Free Before the Throne by Naguib Mahfouz

the people to fight!”
    “Tragically, the people had lost their spirit,” Nekau II admitted mournfully.
    “You too had lost your spirit,” the Sage Ptahhotep berated him, “for you put your faith in foreign hirelings!”
    “He never flagged in the struggle,” said Isis, “either on the field of battle, or on our fertile soil.”
    “Take your seat among the Immortals,” Osiris told him.

36
    H ORUS HERALDED , “King Psamtek the Second!”
    A short, plump man entered the chamber, waddling in his winding sheet until he stood before the throne.
    Thoth, Recorder of the Divine Court, then recited, “He strengthened order at home, and to that end, made his daughter, Enekhnes-Neferibre, High Priestess of Amun, in place of her paternal aunt, Nitocris. And he deepened his relations with Greece.”
    Osiris asked him to speak.
    “I have nothing to add,” said Psamtek II, “save that my reign was one of peace and clemency.”
    “You forgot,” Thutmose III reproached him, “that Egypt was once an empire!”
    “What’s the use of dwelling upon youth that has passed?” answered Psamtek II.
    “And you forgot that Babylon lay in wait at the frontier?” King Ahmose I demanded.
    “And what did you do to instill the love of combat among the populace?” asked King Ahmose I.
    When he did not reply, Isis inserted, “His era was a time of wealth and tranquility!”
    “Get thee to Purgatory,” bade him Osiris.

37
    H ORUS CALLED OUT , “King Apries!”
    A stocky man stalked in, wrapped in his shroud, and stopped before the throne.
    Thoth the Divine Recorder read aloud, “He incited Israel against Babylon, taking part in the fighting by invading Phoenicia with his navy—but was met with a total rout. Prince Ahmose II broke his pledge of obedience to him, and in the struggle that followed King Apries was killed.”
    Asked by Osiris to speak, Apries explained, “Babylonia was my greatest worry. The centerpiece of my plan was to goad Israel to attack Babylon. My part was to penetrate Phoenicia with my fleet in order to outflank the enemy—but the gambit failed, and I was utterly defeated instead.”
    “The plan could not be faulted,” Thutmose III said, “but to succeed it needed able hands.”
    “I beg you to show him mercy,” pleaded Isis.
    “Off with thee to Purgatory,” Osiris told Apries.

38
    H ORUS HERALDED , “King Ahmose the Second!”
    A tall, gaunt man stepped into the room. He paced to his place facing Osiris on his throne.
    Thoth, Scribe of the Gods, then recited, “He bolstered the domestic order of the country. He relied excessively on an alliance with the Greeks, and overly indulged in dinners with wild drinking. During his reign, Persia emerged as a great power. To restrain her, Ahmose II sought to align Egypt with Babylonia and Greece, but Babylonia was destroyed.”
    When Osiris invited him to speak, Ahmose II explained, “I considered King Apries responsible for his defeat before Babylon and that he was too weak to face the complex situation that confronted him. Thus I broke my pact with him and assumed the throne in his place. Then I fashioned an alliance to block the Persians, but the Persians won. Thereafter I turned to internal reform.”
    “What did you do in domestic affairs?” Queen Hatshepsut queried.
    “The country was notably affluent under me. And I enhanced civil law—it is enough to cite the rule requiring the rich to declare the sources of their wealth to the mayor of their city.”
    “How did you prepare the common folk to deal with the nouveaux riches?” asked Thutmose III.
    “My people were only concerned with farming and their own private lives,” said Ahmose II.
    “You served as their example, in your love of riotous feasting with wine,” jibed Ramesses II. “I have nothing against such banquets—if the one who gives them is great!”
    “His excellent works are not inconsiderable,” Isis interjected. “His plan was a wise one, though it failed.”
    Osiris