Child of the Moon
No one seems to understand my love of the night. They say that a princess should not be outside of the palace once the great sun goes down--that Ra would not appreciate that. They also say that it is dangerous--that Set might see me alone and, being the god of chaos, he would take advantage of my absence in the palace and destroy me. But, Ahmose means child of the moon so it would only make sense that I love the night.
At night, I like to wander around the desert, since it is not so hot. Oh trust me, it's still hot; but not as bad as during the daytime. Sometimes, I like to just wander; but some nights, like tonight, I go to an oasis near the palace. I love to look in the water in the moonlight. As I gaze into the cool, clear water, all I can see is myself with my long dark hair, the color of Nubian skin. My eyes are that dark too, but my skin is not. My skin is tan like the rest of our people, but has a certain glow to it. Looking at my features make me realize something important...
My half-brother, Ahmose I who is only ten, will become Pharaoh tomorrow, because his full-brother, Kahmose, has passed on after a reign of only three years. He will be embalmed soon, and, then, he can take the journey on Ra's Sun Boat to the underworld. In his sarcophagus, we will place a gold and silver dagger, a scarab, amulets, a pectoral bearing Ahmose's name (since he will be Kahmose's successor), and a bronze mirror. His heart will remain in his body, but his liver, lungs, intestines, and stomach will be placed in canopic jars.
A sculpture of the gods' heads will serve as the lid for the jars. Duamutef, the jackal-headed god representing the East, will be on the jar containing the stomach and will be protected by the goddess Neith. Qebesunuef, the falcon-headed god representing the West, will be on the jar containing the intestines and will be protected by the goddess Selket. Hapi, the baboon-headed god representing the North, will be on the jar containing the lungs and will be protected by the goddess Nephthys. Imseti, the human-headed god representing the South, will be on the jar containing the liver and will be protected by the goddess Isis. The reason his heart will stay in his body is because he will need it in the Afterlife.
I would get into the embalming process, but it is kind of disgusting, so I'll just state the basics. They remove his brain (not going to describe how, but it's gross), and the aforementioned organs. They then pour salt around him and let him sit for about 3 days to drain all the fluids out of his body. They put perfume on him and wax. They put the wax on him so the cloth strips used to mummify him will stick. They then put on the headdress and jewelry. We add the items we believe will bring him luck in the Afterlife, and close the sarcophagus. He will be buried in a pyramid, though I am not exactly sure which one. The pyramid will have many traps and tunnels, to stop tomb robbers. If tomb robbers do succeed to steal anything, we will never know. After he is buried, we will not disturb his final resting place.
* * *
People are calling my brother's reign the "New Kingdom." He has expelled the Hyksos and developed a permanent army using horse-drawn chariots and other techniques that were introduced by the Hyksos. I will be Ahmose I's sister-wife. I am also planning to fight alongside our military. I hope that I will be regarded as a great queen of Egypt.
