Part 2 Metamorphosis
2.1 Stranger in a Strange Land
Additional Principal CharactersAmenemhat II (a-mean”-em-hat’) – king of Egypt, father of Senusret II
Balo (bay’-lou) – elder of Medjays (from Kush/Nubia) at Fayum
Captain Potiphar (po’-tee-fore’) – king’s chamberlain (chief of staff); P-hotep-har means gift/offering of Horus
Farid – (fa-reed’) Personal servant over the king’s and Potiphar’s households (Naphtali)
Fayed – (fa-yed’) boatman from the delta
Fayum (fay’-oom) – Lake and region below sea level about 60 miles southwest of Memphis (sometimes spelled Faiyum)
Irsu (ur-soo’) – becomes Chief Scribe for king (Judah)
Itj-tawy (itch”-ta-wee’), Capital of Egypt of 12th dynasty, Middle Kingdom, site of king’s estate (known simply as The Residence), southwest of Memphis
Meri-ptah (mer-ee’-pi-tah”) – Meri, son of priest of Temple of Ptah (physical creator god, Memphis); originally over king’s herds (Levi)
Neferti, high priest of the Temple of Ptah in Memphis, father of Meri-ptah
Pharaoh (fer-o’) - Egyptian per-o “great house,” title for kings c. 1200 BC.
Pawara (pa-wa’-ra) - worker in fields of Fayum (Gad)
Renni (ren’-ee) - worker in fields of Fayum (Dan)
Ruia (roo’-yah) – initially in charge of Potiphar’s outside estate, former soldier, takes Meri’s position over livestock (Reuben)
Sebek (se-bek’) – worker in fields of Fayum (Issachar)
Senen-set (sen’-en-set”) – Senen, son of priest of Temple at Itj-tawy (Temple dedicated to Horus, falcon god, tutor of kings); originally overseer of king’s farms (Simeon)
Senusret II (se-noirs-ret’ the Second) – King of Egypt c. 1897-1878 BC, son of Amenemhat II (they ruled jointly for two years)
Shabaka (sha-baa’-ka) – slave with Joseph in Potiphar’s service (Zebulun)
Ti (tee) – shopkeeper in Memphis
Zelicha (zell’-a-ka) – Potiphar’s wife
Chapter 1 – Stranger in a Strange LandThe Nile
The short journey to Memphis was a gradual introduction to the much larger world outside of Canaan. Indeed, Joseph beheld more wonders than he had seen since he had first opened his eyes in Canaan some eighteen years before.
Although he had seen new and wonderful things in his three weeks with Teyma (give or take one week that was a dream, or something between a dream and life), the changes in the physical world had been small. Until they had drawn near to Egypt, the landscape had been similar to that of his past.
The river crossings and early part of the trek through the green delta had revealed only small towns, yet larger than villages in Canaan. Whitewashed mud brick homes of the tradesmen and merchants gleamed in the sun. The occasional larger stone structure of a wealthier family played lord over the poorer homes.
Although such accumulations of people and goods had seemed quite impressive compared to those in Canaan, only as he emerged from the delta onto the Nile itself did Joseph come to understand the words “city” and “wealth” in an exciting and expanded capacity.
The river was the lifeblood of Egypt. Joseph thought of the rope, a more solid river of life, cast down by Judah into the dry well that was to have been his burial tomb. And so was this Nile, a literal river of life thrown down from the wet highlands of the south through desert sands.
This river put those of Canaan in the perspective of mere streams. The changes along the banks of the Nile magnified and birthed a larger world, one expanding as wide as the horizon.
Time had carved a watery path through the land. Wearing persistence had established its borders, often appearing as cliffs when the river was at low ebb.
Gaps in the cliffs, openings for the river to escape its narrow confines, offered glimpses of the flat landscape, stretching for miles toward the brown desert sands.
Looking up to the tops of the cliffs, one might see buildings of various sizes.
Impressive sprawling stone structures of the wealthy boasted vents standing tall atop them, like the sails on a ship ready to catch the prevailing northerly winds. Rooftop terraces for the cool of evening sprouted full grown trees peering over walls, green sentries standing guard against whatever force the river might bring.
Ringing the larger stone homes were the mud brick homes and workshops of the craftsmen who supplied the goods and skilled services for the wealthy.
This was a different style of building, a shop where work was done with living apartments for the owner above. Whitewashed to reflect the sun’s heat, these buildings sparkled like diamonds .through the leafy green palms.
Long low structures, seemingly camouflaged to blend with the drab rock and sand around them, were sometimes visible. They had many doors, housing the poor in small compartments. Teyma said there were many more of these buildings, small spaces for the least of the Egyptians, pushed back toward the edges of the farthest border of the living land.
