Pharaoh Khafra's Pyramid...

 In 2575 B.C. pharaoh Khafra's great tomb pyramid was still under construction. Its dimensions and height would not be as great as his father Khufu's "Great Pyramid", which was close to 490 feet hight, but pharaoh Khafra's pyramid would stand on higher ground than the pyramid of his father Khufu, giving the illusion that it was just as high. As compensation for the pyramid's smaller dimensions, Khafra's pyramid would consist of red granite casing stone on its lower levels. To glorify King Khafra, the Great Sphinx, a knoll of rock was transformed by Khafra's workmen into a lion with a human head, would be built near Khafra's pyramid. From dawn to dusk sled crews dragged monoliths of rock weighing a few tons or more to staging areas at the base of the pyramid. There, stonemasons, using copper chisels, chiseled the blocks to conform to the prescribed dimensions, smoothed the sides, and squared the corners. Laborers then reloaded the sleds and slowly began hauling them up the stone ruble ramps that flanked the emerging pyramid.
Toiling below in the pyramid's construction valley were legions of toolmakers, stonemasons, storekeepers, cooks, bakers, brewers, porters, and guards. The king's royal project managers were in charge of construction; at any given time as many as 30,000 workers were involved in the massive project. Many of the professionals, such as the project managers, stonemasons, architects, and scribes, were employed at Giza year-round. All this activity was tallied skillfully by ever-watchful scribes in the great pharaoh's service, "Ka" was one of those scribes...
The majority of the construction workforce, however, were peasants, working as conscrips during the annual Nile inundation, when the Nile swelled its banks engulfing much of the low land in water. This labor they supplied for the pharaoh was an alternative to paying taxes, serving in the military, or performing other mandatory labor for the king and Egypt. In general, all were proud to be serving the god-king; this service, in most Egyptian's eyes, was consistent with the harmony of "maat". Their work was not without compensation; rations of bread, beer, and onions were doled out three times a day, and the men earned additional payment in wheat or barley seed. With luck, laborers at the end of the long work week were rewarded with a feast of grilled fish and fowl, all washed down with beer or wine.

This was the time of Egypt's "great" building era; never before or since has so much "organized" direction within a nation been directed toward the "peacetime" building of such grandeur monuments-stairways to the heavens and gods, ever been constructed. Pharaoh Khafra's favored scribe "Ka " was in the heart of all this activity, as Khafra's pyramid rose to the heavens and Egypt's glory. In Egyptian culture, the pyramids symbolized the mound of the earth that rose from primeval waters during the world's creation. When the sun's rays beamed down on the pyramid, it formed a staircase to eternity, symbolizing the pharaoh's place in one of  Egypt's most important cults, the worship of the sun god Ra...

At the end of each day, Miw and Ka would have their meal in the garden area behind the house, because Miw's duties at the Temple of Ra were completed by midday, Miw then had enough time to trek home and engage in her household duties with the help of Myrt, her maidservant. Miw was able to present Ka with a meal at the end of his workday, when he returned from the palace. The meal consisted usually of roasted duck (abundant along the Nile) and freshly baked bread with honey, served with a cool pint of beer, which Miw or Myrt would buy at the open markets in Memphis. Miw usually would bring home the beer if she was returning from the temple any particular day. The beer was usually in pint-sized or liter-sized ceramic type jars or bottles made of baked clay, neatly packed in sets of four, the bottles in a weaved straw type carton or basket. The clay jars had a cork stopper on each bottle or jar, so as not to spill or spoil the beer. If  you were fortunate enough to have your own water well or holding pond in your garden, as Miw and Ka were, you could submerge the containers of beer or wine in a bucket with a rope and have relative cold beer or wine for the evening meal.
Often each night, just after dark, Ka and Miw, along with Myrt, their young attractive maidservant, would take their evening meal in their beautiful landscaped garden, discussing the events of the day and drinking "cold" beer, while they enjoyed the beauty of the night, the night sky and its stars. The sometimes full moon glistening off the white limestone cased pyramid of Khufu's Great Pyramid on the distant Giza plateau. This coupled with the deep silence of the night, only broken by the wildlife in the bulrush of the great Nile, all this was truly part of the harmony of maat. Later in the evening, Ka and Miw would retire to their own bed chamber, in each other's arms, their bodies wrapped together as one, lost in passion, then sleep...


