The Amulet of Amon-Ra (17 page)

“I don't know. Perhaps he wanted to be the power behind the throne,” said Daoud. “I think he did not like the way the country was being run and thought he could remove Hatshepsut from her throne. There are always some who prefer that those around them conform in predictable ways. They don't like independent thought,” said Daoud. “Hatshepsut upset the normal order of things. Also, the ‘demon' stayed away from his own body for too long. It had died. I think that drove him mad.”

“Who was he?”

“I don't know. His essence disappeared.”

A sudden burst of clapping came from the other room, then voices rose. It sounded like Mrs. Goodwin was coming back with the rest of the class. Jennifer gave the tomb painting one last look and rose. So did Daoud.

Jennifer stroked the scarab amulet. “Was this buried with Dje-Nefer?”

“Yes.”

“So how did you get it?”

“I…retrieved it at about the same time that Hatshepsut's existence was rediscovered.”

“You robbed her tomb?” Jennifer grinned at Daoud.

“Please. Trained Egyptologists do not rob tombs,” he said, his eyes crinkling.

“You weren't trained back then.”

“Back then, most ‘Egyptologists' weren't more than tomb robbers themselves.”

Jennifer laughed. “I should probably give this back to you,” she said, about to lift the amulet over her head. Daoud held up a hand.

“No,” he said. “It is most definitely yours. After all, Ramose gave it to you.”

“All right.” She hadn't really wanted to part with it. “Thank you,” she said, smiling. “For everything.”

“Thank you,” said Daoud. “You did more than you know.”

Jennifer glanced at the tomb painting. “I think I might learn more about hieroglyphs, so I can read this fascinating story.”

“Good idea,” said Daoud. “Now that you have had some experience, do you think you will be an Egyptologist when you become an adult?”

Jennifer watched as Hannah and the others walked into the room. Hannah waved to Jennifer, then tugged Ashley and Kelly along to see the cosmetics containers. Jennifer patted her braided hair.

“I don't know,” she said, grinning, “but I do know I'll be myself.”

Dje-Nefer picked up her bottle of kohl. Using her new bronze mirror, she carefully painted dark lines around her eyes.

“Are you ready?” asked Meryt-Re. Her voice echoed off the newly-plastered walls of Dje-Nefer's room. They were bare yet; Dje-Nefer would have to do something about that.

They had all moved into the villa shortly after the great Nile flood had receded. It was just one of many changes since her magical experience. It was hard to believe it had happened more than a year ago.

“I'm ready,” she said. She linked arms with her mother as they walked down the hall toward the atrium.

True to her word, Pharaoh Hatshepsut had given Ramose a royal commission, and even appointed him as the royal amulet-maker. Thutmose III, pleased with his work, had kept him in the position even after Hatshepsut's death.

“Is Uncle Neferhotep joining us?” asked Dje-Nefer.

“Perhaps later. He had work to do at the palace.”

Neferhotep's duties had increased with his promotion. Kai was long gone and Neferhotep had taken over Ka-Aper's duties when the old fellow had retired to a country home. After all, he had been possessed by a demon.

So had Dje-Nefer, in a way. She stroked the little scarab amulet. Ramose had carved more hieroglyphs into the stone.

“I wonder if Jennifer made it back to her own time,” said Dje-Nefer.

“I suppose we will never really know,” said Meryt-Re. “I hope so. She deserved to, after what she did for all of us.”

When they reached the great room that served as a greeting area, Mutemwija was already there. Dje-Nefer hugged the old woman. After her adventure, Dje-Nefer had sought her out in the market. Their reunion had been so noisy and joyous that the other merchants still remarked upon it. She tried to visit every day, though she had to admit, lately she'd been going for a different reason.

“Did Ti not come with you tonight?” asked Meryt-Re.

“No. A wealthy customer wanted to make a large order. I left him to do the haggling,” said Mutemwija. She smiled at Dje-Nefer. “He wanted to come, though. I think it was not just to accompany me.”

Dje-Nefer blushed.

Mentmose skidded into the room, earning a frown from Meryt-Re.

“Is she here yet?” he asked.

“Teti and her parents should be arriving soon,” Meryt-Re assured him.

Dje-Nefer hid a smile. Mentmose had been told he didn't have to marry Tetisheri, but it seemed he had learned to appreciate his chatty wife-to-be during Dje-Nefer's absence.

Drus, one of the new servants, came trotting up. “Excuse me, ma'am. There is a traveler at the gates. A Nubian.”

“It must be Bibi,” said Dje-Nefer. “Uncle Nefer told me he'd be coming by. I'll go meet him.”

“All right,” said Meryt-Re. “But don't be long.”

Dje-Nefer walked out into the wide courtyard. Halfway across, she stopped to caress the trunk of the myrrh tree which she had transplanted from the palace. Just last week, she had harvested the golden grains, then mixed them with herbs that Neferhotep had given her. The mixture was sealed in a clay pot, waiting for her to transfer it to the amulet. Neferhotep thought the appropriate time for the ritual would be at the next rising of Sepdet, the dog star, which would be soon.

A man was waiting for her at the villa's entrance, accompanied by a scrawny donkey.

“Good evening, Dje-Nefer,” said Bibi, pulling off his floppy straw hat to wipe his brow.

“Hello, Bibi. I thought you would have been long gone to Nubia by now,” said Dje-Nefer.

“Your uncle asked for my help making the fake mummy,” said Bibi. “We used wood and straw, then wrapped it in linen.”

“You did a good job,” said Dje-Nefer. “I thought the finished product was very flattering.”

