7. THE FLOTILLA FROM THEBES 
		
		All of Egypt as well as all of the world 
		looked on as the Royal Family 
		went down from Thebes: Ikhanaton 
		the Pharaoh, with Nefertiti, 
		his beautiful Queen, and their daughters 
		-- by this time, they numbered three. 
		The Queen's sister Nezemmut 
		came along with the Royal Family. 
		And all of their servants came with them, 
		together with their favored one, Ai, 
		and the royal nurse later to make a Pharaoh 
		of her husband to be -- her name was Ti. 
		And they made an immense flotilla 
		for behind them went all the harem; 
		and the nobles, full of enthusiasm 
		for the new religion, followed them. 
		They were all piled upon light boats, 
		impatient to see the promised capital. 
		The stream of the Nile flowed quietly, 
		carrying away the flotilla royale. 
		




		There was no need for rowers, 
		as they followed the river downstream 
		-- the pylons and palaces of Thebes 
		shimmered behind them as if in a dream. 
		In a short time, that great city 
		sank below the distant horizon, 
		and that city seemed to have fallen 
		from its recently proud position 
		as capital of the world forever. 
		The new city toward which they'd set 
		lay near what we now know as the city 
		Tell el-Amarna -- it lies yet 
		in a burning and desolate region 
		-- a vast amphitheater of sand 
		broken by low hills and a few streams, 
		in the midst of which the Nile's strand 
		provides always and ever, even today, 
		a narrow strip of cultivated ground 
		along its way from village to village 
		-- the Nile, from which life abounds. 
		






		A heap of crumbling, unconnected walls, 
		scattered bricks, fragments of limestone 
		and granite, and partially excavated 
		trenches still lie all alone 
		near one of the largest villages 
		and remind us that here once did stand 
		the glorious city that for fourteen years 
		had been the capital of Ikhanaton's land.
		As recently as the year 1800, 
		the city was still well enough preserved 
		that it was even possible yet 
		to make out the street lines and curbs 
		and the lay-out of the houses 
		and the plan by which the palace sat. 
		But peasants, marauders, and armies, 
		and explorers and 'scientists' took care of that, 
		ransacking the place so thoroughly 
		that it is hard to tell anything was there 
		-- they used even the roughest material 
		after the antiquity dealers took their share. 
		





		Joyful sounds echoed across the Nile 
		as Ikhanaton's crew made its way 
		aboard the laden and decorated barges 
		with hopes of the new dawning day. 
		And they sang out praises to Pharaoh 
		and to the great one god Aton, 
		whose sun disk was inscribed on the barges, 
		as the flotilla continued on, 
		passed the canal to Kosseir 
		which lay on the shore of the Red Sea, 
		and passed Qina and Abydos, 
		as the Nile streamed toward the Great Green Sea. 
		It carried them north with its waters 
		-- slowly the great city emerged 
		looming on the approaching horizon, 
		ever closer as the river surged, 
		and as though heralding their arrival, 
		shining in the north African sun 
		shone the great new city of Aton 
		-- the city of god of Ikhanaton. 
		





	8. THE HYMN TO ATON 
		
		"Thou risest beautifully on the horizon 
		of heaven, O great god Aton, 
		initiator of life! When thou dost 
		form thy circle on the horizon, 
		thou fillest the earth with thy beauties. 
		Thou are delightful and sublime, 
		shining high above the earth. 
		Thy rays envelop for all time 
		the lands and all thou hast created. 
		Since thou art Re, Creator, thou win 
		what they give and thou bindest it 
		with the bonds of thy love again. 
		Thou art far, but thy rays are on earth. 
		The earth is in darkness when thou rests, 
		as if dead while away from thee, 
		thou hast slipped behind the horizon west. 
		Men sleep in their rooms, their heads wrapped 
		and not an eye sees another man. 
		All their goods, put beneath them, 
		could be stolen without their feeling it. And 
		



		then every lion comes out of his cave; 
		every snake bites. It is dark as in an oven. 
		The earth is silent; for he who created it all 
		is at rest in his horizon. 
		But the dawn comes, thou risest, 
		thou shinest as Aton of the Day; 
		when thou sendest forth thy shafts, 
		the darkness is banished away. 
		The Two Lands of Egypt make merry. 
		Men awake, and leap to their feet: 
		it is thou who makest them rise up. 
		They wash their limbs and eat, 
		and they take up their clothing. 
		Their hands worship thy rising; 
		the Whole Land sets to work 
		in the glory that thy rays bring. 
		All the beasts are content at pasture. 
		The trees and plants grow. Birds fly 
		in the brake, with wings uplifted 
		in the worship of thy Kai. 
		







