Deshret en Met (Desert of Death)

Here’s some information, which might help with understanding/enjoying the story, or just some idea of how to say some of the words/names:

To begin with, I’ll note that ancient Egyptian is a dead language, no one knows for sure how anything was pronounced, and like Hebrew, only hard vowels are shown, which makes it more difficult, because of this, you’ll find various different spellings for the same thing (such as Ra and Re).

I have also chosen to go with Egyptian terms and place names for the most part, as I don’t want people thinking of what the locations look like now, as this isn’t how it would have looked during the New Kingdom, which is the period in which the story is set, but not within a legitimate reign, the characters are entirely of my own creation.

The Egyptian calendar consisted of three seasons of four lunar months. A year contained 12 months, with 30 days per month and 10 days per week, with 5 extra days added as birthdays of specific gods. Meaning a fortnight for us is 14 days, but for the Egyptians was 20.

The story takes place during Akhet (the inundation/flood season), during its fourth month, known by the Greek Khoiak, or one of the Egyptian names was Ka-Her-Ka, coinciding also with the festival name. In our terms, it is mid-October to mid-November, with the journey itself taking 17 days, starting 27th October (day 11 of Ka-Her-Ka) and ends 13th Nov (day 28).

People:

All words in the meanings that are capitalised are the names of gods.

Ankhenset (ankh-en-set) means “life of Seth”, she is a priestess at the Temple of Seth in Nubt.

Hornakht (hor-nack-t) means “Horus is strong”, he is a thief, by circumstance, not by choice.

Sahenra (saa-en-ra) means “worthy of Ra”, he is the crown prince/heir apparent (next in line to the throne).

Djerseshut (jess-er-shoot) means sacred/holy shadow”, he is High Priest of Apep, or to the locals, of Sobek (Hem Netjer Apep/Sobek).

Senerdjet (sen-err-jet or sen-err-jay) means “reveal from eternity”, he is Overseer of the army in the entire land (imy-er mesher em ta er djer-ef), he is in charge of the military (General may be used in the story, or Army Overseer).

Meryamun (merry-ahh-moon) means “beloved of Amun”, he is Nesut/Nesut-Bity, better known as Pharaoh.

Nefermaat (nef-err-mah-at) means “perfect truth”, he is Tjati (Vizier) and aids Meryamun keeping the country running smoothly.

Atumturi (ahh-tum-tuh-ri or ahh-tomb-tuh-ri) means “Atum be pure”, he is the Royal Scribe (Sekau Nesut).

Khanudjehuti (can-oo-dje-hoot-ee) means “garden of Djehuti (Thoth)”, he is keeper of records (think head librarian) at the Temple of Seth in Nubt.

Senerdejet’s team: Geruserket (geh-roo-sir-ket – silent [of] Serket) is a scout. Abkak (ah-b-cack – swift bow) and Pehtiab (petty-ah-b – strong bow) are bowmen/archers. Ibuser (ib-oo-sir – heart be powerful/powerful heart) and Misobek (me-so-bek – like Sobek) are soldiers (officers, but with standard soldier equipment).

Locations:

Nubt (Nub-t) is Naqada/Nagada in the region of modern Tukh, it was one of the cult centres for Seth and was an important location in the predynastic era. One of Seth’s main epitaphs is Lord of Nubt (nub is the Egyptian word for gold). It is located near Luxor and Dendera (in between them).

Waset (Wah-zet) is modern Luxor (Thebes), it was the capital for most of the New Kingdom and is where Karnak temple can be found, it is the cult centre for Amun.

Iunet (Ee-oo-net) is Dendera temple, dedicated to Hathor (Hat-Hor), all that survives now is the Ptolemaic temple, nothing from Pharaonic Egypt, but there was a temple there and it was likely to have held what is referred to as a sanatorium, as the remaining temple does, which is a place of healing and holds sleeping chambers to allow the person to connect to the divine and seek answers and aid.

Abdju (Ab-dju, like the start of juice) is Abydos, the major cult centre of Osiris (Usir), it was a place of pilgrimage and had major processions there. If you couldn’t be buried there, you wanted a stela erected to benefit from his blessings and there was a major procession done that the temples, burials and stelae could all benefit from by association. It was somewhere you wanted to visit at least once while you were alive.

Wenu (When-oo) is Hermopolis/Hermopolis Magna, or modern El-Ashmunein, located between Amarna and Beni Hasan in middle Egypt.

Neni-Nesut (Neh-knee ness-oo) is Heraklepolis/Heraclepolis Magna, is just south of the Faiyum region, not far from Hawara or Lahun.

