The Realm of Millions of Years
The World of an Atenist Egypt
Chapter 2
The Feast of the Tail
Regnal Year 30 Under His Majesty King of Upper and Lower Egypt Nebma’atre, Son of Ra Amenhotep-Heqawaset Given Life, Stability, and Dominion
The pavilions of the Palace of the Dazzling Sun were abuzz with activity. Perfumed nobles and court dignitaries clad in the finest linen flitted affectedly about the gardens, conversing, drinking, and exchanging utterly meaningless pleasantries amidst the din of musicians and acrobatic dancers. Among one group of partygoers, reclined on couches near where the royal family stood receiving the obligatory tributes of the day, a single voice – that of a court official called Minemheb, master of ceremonies – carried over the others.
“Generations of people since the time of the ancestors have not celebrated such jubilee rites! [1] Such a spectacle! Truly, the gods will grant His Majesty unsurpassed life, health, and strength after beholding such grand honors! Did you all have a good view of His Majesty and our beautiful queen as they alighted on the Sha-Hapu? [2] Were they not resplendent? Clad in gold and fine fabrics, gleaming like the sun…!” Minemheb spoke excitedly, like a child telling a hyperbolic tale, as the other officials listened deferentially.
“The humble man flourishes, and he who deals uprightly is praised. The innermost chamber is opened to the man of silence. Wide is the seat of the man cautious of speech, but the knife is sharp against the one who forces a path, that he advance not, save in due season.” [3] Spoke another voice, terse and cold, interrupting Minemheb as he took a breath to continue.
The master of ceremonies deflated like a pierced waterskin, turning abruptly to face the interloper, and ungracefully turning his indignant rotation into a low, scraping bow that sent a ripple of kow-towing through those around him.
“Prince Iahames, forgive me, I did not see you there.” He spluttered. Prince Iahames, the king’s third son by his Great Royal Wife, eyed the target of his ire frigidly as he responded to his welcome.
“That you saw me or not is irrelevant, Minemheb. Commendable as your efforts in organizing these jubilee rites may or may not be, the honor of the day belongs to His Majesty, not to you. You would do well to remember this, and to hold your tongue lest its unrestricted bragging reflect poorly on your character. His Majesty does not care for show-offs… Your naked boasts will reach his ears, and he will think ‘Look, here is a high-backed one! [4] I cannot trust that his performance will again match his claims!’ and His Majesty’s gaze will pass you over. Is that what you want, Minemheb?” He said, his stare eviscerating the master of ceremonies like a knife.
“I live only to serve His Majesty, the Son of Ra, the Lord of the Two Lands…” Answered Minemheb, bowing low once again “… I wish only that this jubilee be the first of millions in His Majesty’s, and that my humble efforts to honor the gods with today’s ceremonies accomplish that aim…”
Prince Iahames articulated an unimpressed tut, and with a nod to the nobles standing statue-like behind Minemheb uttered “Carry on…” before making his way back to the front of the party, where his family sat.
“You sounded angry, brother…” Said prince Amenhotep, Iahames’ elder brother.
“It was not his place to highlight the events of the ceremony when he organized them. A man lets his good work speak for itself; he does not speak for it.” Iahames retorted.
“Perhaps…” Said Amenhotep softly. The elder prince sipped from his goblet, surveying the scene. The king and queen were still receiving congratulations from provincial governors who had journeyed to Waset [5] for the Feast of the Tail [6]. His eyes carried on to two women, sisters to each other, named Nefertiti and Mutbenret. Nefertiti was his wife, Mutbenret his brother’s; they too were watching the parade of dignitaries, whispering to each other and giggling as handmaidens braided their hair. The king’s two foreign wives, Tadukhepa and Gilukhepa, both of them princesses from Naharin [7] were also scanning the scene. Prince Amenhotep deposited his goblet, rose from his couch, and touching his younger brother lightly on the shoulder whispered “Let’s get out of here”.
Prince Iahames shot his elder brother a slightly perplexed look, bur followed nonetheless. Quietly, the princes slipped from the central pavilion into a smaller garden in the shadow of the queen’s palace. Amenhotep leaned casually against a date palm by the edge of a pool, and looked at his brother inquisitively.
“Something’s wrong, Iahames… I can tell.” He said. Iahames scuffled awkwardly at the statement. He plucked a hyacinth from a nearby flowerbed and stood at the pool’s edge, absentmindedly shredding the petals into the water.
“This feels wrong… This festival… Thutmose has just gone into the West [8] and here-… Here we are celebrating.” Answered the younger prince, sedately.
“Of course we’re celebrating!” Said prince Amenhotep, shocked. “Our father, with this jubilee, has become the ‘Dazzling Orb of all Lands’, the ‘Perfect God’! May he celebrate a million more!”
“The Creator he may be, brother, but one day he will become as Osiris [9] like those before him, and you will have to rule.” Iahames replied quietly.