		All the wild beasts leap; all things 
		that flutter and fly live again 
		in the rays thou place upon the earth 
		when thou risest for them. 
		The boats so up and down the river; 
		when thou risest, all roads open for thee. 
		The fish in the river leap toward thee; 
		thy rays go down into the depths of the sea. 
		Thou risest up children in women, 
		and createst the seed in men; 
		thou feedest the child in its mother's belly, 
		soothe and feed him, and thou send 
		the breath of life into all creatures 
		and man, and satisfy his needs. 
		Thou bringest the chick from his shell 
		and give thy strength to every seed. 
		How numerous are thy works, all that 
		thou has created, O thou, unequaled one! 
		By they heart thou hast created the earth, 
		all that exists, by thy will is done, 
		






		on earth, in all foreign countries. 
		Thou settest each man in his place, 
		createst all needs, words, and property, 
		his forms and his variations of face. 
		Thou makest the Nile in the Lower World, 
		and bringest it where thou wilt to feed men. 
		Thou art loved of all, the Lord of this land, 
		thy Disk of Day hast cared for them. 
		Thou hast set all in place of the forms of earth. 
		How excellent are they great designs. 
		When thou risest, all grows for thee. 
		For every area, thy rays, milk finds. 
		Thou makest the seasons of the year. 
		Thou hast created the distant sky. 
		Thou comest in thy form of living Aton, 
		rising radiant, goest away, by and by, 
		thou returnest. Thou drawest all forms. 
		Every eye beholds thee above. Thy son 
		alone understands thee; thou art in my heart 
		. . . issued from thy flesh, Ikhanaton." 
		



9. THE CITY OF GOD 
		
		Pharaoh's favorite birds, the doves, saw 
		fluttering over figs and sycamore 
		and acacia which stood about leaping waters 
		in the inner courts of the palaces, before 
		them on the north, the chief temple, 
		faced fine of pink and white limestone. 
		The sacred precinct flanked by storehouses 
		was surrounded by a great wall of stone 
		and took up a great area of which 
		the temple proper was but a small part. 
		Behind was a wide enclosure, 
		and then came the royal Palace in art 
		of the East with its bricks all covered 
		with blue faience. Its entrance 
		was white, surmounted by silver masts, 
		about which red streamers danced 
		in the breeze expressing hospitality. 
		The other dwellings of the great 
		were gathered in the south of town. 
		Three wide paved streets ran straight 
		





		and parallel to the Nile River, 
		towards the factories -- the world's first -- 
		glass works and huge decorative mason's yards, 
		where worked those artisans versed 
		in the crafts that made Egypt excel. 
		Dotted all over about the town 
		were numbers of temples dedicated 
	 	to Aton -- all of them set down 
		in wide open spaces for lightness. 
		The royal pleasure park was indeed 
		a beautiful place, consisting of 
		two enclosures, where the seed 
		of Pharaoh, his three daughters, 
		and the Queen went every day 
		with Ikhanaton. The first enclosure 
		was a cool paradise, where they 
		lounged amidst an abundance of 
		sweet-smelling and fruit-bearing trees 
		growing on a rich, black soil 
		brought from Mesopotamia to be 
		





		strewn here in this new city. 
		It all lay before a majestic gallery 
		with thirty-six brightly colored columns, 
		behind which they could see 
		a delightful little artificial lake 
		rejoicing in reflecting water lilies 
		and lotus floating on it. 
		About its irregular shores delicately 
		were placed little rustic huts, 
		the shelters of ducks and sheep, 
		mirrored in the clear calm water 
		in peaceful splendored sleep. 
		In the second enclosure, a tiny 
		charming pavilion dowsed with a great sheet 
		of water which surrounded it 
		was of exquisite proportions that repeat- 	
		ed themselves as it rose up, 
		and its slender columns of faded red 
		expanded into lotus at the top. 
		Their people must have fed 
		






		delightfully on the spectacle 
		of the amorous passion of Pharaoh 
		and Nefertiti and their family. 
		Each evening they all would go 
		to this small perfumed enclosure 
		and watch the city in the setting sun 
		clad in its opulent majesty, 
		drinking wind of Ikhanaton's 
		own growth. And on the water, 
		trembling to caresses of the cool breeze, 
		the King's barge, towed by servants, 
		would bear them slowly with ease, 
		his beloved, beautiful, and wise wife 
		reclining there against his heart, 
		while the wild duck, swan, and crane 
		followed in their wake. This art 
		reflected the wisdom of the city 
		of the god Aton, which means 'the One 
		indivisible;' and Ikhanaton means 
		'It is well with Aton.' 
		