Watchful palms along both sides of the river waved without partiality to the urban centers and to distant dunes in the opposite direction.
Fayed’s boat moved southward on the wings of the wind, the sail full and the white foam cutting a path against the current of the rippled brown water.
Looking westward through one break in the cliffs, Teyma pointed to the great pyramids, tombs of long dead kings standing solemnly against the blue western sky. The huge structures surveyed the green lands toward the river and the barren sands westward, demanding obeisance from both.
Teyma had mentioned before about the afterlife to which the Egyptian looked forward, an eternal life in the Field of Reeds, a mirror image of life on earth. These tombs were as a portal to that other world.
For the rich, up to thousands of men and many years were spent on building the perfect eternal home of the dead. For the less wealthy, perhaps there was only preservation of the body in oils and linen in a stone tomb. But the afterlife offered the best that rich and poor alike had experienced in this world.
Joseph’s question, spoken more to himself in wonder than in search of an answer from the others, was, “Were these people so obsessed with death that they forgot to live here and now?”
Fayed heard the question and was quick to reply. “No! No! Quite the contrary! These are a celebration of life! The idea is to live life fully, enjoying every moment of it possible, because the afterlife will be an eternal continuation of the best moments of life we have lived in the here and now.”
The boatman showed great excitement in sharing his dreams of the future.
“We are to lead the best life possible so that this will be our future. Even the workers of the fields and mines, whose lives are shortened by hard labor under difficult conditions, have hope. They seek the greatest joy in the holidays, in the feasts of meat and beer and celebration, that this may be a recurring joy after death.”
The contrast with the beliefs of Joseph’s culture scarcely could be greater. Little had been spoken of the time beyond death in Canaan. The commonly expressed desire for the body to “sleep with one’s ancestors” implied rest and peace. And there was a sense that the spirit breathed into the body as life returned to God at death, a return to the unity that had been lost in Eden so long ago.
God’s assurance that death was inevitable, because mankind had departed from Him in Eden, stood directly at odds with this Egyptian view of continued life after death. Yet, what was the point of life for the human, or that God should allow mankind to continue to exist on earth, if there were not hope for the future?
Yes, there was a judgment to come. Had not Job said of old that he would stand before his Maker? As servants, we are accountable. No one had returned to tell us of the afterlife, yet the Creator God that called Abraham His friend is just.
If the spirit of evil is destroyed, and the spirit of the good man is welcomed home, is that not enough?
Until meeting Teyma, the existence of a question implied an answer. Like so many questions in these last few weeks, a single immediate answer did not offer itself. Instead, he could almost hear a continual dialog with God running behind his conscious interaction with the world.
The concept of death as explained by Farid, an afterlife that was the best that the individual had experienced of this world, kept running through Joseph’s mind during the afternoon and evening.
He watched the sights as he passed by them on the river, suddenly aware that he was watching his life pass before him.
Death – An Interlude
Night came, and sleep, but not rest. Although he dreamed of the afterlife, this was no “resting with his fathers.”
In the dream, a man wrapped in linen lay in a cave, asleep as if dead, or dead in sleep, he knew not which. Such was Joseph’s expectation, but then a voice spoke. Joseph knew not its source.
“You wonder about death, about what lies beyond. Do not wonder, because even if one were to return from the dead, how could he convey that for which man’s speech has no words?
”Rest in the knowledge that the God who made all remains the God of all, and He is just in the future that is yours and is His.”
In spite of the lessons Joseph already had learned, perhaps the greatest of which was his lack of knowledge and understanding, Joseph could not hold his tongue.
“This is an experience that is common to all, that we will leave this world either through death, or perhaps as Enoch, whom God willed to come directly to Him.
“Will you not make some attempt at revelation? Have you not also been a man who posed this question?”
“You are persistent, but persistence alone does not increase understanding. I will give you this answer, but by itself it has no meaning. Open your heart to the truth that answers are less important than understanding, that knowing is little without relationship.
“Because there are no words, you will see pictures. And yet the images are not of things. Do not try to put words to what you see, for then you will lose the understanding altogether.
“You will later say, ‘This happened, and then that happened,’ but sequences are an illusion necessary for you to exist in your world. Other worlds are not subject to such limitations.
“Be still and observe. Be quiet and listen. Simply be, and nothing more.”
There was little light in the cave, and no source for even the slight illumination evident.
Suddenly, shafts of colored light began moving about the cave. Words fail here, but since words must be used, “dancing rainbows” might best approximate the vision. These danced (how else to describe their movement?), sometimes separately, sometimes together, sometimes moving through one another.
