The Tarnished Scepter

By John Smalldridge

The thrilling third novel from John Smalldridge in the Tarnished Series.The Tarnished Scepter is a new story about Moses portraying an ordinary man who lived in an extraordinary time and who was used in an extraordinary way.
A mixture of characters, views, religion, trials and tribulations making the Tarnished Scepter a compelling read.

• Language: English
• Publisher: GA&P ePublishing
• Release date: Jul 3, 2014
• ISBN: 9781849893633

Book preview

EGYPT."

PART 1

The Prince Of Egypt

1580 – 1485

Chapter 1

The scepter began it’s existence in the third year of Ahmose I reign as the Pharaoh of Egypt. Ahmose had just defeated the Hyksos dynasty and was the first truly Egyptian ruler in over three hundred years. The Hyksos rulers had introduced armor and better weapons to the battlefield and more importantly, horse drawn chariots. They were also relentless, ruthless rulers. Ahmose used both their weaponry and ruling tactics.

He also ran the Ethiopians out of southern Egypt. They had swept in on the tails of the Hyksos invasion in the north and claimed all of southern Egypt for their own. They were not as well equipped as their northern rulers were but they were ruthless and ruled southern Egypt with an iron fist. They were hated even more than the Hyksos were because they were neighbors while the Hyksos were Asians. Now he captured many of the former rulers and made them slaves. He would rule over them as they had ruled over his people. What made his anger against them even greater was the fact that Thebes, his hometown, was in the south and fell under the rule of these black tyrants.

During his rule he made several important changes. He moved the capital from Memphis to Thebes, where he had been born and raised. He started a dynasty that lasted for over five hundred years. He emphasized the idea of conquest into the hearts and minds of the Egyptian people. The most important and longest lasting change that he made, however, was the reintroduction and strengthening of the worship of Ra, the sun god. Under this Pharaoh, all of Egypt worshiped one god, although there were many lesser gods.

In what would be the year 1577 B C, he called all of his sorcerers together for a big meeting. He had been having a recurring dream and wanted his sorcerers to interpret it for him. In this dream, he saw one man rising out of the Nile River. He was as bright as the sun standing in front of all the peoples of the world and all of these people bowed down to him. He was their ultimate leader. He wanted to know what the dream meant and who this man was that radiated like the sun. Secretly he had thought it might be he himself in the dream, and he certainly hoped it was. He wanted a mandate from the gods to attack and conquer all the people of the earth.

After three days of incantations, fasting and drug induced dreams his sorcerers came to a consensus. There was to come out of Egypt a ruler who would conquer all the nations to the north and east of Egypt. This ruler would be a foreigner who would rule with wisdom and be a very capable leader of men. He was to be a spiritual leader and would never sit on the thrown of Egypt directly. He would make a great impact on Egypt as well as all of the nations in the region. He would not appear for many years, but would have a great impact on Egypt for all time. His name would be Moses, which meant coming up out of the water, and he would be the Prince of Egypt.

Ahmose completely rejected the interpretation of his sorcerers, even though they had been hand picked by himself and were devout followers of Ra. He would never accept another foreigner to lead his people, even in a spiritual role again. He told his sorcerers to start over again only this time, he wanted a different interpretation to his dream.

They went back into session and this time fasted for nearly a week before coming once again before the pharaoh. Ableshish, the high priest of the Thebes temple to the sun god, Ra, made the announcement before Ahmose.

Oh great Ahmose, Pharaoh of all the Egyptians, hear what your wise men have learned. We cannot say anything but what we have learned and seen. The dream means the same as it did a week ago. There will be a great ruler named Moses, who will spiritually rule the world.

Ahmose was extremely angry and had Ableshish killed right on the spot. Then over the next two weeks, he had all of the two hundred and twenty seven remaining sorcerers of Egypt executed. Before the first week was over, all of Egypt had the message, no one disagreed with Ahmose and lived. He was the absolute ruler of Egypt. He didn’t need some foreigner to lead his people or tell him how he was to lead his people.

The last of his sorcerers hadn’t been dead an hour when the word came that his eldest son, also named Ahmose, had suddenly come down with some sort of illness. He had broken out with a fever and had gone into a coma soon afterwards. No matter what the physicians did, the boy did not respond. He immediately rushed to his son’s side. The boy didn’t respond to anything that he did.