                                                          Ro's Visit...

Ka's older brother Ro was a royal servant and also well loved in the pharaoh's court. Ro's official title was "King's Dresser". Each morning after the pharaoh's rising and bathing ceremony, which was assisted by the temple priests, Ro would be in charge of dressing the king in his royal ceremonial clothes. Then two priests would take Pharaoh by the hand and lead him to the temple sanctuary, where stood the life sized stone statue of Ra, enclosed in the shrine area. The sanctuary was known as the "sky" and when the king broke the clay seal attached to the massive doors, the shrine revealed the statue of Ra; in effect, pharaoh was opening the doors of the sky "symbolically". The king then recited his prayers, purified the statue of Ra with holy water, then sealed the sanctuary doors again. This ceremony lasted an hour or so, and afterward the king would be led back to the palace and it would be Ro's task to redress the king in his palace attire for the day, for palace state duties. In the afternoon, the king would visit his royal harem, then spend time in the royal gardens with his favorites the remainder of the afternoon, as the sun's heat engulfed Egypt...

Ka and Miw had now been husband and wife for one year now and were going to celebrate their union with a feast in their own garden courtyard. Ro was invited as well as Miw's sister Ti-Ti. Well Ti was also bonded in service to the Pharaoh as a "royal dancer". Ti as Miw called her, was only a year older than Miw. Ti had a slender figure like Miw and long black silken hair like Miw, and a lithe well proportioned body, with firm supple breasts. Each breast nipple was pierced with a gold ring, as well as her ears, this was customary for court dancers in Pharaoh's court. On Memphis's warm summer nights, Ka and Miw often would sit in their beautiful garden with its paved walkways of limestone and abundant fig trees. As mentioned earlier, the garden had a marble lined holding pond that supplied the garden with all its water needs, as well as the household. The water was supplied through an ingenious system of irrigation canals running from the Nile. The ground level holding pond had its own overflow system releasing the excess water back to the nearby fields for irrigation use. This holding pond was located near the house's bathroom, thus Myrt their young maidservant never had to go far to go for bukets of water to fill the washbasin and bathbasin in the bathroom for Ka and Miw's daily baths.
Tonight, in honor of Ro's visit, Miw and Myrt prepared a special feast, which consisted of roast duck, nut bread, and grilled Nile fish. For this special occasion, Myrt had also purchased at the market extra beer and two liters of  "memphis crush" a white wine mixed with lime and lemon juice, which she had submerged in the garden pond during the day to keep it cold for the later evening feast in the garden. That night, Ka and Miw, along with Ro and Ti, had their feast in the garden. Ka and Ro discussed the construction progress of King Khafra's new pyramid, already rising on the distant Giza plateau, and could be seen along the skyline. Miw interrupted them occasionally to get them more beer or "memphis crush" as Ka and Ro  talked. As the evening wore on, they all sang and laughed in the garden, as the open flames from the hanging oil lamps nearby caused dancing shadows in the gardens trees. The chirping harmony of the crickets emerged, as the night turned late. Miw and Ti got a little drunk that night, singing and dancing for Ka and Ro. That happy night of celebration in their beautiful garden was "maat". The mother Nile's water ran quiet and deep and only the occasional rustle of the gardens fig tree leaves and sounds of the distant wild fowl birds along the Nile could be heard, the stars shined bright into the night...


                                               Memphis's Open Markets...

The Memphis open markets were all over the great city and all of Egypt. Small and large vendors alike would sell there wares, and food, such as baked bread, fish, fowl, beer, and cloth of fine linen.
The Egyptian economy was basically a barter- based economy. At the heart of the system was the state-run royal granaries. Because taxes usually were paid in grain or livestock, it was of  utmost importance for the pharaoh's government to have a large, government-run granary and livestock-holding facility, both were located at the outer limits of Memphis. These sites encompased some 50 acres each, and in effect were the State Treasury of Egypt more or less. The granary was always full of grain; this was kept in silo's, row after row of them in the vast complex. The silo's were usuall made from baked clay bricks forming a silo, then the outside of the silo white-washed white to reflect the sun. The royal tax collector and the royal paymaster were the two highest officials at both complexes. These complexes was where citizens brought their grain or livestock to pay pharaoh's taxes.
The pharaoh's state and palace employees also came there to pick up their allotted grain. The granary also acted as a safeguard, in times of famine. The pharaoh "issued" baked clay "tokens" through the treasury to all state employees, such as the members of the military, palace staff, and the laborers for the construction on King Khafra's pyramid for bonuses. Each token issued was good for a set amount of grain or barley, the token was stamped with the pharaoh's "state seal" in the amounts of 1/2 or 1 bushel amounts. If a person acquired extra tokens, for instance, for grain than they could use in their household, the extra tokens could be use as "cash" for goods at the markets anywhere around Memphis or Egypt, as gold or silver coinage did not yet exist in Egypt.