	10. THE CITY BUILDER 
		
		It is indeed well with Aton, 
		the one God, indivisible and true 
		-- there is order in the universe 
		and Ikhanaton was one who knew 
		-- there is lawful composition 
		of the universe, and he sought 
		an ordering of society in which 
		that divine potential of man is brought 
		to fruition such that through each 
		individual reason can be known 
		the lawful composition of the universe. 
		Upon this, civilization has grown. 
		Through the cognitive powers of the mind, 
		we strive for the perfectibility of man 
		-- not that man is perfect, at all, 
		or for that matter, that he can 
		ever reach a state of perfection, 
		for it is hardly so static a state, 
		but that he can strive for perfection 
		through the world that he creates, 
		





		ordering thus the universe 
		through man-ordered freedom of will. 
		Man was God on earth to John, 
		before him and since him still. 
		Not that we can be perfect, 
		but that we can strive to create 
		a better world through reason 
		-- man is the master of his fate. 
		We are the captain of our ship, 
		but we only matter in our field, 
		for what good is the captain at sea 
		without his ship, or unless it is filled? 
		Through the logos -- logic, reason -- 
		we strive to increase the power 
		of our mastery over the universe 
		-- there are no limits that our 
		mind is bound to adhere to, 
		and science and indeed the state 
		are the vehicles by which we strive 
		to master and to create. 
		








		And Ikhanaton knew this well; 
		the city of God he built 
		was patterned on the golden section, 
		and what he did was spilt 
		over all the world of his time, 
		and inspired the entire earth 
		-- for man was God upon it; 
		it was his right by birth. 
		And so Ikhanaton built his city 
		and he did so out of wilderness 
		away from the evil lurking 
		among those who sought to dispossess 
		his rule, his throne, his actions. 
		The world's first factories were there 
		in the city that he created, 
		and there were other places where 
		he also built up other cities, 
		and he fostered trade to grow 
		among them and existing cities. 
		He sent out men to go 
		




		to all the corners of the earth 
		-- China, America, everywhere. 
		He developed national industries 
		to  promote trade, not just to scare 
		artisans from leaving Egypt, 
		which had been the policy. 
		He mandated education for all 
		and was to eliminate slavery. 
		He broadened the language of Egypt 
		and sought one universal tongue 
		as well as one God for his empire, 
		what in reality was to become 
		the first nation-state of man 
		where the government forces progress, 
		and he undertook great projects 
		-- a Suez Canal, irrigation -- and stressed 
		true art that is a reflection 
		of the true spirit of humanity 
		-- it can be seen in the art after him; 
		the world's first renaissance, truly! 
		


11. THE CULT OF ISIS 
		
		Much as the isles of the Great Green 
		are constantly lapped by the ravaging sea, 
		the foundations laid by this Pharaoh 
		were constantly lapped by feudality. 
		The feudal system, long and deeply rooted, 
		was all about, and back in Thebes, 
		the High Priest of Amen, in his temple alone, 
		did not share in what Pharaoh believed. 
		And there was indeed a common thread -- 
		or more a stream or rope -- that tied 
		the belief system of those priests 
		to the needs to which the feudal lords ascribed. 
		For them, man was but a beast, 
		needing control to function in society 
		-- a beast whose role was service 
		to the priests and their oligarchy. 
		Man could and should be manipulated 
		by that special class to their needs, 
		and their venom was in the land 
		and it sought to poison the seeds 
		




		of the budding renaissance of Pharaoh 
		-- they couldn't understand his thought. 
		And so they plotted endlessly 
		and against his ideas, they fought. 
		The Cult of Isis had developed 
		even more than a millennium before 
		as an instrument of that rule, 
		and the general intent of their lore 
		about Isis, Horus, and Osiris, 
		had always been impotent Man, 
		enforced by inculcating the myth 
		of Isis throughout the land. 
		The rites of the cult involved gestures 
		that accompanied ritual incantations, 
		and in these dances, the rhythm 
		of the music from the beating drums 
		and the repetitive movements and structure 
		of the simplistically structured sounds, 
		were helped by hallucinogenics 
		that were secret and were bound 
		





		for preparation by only the initiate 
		who would use all this to control 
		both the peasantry and nobility, 
		who were convinced in their souls, 
		of the illusion of satisfied desire 
		and visitation by the divine 
		that arose from the spell cast 
		by the drugs and music on their minds. 
		This was infantile sense certainty 
		-- the Dionysian world view; 
		and it reinforced the concept of man 
		as a beast unable to do 
		anything at all about the world 
		-- man could have no impact. 
		Simple man possessed not reason, 
		and, indeed, he even lacked 
		the basic powers of cognition; 
		superstition ruled the world. 
		Sorcery and magic were 
		the banners the cult unfurled. 
		