Each rainbow was unique, the colors of slightly different hues and of varying intensity, some colors wide, others narrow or even missing entirely.
Some split into multiple rainbows. Some danced wildly. Others swayed so faintly that ‘movement’ is too large a word.
Some of the rainbows shed one or more specific colors onto others. Paradoxically, the rainbow giving its colors became even brighter in the color spectrum given away, as did the receiving rainbow.
Joseph watched, mesmerized by the changing picture before him, trying to discern some pattern, some meaning.
The original rainbows were gradually losing some of their color, white lines entering between the narrowing lines of richest color. But it was those who gave the most, those that had become the strongest in color, these were the ones who captured his attention. They grew white lines of the brightest white, shining intensely amid the radiant colors.
Meanwhile, none that withheld their colors could compare in brightness.
Soon the colored lines of the strongest rainbows diminished, but their growing white lines more than compensated, becoming brighter and broader.
Joseph stood speechless while the pageant played before him. He could have imagined music in the air, notes almost painful to hear because the soul delighted in them so gloriously. But no word, no syllable was uttered in the harmony of the dance of colors. He could not even describe or mimic a single note in the unheard but pervasive music that commanded the rhythmic movement.
He knew not how long the scene played before him, for time had ceased to exist. Even the cave that had enclosed him and the world that had enclosed the cave both had disappeared.
The heavens were open above, and a diffused light extended from one horizon to the other. This dull whiteness was a light fog or mist masking the blinding luminescence beyond. In the foreground, there appeared stars, pinpoints of light too numerous to count. These appeared and then disappeared into the misty cloud.
Joseph looked back at the ballet of colors below, each rainbow moving according to its own choreographed script.
He followed a particular rainbow through its steps, although maintaining focus on a single rainbow among the countless dancers was at best improbable, at worst impossible. The ‘bow progressed through its journey to the brightest colors, and then it became streaked with white, and finally there shown only one bright white light in the instant before it disappeared.
Joseph thought of the brightness of the sun: the sun itself shone brightly, and the rays sent from it illuminated the object stuck. But in between the beginning and the end, between the sun and the object, the sunlight did not exist, being only an invisible beam without quality or substance. Such became these dancing colors, progressing to the brightest light, like a section of the sun’s rays captured in midflight. And then, like the sunlight, they disappeared from sight.
Yes, these once-colored lights had become like sunlight itself, invisible between the source and the destination.
Each rainbow appeared to go through the same transition. Some took much longer than others. None was taken until it had willingly given of its color again and again, deepening in hue.
Yet it was at this apex of its glory that it began to sport the colorless beams of light, appearing white against the other colors, having no shade or hue of its own.
At last, having yielded all its color, each disappeared below, then reappeared in the sky above as a pinpoint of light. Soon it was absorbed by the unseen light source that diffused through all the heavens. Each returned to the radiating womb that had birthed them all, yet there were never fewer rainbows below.
Then the cave walls returned to view and the voice spoke again. “You hear my voice, and it is true, but it is not real. You have seen a vision, and it is true, but neither is it real. What is true is what you are able to bear at this point, but the reality is much greater!
“The Creator God does not destroy. The things you understand as life and death are but shadows of a reality beyond your understanding.
“Now you will experience for one brief part of a second those things that are both true and real.
“This must be brief. The duration will be so short a time that multiplied by one thousand it would remain but the smallest part of the blink of an eye. You will understand why.”
The voice thundered as if it had stepped back to a great distance, “Prepare yourself, oh man!”
The dim light of the cave disappeared. In its place came what? To say “a fullness” is grossly inadequate, but to say “an answer” is even less true.
Joseph’s question in words was met with an indescribable experience for which he had little context. The mismatch between mode of question and mode of answer attests to the limits of our abilities.
Even so, some things can be said, although they are not real, only approximations.
There was a musical note, perhaps only a partial note, that sang like beauty in his ears.
The note was a royal blue to the eyes, restful and inviting.
The note was the caress of mother’s soft hand on the cheek, the softness of cool linen on a summer’s night.
It had the taste of clover honey with a grain of salt and a hint of ginger.
It had the aroma of frankincense, the weight of gold, and the electric feel of lightning nearby.
Yes, all five senses were filled, and senses of which Joseph had no knowledge also delighted and danced, reeled and laughed, as if in intoxicated delight.
There was no consciousness of self. There was only the note, which Joseph realized that he also sang, a note in praise of the Creator of all things, the source that was in all, beneath all, and above all.
Joseph woke suddenly from sleep, sitting upright with a gasp as he struggled for breath. His heart beat wildly. Every pore was drenched with sweat. His muscles ached as if he had labored without stop for a week.