“Brother! Don’t say such things!” Amenhotep retorted.
“You know it to be true…” Said Iahames, tossing the last of the mangled hyacinth into the pool. A pregnant silence followed, interrupted only by the occasional sound of a laughing party guest carried on the breeze. Amenhotep stood straight, scrutinizing his younger brother.
“You’re right, of course…” He whispered “… But I don’t want to say it out loud… I’m terrified, Iahames… Absolutely terrified. It was Thutmose who was to succeed father, and now he’s dead… I worry that I don’t-…”
“You’ll do fine…” Iahames interrupted, tilting his head at his brother “I’ve always looked up to you, brother… Always aspired to be like you. You always looked out for me, never hesitated to explain anything that confused me, never wavered from steering me on the right path… You’ve had all the same training as Thutmose, and father will be with us more than long enough for you to overcome your worries.”
“That’s not it…” Said Amenhotep, heaving a sigh. “I know I could rule as Thutmose would have, but…” He paused, looking at his brother. Iahames nodded, encouraging him to continue. “But I want to rule in my own way… I have a vision for Egypt, brother… A grand one… I want to make this country the most perfect there ever was… I just fear that I can’t.”
“Does this have anything to do with your ‘ideas’ you were telling me about? About the Aten, and all it gives to us without fail?” Inquired Iahames. Amenhotep nodded slowly in the affirmative.
“Yes! And this jubilee, and father’s ascendance to divinity, only have me pondering them even more… More certain am I than ever of my vision!” Responded the elder prince, breathlessly.
“Your fears are unfounded, then…” Said Iahames. “The Aten will bless you as it has blessed father. You will have the aid of heaven. And, for what few merits it has, you will have my aid…” Iahames bowed before his elder brother “Whatever you will do when you take the throne, brother, you will have naught but my unwavering support and service.”
“Together…” said Amenhotep, excitedly “… Together, with you at my right hand, brother, we will change Egypt for the better!”
*****************************************************************
This conversation that never occurred in OTL (due to the rather notable impediment of Iahames never having existed in OTL) takes place after Amenhotep III’s first jubilee celebration (“Feast of the Tail”, as the Egyptians knew it), an event which set an important theological and political precedent for the reforms that Amenhotep IV, later called Akhenaten, would introduce during his reign.
Egypt’s state theology had always maintained a distinction (though an admittedly slight one) between the king as the avatar of Horus, and Horus himself; between his status as “Ra’s chosen deputy”, and Ra who made the choice. The monarch had the title “Netjer Nefer” (“Perfect God”) but that was a mere title, not a state of being; Egyptian kings became full gods only in death.
Amenhotep III, at his jubilee, did what no other king had before dared to do and denied the existence of that distinction completely. In using his first Feast of the Tail as a stage to act out the “daily miracle” of the Sun’s progression along the sky, with himself and queen Tiye in the starring roles, Amenhotep III was symbolically stating that in life he had mutated into the solar god, that he had assumed the form of the creator (and he would go on to state this outright on a number of his monuments). This unprecedented jubilee celebration had a great effect on the future Akhenaten in OTL, and it will have the same effect in this alternate history.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] Minemheb in OTL would repeat this boast on a commemorative statue of himself.
[2] “Hapu’s Pond” - The artificial lake adjacent to the Palace of the Dazzling Sun. Today it’s known by its Arabic name: Birket-Habu
[3] The speaker is quoting the “Instructions for Kagemni”, an Old Kingdom “wisdom text” outlining proper protocols and behavior for Egyptian court officials.
[4] To call some one “high of back” or a “high-backed one” was an Ancient Egyptian colloquialism for calling them “arrogant”.
[5] Ancient Thebes/modern Luxor – The Egyptians also called it “Niut-resut” (“Southern City”) and “Iunu-shema” (“Upper Heliopolis”).
[6] The “Sed Festival” / “Heb Sed” (which literally means “Feast of the Tail”) was a jubilee celebration held upon the 30th year of a king’s reign and every three years thereafter. The name derives from an artificial tail that was attached to the king’s regalia for the ceremony; a tail was in fact a vestigial remnant of a full animal costume that kings had worn for the same ceremony much earlier in Egyptian history. The original Sed Festival was designed as a test of the king’s physical prowess, and if he failed then he was felled by ritual regicide, that a more capable ruler might replace him. Though by the late Old Kingdom (at the very latest) they had morphed into purely allegorical ceremonies meant to rejuvenate the aging monarch, replenishing his strength and stamina while celebrating his continued success on the throne.
[7] “Naharin” is the Egyptian term for the Mitanni kingdom.
[8] To “Go into the West” is an Egyptian euphemism for death. Prince Thutmose, Amenhotep III’s crown prince and designated successor, died shortly before the king’s jubilee in the 30th year of his reign, propelling Prince Amenhotep, the eventual Akhenaten, into the position.
[9] Another euphemism for death, more specific to kings, who were said to become “like Osiris” in death.