6 - 12 September 2001
Issue No.550
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 6 - 12 September 2001 Issue No.550 |
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Above: Howard Carter using a small scalpel to clean the third coffin of Pharaoh Tutankhamun
The boat, the girl and the turquoise
Jewellery and other personal decoration was highly valued by the ancient Egyptians, as demonstrated in a delightful legend which has come down to us in the Westcar Papyrus. It seems that back in the 4th dynasty the Pharaoh Khufu, builder of the Great Pyramid, liked nothing so much as to listen to wondrous tales of adventure and magic. One of these stories took place in the time of his father, the great Pharaoh Seneferu. It was told that the Pharaoh, weary at the end of the day and in search of relaxation, called his vizier and said: "I have been through all the rooms of my palace in search of diversion, but I have found none. What shall I do?" The vizier pondered a while, and then told Seneferu to proceed to the Sacred Lake, fill a boat with 20 of the most beautiful maidens in his palace, robe them in nets made of coloured beads, give to each a wooden oar decorated with gold and silver, and let them row, "and his heart would be happy."
Below: Gold jewellery from the Third Intermediate Period encrusted with turquoise, cornelian and lapis lazuli (from the Cairo Museum)
Seneferu did all his vizier suggested and was, indeed, content. But, suddenly, one of the girls touched her hair and a beautiful turquoise fell into the water. When she realised what had happened she stopped rowing, whereupon all the other girls on her side of the boat also stopped rowing and the vessel came to a halt.
"Why do you stop rowing?" asked the king. "I shall replace the jewel with another as soon as we return to the palace. Now pick up your oar and row the boat so that the others may start to row too."
"Oh, no," cried the girl. "I cannot accept another jewel, for my own is more precious than any like it".
So the king, as the story goes, sent for a magician and commanded him to retrieve the lost jewel. The magician said his words of magic and the water in the lake, which was 20 metres deep, folded back on itself, one half on top of the other, and there at the bottom lay the turquoise. As it was recovered and given to the girl, her face broke into a happy smile. Lo and behold, the water then unfolded itself and returned to its original position, and the lake was level once more. The girls resumed their rowing, and the heart of His Majesty was content.
This reminds one of the legend of the Red Sea folding back upon itself to allow the passage of the Israelites from Egypt.
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