He felt as though he were still in that presence, in that part of a moment that had occurred at the end of his dream.
He heard every blade of grass that rustled in the wind.
He saw his surroundings in the dark of night as if it were day.
He tasted the north wind, smelled the starlight, and felt the substance of the air.
Closing his eyes, he savored it all as his senses gradually returned to the level apportioned in their present environment.
Later, if Joseph had not been told that the experience was to be for only the briefest part of a second, he would have sworn that he had lived a lifetime, seen and felt it from beginning to end. Perhaps, even, there had been no beginning or ending, but that the brief instant was an eternity, time without beginning, time without ending, and that even now he still existed in that note of praise.
A call by a boatman to the shore pierced the darkness of the river, cutting through his thoughts, as well.
An answer came back across the water, and disappeared into the darkness.
The movement of oars sent sparkles of sound across the silent current of the Nile.
Joseph returned to the microcosm that is this world.
Memphis
Dawn was near. He could not return to sleep. He walked to the edge of the river, sitting on a stone made precisely for just such a study of the dark water at sunrise. Here he remained until the others were stirring and prepared to continue the journey.
They launched out onto the water.
People were more abundant, both on the river and on the land. The river was now crowded with fishing vessels as Fayed maneuvered his boat southward.
The majority of the craft were small and light. Like their colorless homes alongside the housing of the wealthy, their boats were but the minimally functional equivalent of the cargo ships and pleasure boats sharing their waters.
With some pride in his own vessel, Fayed said the boats of the poor were made of reeds bound with papyrus and patched with pitch to seal them. “My boat, of course, is solid wood,” he boasted.
Larger wooden vessels carrying goods moved in both directions. Some were very low in the water, heavy laden with products just bought or to be sold, requiring crews of up to a dozen or more.
These dwarfed Fayed’s boat as they glided past on the shoulders of the current as they moved north, or on the wings of the air bearing them south. Emphasizing that nature did not move quickly enough, impatient rowers pushed the large vessels faster toward their destinations. Some of these large vessels even had adjustable sails, not fixed, so they could catch the wind from more than one direction.
By the time their boat reached its docking point in Memphis, Joseph felt overwhelmed by the presence of so many people.
Boats pressed closely all around them. The cacophony of sounds from people on the river and on the shore rolled over the boat like an oppressive storm. The largest flock of sheep being stampeded by wolves in a thunderstorm might not be as noisome!
Joseph watched Fayed’s older son at the tiller as he calmly maneuvered between other boats to fit into what appeared to be a landing too small for their size. The sail was now down, momentum moving them forward.
The younger son still stood at the bow, but now he handled an oar, sometimes as a paddle in the water, later as a pole to push off the shallow bottom.
With perfect timing, he jumped from the bow as it stretched over the low landing area, holding a rope with which he helped make slight final adjustments in direction. This rope also served to tie the craft to a pole fixed solidly near the water’s edge.
Joseph did not feel eager to leave the now familiar boat, an island of order, and fall into the chaotic crowd.
Sellers of everything from sweets to donkeys crowded the walkway at the water’s edge, making offers for the goods they sold, crying that their wares were vital, indispensable for the new arrivals here in the city.
Fayed waved them off as he disembarked, telling Joseph to ignore them and follow his lead. The rest of his family knew their roles. They prepared to unload while Teyma guided Joseph along the shore, speaking only in Egyptian.
“This afternoon, you will meet some people. Some you may not see again. Others may become your best friends. One cannot tell what the future holds, so we prepare for as many futures as there may be.”
They turned down a narrow street lined with shops. Goods often spilled through open doors onto the ground or shelves set against the building, inviting passersby to see and examine, to touch and feel the wares.
Teyma pointed above the store and Joseph realized that a living area rested over the first floor shop. A man need rarely leave his building, for it was both home and place of work. Joseph marveled at the unnatural life such a man would lead, surrounded by walls and the sky above hidden.
The smell of food drew Joseph, but Teyma urged him forward to an open square. The midday sun was brighter as they passed out of the shadows of the narrow streets, but the open area seemed almost equally crowded.
Joseph could not read the Egyptian sign above the door, but the clothing displays hanging inside spoke the meaning. Teyma talked with a man whom he introduced as Ti, the owner. Joseph followed the Egyptian speech pretty well as Teyma described what he needed for Joseph.
Talia’s cloak was serviceable, but the rest of Joseph’s clothing looked as if he had just come from the fields. A linen tunic, bright in whiteness and lighter than Joseph’s coarser flax garment, gave the young shepherd an air of belonging in the urban throng.