                                                          Ka and Miw...


On Ka's days off when he was not raquired in the pharaoh's service, Ka and Miw would spen their day in Memphis at the open markets. At daybreak, they would be wakened by the songbirds in the fig tree outside their window as their bedroom was in the back of the house by the garden. Ka would always passionately kiss Miw on her mouth, waking her to the new day, this day before they had their breakfast, they bathed together in the bath quarter of the house. Then they dressed, as Myrt prepared them a light meal of fresh bread smeared with honey, from the bread Myrt had baked the day before.
The bread was heated in the oven in the courtyard next to the garden by Myrt, then served to Ka and Miw with a fresh cup of milk, which had been cooled in the garden holding pond. The milk was delivered to their house daily in a large baked clay jar by one of the local delta dairy farmer's servants. The clay jars, equivalent in size to a gallon, each jar had a  cork cap stopper to prevent spillage and spoilage, the jar would be submersed in their garden holding pond to keep the milk cold and prevent spoilage.
After Miw and Ka finished their breakfast, they said goobye to Myrt, then walked hand in hand to Memphis. Miw looked lovely that morning; she was wearing a long white linen dress that hugged her bodie's curves, she wore fine Egyptian sandals, and hooped gold earrings that Ka had given her. Her eye lids were painted blue with kohl accentuating her beauty. Ka wore a white Egyptian-style kilt and sandals, and Egyptian neck collar. Ka had also bought Miw a special ring at the market that day, it was made of gold with a red ruby mounted to the ring. Miw was happy as could be. The two of them spent the better part of that day in Memphis, walking hand in hand. As the day wore on, Ka stopped at one of the street vendors who was selling fragrant wreaths of flowers, Ka bought one for Miw to wear in her beautifully braided Egyptian style black hair. Miw was now complete, the picture of pure Egyptian female beauty. Ka and Miw were truly in love, the world for them that day was truly "maat".
Miw and Ka returned to their house later that day. At the market, they had traded some of their extra grain tokens for two ducks, three Nile perch, and a basket of four liter bottles of beer. They had planned a barbeque for themselves and Ti for later that evening. The barbeque was started at sunset, because then the heat of the day was mellowed. Myrt had just finished baking a batch of fresh bread and nut biscuits for the feast. The bottled beer and "memphis crush" was earlier put in a bucket and submerged in the garden's holding pond to keep it cold, because Ka and Miw loved cold crush and beer.
The barbeque would be conducted by Ka, in their barbeque pit, next to the brick oven in the courtyard. Ti was already helping Miw get things in order in the garden where they set up a table under the fig trees. Ka was already roasting the dressed ducks over the barbeque pit; he had the ducks impaled on a copper rod, with a handle on its end. Every so often Ka would turn the roasting ducks. Myrt prepared her fresh bread, nut biscuits, and fresh onions that she had bought at the market. Ti and Miw lit extra oil lamps for the garden area. The moon was full that night, giving off extra light. Soon Ka, Miw, and Myrt their young maidservant, and Ti were partaking of the feast, talking, laughing, and drinking "memphis crush" and "cold beer",  Egyptian beer was the finest beer known.
The night sky burned bright with stars in Egypt that night, you could hear the occasional roar of the hippopotamus in the papyrus thickets along the Nile. The four souls singing aloud, for they truly loved their king and Egypt, that night all was "maat" in their world. Ti had too much to drink that night, so she spent the night in Myrt's room, both of them layed naked in each other's arms as they slept... Ka and Miw,  also retired to their room. Ka undressed Miw, took her in his arms, and was lost in the passion of the hot Memphis night...

