Pharaoh Philips and the Challenges of Ancient Egypt

Chapter I

The year is c. 2034 BC. just 21 years after the beginning of the period of the Middle Kingdom, and the 12 dynasty of Ancient Egypt. In one of the beautiful, large temples, which was much like a palace, there was a throne that was being sat upon. The individual who was sitting upon this throne was 25 year old John George Phillips, the current pharaoh. After the passing of his father, Amenemhet II (I had to look up Middle Kingdom Pharaohs), Phillips, which is what he is usually called by, was the next person to take the role of Pharaoh. His cousin, known as Harold Bride, was to be the next to the throne after John himself. It was quiet, with not much to do. Phillips laid back in his throne and let out a breath of air. Bride looked up at the young pharaoh, a bit of a raised eyebrow. "I'm bored..." Phillips said. Bride grinned. "Breaking news: Egypt's pharaoh is bored! It's a true crisis!" He teased. The young pharaoh turned to look at his cousin, who was sitting beside the side of the throne reading a papyrus scroll. He was one of those who could read and write. One of the most important jobs in Ancient Egypt was that of a Scribe, which did things such as keeping records for the government. Hieroglyphics are very hard to read and decipher, so many Egyptians never bothered to learn to read or write, so the scribes did it for them. Only 1 out of every 100 Ancient Egyptians could read and write, and being a scribe wasn't an easy job. Harold Bride just so happened to be one of those lucky people. The Pharaoh's eyes read annoyance, but his mouth was in a grin. "Ha ha." He said bluntly. Harold's grin grew wider as he silently laughed to himself."You do have control over the whole county, need I remind you. So there must be something you can do. Make some laws, collect taxes. Do something. Hell, even take a walk around the garden or arrange a meeting with high officials." Said Harold. "Well, just to mention it, but if we're gonna refer to harmony and balance, those two things seem to be good at the moment." Said Phillips. In Ancient Egypt, the Pharaoh has not only a will to the people, but to the gods, as well. The Pharaoh was to be the one who made harmonic balance throughout all of Egypt, as well as uniting the two kingdoms of Egypt, which were the upper and lower parts, and bring them together. The Egyptians believed that their pharaoh was not only a human being, but also a god, specifically the god Horus, who is represented with the body of a man and the head of a falcon, much like Ra, who was the sun god and believed to have created the world, Horus was the son of Osiris and Isis, which were the gods of the underworld. Having full control over the entire country, it was the pharaoh's duty to ensure that everything was as it should be, that the will of the gods were indeed understood, to do what he or she thought would please the gods, and even to make laws, collect taxes, conduct trade, and even wage war. "You want to please the gods, yes?" Harold said."Of course I do." Replied the young pharaoh."Well..." Harold said, obviously hinting at the obvious."If the pharaoh can speak his mind for a moment, then I would like to say that you're the one who can read and write hieroglyphs." "Your point?" His cousin asked. "Writing laws." The young pharaoh said. The young scribe did admit that making laws was more his thing, since he was a scribe obviously. "What about collecting taxes? Or anything else you could do to please the gods?" Said Harold. "Hm. I guess so. How are things going outside? Are the citizens doing well?" Asked Phillips. "As far as I know, they are just as good as they usually are." Said Bride. "I guess I could take a walk." Said the young pharaoh. "Better than just sitting here..." "I'll be glad to accompany you, cousin, or should I say, Pharaoh." Said Harold. "You can call me 'cousin', Harold." Replied Phillips."Alrighty, cousin!" Harold said with a smirk. In a pharaoh's free time, they visited construction sites that were building monuments in the pharaoh's honor. "You wanna take a gander at the construction sites with me?" Phillips asked. "Sure." The first site to see was the large statue of Pharaoh Phillips. When the workers saw their pharaoh, they greeted him with honor, as well as Bride, giving not only to the fact that he was a scribe, but that he was the cousin to their godly pharaoh, and would soon one day be on the throne. "How's the job coming together, men? Good?" Phillips asked. "Very good, your majesty!" Said one of the workers, bowing his head. "Glad to hear that!" Phillips replied. "So, I believe all is well here and we can move on. Don't you worry, men. You'll sure enough be paid by the end of the day today, and you'll be sure to get paid in full once you're completely done." He added. The workers were full of gratitude and were grateful as well. As the pharaoh and his cousin left, the workers continued their work. "Shall we go see how the farmers are doing?" Asked Bride. "Certainly." Phillips said. "Hello, men. How's the farming going along?" Sure enough, and just like the workers, those who were farming took great pleasure in the unexpected arrival of the pharaoh. "Very good, your majesty! We should be expecting the Nile to be flooding very soon! And with help from Osiris, it would be a positive flooding!" Said one of the farmers. "Glad to hear that!" Said Phillips. Throughout the day, things were good. But it wasn't until the next day that disaster struck Ancient Egypt.