The Field
of Reeds
A novel by Jerry Dubs
The Field of Reeds is published by Imhotep Literary, LLC
jerrydubs@imhotepliterary.com
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
teddpal@hotmail.com
Cover designed by Kyle Mohler
kcmohlerdesign@gmail.com
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
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.