A pair of sandals replacing his worn ones and a red kerchief, similar to the one on Teyma’s head (but darker red since it lacked the fading that came with time), completed his new wardrobe. An outer garment, similar to Talia’s but rougher, was to be for his work, while Talia’s garment would be reserved for the days of celebration and city visits such as today’s.
After terms of the sale had been discussed, Teyma told Joseph to visit with the shopkeeper while he returned to the boat to get the spices that were the payment.
Joseph practiced his Egyptian on the man as he asked questions about the city. Something that had aroused his curiosity was that only foreigners had beards while the Egyptians were clean shaven. He asked the reason.
The man laughed at his question. “Egyptians are fastidious about cleanliness and a daily shave is expected, as well as a bath. And lice in hair can be a problem. Yes, we take great pride in appearance and cleanliness. This is only one of the reasons we are not respectful of the easterners who cross our borders.”
The man’s smile faltered for a moment as he realized his gaffe and added, “I mean you no offense, of course.”
The man’s near apology seemed sincere, although implicit in his speech was the clear superiority of Egyptians over foreigners.
The statement bore no hostility, only truth from the Egyptian’s perspective. He probably was not even aware that his prejudice was rooted more in culture than in fact.
Since Teyma was their mutual friend, the Egyptian engaged enthusiastically in conversation regardless of Joseph’s origin, explaining the daily regimen of cleanliness for the Egyptian man.
Joseph replied politely in his best Egyptian, “Of course.”
Perhaps sensing he may have been somewhat rude to Joseph concerning Egyptians versus the Semites from the east, the man complimented Joseph’s coat. “That is a nice looking yellow daffodil on the front and, let’s see the back again. Oh yes, and the red poppy on the back. Very nice.”
Joseph accepted the compliment without revealing the man’s error in identifying the flowers.
As Teyma had suggested, most people do not really pay attention, seeing only what they expect to see and are ready to believe. The flower was red, therefore it was a poppy; Joseph was from the east, therefore he was dirty and infested.
Teyma returned with several small bags of spices as payment and they parted with Ti amicably.
They next stopped at a building on the edges of this district of shops. The front room was a shop with pottery, but the main attractions were the bronze items, including jewelry and statues of Egyptian gods, the best of which were artfully displayed in the second room. Teyma and the man talked about their experiences, in general, and his mentor was mindful to bring Joseph into the discussion often.
As they left, Teyma remarked to Joseph that this was a good man to know if you needed something made from bronze. Joseph shuddered as he pictured again the bronze statue made in Joseph’s image from his “dream.”
They talked briefly with several other people in the area, the visits very similar to those just experienced. By the end of the afternoon, Joseph had a mental list of men and their trades, along with some knowledge of this small part of the riverside city.
A final visit was to a man who cut hair. He also shaved men’s beards, but the necessity for removing a beard like Joseph’s was rare since all but the poorest Egyptians shaved themselves, and the poor could not afford the cost of a barber.
Teyma urged Joseph toward the man. “You are becoming an Egyptian in speech and clothing. Your face must also become Egyptian.”
Joseph sat on the mat on the wooden seat indicated. The barber proceeded to wash Joseph’s face and then to remove the slight beard, using what Joseph would have called a very small bronze hatchet. The edge was quite sharp, however, and the feel of the blade removing his whiskers was not altogether unpleasant.
Teyma said they would forgo shaving the hair from Joseph’s head for the moment.
Teyma had spoken with the man during the shave and now traded something Joseph could not see. The man gave Joseph a razor (this was only a bronze piece like a flint knife), and a flat piece of bronze so that Joseph could see himself as he shaved.
“Your first impression is important. I will leave it between you and Potiphar for anything beyond the obvious need for shaving your beard.”
Joseph summarized his thoughts on what he had just experienced to Teyma: “As a man with a beard (small though it was), I easily had been identifiable as a ‘barbarian,’ a dirty and uncouth easterner. Now I can pass for a ‘civilized’ man, all with a few strokes from a razor. How thin the line of our thinking!”
“Yes,” laughed Teyma. “Reality plays a secondary role to our ideas on a subject!”
As they walked, Teyma pointed toward men involved in a transaction across the street.
“I am sure you have noticed the men with scales, carefully weighing. Some transactions require this. And you also see the scribes who record the information for their masters.
“Writing is a very beneficial tool in the city, Joseph. You will do well to add this to your skills. Do you know numbers?”
“Numbers I do know. A shepherd must know how many sheep there are, how many lambs should be added after the spring lambing, how much weight in wool will fetch so much in trade, and such. Yes, the shepherd has good uses for numbers, but for writing I have had no need.”
