Naguib Mahfouz: Before the Throne

Osiris then summoned Imhotep to speak.

“I grew up loving science and knowledge,” Imhotep began. “I studied under the august priests of Memphis, learning all that was known about medicine, engineering, astronomy, magic, and wisdom. When the king heard of my unusual erudition, he brought me to work in his royal entourage, though I was of humble origins. And I proved my worthiness in everything he charged me to do: I successfully cured the king of the illnesses that come with the desert storms of spring. Through sorcery, I saved one of the princesses from a malicious spirit and the evil eye. In reward, Pharaoh made me his minister, and commissioned me to build his pyramid. This was the construction miracle of its age, yet I would not have achieved what I did — in knowledge, expertise, or labor — if not for the divine sanction and inspiration of Ra.”

“But you invaded Nubia,” Osiris drilled Djoser, “without an attack being launched against you from within the borders of her kingdom.”

“I have stated, My Lord,” Djoser replied, “that the defense of our own borders was guided by the idea of assaulting those who came against us from outside them.”

“A theory only espoused by the powerful harboring aggression,” opined Osiris.

“My first duty was to prevent any probable harm to my country.”

“You built a temple to the God, endowing it with lands used by those who had nothing,” Osiris accused him.

“But temples have rights above all others,” answered Djoser.

“That explanation does not hold without the proper consideration of the prevailing conditions.”

The king lapsed into silence, as Osiris resumed his prosecution.

“You did not provide the miners with enough care and sustenance,” he berated him. “Many of them perished.”

“Great works are not made without victims and sacrifice,” Djoser shot back.

Osiris then turned to Vizier Imhotep. “What was your opinion of the king’s policies?”

“In my view,” said Imhotep, “trade relations would do more than invasions to protect our borders. I thought as well that the temple’s expenses should have been drawn from Egypt, and should benefit the unfortunate people of Nubia. Moreover, I did not want to send missions to the Eastern Desert until we had given them adequate provisions and medical attention. Yet my lord was eager to bolster the security and prosperity of Egypt and her people.”

“Happy is he can who defend himself truthfully without shirking the defense of another,” Osiris declared. “The gods did not fall short in your education — for they taught you not only the principles of farming and fighting, but of proper conduct, as well.”

Isis asked to say a word.

“Djoser is a great king,” she insisted, “despite his faults, and Imhotep is a beloved son who has ennobled his nation.”

Osiris addressed them, “O King, I will be satisfied that I have rebuked you. Take your seats — you and your vizier — among the Immortals.”

Djoser sat down on the right hand of Menes, and Imhotep to the right of Djoser.

“KING KHUFU!” Horus exclaimed.

The king came in, powerfully built and rather tall, bareheaded and barefoot though wound in his shroud, until he stood obediently before the throne.

Then Thoth began to read aloud, “King Khufu: chief monarch of the Fourth Dynasty; he of the Great Pyramid. He organized the state’s administration with a rigor not seen either before or since. In his time, the land was abundant with goods and the markets were full, while agriculture, industry, and the arts reached their highest degree of refinement. Meanwhile, the pious awe of Pharaoh burst outward on the horizons like the sun, cowing the troublesome desert tribes, so that peace prevailed in every district and in every soul.”

Asked to speak by Osiris, Khufu recounted, “From infancy I was enchanted by order and precision. All activities must have their rules and time-honored methods. In this, there is no difference between police work and sculpture, or architecture and marital relations. My personality reached into each village as an example to civil servants, the guardians of public order, and to those in the temples. Egypt became an assembly of heavenly traditions and precise administrative systems. This is what aided me in erecting the most monumental building known to man. Many thousands harmoniously took part in building it for over twenty years, a period unmarred by neglect and unrest. Not one of the laborers went without due care or protection, nor was there ever wanting a watchful, wakeful eye. And so my people boldly embarked upon a unique experiment with exemplary success, demonstrating beyond doubt their transcendent ability in the service of the God, and in gaining His satisfaction and His blessings.”

“Did you exploit your nation in building your tomb?” Osiris questioned him caustically.

“If I had merely wanted a tomb for myself, then I would have had it dug out in the mountains, far beyond the sight of any covetous eye,” said Khufu. “Instead, I built a symbol of divine immortality caching within it all the secrets hidden from the mind of man. The people were so keen to build it that they created a complete city — happy and holy in itself — where they labored to the utmost for the sake of the God alone. This was the work of free men — not of slaves!”

Osiris turned to his right toward that happy few who had attained eternal life in the Other World. “Let whoever wishes, speak!”

“A majestic accomplishment,” lauded Menes, “that reminds me of the building of mighty Memphis, which age did not permit me to finish.”

“It would have been more propitious,” Djoser chided, “to direct the power at your disposal toward raids to secure the nation’s borders.”

“The goods of neighboring countries came to me without combat,” objected Khufu. “My concern for the lives of my subjects was no less than my zeal for glory and immortality.”

“Yet you took an innocent life when a man prophesied to you that a child other than your own would inherit your throne,” Osiris reminded him.

“The king is obliged to protect his throne in order to defend the unity of his country,” said Khufu. “And in doing so, he is bound to be right sometimes — and wrong at others.”

“Were you not, in this case, defying the will of the God?”

“We do what we think duty demands, and the God does what He wills.”

“Word spread that your eldest daughter fell into debauchery,” Osiris told Khufu.

In a wounded tone, Khufu replied, “Sometimes the honor of even the noblest is injured without their knowledge.”

“But it was said that you blessed her lewdness in order to wrench yourself from a painful predicament.”

“That is pure calumny!” Khufu fumed. “Deceit has no place in this hallowed hall!”

Granted permission to speak, Isis said, “This enlightened king is like a sun in the sky of sovereign thrones. And how many vanished empires have left behind them such a towering pyramid as his? All the while, his greatness is a source of envy for the weak and incapable, both abroad, and among his own people.”

At this, Osiris commanded Khufu, “Take your seat, O King, among the Immortals.”

HORUS PROCLAIMED, “The Sage Ptahhotep!”

A short, reed-thin man entered, whose bare head and feet detracted not at all from his subtle dignity. He tread cautiously forward until he stood politely before the court.

Thoth, Recorder for the Gods, began to recite, “The Sage Ptahhotep. He lived one hundred and ten years, and served as vizier to King Izezi, one of the rulers of the Fifth Dynasty. He is the author of highly valued admonitions that achieved great acclaim.”