After leaving his son’s side, he went directly to his own personal worship chamber. He lit the candles in front of the gold statue of Ra and began his incantations. In a fit of desperation because his prayers didn’t seem to do a thing, he began to demand the Ra listen to him and heal his son. After all, he was the pharaoh of all Egypt and he had been faithful to introduce and even make mandatory the worship of Ra. He had no sooner begun to demand that Ra do something than he had his answer.

He looked up from the altar in front of the idol to Ra to see the idol surrounded by smoke. Startled he began to back up but was stopped by a voice coming out of the smoke. The voice was so majestic and filled with the sound of authority that it stopped him in his tracks.

Ahmose, listen to me. Both you and your son are of use to me as will be his son after him. I will spare your son’s life so that my purpose will be met.

Thank you oh Ra, great God of all. What must I do to repay you.

I am not called Ra. To me he is nothing. As to what you must do, listen clearly. You must accept and even prepare the way for my servant who will some day come to lead my people. You are to make sure that the name Moses is not forgotten.

Ahmose opened his mouth to respond but knew that it was to late. The smoke was already gone. On the small altar, his personal image of his god, Ra was laying on its face in a prone position. It was as if the smoke and the voice had never been there. There was not even a lingering smell of the smoke in the room. The aura was even gone. Ahmose couldn’t even be sure that what he had heard and seen had really happened except for the prone idol. His mind went immediately to his son. He would rush back to him and see what condition he was in. If he were better, he would know that the vision had really happened. He turned and raced to his son’s room. The boy was not only better, but was sitting up asking for something to eat.

Ahmose knew that he had been in the presence of an all mighty God and that he dared not disobey anything that this God had asked of him. He vowed, however, that he would tell no one about the smoke or the voice. He also made sure that no one outside of his own family and the attending physicians ever heard about his son’s illness or strange recovery. He made the passing on of this knowledge punishable by death. He would submit to this strange voice from the smoke, but his people would always think that it was because of the dream and not for any other reason. He would also make sure that his people knew that this coming wise man was not to be the true ruler of Egypt. He did this just in case this Moses came during Ahmose’s reign. He also had to be sure that no one ever heard that there might be a God more powerful than Ra.

He then called for a craftsman and commissioned the making of two scepters, one of gold and the other of silver. Gold was the most valuable substance in the world and his would be the gold one. Gold was the color of the rays of the sun and was after all Ra’s color. Silver was a precious metal but not nearly as dear as was gold and this one would be for the one to come. The gold scepter was to be made in the image of Ra while the silver one in the image of Ptah, a lesser god.

The gold one was to be inscribed with the inscription, Ahmose, Pharaoh of all Egypt’ and the silver one with the inscription, Moses, prince of Egypt". His was to have an ivory staff fitted to it while the silver one was to be made of wood. His he would carry with him wherever he went and the silver one was to be placed in an obscure chapel in case this Moses ever came to claim it. He also issued a decree that whoever carried either scepter could not be harmed in any way. Anyone harming either would face the penalty of death.

There it remained for more than seventy-five years before it was finally claimed.

In the meantime Ahmose began a reign of terror and imprisonment. Those that were of use to him, he imprisoned; those that were not were put to death. This included the descendants of Abraham, who had been a prominent people in Egypt for nearly 400 years.

Chapter 2

It was fifty-two years before the sorcerers prophecy came true. During the intervening years the Hebrew people had gone from a people with prestige and wealth to a people in bondage. Both Ahmose I and his son Ahmose II had had an aversion to foreign people. The Hyksos rulers had given the Egyptian people a sour taste in their mouths when it came to outsiders. This was especially true of outsiders from the East, which was where the Hebrew people came from.

The Hebrew people had slowly over centuries proven to be a faithful people but they had also grown to be powerful and prolific. The Pharaohs from Ahmose to Thathmes III had each in turn eroded this power and prestige. Each had taken something from them, until what would be the year 1525 under the leadership of Thutmose I they found themselves slaves and despised by the rulers and people of Egypt alike. The problem seemed to be that the more they were persecuted the more they prospered. The harder they were worked, the stronger they became.

In a move of desperation, Thutmose I passed a decree that the midwives were to throw every male Hebrew baby into the river as soon as it was born. The people were afraid of the powerful Hebrews and the pharaoh was afraid that they might make an alignment with Egypt’s powerful enemies to the east and overthrow the pharaoh. He was also afraid that the strange worship of the Hebrews might catch on and ruin the temple worship of Ra. This would bring about a great loss in revenue.

