If Walls Could Talk: "A Painting Is Worth a Thousand Words"

By Jody Brannon Hunt

Drawings of the important characters in the book. Perhaps in a portrait setting, i.e., the scribe that writes love letters, the little old lady that loved her monkey so much she bought a slave boy to care for it. A Medjay policeman. The ship captain, a court official, the Goose Girl, the Weaving girl, etc.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing
• Release date: Dec 7, 2011
• ISBN: 9781466906334

Jody Brannon Hunt

JoAnn Brannon Hunt also known to friends and relatives as "Jody" as been in education for 45 years. She is a vocational archaeologist and has taught ancient cultures and archaeology at "Kids College" and Gate programs, in Northern and Southern California. She is the author of "Small Fry Originals" a thematic supplement for Early Childhood Educators. This is her first young readers novel. She has done extensive world traveling to do research. Many of her ideas for "If Walls Could Talk" are a result of her travels and research, in Egypt. SheI loves to bring stories to life with hands-on activities. She graduated from The Children's Institute of Literature, and has an AA degree in Early Childhood Education and minor in Anthropology. She recently retired from education, to devote moe time to writing. Although she does volunteer at the Caldwell, Idaho Library as an after school book club leader for homeschool students. She lives in Caldwell Idaho with her husband, Darrel, their daughter, Alexis, her elderly in-laws, and their Bombay Cat, Abby and Border Collie Robbie.

Book preview

Contents

Dedication

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

GLOSSARY

RESEARCH

BIBLEOGRAPHY

CHAPTER OUTLINE

ABOUT THE AUTHOR PAGE

About the Author

Dedication

Dedicated to the Memory of my mother, Gladys R. Silva Brannon, and my Mother-in-law, Rebecca Hunt, my sister, Marlene Brannon Wolf and my daughter, Brannon Alexis Hunt. And a special thank you, to my wonderful husband, Darrel, who put up with my all-nighters working on the manuscript and computer.

Chapter 1

The Apprentice

I Meryet, apprentice to my father Lord Senefer, The Eyes and Ears of Pharaoh write this in my own hand. Tomb robbers have been desecrating the tombs of the great ones. The temple guards spend much of their day playing knucklebones, throwing sticks, hounds and Jackals, wagering and drinking sweet, thick beer. When the Lord Ra goes down over the horizon jackals, the creeping things of the desert come out, including the filthy tomb robbers.

No one knows when, where or how. My father has been called on by Pharaoh himself to stop this outrage and sacrilege. My father is Pharaoh’s judge/investigator. He is the chief investigator of people, places and incidents. He walks the halls of power and is a personal friend of Pharaoh. We live in a large estate, miles upriver from Thebes the capital of this very Egypt. My father’s elite corps of Medjay charioteers lives in a barracks on the estate. I live with my father, my mother Lady Ty, and my brother Hori. Hori is one year older than I am. My father wanted Hori to be a scribe. A successful Scribe can win much power within the royal court. Hori wants to be an investigator like our father and Medjay charioteer. Hori finished scribe school this year. Father has agreed to apprentice Hori into the Medjay and Investigator. Perhaps someday Hori will take my father’s place when my father decides to retire from his many duties.

I am Meryet also known as Little Beetle an affectionate name given to me since birth. I am 12 years old. When it comes to me, my father can’t say no. Early on in my short life my father became aware of my knack for detection, cleverness, always asking Why To, many adults consternation. I was tutored in ciphers, writing and reading the pictures on walls and on papyrus, math geometry, geography, history, and astronomy. I scratched the itch for adventure to travel and learn, I keep a journal of all my adventures from day to day. So my father is apprenticing me to help solve cases. He proudly says that I have a clever heart, and I am a brave daughter. Next to Hori, my cat Bastet is my closest friend that is if a cat can be a close friend. You can always see her poised with grace. To the casual onlooker, Bastet is snooty; she is simply remembering her exalted place in Egyptian history. The cat in Egypt has a very important place. Pharaoh has made an edict the penalty for killing a cat even accidently is death. Bastet was trained from the time she was a kitten to duck hunt with our family, and provide protection for me. She is a fierce protector.

Chapter 2

The Journey up the Nile

to the Royal Court

This is my observation and

written in my own hand.

We are on our pleasure barge traveling up the Nile. Pharaoh has ordered my father to attend him at court. Our family is making it a family outing. The anticipation comes to an unbearable peak in the last day or so before departure. A jittery silence invaded our evening meal before departure. My mother staying up late to govern the servants and slaves. The packing and unpacking. Deciding what to take and what to leave home.

The servants and slaves laughing and chattering. I never thought of servants and slaves having dreams and plans. I heard them speaking among themselves of their dreams and plans of excitement of our trip up the Nile to the royal city of Thebes. A night of restless sleep; awakening at different intervals during the night. And then being gently shaken by my personal servant Tee. Jumping out of bed and dressing in the clothes Tee laid out for me in the semi darkness of my room.

Eating a quick early morning repast of rich warm bread, stew to dip our bread in, and a cup of cool water. Then the unbearable waiting of the last few minutes before leaving. A flurry of last minute details, a loaf of bread, a cloak, a skin of water, and suddenly we are on our way. We pull away from our villa quay and enter the current of the Nile

For the first time I noticed that my father was a handsome man. A broad chest, with broad shoulders that looked like they could carry the weight of the world, he was tall narrow waisted, straight backed with clear eyes, a beautiful smile with white teeth. My father was a generous man, a fair man and respected and loved by his Medjay, and Pharaoh himself.

Mother gave final instructions to the slaves left behind. She goes through a mental checklist to make sure nothing is forgotten. The river is busy with boat traffic. It is this very Egypt’s main highway. Workmen repair the canals, while fishermen in boats, made of papyrus reeds travel the river for a large Catch for their dinner and market. In a field the royal rope stretcher measures the fields. There seems to be a dispute over a stone boundary. It is a demarcation between fields, and will not float away when the life-giving Nile goes down.

A farmer struggles with a shaduf, as he is trying to pull up water from the Nile and put it in the canal. Another farmer ploughs the soft rich black soil with a wooden plough. A sower scatters grain on the freshly turned soil and a herd of goats herded by a shepherd, tramples the grains into the