“A tent has served you well, but you will learn the benefit of a place to sleep that is already set up and always in one place. You will see the value of writing in time, as well.”
The Temple
The day was not yet done. Teyma had one more place to show Joseph.
“We will make the short walk to the Temple of Ptah.
“There are three main gods in Egypt. There is the great god, Amun, who rules over all. And there is the sun god, Ra, the sustainer of life. And the third great god is Ptah, who conceived the world with his thought and with his tongue.”
Joseph could see the temple not far ahead of them. When they walked through its gates, he could see that this was like a city within walls.
There was the temple, of course. A magnificent structure with columns and arches, doorways and sculptures.
And there were a multitude of buildings surrounding the temple, like the houses/shops of the artisans and craftsmen surrounding the houses of the wealthy.
Indeed, Ptah appeared to be a rich god!
As if reading his thoughts, Teyma said, “There are many needs of the priesthood, and they have great wealth. They barter with the harvest of the crops and herds on their lands, but they also use coins. I find they are a good source for the money that makes some relationships run more smoothly. I confess there are times when nothing but a gold or silver or copper coin will do.”
Teyma guided Joseph toward the housing of the priests. Although the priests served only one month of four, rotating from their private lives of three months for one month of public service, there were also some men other than the high priest who remained full time at the temple.
They could see that the overseer of the priests was involved in a conversation with several of the priests. Teyma motioned for Joseph to wait until the conversation was ended, but the overseer saw him and waved for Teyma to come forward.
The overseer still was speaking as they drew near.
“Until the high priest establishes the temple guard, you men will fulfill the duties that we have discussed. Disperse to your regular duties until you are called to this service.”
The men took their leave.
“What have you brought us today, Teyma?” The overseer looked expectantly at Teyma before casting his eye upon Joseph.
Teyma pulled a small package from beneath his overcoat. “Alas, I pass through Memphis on other business, but I could not neglect my friend. This is a small token for you until I return later in the year with goods worthy of the Temple of Ptah.”
The overseer accepted the package, opening it with some anticipation. “Thank you, Teyma! Ah, you remember my love of cinnamon! It is a gift of the gods, indeed.”
“You are welcome. I bring my young friend, Joseph. He has never seen the Temple of Ptah, and it is time that he should be enlightened.”
“Yes, he should. We get few visitors who are not seeking prayers for some reason, or services for one who has died. Everyone is content to let us pray for the people and perform the services for the gods, but few come to appreciate what we do.”
The man seemed genuinely pleased to give a tour of the temple. He described the life of the typical priest, working to help the gods restore the sun to the heavens each morning, and the tasks all through the day and into the night that ensure the continued ma’at, harmony in Egypt.
And there were the fields of crops and the herds in their pastures, along with all of the workers who kept the supplies of food and water and manual labor readily available.
Joseph could not help but be aware of the sharp contrast between Egypt and Canaan in the sphere of worship. Although his father had led the sacrifices and prayers, every person in the camp partook in the worship of God. Joseph always had felt this was to be personal, not a second hand relationship experienced vicariously through another person.
If Joseph experienced Memphis as a foreigner, he realized that his understanding of God and of man’s relationship with God were even more foreign to Egyptian ways.
Something held back his speech. Stunned silence may have been a blessing so that he did not antagonize a friend of Teyma’s when such action would do no good.
They made their way back to the boat where Fayed and his sons were preparing for the return trip. The boatmen had traded for the few items unavailable to them in the delta and were prepared to leave. Home was their next port.
They bid their farewells and watched as the boat pushed out into the current moving slowly northward.
Petra, Talia, Kedar, and Miriam had already gone to a prearranged place to prepare camp for the night. Teyma outlined the plan for the following day as they walked toward his family.
“Tomorrow, we will leave for the king’s palace. The distance is only a few hours’ walk. Captain Potiphar handles the king’s affairs. The Residence and land require a large staff, and the captain oversees much of the detail of all that belongs to the king – farms, herds, servants.
“You will find King Senusret II is true to his name, a 'man of power.' His father was King Amenemhat II, who died only recently. That name places great emphasis on the god Amun as the greatest of all gods. Amenemhat means, ‘Amun is foremost.’ They do have one god over all, but sometimes this is hard to see in their practices.
“King Senusret’s city is Amenemhat-Itj-tawy. It means ‘Amenemhat - the Seizer of the Two Lands’. The ‘two lands’ are upper and lower Egypt,” Teyma translated. “The city is known simply as Itj-tawy.”
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“Teyma, you know of the one true God, and yet you speak easily of these Egyptian gods as if they have a place in God’s world.”
Teyma was silent for a moment before responding.