This decree failed to bring the desired results. The midwives were more impressed and awed by the Hebrew people than they were afraid of the pharaoh. They secretly allowed the male babies to live and reported them as dead. There was a disproportionately large number of young male Hebrews for the amount that there should have been. His next move was to offer a bounty on any male Hebrew children. This was in the form of a reward to anyone reporting the birth of male babies to the Egyptian authorities. There was also a reward offered for the exposure of anyone who knew of a male Hebrew baby being born and not reporting it. These people were put to death right along with the child. This worked a bit better, but still did not have the desired affects.

As the number of male Hebrew children grew, he decided that it was time to act personally and harshly. He issued orders that his army was to search out and kill all male children two years of age and younger that they could fund in the Hebrew quarters. During this dark time for the Hebrew slaves, many died. Both the male children and those who failed to report the birth. This, of course, included many of the parents of these babies.

It was also during this time that the Prince of Egypt was born. Amram, a man from the tribe of Levi married Jochebed, also a Levite and she became pregnant almost immediately. When the child was born, they named her Miriam. It was nearly six years after the birth of Miriam that she became pregnant again. This time she brought into this world a healthy baby son, whom they named Isa. Jochebed wept when she discovered that it was a boy. She couldn’t stand the thought that someone would come and take the child that she had carried in her womb for nine months away and kill him. Amram was beside himself, but they both vowed to do everything that they could to keep this child from being discovered and taken away.

Their first thought was that if they could keep the baby hidden in the back part of the house, no one would discover him and he would be safe. All they had to do was to keep him hidden for two years and he would be safe. Of course, none of the neighbors would report him, but there were soldiers and the occasional police officer that patrolled the streets day and night.

Then one night when Isa was almost six months old a patrolling officer heard the baby cry and went to investigate. He banged on the door and demanded to be let in. Amram stalled as long as he could while Jochebed took Isa out a back window. While the officer was being kept at bay, Jochebed raced next door and traded Isa for a girl baby that had been born close to the same time as her son had. She was just coming back through the window when the officer forced his way into the house.

He immediately wanted to see the child when Jochebed came into the main room carrying the infant. He pulled the bedclothes back from the child and saw that it was a baby girl.

Something strange is going on around here and I’m going to get to the bottom of it all. You people aren’t foolin me none and I’ll get you all for it, see if I don’t. The fact that it had taken so long for them to come to the door hadn’t gone unnoticed by the man. Nor had the fact that the child was no longer crying. He would have to bring someone along to watch the back door the next time he was in the area.

After he left, both of the parents sat in stunned silence. They had been shook by the close call. They knew that they would have to do something. Isa was getting harder and harder to conceal. On top of that it was getting harder and harder to explain Jochebed’s absence from the fields where she carried the straw to the pits where her husband’s job was to mix the clay and straw for brick. She would have to go back to work soon and then what would they do with young Isa.

It was already decided that his sister would stay with him, but could she be trusted to keep him hidden? Not that she would ever do anything on purpose to call attention to him but she was only a child. He was after all a healthy boy and cried on occasion. Jochebed had taken him to the river with her a couple of times at night when it was unlikely that he would be discovered as a boy. The gentle rocking of the water kind of mesmerized him and he slept soundly all the while he was floating in his watertight cradle.

It was decided that they would weave a larger one for the infant and that he would be placed in the water at the edge of the river in the reeds where his sister could watch over him and the current wouldn’t carry the basket away. This particular part of the river didn’t have a problem with crocodiles and he would be relatively safe. It seemed to be the best idea that they could come up with. Jochebed went back to work with fear in every step of the day. As the days went by it seemed easier to leave him.

Things did go well for three weeks but on the first day of the fourth week things seemed to fall apart. Little did the family know that this was all a part of the plan for the people and their son was in fact a little prince. In fact their son was the little prince, the Prince of Egypt.

It was mid morning and Isa had been peaceful and quiet all morning. His sister was watching from the shore and wasn’t more than a few yards away when the woman and her escorts came to the river. They appeared too fast for her to react and all she could do was wait helplessly and hope that neither this woman nor any of her servants spotted Isa.

To make matters worse she recognized the woman. It was Hatshepsut, the Pharaoh’s own daughter. Hatshepsut came to the river often to bathe in the afternoon when the temperature demanded some relief, but she never came here in the morning. If they saw the child, it was all over and it would have been her fault.

