I trembled to the depths of my being when I beheld these pillars, because for the first time I was seeing the fourth Amenhotep as he may have seen himself. I had met him once when he was a frail, puny youth, racked by the holy sickness. Surveying him with the eye of a physician-albeit a callow one-I had taken his words for the ravings of delirium. Now I saw him as the sculptor had seen him, with mingled love and hatred-a sculptor unrivaled in Egypt for courage.
For if any forerunner of his had dared to create such a likeness of Pharaoh, he would have been mutilated and hung head downward from the wall for treason.
There were but few people in this temple. Some of them, to judge by the royal linen, heavy collars, and jewels they wore, were nobles and members of the royal household. The common folk listened to the chanting of the priests with dull, stupid faces, for the words were new and differed widely from the ancient invocations that had been handed down for two thousand years-ever since the building of the pyramids. The ears of the faithful were accustomed to these old prayers since childhood. The people could understand them with their hearts though they might not often reflect upon their meaning.
Yet when the hymn was over, an old man, who from his dress seemed to be a countryman, stepped reverently forward to speak with the priests and to buy an appropriate talisman, or protecting eye, or strip of paper inscribed with some magic text if these were to be had at a moderate price. The priests told him that such objects were not sold in their temple since Aton required neither magic, gifts, nor sacrifices but came freely to everyone who believed in him. The old man, outraged, went his way muttering of lies and foolery, and I saw him enter the old familiar gateway of Ammon.
An elderly fisherwoman next approached the priests, and looking at them with benevolent respect, she asked, “Does no one offer rams or oxen to Aton, so that you poor, skinny lads can get a little meat now and then? If your god is as strong and powerful as he is said to be-stronger even than Ammon though this I cannot quite believe-his priests should be fat and gleam with good living. I am but a simple woman and know no better, but from my heart I could wish you much meat and fat.”
The priests laughed and whispered among themselves like mischievous boys. The eldest of them regained his gravity and said to the woman, “Aton desires no blood sacrifices, and it is not fitting that in his temple you should speak of Ammon, for Ammon is a false god whose throne is soon to fall and whose temple will crumble in ruins.”
The woman stepped back hastily, spitting on the ground and making the holy sign of Ammon, and she cried, “It was you who said that and not I. May the curse fall on you.”
She hurried away, and with her went others, who glanced over their shoulders at the priests in dismay. But these laughed loudly and called after the people with one voice, “Go then, ye of little faith-but
Ammon is a false god! Ammon is an idol, and his dominion shall fall like grass beneath the sickle.”
Then one of those who retreated took a stone and threw it, and it struck one of the priests in the face so that blood flowed. He covered his face with his hands, lamenting bitterly, while the other priests began to call for the guards. But the aggressor had already taken to his heels and mingled with the throng before the pylons of Ammon’s temple.
All this gave me much to think about. Going up to the priests, I said to them, “I am indeed an Egyptian, but I have long dwelt in Syria and do not know this new god whom you call Aton. Will you not in charity enlighten my ignorance and explain to me who he is, what he requires, and how he is to be worshiped?”
They hesitated and studied my face, suspecting mockery, but at length they answered, “Aton is the one god. He has created the land and the river, mankind and the beasts, and all that is upon earth. He is eternal and was worshiped as Ra in his earlier manifestations, but in our own time he has revealed himself as Aton to his son Pharaoh, who lives by truth. He is the only god, and all others are idols. He spurns no one who turns to him. Rich and poor are equal in his sight, and every morning we greet him in the disk of the sun. He blesses the earth with his rays; he shines upon good and evil alike and offers to everyone the cross of life. If you receive it, you are his servant, for his being is love. He is deathless and eternal and everywhere present; nothing can come to pass without his will. By the power of Aton Pharaoh can look into the hearts of all men and see even their most secret thoughts.”
But I protested, “Then he is not human, for it lies in the power of no man to see into the heart of another.”
They conferred with one another, and replied, “Though Pharaoh himself may desire to be no more than human, yet we do not doubt that in essence he is divine, and this is shown by his visions during which he can live many lives in a short space of time. But this can be known only by those whom he loves, for which reason the artist has portrayed him on these pillars as both man and woman since Aton is the living force that quickens the seed of man and brings forth the child from the womb.”
Then I raised my hands in mock despair, and clutching my head exclaimed, “I am but a simple man, as simple as that woman just now, and I cannot altogether grasp this wisdom of yours. Moreover it appears obscure even to yourselves since you must take counsel with one another before you can reply to me.”
They rejoined eagerly, “Aton is perfect even as the disk of the sun is perfect, and all that is and lives and breathes in him is perfect. Human thought is imperfect and like a mist, and therefore we cannot perfectly enlighten you since we ourselves do not know all but must learn his will day by day. To Pharaoh alone is his will wholly revealed-to Pharaoh his son, who lives by truth.”
The words struck home, for they showed me that these priests were steadfast in their hearts even though they dressed in fine linen and oiled their hair and delighted in the admiration of women and made fun of the simple. The element in me that had come to maturity, independently of my will or learning, responded to these words. For the first time I reflected that human thought might indeed be imperfect and that beyond it there might exist such things as the eye could not see, nor the ear hear, nor the hand grasp. Could it be that Pharaoh and his priests had found this ultimate truth and named it Aton?
5
It was dusk when I returned to my house. Above my door hung a simple signboard, and in the courtyard squatted a few grimy folk patiently awaiting me. Kaptah, looking discontented, was sitting in the porch fanning the flies away from his face and legs with a palm leaf. The flies had come with the patients, but to console him he had a newly broached jar of ale.
I bade him first send in to me a mother who held an emaciated baby in her arms. The remedy for her was a few copper pieces with which to buy herself proper food so that she might suckle her child. Next I tended a slave who had crushed some fingers in a mill, setting the bones and joints in place and administering a soothing draught that he might forget his pain. Then came an old scribe with a growth as big as a child’s head upon his neck, so that he was pop eyed and held his head awry and found difficulty in breathing. I gave him an extract of seaweed that I had learned of in Smyrna, although I did not think it could do much for him now. He brought out two copper pieces from a clean rag and offered them to me with pleading eyes, ashamed of his poverty. I did not take them, telling him that I should call upon his services when next I needed any writing done. He departed rejoicing because he had saved his money.