“Yes, I have been called a doubter, even an unbeliever. But this is most untrue, because I believe so intently that truth is larger than we can know.”
“When you meet a man who knows of no gods, who is innocent in his lack of belief, instruction of the one true God is our duty and privilege.
“When a man has held a belief in other gods for his whole life, the task is more difficult.
“Consider my understanding of Abraham and your understanding of Abraham. There is little doubt that what has been told to me as a son of Ishmael varies somewhat from what has been told to you as a son of Isaac.
“But let me put the question in another context.
“If you were told by someone that there was a different way to shepherd your flock, and they described something which seemed at odds with all you have been taught and learned, what would be your first reaction?”
“I might learn some small things that are new and useful, but I cannot imagine there was much of substance that would be better.”
“No, of course not. Your ways have served you and your family for generations. To throw out all you have learned and to adopt new ways would be difficult, almost impossible. To do so would be to say that you had been wrong all these years, fooled by the generations before you who have given you bad information.
“There is a saying: ‘It is easier to fool a man than to convince him that he has been fooled.’
“Do you understand what I am saying?”
Joseph nodded. “I think so. But then how do you teach people a new thing?”
“There is no better way than to show them. Words do not travel very far, but actions of character convey what mere words cannot.”
The answer did not seem satisfactory. In Joseph’s mind, the only way to maintain order was to set crooked things straight. How could Teyma simply stand beside idolatry and not call it by name?
Joseph remembered telling the traveling merchants the meaning of their dreams and asking for their idols as payment. By using the gift that God had given him, interpretation of dreams, Joseph had demonstrated a higher power. These men knew of the God of Abraham, and their resistance to evil had not been strong. Joseph’s actions had served as a reminder.
Of course, he had known of the one true God, also, and he had been blind to his own evil toward his brothers. And yet the idolatry seemed worse evil somehow, that is, if there were degrees of evil.
Silence did not seem appropriate here, but Joseph could not think of an effective way to make his argument other than logic, and he knew that logic was not necessarily the best tactic with Teyma.
Joseph thought of his hesitancy to question the priest, to assert God’s existence. Then he realized that perhaps Teyma was right: a word spoken when asked would do more than a speech delivered to one who will not hear.
A few moments later, Teyma said, “I have spoken to one of the king’s couriers. They arrive and leave daily. He will alert Captain Potiphar of our expected arrival.”
For someone who always wanted to know answers, there had been a great deal of information, but still not answers to the questions he wanted to ask. Joseph started with those that were of most concern to him.
“What is Captain Potiphar like?”
“He is a fair man, very straightforward. He has high expectations of his people. Like anyone who depends on other people, he must oversee, always leading, prodding where necessary.”
Now looking at Joseph as they drew near their campsite, Teyma added, “We will see if perhaps your skills will be of value to him, and the position with him of value to you.”
“And what will he want me to do for him?”
Teyma showed some exasperation before laughing loudly. “Looking for answers to be handed to you again! That is for you to discover!”
By now they had joined the others of their caravan. Dinner was prepared and the evening was soon like those Joseph had experienced on the way from Canaan, a meal in a family setting.
Joseph slept well, but he again dreamed of his brothers here in Egypt. As in the previous dreams, they were obedient to him, but the events that brought them under his charge were not clear.
Joseph suspected he was beginning to understand the word “patience.” He was not eager to broadcast this dream of his brothers waiting ahead for him or to rush its reality, but was content to wait for its fulfillment.
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2.1 Stranger in a Strange Land
Additional Principal CharactersAmenemhat II (a-mean”-em-hat’) – king of Egypt, father of Senusret II
Balo (bay’-lou) – elder of Medjays (from Kush/Nubia) at Fayum
Captain Potiphar (po’-tee-fore’) – king’s chamberlain (chief of staff); P-hotep-har means gift/offering of Horus
Farid – (fa-reed’) Personal servant over the king’s and Potiphar’s households (Naphtali)
Fayed – (fa-yed’) boatman from the delta
Fayum (fay’-oom) – Lake and region below sea level about 60 miles southwest of Memphis (sometimes spelled Faiyum)
Irsu (ur-soo’) – becomes Chief Scribe for king (Judah)
Itj-tawy (itch”-ta-wee’), Capital of Egypt of 12th dynasty, Middle Kingdom, site of king’s estate (known simply as The Residence), southwest of Memphis
Meri-ptah (mer-ee’-pi-tah”) – Meri, son of priest of Temple of Ptah (physical creator god, Memphis); originally over king’s herds (Levi)
Neferti, high priest of the Temple of Ptah in Memphis, father of Meri-ptah
Pharaoh (fer-o’) - Egyptian per-o “great house,” title for kings c. 1200 BC.