                                                     The Priesthood

At the age of 26 years, Ka was summoned by the chief priest Qa'a to the temple of Ra. In a recent "dream", Qa'a had seen Ka climbing the Great Pyramid of Khafu, with Ra the sun god reaching out his hand from the sky as if to take Ka's hand and pull Ka up to the heavens. The sun priests, which Qa'a served as chief priest, served Ra-Atum of the sun religion cult that originated in Heliopolis. The sun priests firmly proclaimed that Ra-Atum was the first king and pharaoh of Egypt. The sun priests proclaimed that because of the pharaoh's direct link with Horus, the pharaoh possessed the blood of the sun god Ra in his veins, in effect, making him a son of Ra.
The only other god in Memphis of prime importance was Ptah. The priests of Memphis taught the Egyptians that Ptah was the mind of the universe, the one god, self-conceived, and self-existent... a view "later adopted" by the Hebrews and Moses. Except for Ra, the sun priests proclaimed all gods and humans were projections of Ptah's intellect. The falcon god Horus was his heart, and Thoth, the god of wisdom, was his tongue.
Ka showed himself to be wise and spiritual beyond his 26 years. Ka was truly loved by Pharaoh, Qa'a the "chief"  high priest, and loved by all the sun priests in Memphis and the Temple of Ra. Because of Qa'a's "dream" of Ka climbing the "Great Pyramid", with the hand of Ra himself reaching out of the sky for Ka's hand, it was now believed that Ka possessed the character and potential powers of a mystic, like Qa'a himself. Thus Ka was inducted into the priesthood, as a high priest, it was clear to see, that Ka was being prepared to take Qa'a's place when it came time for Qa'a to cross the river of death and be with the gods. Ka was also given the title by Pharaoh himself as "Kings Advisor".
Miw was thrilled and happy for Ka, and now they would see each other more often at the king's palace and temple, because Miw also was one of the temple prayer "chantresses" in the Temple of Ra...

                                                      "A Brief History "


The gods of Egypt were respected for their magical rather than their moral powers. Egyptians were intensely concerned with proper social behavior that constituted the lifelong ideals toward which they aimed. Social and anti-social behavior were more secular than religious problems. The relationship of a human to fellow beings, superiors, and king was regulated by a code that owed more to tradition and lore, and accepted customs rather than to religion. Religion was not a means whereby a person obtained divine advice concerning one's manner of life; rather, it was one of the ways in which society was made conscious of its corporate identity. The daily act of worship was intended to emphasize the "common" and not the individual character of the citizen.
Egyptian religion was also practical in outlook. Whether you were a good person or a bad person, religion supplied you with a gratifying assortment of "magical formulae" guaranteed to get you by hook or crook into heaven. Whatever sort of terrestrial existence you led, if you recited the rubrics correctly you would obtain entry into the Elysian Fields. The worship of the gods was of an impersonal quality, designed to assure the worshippers of their place and participation in the great scheme of things. The ideas of sin and redemption as Christians recognize them today appear to have played no part in Egyptian religion. The gods certainly awarded punishment, but more because their "rites" had been neglected than because the worshipper had committed wicked acts. The moral codes that provided the Egyptians with guidance were in collections of proverbs written by distinguished law givers, great viziers, and the pharaohs.

                                                       A Scribe's Skills...

A brief summary of Ka's and other scribes skills is necessary, for a clear perspective on our story. In ancient Egypt, the mysteries of writing could be deciphered by only a select few. Perhaps one in a hundred Egyptians could read and write, a fact that endowed scribes with prestige and power. Theirs was the most important of occupations. In fact, many scribes performned clerical tasks for high priests and officials. Knowledge of writing was essential for all who aspired to leadership. The training for scribes was rigorous because the written language was complex. Students had to master more than 700 hieroglyphs, some of them representing "objects" or "ideas" and others representing "sounds". Successful graduates enjoyed a life free of manual labor. Their soft hands and clean white linen kilts were signs of their privilaged status in Egyptian culture.


                                                       Court Life...