		The world was pronounced a mystery 
		-- it was beyond humans to understand; 
		one must rely on the priesthood 
		who knew the mystery system and 
		could use its mysterious forces, 
		the monstrous gods to so appease, 
		which were half human and half animal. 
		The anti-culture of all these 
		would be directed at the Renaissance 
		that the Pharaoh had inspired -- 
		for culture indeed means growth -- 
		all the while that they conspired 
		to murder Pharaoh and promote 
		policies that would confine 
		the people to non-creative roles 
		in slave-labor projects. The human mind 
		would thus be subverted away from 
		the lawful patterns of rational thought 
		-- it was in this manner that the priests 
		would seek to undo what Pharaoh had wrought. 
		




	12. A DAY IN THE LIFE OF YOUNG TUT 
		
		The Pharaoh of Egypt, Ikhanaton,  
		had no sons by his Great Queen, 
		who had given him six daughters, 
		but no direct male heir, it seems, 
		and thus it was succession fell 
		on his only son -- of a concubine 
		of his magnificent harem, but married 
		to a princess of the royal bloodline, 
		the third daughter of Nefertiti, 
		the princess Ankhsempaaten; 
		and greatly formed in the physical image 
		of his father Ikhanaton. 
		Thus appeared the young Tutankhaton, 
		wedded to the throne at seven years old, 
		and seated on it by the time he was twelve, 
		and but a brief reign was his to hold. 
		Like all such children, the young Tut 
		was brought up in the royal harem 
		in the white  palaces of Akhetaton 
		in the nursery. The education 
		




		of all was of concern to the Pharaoh, 
		but more especially so for the noble young, 
		and so there was a school by the harem, 
		to which all the noble children would come. 
		Here, they would learn gymnastics, 
		swimming, the use of arms, martial arts. 
		Close by, in the House of Life, 
		they learned administration. For his part, 
		each day the young Tut awoke with dawn 
		and rose from his ebony and ivory bed, 
		with his clean-shaven head, save for the lock 
		that fell over his left ear from the top of his head 
		-- the sign that he was of noble birth -- 
		he and the other children would wash and eat, 
		and then the tutors would gather them 
		-- they put on no clothes due to the stifling heat. 
		After drinking milk from alabaster pots, 
		they would all sit down on the ground 
		to receive the basic rudiments of schooling 
		-- as the Seated Scribes, they sat around. 
		




		Tutankhaton was initiated in the mysteries 
		of hieroglyphics, and covered sheets 
		of papyrus for hour upon hour 
		to prepare him for the duties he'd meet. 
		And he was schooled in the cuneiform 
		that was used in official records. 
		Then came the arithmetic lessons, 
		which the Rhind Papyrus accords. 
		He learned to do addition and subtraction 
		and the fundamentals of geometry, 
		proceeding from the circle to diameter to point, 
		and not vice versa as with Ptolemy. 
		He was taught to measure in royal cubits 
		and to weigh in the utau, as well 
		as computing value with the shat standard 
		though there was no real money to buy or sell 
		until Ikhanaton decreed there would be. 
		He was taught to measure the moons 
		and how the year was divided into three 
		seasons of four months each of a moon 
		




		-- those of water or Shait, and then 
		vegetation called Piruit, and Shemu 
		for the Harvest. When twelve months passed, 
		a year would begin that was new 
		-- it was marked by the rising of Sothis 
		which came during August's first days. 
		And after the time for these lessons, 
		there came the time for them to play. 
		Then it was the time for dinner 
		among the columns of the great banquet hall, 
		using long gold spikes to spear their food, 
		Tut and the six princesses delighted in it all. 
		Fan-bearing servants cooled them 
		while others sand soft verses to 
		the accompaniment of harps and lutes 
		and mandolins and double flutes 
		-- music that was meant for listening, 
		that developed and taught as it played, 
		not the repetitive rhythms of Isis. 
		The meal ended in the hot hours of the day. 
		


Continue