Thutmosis III.
DAY 1
Do you like this picture? I drew it. It is a picture of Thutmosis III, the great warrior king and pharaoh of all Egypt. I made it by myself and I think it is a very good likeness.
I have never seen the pharaoh with my own eyes. He lives in Cairo. But this is what I imagine him to look like. I wish I could see the pharaoh in person. Maybe someday I will see him and give him this picture to honor him. That is my dream.
I am smaller than most eleven-year-old boys. When they play their rough games, I stand on the side and watch. I do not know how to play. I do not want to get hurt. And I am not interested in playing games, anyway. I told my mother that I will grow up and create great works of art.
“Lateef, that cannot happen,” my mother told me. She said people do not grow up to draw pictures. They grow up and work in the fields or in the quarries. Or they tend to the animals. Or they build pyramids and other things for our people. She said you cannot support a family by drawing pictures. People do not grow up and make art.
“Maybe I will be the first,” I said.
Mother shook her head sadly. She says that when I get older, I will be put to work like everyone else. Until then, I am free to waste my time drawing pictures, if that makes me happy.
It does.
DAY 2
Do you like my new picture? I drew it yesterday. I know it is not very good. Maybe I will make a better one.
This is an obelisk. Not everyone knows what the word “obelisk” means. An obelisk looks something like a pyramid that has been stretched out so that it is much taller and thinner.
Obelisks look like stretched-out pyramids.
Pyramids are much more famous than obelisks, but I like obelisks better. Pyramids represent death and dying and sadness. They are built to be tombs for the pharaohs. But obelisks represent life. They point toward the sun. Heliopolis, the place where I live, is called the City of the Sun.
We call the sun Ra. Ra gives us life, strength, health, and happiness. All creatures are alive because of the light from Ra. We could not exist without it. So each day we face the heavenly orb in the sky and pray, asking Ra to continue giving us the gift of life on earth. We make obelisks and point them to the sky to honor Ra.
Think of it—the path of Ra across the sky is like the life of a person. It is a baby in the morning, a youth in the middle of the day, and an old person at night. And then the light of Ra goes away until the next day, when the process begins once again.
But that is not why I drew the picture of an obelisk. There is big news that I have just heard—a large obelisk is due to arrive in Heliopolis from the granite quarries of Aswan. This is true. It will take a number of days to get here. I am filled with anticipation.
They floated the obelisk down the Nile River to Heliopolis.
My mother does not like my pictures. She told me to stop drawing them. She does not want anyone to see that I waste so much time making pictures. I love to draw and I will continue drawing my pictures. But I will hide them under my bed so she will not see them.
DAY 3
I have more exciting news to report. Perhaps this is rumor and perhaps it is fact. But I have heard that the pharaoh, Thutmosis III, is coming to Heliopolis!
I can barely believe the words I have just written. The pharaoh, the great Thutmosis III, the son of Ra, the son of the sun, the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, the military genius, the powerful and glorious god on earth who gives all life, stability, and strength is coming to Heliopolis! He is coming here to witness the raising of his obelisk on our shores and to celebrate his third decade of reign.
Praise be to Thutmosis III and praise be to me, for I will be able to see the pharaoh with my own eyes. This is my dream come true.
I know much about the pharaoh. Thutmosis III is a builder of temples, palaces, and monuments, and he became the sixth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty when he was just two years old. He has built fifty temples, captured more than three hundred cities, and created the largest empire Egypt has ever known.
I still cannot believe the pharaoh is coming here.
Sadly, I have other news to report. Mother found the drawings I had hidden under my bed. She was very angry and threw all my papyrus out the window.
But I do not care. I will have the opportunity to see the pharaoh Thutmosis III in person. Maybe I will get more papyrus and draw his picture.
DAY 7
The pharaoh has not yet come to Heliopolis. But it was a glorious day nevertheless. For today, our obelisk arrived. It was carved in Aswan, far to the south.
As word spread of its arrival, hundreds of citizens gathered on the banks of the Nile to greet our new monument. Thirty boats were seen first. They used the current of the river to tow a barge with the obelisk lying on top of a huge wooden sled. Many men were needed to steer the barge so it would not bump into the river banks.
And then the obelisk came into view. What a sight! It was lying on its side on top of the barge. It is so big. I cannot imagine how the stone carvers of Aswan were able to cut such a large piece of granite and lift it out of the quarry.
The labors of hundreds of strong men were needed to pull the obelisk off the barge. Using ropes, they dragged it onto the shore next to the Temple of the Sun. That is where it will one day stand, and pilgrims will be able to come here and worship the pharaoh long after his death.
I do not know how they are going to stand the obelisk upright. It must be so heavy. It will probably take the effort of a thousand of our strongest men.
Even lying on its side, the obelisk is a beautiful thing to look at. Standing up, it will attract attention to our city. It will also serve a useful purpose. As the sun, Ra, passes overhead, the obelisk will cast a moving shadow across the ground. That will tell us how much of the day has passed and how much of the day remains.
DAY 8
The most amazing event happened this morning. A man I had never seen before came to our door. He announced himself as “Omari,” which means “high born.” This man Omari was wearing an official-looking robe, and he said he had something very important to discuss. Mother immediately fell to her knees and began to weep and beg.
“I didn’t do anything,” she sobbed. “If I did something wrong I am truly sorry. It will never happen again. For that you have my promise.”