Shedet (Sha-debt) is Crocodilopolis, or the Faiyum, it was a cult centre for the god Sobek (crocodile), due to the number of them in the area. There were numerous temples dedicated to him in the region, under slightly different versions/names.

Misc. words:

Netjeru/Neteru (net-chair-oo) is the terms for the divine or gods of Egypt. Masculine singular is Netjer and feminine singular is Netjeret/Netjerit.

Nesut (ness-oo) is the term for the ruler, commonly called Pharoah (taken from Per-A’ah, meaning literally great house, which we would call palace), this can also be Nesut-Bity, to show that he rules both upper and lower Egypt.

Tawy (tah-we) means the two lands, and is what we would call Egypt.

Deshret (deh-shh-reh-t) is the red lands, the desert, opposite to Kemet (keh-met), the black lands, which is the fertile strip that the Nile floods.

Tjati (chatty) is most commonly translated as vizier, Pharoah’s right-hand man (though usually there were two Vizier’s, one for Upper Egypt and one for Lower Egypt) and second most powerful in administrative roles behind the ruler. They helped make sure everything ran smoothly and everyone did their jobs.

Ma’at (mah-at), this is the name of a goddess, but the usage in the story refers to the concept, rather than the divine entity. Ma’at is (cosmic) order, but also includes truth and justice, maintaining Ma’at, is maintaining balance, keeping everything from falling into chaos and was a pivotal role that the ruler was required to fulfil.

Heka (heh-ka), essentially is magic (also a god). For the Egyptians, this was a little more complicated in the belief and in the forms it took, but in this instance, it’s in reference to the fantasy mage/sorceress type of magic, something tangible and undeniable within the world, that is beyond the realms of what is normally possible.

Duat (do at) is the underworld, it is a place of trials that must be overcome to reach Aaru (ahh-roo), more commonly called the Field of Reeds, this is ancient Egypt, the home they knew and loved, but without death and disease and other issues that existed within life. Duat is also the realm that Ra travels through each night, and where Apep, and other demons, live and linger, awaiting whoever enters and crosses their path.

Djed (jed) is a pillar-type symbol that is often referred to as the backbone of Usir/Osiris. It is often found as an amulet, representing of stability. It can also be found in reliefs, being offered to the god and to the ruler, as well as being raised and having offerings made to it, linking it more directly with divinity.

Gods:

Ra is a sun and a creator god, who is often combined with other gods (e.g. Ra-Horakty, Amun-Ra), he was the main god during the Old Kingdom period.

Seth (Set, Sutekh, etc.) is the god of the deserts, storms and chaos. In modern portrayals and Western ideology, he is the equivalent to the devil and is evil. While there was proscription against him to some degree, particularly during the late period onwards (he was associated with foreign lands and they were sick of being invaded), he was not perceived as evil by the Egyptians themselves, which is why we have people named after him, such as Seti I (father of Ramesses II/the great). He was the necessary chaos that kept everything in balance. This misconceived idea of him is essentially the inspiration for writing this story.

Apep, better known by the Greek version Apophis, Apep, was a great demon snake who tried to devour the sun (Ra) every night. There is more than one version of the myth, as is common for ancient Egypt, the most used is that Seth stands afront the solar barge each night and stops Apep from achieving this goal, he is the strongest of the gods and is not affected by the hypnotic effect the serpent possesses. Each night Seth slays Apep and each morning Ra emerges safely from the Duat to ride the heavens again.

Usir (Oo-seer) is the god of fertility and the afterlife, better known by the Greek Osiris. He became a major deity following the creation of the myth with Seth slaying him and his resurrection, which strengthened as time passed. For the Ka-Her-Ka (soul/spirit upon soul/spirit) festival, his myth was honoured and “corn dolls” grown for bringing in a good inundation (flood), with his body being the fertile silt that allowed good crops and harvests. He also granted the dead passage into the underworld (assuming the passed the weighing of the heart), so was someone you wanted on your side.

Heru (Heh-roo), the Greek version is Horus, son of Osiris, he represented the living king, while his father represented the departed king. As well as being a god of kingship, he is also a protective deity, the Udjat eye (eye of Horus) mentioned is a protective amulet associated with him.

Hat-Hor is Hathor, she is wife of Horus and represents love, dance, fertility, joy and motherhood, among others. Her connection to healing is the reason behind the sanatorium at Dendera.

Sobek is the crocodile god, associated with the Nile, fertility and crocodiles – in a place with a lot of crocodiles, you would want to keep him placated so that you might be protected from being attacked by them.