Two tears had now passed since Ka was appointed a high priest. Ka was respected by all his friends and fellow priests, including government officials of the king and the city officials of Memphis. Qa'a, the chief high priest, was one day summoned by Pharaoh Khafra and ordered to prepare for an "official visit" to Thebes in Upper Egypt. Qa'a would accompany pharaoh, Ka, and two high-ranking magistrates from Memphis. Charges of corruption had been brought against the "vizier" in Upper Egypt at Thebes, the "vizier" one of the highest ranking state officials serving pharaoh. The vizier was responsible for administration, including the economy and legal matters.
The royal barge was prepared for the departure for the following day. Because this was a grave matter, Miw was not allowed to come with Ka, she would stay home. Ti, Miw's sister, would keep Miw company along with Myrt during Ka's absence, which was expected to be about a month or so. Ti as mentioned earlier was Miw's older sister by one year. Ti was a "royal dancer" in the pharaoh's court palace; she often danced for state functions and dignitaries in the palace. Ti often would stay in the "guest room" in Ka and Miw's house, in the mornings, Ti would sing in the courtyard while she practiced her dance moves. Ka could not help but notice her lithe feminine figure, and her well-defined breasts when he saw her dance. Ti was always scented with lotus blossom oils, like Miw, and Ka would become mesmerized by both Ti's and Miw's beauty.
During Ka's trip to Thebes, Miw and Ti often would go to Memphis's open markets in the morning, because they had extra grain "tokens" to spend. Since Ka's new appointment as high priest and advisor to the king, Ka received a generous amount of extra tokens for pay. Miw, Ti, and Myrt bought themselves each a new dress of white linen, a long form fitting dress, in Egyptian fashion of the time, they also bought new sandals because they wanted to look their best, Miw especially, for Ka's return from Thebes.
Weeks had now passed, the day before Ka's expected return, Myrt already was preparing a feast banquet to be held in the garden area courtyard, for the night of Ka's return from Thebes on the royal barge. The morning of Ka's return, before he arrived home, Miw and Ti did each others hair with the help of Myrt, then bathed in  perfumed water, applied lotus blossom oils to their breasts, then put on their new dresses of fine white linen, the dresses hugged their shapely figures and partially exposed their young ripe breasts which wafted the scents of myrrh and lotus blossoms.

Later that night, as they enjoyed their feast banquet under the fig trees in the garden courtyard, Ka told and explained how, after arriving in Thebes, after careful investigation of the vizier's government documents and other records, Qa'a and himself, along with the magistrates had indeed found evidence of wrong doing and corruption. King Khafra then had the vizier and accomplices removed from their posts and duties, imprisoned, and now awaiting trial by the magistrates, who stayed behind in Thebes to get the government back in order.
That night Ka was so happy to be back with Miw, to smell her sweet fragrance, and to look her in the face again. She was his beautiful "little cat" as he sometimes told her. That night they all drank beer and "memphis crush" getting a little drunk, the drinks were served cold, as Myrt had in the morning kept the beer and
"memphis crush" jars submersed in the gardens holding pond during the day. That night, the four souls all sang songs, and Ti and Miw did a special erotic dance for Ka. That night, the stars shined like diamonds in the black sky, they could hear the sounds of the waterfowl in the nearby marshes. That night thay all were in harmony with the earth and Egypt. In the background of the hot Memphis night, one could hear the chirping sounds of crickets, the calls of the wild ducks along the Nile, all was "maat" that night in their world. Finally, Ka and Miw retired to their chambers, Ka slowly undressed Miw, then took her by her slender waist and laid her down on the fine linen sheets of their bed. There the two souls became lost in each other's arms, lost in the Egyptian night...

                                                     Four Months Later...

The mother Nile was the giver of life to all of Egypt; she also cold be the taker of life. Four months had now passed, it was the warm season. Miw and Ti often would go swimming along the Nile near a secluded area with tall papyrus reeds and lotus flowers alond the river's banks. There they would spend their afternoons swimming and bathing. One afternoon Miw and Ti were out for their usual swim. Because the area was secluded, they often undressed and would sun bath in the nude along the river's bank near a patch of blue lotus flowers, which was Miw's favorite color. Miw decided to pick some of the lotus flowers to bring home and swam over to the place where the lotus grew, when she suddenly was pulled under the water, vanishing. Ti, who was on the river's bank, screamed for Miw, pleading for her to surface, Ti was shouting and crying, pleading for Miw to appear, ten minutes passed, no sign of Miw. Ti frantically got dressed, then ran back to Ka and Miw's house to get help. All afternoon Ka, Ti and Myrt, along with some palace guards searched the delta along the Nile for Miw, but to no avail. The next day, some fishermen found Miw's body floating near the blue lotus flowers by the river's edge.
The "ceremony of the dead rite", for Miw was held a few days later at Khufu's mortuary temple, where Ka and Miw had been married. Offciating the ceremony was the "chief high priest" Qa'a. Ka now read aloud from the papyrus scroll, the verse that he had read to Miw at the time of their marriage ceremony. The last verse he repeated, to symbolize the years they had been together, "until we are reborn", then Ka placed the papyrus scroll over Miw's heart and kissed her for the last time. Then the coffin lid was sealed and Qa'a and the priests took Miw to be interred...