The cradle was well concealed and no one could see it, but just as the princess herself was passing into the pool she often used, Isa began to cry. Hatshepsut heard the infant begin to cry and sent one of her servants to see what it was. The servant called back that it was a male Hebrew child and asked if she wanted her to toss it in the river. The Pharaoh’s daughter said to bring it to her first. The servant complied and soon Isa was cooing for the most powerful woman in all of Egypt. It has to be the most important coo in the history of the world and probably the most affective as well. That coo saved the child’s life and perhaps a nation as well.

Her intent was to look at the child and then have her servant do just as she had suggested, throw the child into the river. But there was something about this child that kept her from it. This child was different from the others. It had been the eyes. As soon as she looked into them, she was hooked and history was changed. She was childless and so wanted a male child. She made up her mind on the spot and changed the course of the history of two nations forever.

Hatshepsut told her servant to find someone who could care for this small child for her. The servant looked incredulous but was quick to obey. Before the servant could leave her master’s side however a small Hebrew girl stepped out of the reeds beside the river and offered to go find someone for the princess. Hatshepsut told her to go quickly.

Isa’s sister raced to the straw fields and got her mother. Jochebed arrived at the river out of breath.

Are you wet? The princess was asking the Hebrew slave if she could nurse the child.

I am your highness.

You are to take this child to your home and nurse him until he is one year of age and then bring him to me.

But your highness, the police and the army will not allow it.

Here, the princess said as she handed Jochebed her ring, you are to show whoever questions you this ring. It should guarantee the child’s safety.

But your highness, what if it doesn’t?

Hatshepsut motioned for one of her bodyguards to come to her. When he had drawn sufficiently near told him to accompany this Hebrew woman to her home and make sure that nothing happens to her or her family or especially this child. This was a serious charge. To guard royalty was to guard it with your life and for this man to fail to protect any of his charges would be to forfeit his own life. And the princess had told him that he was to treat them as royalty. They would be safe. They would be more than save. He would see to it.

For the next six months neither Jochebed nor her husband Amram would be allowed to go to work. The only way he could protect them was to keep them at home and under his direct guard. The child would never be out of his sight for even a short moment. He knew his mistress quite well and knew what she was up to. The only reason that the child and his family were not taken directly into the palace was that she needed the time to convince her husband to accept this child. After all, this child could one day rule all of Egypt.

Hatshepsut had been looking for a son for several years, but had had only daughters. There was no male descendant to follow her father to the thrown when he died. She was in a very unique situation as she was married to her father’s son from another wife, Thutmose II. Thus it was so arraigned that the only way her father could have a third generation heir to the thrown was for her and her half brother to have a son. Hopefully they would have a son on their own, but just in case, this Hebrew child could more or less keep the leadership of Egypt in the family. And if she played her cards right, she could control the nation by controlling this child she had just adopted.

The next six months drug by. Each day was the same. And the guard was with them every second of the day. When they went for water the whole family went and the guard was right with them. When Jochebed nursed Isa, the guard was there. When one of them had to relieve themselves, the guard was there. They were never alone and they couldn’t talk about the future for Isa or themselves because the princess’ guard was always there. Eventually though it was time to take Isa to the princess. He was now a year old and that was the agreement. He was eating regular food part of the time but still received nourishment from his mother’s breast.

Jochebed was concerned about her future as well as Isa’s as she followed the servant that had been sent to direct the child along with this Hebrew nurse maid to Hatshepsut’s quarters. She was taken directly in to see the princess. She was surprised and awed by the fact that she was in the inner chamber of such a powerful woman.

The quarters in themselves were breathtaking. She had never dreamt of such wealth and opulence let alone seen it. There were silks of every color everywhere and Hatshepsut’s bed was a huge canapé inlaid in gold and shrouded in beautiful colorful lace. There were servants everywhere to take care of her every need. The tall black men that were her personal guards especially surprised her.

During the Hyksos rule over Egypt, Ethiopia took for themselves and ruled over the lower half of Egypt and were as despised by the Pharaoh as the Asiatics that ruled the north. It was true that when Ahmose overthrew the Hyksos and the Ethiopians, he took many slaves from both. But to have them as her personal bodyguards seemed unlikely. They could turn on her at any time.

It was then that she got another great surprise. Hatshepsut was a very pleasant caring woman, not anything like the tyrants that her father and husband were.

What is your name?

I am called Jochebed, your highness.