of their hair was shaved off.

sistrum
A musical instrument, rather like a rattle.

Sobek
The crocodile god, a protector of the king.

Tawaret
A goddess of childbirth and pregnancy, usually depicted as a pregnant hippopotamus.

Thoth
The ibis-headed god of scribes and writing.

Tutankhamun
A minor New Kingdom king, buried in the Great Place (now called the Valley of the Kings). The discovery of his tomb in 1922 has made him famous.

udjat
The eye of Horus, damaged by Seth in their final battle. It was healed by Thoth and became a powerful symbol of protection.

vizier
The Egyptian king's second-in-command. Sometimes there were two Viziers, one for Upper and one
for Lower Egypt (ie, north and south).

Waset
The ancient name for the area that is now roughly Luxor and its surroundings, the location of this story. The Greeks called it Thebes and many books still refer to it as this.

Bloomsbury Publishing, London, New Delhi, New York and Sydney

First published in Great Britain in 2006

This electronic edition published in January 2014 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
50 Bedford Square
London WC1B 3DP
www.bloomsbury.com

Text copyright © Gill Harvey 2006
Maps and chapterhead illustrations copyright © Carol Lawson 2006
The moral rights of the author/illustrator have been asserted

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