the hills. What their numbers are I cannot say, for these scouts took to their heels in a fright and never stayed to count them. I hope there will be enough to put an end to all of you so that I am spared the sight of your miserable faces and can go back to Egypt to raise an army of real men who love glory and the spoils of war.”
He glared savagely at the troops, and the glare struck home: not one among them dared move an eyelash.
“I shall lead you into battle, and you are to know-every one of you ¦-that I go in the forefront and shall not stay to see which if any of you follow. For I am the son of Horus; the falcon flies before me; and I mean to vanquish the Khabiri if I have to do it alone. Nevertheless, I tell you now that this evening my whip will drip blood, for with my own hands I will flog any who do not follow me. And I tell you that my whip bites deeper than the spears of Khabiri, which are of poor copper and brittle. There is nothing terrible about the Khabiri save their voice, which is indeed appalling. If any of you quail at the sound of shrieks, stop your ears with clay. Do not go into battle whining like old women-at least feign manhood: you wear loincloths, not skirts. If you defeat the Khabiri, you may share out their cattle among you and their other possessions, for they have collected much booty in the cities they have sacked. You may also divide their women among you; I think you will enjoy a tumble with them tonight, for the Khabiri women are comely and fiery, and they love bold warriors.”
Horemheb paused and surveyed his men, who with one accord raised a great shout, struck their shields with their spears, and brandished their bows. He smiled and with a flick of his whip went on:
“I see that you burn for your thrashing, but first we are to consecrate a temple to Pharaoh’s new god At on. He is by nature an unwarlike god, and I do not think you will take much delight in him. Therefore, the main force may set out upon their march while the reserves stay behind to consecrate the temple and assure themselves of Pharaoh’s favor toward us.”
Once more the troops acclaimed him, then began to stream from the city in disorder, each company following its own standard, borne upon a pole. These emblems were lions’ tails and hawks and crocodile heads, which went before them into battle. The light chariots drove on ahead to clear the road. But those officers who held the highest command remained behind with the reserves and followed Horemheb to the temple, which stood on a rise at the outskirts of the city. The temple was small and built of timber. It had been hastily knocked together and daubed with mud. It was unlike other temples, being open in the middle, where the altar stood. No god was to be seen so that the puzzled soldiers looked about to find him.
Horemheb told them, “The god is round and is like the sun’s disk, so look into the sky if your eyes can endure the brightness. He holds out his hands over you in benediction, though my mind misgives me that today after your march his fingers upon your backs will feel like red-hot needles.”
The soldiers murmured that Pharaoh’s god was too distant. They desired one before whom they might prostrate themselves and whom they might touch with their hands if they dared. But they fell silent as the priest stepped forward, a slim youth with unshaven head, who bore a white cloth over his shoulder. His eyes were clear and eager, and upon the altar he offered up spring flowers and oil and wine, which made the soldiers laugh aloud. He also sang a hymn to Aton that was said to have been composed by Pharaoh. It was very long and monotonous, and the men listened to it with open mouths and very little comprehension.
“Most beautiful art thou upon the horizon,
Living Aton, source of all things living!
When thou arisest in the eastern sky
All lands are filled with thy glory.
Fair art thou, great art thou, radiant above the world.
Thy beams embrace all lands and them hast thou created,
And they are bound together with the rays of thy love.
Far art thou, yet thy rays touch the ground;
Exalted art thou; yet the soles of thy feet move upon the dust.”
The priest sang of darkness, of lions that slink from their lairs by night, and of serpents, and many of those who listened were afraid. He sang of the day’s brightness and declared that when the birds spread their wings in the morning it was in adoration of Aton. He declared also that this new god quickened the babe in the womb and gave fertility to the seed of man. Listening to him, one might fancy that there was not one tiny thing in the world with which Aton did not concern himself, nor could even a chick crack its shell and cheep without Aton’s help. The priest ended:
“Thou alone dwellest in my heart
And no man knoweth thee but the King thy son.
Thou sheerest thy thought with him,
Thou anointest him with thy power.
The world lieth between thy hands as thou didst create it;
By thy light do men live
And if thou veil from them thy countenance they perish.
Thou art life and men live through thee.
All eyes are turned toward thy glory
Until the hour of thy setting,
All labor ceaseth
When thou declinest in the West.
Since thy creation of the world
Thou has prepared it for the coming of thy son: For him who was born of thee, The King who liveth by the truth, Lord of both Kingdoms, the Son of Ra, Who liveth by the truth.
For the Lord of the Crowns didst thou create the world And for his great consort, his beloved, Queen of the Two Kingdoms, Nefertiti,
Who shall live and bloom from everlasting to everlasting!”
The soldiers listened and wiggled their toes in the sand. When at last the song came to an end, they shouted in relief and to the honor of Pharaoh, for all that they grasped of the hymn was the intention to praise Pharaoh and hail him as the son of the god, which was right and fitting: so it had ever been and ever would be. Horemheb gave the priest leave to go, and the young man, delighted by the acclamation of the troops, went away to write an account of the event to Pharaoh.
4
The men marched away, followed by ox sleds and pack asses. Horemheb dashed ahead in his chariot, while the senior officers proceeded in their chairs, complaining of the heat. I was content to sit on the back of a donkey like my friend the quartermaster, and I took with me my medical chest of which I expected to make good use.
The column marched until evening with only a brief rest during which the men were allowed to eat and drink. An ever increasing number grew footsore and dropped out by the roadside, unable to rise despite the kicks and whippings of the sergeants. The men swore and sang by turns. With the lengthening of the shadows came the whine of arrows from the rocks bordering the road and now and then a cry from the ranks, where a man clutched his shoulder, in which an arrow was sticking, or fell headlong upon the road. Horemheb did not stay to pick off the snipers but pressed onward until the troops were moving at a jog trot. The light chariots cleared the way ahead, and soon we saw lying along the roadside the bodies of Khabiri in ragged cloaks, their mouths and eyes crawling with flies. Some of our men fell out to turn these bodies over in search of plunder, but there was nothing left to take.
The quartermaster sweated on his donkey and bade me take his last greeting to his wife and children, for he felt that this was to be his last day. He told me where in Thebes his wife was to be found and begged me to see to it that no one looted his corpse-provided we were not all dead by evening, he added, with a gloomy shake of the head.
At last there opened out before us the wide plain on which the Khabiri were encamped. Horemheb gave order for the sounding of horns and disposed his troops for attack, spearmen in the center and bowmen on either flank. The chariots, save for a few of the heavier ones, he dispatched to play a certain part elsewhere, and they raced off