                                                            Awakening...

Later that evening, Ka and Ti, as well as Myrt, were as sad as could be, solemn because of Miw's passing. That evening after Miw was interred, the three of them took their evening meal in the garden courtyard. Without Miw, the house felt empty, Ti tried to console Ka as best she could, but Ka was filled with grief, his heart was broken... As the evening wore on the three of them talked about the "good times" they all had with Miw, as they enjoyed their cold "memphis crush" reminiscenting about Miw, the three of them, that night got drunk to help numb the pain of Miw's passing. As the night became late, Ka was getting tired, so Ti took Ka by his hand and then led him to his bedroom chambers. There Ti spent the night with Ka holding him to her breasts as Ka slept. As morning broke, Ka and Ti awoke in each other's arms. Ka then "knew" that Miw was still with him as long as he had Ti, her sister. All he had to do was look in Ti's face, and knew Miw was not far away, but in the Elysian Fields, awaiting rebirth...
Ka and Ti had been together now for a full year, the pharaoh had again graced Ka after Miw's death, by giving Ka, Ti, Miw's sister for his new wife. Ka was now spending more time at the palace and temple, because he was one of the main high priests in the elite circle of the pharaoh. However, Ka always made time to spend with Ti, his new and beautiful young wife.
On late afternoons, Ka would return home and often find Ti and Myrt sun bathing nude in the back courtyard of their house. Myrt would be rubbing hippopotamus oil over Ti's body of dark bronze. Hippopotamus oil was used in Egypt as a skin conditioner and sun lotion protectant. Often Ti would be laying next to Myrt, their young servant girl, next to the courtyard fountain as the water splashed on their bronze oiled naked bodies which glistened in the late afternoon sun, their gold breast nipple rings "sparkling" from the rays of the sun. But Myrt was also their servant as well as Ti's trusted companion, Myrt was an Egyptian woman of stunning beauty. Ka always insisted that both Ti and Myrt dress in fashion when they were wearing cloths, in the Egyptian fashion of the day, which was a white linen wrap dress that draped their bodies, partially exposing their ripe breasts and thigh areas, as Egyptian days were hot. They also wore traditional Egyptian neck collars with gold trim and fine sandals. Their eyes were painted with kohl, black eye liner, and their hair braided in Egyptian fashion. Together, they were strikingly beautiful, and Ka owned them both.
Sometimes, Ti and Myrt would go in town to Memphis every few weeks to have their hair done, usuall at one of the many salons that catered to the upper-class Egyptian women. There, they would both have their hair washed and scented with fragrant oils, then have their hair styled in the Egyptian fashions of the time. Often when they finished at the salon, paying in "grain tokens", they would stop at one of the many outdoor cafe's in Memphis, spending the better part of the day having a light lunch and cold "memphis crush"...

On their way home, Myrt would sometimes buy extra food items or beer for the evening meal when Ka  would be present. If they had extra "grain tokens", Ti and Myrt would buy perfumes and oils for themselves. This day Myrt bought some extra jars of  "memphis crush" which she instructed the vender to deliver to their house later by cart, because Ka and Ti, along with Myrt liked their drink, as the sun set each night, as the three sat in their garden courtyard enjoying their "crush". After some weeks later, after deliberation, one night as Ti and Ka were laying in bed tight in each other's arms, Ti told Ka that she was "with child" Ka was elated, as Ti was, Ti then said, "my love, do you know what our child's name shall be, should she be a girl ?" Ka then said, "Ti, we both already know what her name will be, it will be Miw." Ti then took Ka to her, kissing Ka passionately on his mouth, pressing her body to him, and they both were lost in the night...