Naguib Mahfouz - Before the Throne

“You forgot,” Thutmose III reproached him, “that Egypt was once an empire!”

“What’s the use of dwelling upon youth that has passed?” answered Psamtek II.

“And you forgot that Babylon lay in wait at the frontier?” King Ahmose I demanded.

“And what did you do to instill the love of combat among the populace?” asked King Ahmose I.

When he did not reply, Isis inserted, “His era was a time of wealth and tranquility!”

“Get thee to Purgatory,” bade him Osiris.

HORUS CALLED OUT, “King Apries!”

A stocky man stalked in, wrapped in his shroud, and stopped before the throne.

Thoth the Divine Recorder read aloud, “He incited Israel against Babylon, taking part in the fighting by invading Phoenicia with his navy — but was met with a total rout. Prince Ahmose II broke his pledge of obedience to him, and in the struggle that followed King Apries was killed.”

Asked by Osiris to speak, Apries explained, “Babylonia was my greatest worry. The centerpiece of my plan was to goad Israel to attack Babylon. My part was to penetrate Phoenicia with my fleet in order to outflank the enemy — but the gambit failed, and I was utterly defeated instead.”

“The plan could not be faulted,” Thutmose III said, “but to succeed it needed able hands.”

“I beg you to show him mercy,” pleaded Isis.

“Off with thee to Purgatory,” Osiris told Apries.

HORUS HERALDED, “King Ahmose the Second!”

A tall, gaunt man stepped into the room. He paced to his place facing Osiris on his throne.

Thoth, Scribe of the Gods, then recited, “He bolstered the domestic order of the country. He relied excessively on an alliance with the Greeks, and overly indulged in dinners with wild drinking. During his reign, Persia emerged as a great power. To restrain her, Ahmose II sought to align Egypt with Babylonia and Greece, but Babylonia was destroyed.”

When Osiris invited him to speak, Ahmose II explained, “I considered King Apries responsible for his defeat before Babylon and that he was too weak to face the complex situation that confronted him. Thus I broke my pact with him and assumed the throne in his place. Then I fashioned an alliance to block the Persians, but the Persians won. Thereafter I turned to internal reform.”

“What did you do in domestic affairs?” Queen Hatshepsut queried.

“The country was notably affluent under me. And I enhanced civil law — it is enough to cite the rule requiring the rich to declare the sources of their wealth to the mayor of their city.”

“How did you prepare the common folk to deal with the nouveaux riches?” asked Thutmose III.

“My people were only concerned with farming and their own private lives,” said Ahmose II.

“You served as their example, in your love of riotous feasting with wine,” jibed Ramesses II. “I have nothing against such banquets — if the one who gives them is great!”

“His excellent works are not inconsiderable,” Isis interjected. “His plan was a wise one, though it failed.”

Osiris thought for a while, then pronounced, “You shall languish in Purgatory for a thousand years, before dwelling in the particular level of Paradise appropriate to your modest merit.”

HORUS RAISED HIS VOICE to extol, “King Psamtek the Third!”

A strongly built man of medium height advanced in his winding sheet until he stood before the throne.

Thoth commenced to read from the sacred tome before him, “He reigned for three months. Then he and his army defended Egypt against the Persian king, Cambyses, but his forces were routed and he fell captive to the foe. Cambyses slew him and seized control of the country.”

Osiris asked him to address the court.

“I came to the throne as the Persian armies were penetrating Egypt,” replied Psamtek III, “so I prepared my Greek troops for battle while urgently conscripting a small army of Egyptians. I met the enemy in a fierce engagement, but we found ourselves surrounded, and I was taken prisoner. Cambyses wanted me to rule as his puppet, obedient to his commands. But I plotted secretly to resist the invasion: I was exposed, and for it I paid the price of my life.”

“Tell me about the resolve of the Greek and Egyptian soldiers in the fight,” demanded Thutmose III.

“No doubt, that of the Egyptians was immeasurably greater than the others,” said Psamtek III.

“I expected to hear just that,” Thutmose III affirmed. “Perhaps if your whole army had been Egyptian, the encounter would have turned out differently. But you disregarded your own people and relied entirely on foreigners — and so the history of independent Egypt ended at your hands.”

“We cannot overlook that he refused to occupy the throne in the shadow of alien rule,” Seqenenra intervened, “sacrificing himself by doing so. I myself shared such a fate.”

“Before you stands my son, so blighted by misfortune,” Isis implored. “He fought with all his bravery. If his ambition had been to rule at any cost, then it would have yielded to him. Instead, he died nobly and dearly.”

Osiris bid him, “Go take your seat among the Immortals.”

OSIRIS ADDRESSED the court:

“Members of the tribunal, now we are done with Egypt of the pharaohs. This court is not concerned with passing judgment on foreign rulers, but considers them all accursed outsiders. Rather, it differentiates by degree between the good ruler and the corrupt. Accordingly, it shall render account for the Egyptians, whether their nationality was gained by heredity or earned through residence and loyalty of the heart. Our verdicts shall not be final in the case of Egyptians who accept a new creed, such as Christianity or Islam. Instead, our judgment shall be a sort of historical appraisal that we hope will be duly considered when the citizen is tried by his proper religious court in the Abode of the Everlasting.

“Now I leave it to Thoth, the Divine Recorder, to speak.”

“Egypt of the gods and pyramids, of temples and enlightened consciences, came to an end,” Thoth began. “Persian kings sat on the Golden Throne. They adopted our customs and worshiped our gods, but nonetheless the Egyptians despised them. The people rose up in rebellion, to be defeated and enslaved. Then Alexander came and invaded our country as a liberator, after which one of his commanders inherited Egypt — his dynasty established a state and a civilization. The foreigners took charge of all important activity, while the Egyptians lived in darkness, cultivating the land, content with their place in the world.

“That is, with the exception of the priests, who were left in control of religious affairs. Resistance movements exploded in the form of mass emigrations and riots, which were put down with great bloodshed and brutality. The Greek family’s era ended with the reign of Cleopatra, and the nation went under a new foreign rule, that of Rome, which considered her but a province to be annexed for her grains. The country’s situation worsened. Each time the Egyptians rose up against oppression, their revolt was crushed and their blood flowed freely. In the epoch of the Roman ruler Nero, Christianity entered Egypt, and a part of the population changed their religion. This religion did not spring from Egypt herself, as happened in the age of Akhenaten, but was imported from abroad. Those who embraced the new faith clung to a strict asceticism, many of them dwelling in desert caves in flight from despotic rule and the corruption of the world.

“The Roman government fought the new faith, raining spears down upon its converts until the reign of the Emperor Diocletian became known as the Era of the Martyrs. In the time of Theodosius, the emperor decreed that Christians would be under his protection. Thus the ancient religion knew its own martyrs too — though the majority adopted Christianity, forming a distinct sect within it. The spirit of religious zeal blended with patriotic fervor, together fomenting an uprising in demand of independence. In riposte, they met with torture and killing on a limitless scale.