“Neferhotep has already hidden the real Pharaoh. Only he knows where.”

“I'm sure she's pleased. The funeral procession was magnificent,” said Dje-Nefer.

Exactly seventy days after Hatshepsut's death, a long line of mourners and a winding trail of servants carrying furniture, food, jewelry and pots of myrrh had followed the Pharaoh's sarcophagus to her temple near the Valley of the Kings. The chief priest had performed the Opening of the Mouth ceremony, Neferhotep assisting.

“Thutmose looked every inch a King, riding at the head of the procession,” said Dje-Nefer. “Though he did not seem upset that she had died.”

“He had been waiting a long time to be Pharaoh,” said Bibi.

“I think he will be a very popular Pharaoh.”

“Yes, even if some are already suggesting that he killed Hatshepsut.” Bibi shook his head. “He had nothing to do with it. Her doctors tried, but nothing worked on that incurable disease.”

“I heard His Majesty has said he plans to ‘return to our traditional ways.' Mother says that means he has been thinking of how to erase Hatshepsut from our memories.”

“Perhaps. I went to her temple a few days ago,” said Bibi. “It is still intact, but no one guards it. I watered the myrrh trees. They were dying.” He sighed. “Our world is changing.”

“Uncle Neferhotep said to tell you that he will be visiting Nubia soon,” said Dje-Nefer. “He wants me to come with him when he goes, to study the art in the tombs. It is a little different from what I am used to seeing..”

“Neferhotep would be wise to stay in Nubia,” said Bibi.

“Because of Thutmose?” Dje-Nefer asked.

“Many of Her Majesty's friends and advisors have already scattered to other cities.”

“Neferhotep is dedicated to Amon-Ra. I doubt he will leave. Mutemwija is thinking of moving there, though.”

The sun was lowering, turning blood-red in the dusty air. A gentle cool breeze was rising from the Nile, now restored to its former glory. The white sails of several reed boats glided past in both directions, water droplets glittering off the poles of the sailors.

“I should get back,” said Dje-Nefer.

Bibi reached under his traveling cloak. “The Pharaoh asked me to give you something.”

“Thutmose?”

“Already you forget?” asked Bibi, chuckling.

“Never!” said Dje-Nefer. “But she already gave us so much.”

“This was just for you.”

Bibi held out his hand. On his palm lay a stone statuette of Hatshepsut, dressed as a man.

“To remember her by,” he said.

“I will,” said Dje-Nefer, taking the statuette.

“Keep it safe,” said Bibi. “The Pharaoh also had a gift for Mutemwija. In her last hour, she had me take it off her own arm. She said it was something she felt she needed to do.”

He reached under his cloak again, then brought out a slim gold bracelet.

“She's here tonight,” said Dje-Nefer. “I'll give it to her.”

With a nod and a wave, Bibi set off, heading upriver towards Aswan.

Dje-Nefer stroked the statuette.

“Remember.” She would. Even if no one else did.

Thanks to a friend she had never met, Dje-Nefer knew that the memory of a great woman would not be erased forever. The name of the female Pharaoh—Hatshepsut—would endure.

Dje-Nefer turned and walked up the long dusty road back to the villa, where her future waited.

Hatshepsut, the female Pharaoh, really did exist. She reigned as King in the Eighteenth Dynasty, from 1490 to 1468 B.C. After her death, her mortuary temple was destroyed, her images smashed, and her obelisks were plastered over. Only a few small fragments remained, enough to give Egyptologists clues to her existence, which they found in the early 1900's. The process of restoring the temple is still underway. The temple itself is one of the loveliest in all of Egypt; with its series of colonnades and ramps, it seems to grow gracefully from the cliff towering at its back. You can still see images of Hatshepsut's trading expeditions to Punt painted on the walls.

No one knows who damaged the temple of the female Pharaoh and tried to remove her name from history, although evidence points to her nephew Thutmose III. Perhaps it was done to make it look as though the kingdom had passed unbroken from father to son.

Hatshepsut's mummy was lost for centuries and feared to have been destroyed along with her temple. However, it was rediscovered in 2007, and positively identified as Pharaoh Hatshepsut by DNA testing and by the match of a missing tooth, found in a Canopic box marked with her cartouche.

Most of the names for the fictional characters in this book are based on real names of people from Ancient Egypt.

Amon-Ra- Ah mon rah (ah as in “jaw”)

Bast- Bahst

Bes- Base

Bibi- Bee bee

Daoud- Dah ood

Dje-Nefer- Jeh nef fer

Drus- Droos

Hapi- Hah pea

Hathor- Hah thor

Hatshepsut- Hat shep soot

Hekhanakhte- Heh kan ak tay

Hopi- Hoe pea

Horus- Hoar uss

Isis- Eye siss

Ka-Aper- Kah Ah per

Kai- Kye

Khufu– Koo foo

Mentmose- Ment mose

Meryt-Re- Meh rit ray

Miw- Mew

Mutemwija- Moo tem wee jah

Neferhotep- Neh fur hoe tep

Osiris- Oh sigh riss

Parahotep- Pair ah hoe tep

Ra- Rah

Ramose- Rah mose

Satyah- Sat yah

Sekhmet- Sek met

Senmut- Sen moot

Tetisheri- Teh tee share ree

Thutmose- Thoot mose

Ti- Tee

This pronunciation guide is only a suggestion. No one knows the exact spelling of names, which are taken from hieroglyphs. The hieroglyphs are vague about vowels, and opinions differ about stressed syllables.