Pawara (pa-wa’-ra) - worker in fields of Fayum (Gad)
Renni (ren’-ee) - worker in fields of Fayum (Dan)
Ruia (roo’-yah) – initially in charge of Potiphar’s outside estate, former soldier, takes Meri’s position over livestock (Reuben)
Sebek (se-bek’) – worker in fields of Fayum (Issachar)
Senen-set (sen’-en-set”) – Senen, son of priest of Temple at Itj-tawy (Temple dedicated to Horus, falcon god, tutor of kings); originally overseer of king’s farms (Simeon)
Senusret II (se-noirs-ret’ the Second) – King of Egypt c. 1897-1878 BC, son of Amenemhat II (they ruled jointly for two years)
Shabaka (sha-baa’-ka) – slave with Joseph in Potiphar’s service (Zebulun)
Ti (tee) – shopkeeper in Memphis
Zelicha (zell’-a-ka) – Potiphar’s wife
Chapter 1 – Stranger in a Strange LandThe Nile
The short journey to Memphis was a gradual introduction to the much larger world outside of Canaan. Indeed, Joseph beheld more wonders than he had seen since he had first opened his eyes in Canaan some eighteen years before.
Although he had seen new and wonderful things in his three weeks with Teyma (give or take one week that was a dream, or something between a dream and life), the changes in the physical world had been small. Until they had drawn near to Egypt, the landscape had been similar to that of his past.
The river crossings and early part of the trek through the green delta had revealed only small towns, yet larger than villages in Canaan. Whitewashed mud brick homes of the tradesmen and merchants gleamed in the sun. The occasional larger stone structure of a wealthier family played lord over the poorer homes.
Although such accumulations of people and goods had seemed quite impressive compared to those in Canaan, only as he emerged from the delta onto the Nile itself did Joseph come to understand the words “city” and “wealth” in an exciting and expanded capacity.
The river was the lifeblood of Egypt. Joseph thought of the rope, a more solid river of life, cast down by Judah into the dry well that was to have been his burial tomb. And so was this Nile, a literal river of life thrown down from the wet highlands of the south through desert sands.
This river put those of Canaan in the perspective of mere streams. The changes along the banks of the Nile magnified and birthed a larger world, one expanding as wide as the horizon.
Time had carved a watery path through the land. Wearing persistence had established its borders, often appearing as cliffs when the river was at low ebb.
Gaps in the cliffs, openings for the river to escape its narrow confines, offered glimpses of the flat landscape, stretching for miles toward the brown desert sands.
Looking up to the tops of the cliffs, one might see buildings of various sizes.
Impressive sprawling stone structures of the wealthy boasted vents standing tall atop them, like the sails on a ship ready to catch the prevailing northerly winds. Rooftop terraces for the cool of evening sprouted full grown trees peering over walls, green sentries standing guard against whatever force the river might bring.
Ringing the larger stone homes were the mud brick homes and workshops of the craftsmen who supplied the goods and skilled services for the wealthy.
This was a different style of building, a shop where work was done with living apartments for the owner above. Whitewashed to reflect the sun’s heat, these buildings sparkled like diamonds .through the leafy green palms.
Long low structures, seemingly camouflaged to blend with the drab rock and sand around them, were sometimes visible. They had many doors, housing the poor in small compartments. Teyma said there were many more of these buildings, small spaces for the least of the Egyptians, pushed back toward the edges of the farthest border of the living land.
Watchful palms along both sides of the river waved without partiality to the urban centers and to distant dunes in the opposite direction.
Fayed’s boat moved southward on the wings of the wind, the sail full and the white foam cutting a path against the current of the rippled brown water.
Looking westward through one break in the cliffs, Teyma pointed to the great pyramids, tombs of long dead kings standing solemnly against the blue western sky. The huge structures surveyed the green lands toward the river and the barren sands westward, demanding obeisance from both.
Teyma had mentioned before about the afterlife to which the Egyptian looked forward, an eternal life in the Field of Reeds, a mirror image of life on earth. These tombs were as a portal to that other world.
For the rich, up to thousands of men and many years were spent on building the perfect eternal home of the dead. For the less wealthy, perhaps there was only preservation of the body in oils and linen in a stone tomb. But the afterlife offered the best that rich and poor alike had experienced in this world.
Joseph’s question, spoken more to himself in wonder than in search of an answer from the others, was, “Were these people so obsessed with death that they forgot to live here and now?”
Fayed heard the question and was quick to reply. “No! No! Quite the contrary! These are a celebration of life! The idea is to live life fully, enjoying every moment of it possible, because the afterlife will be an eternal continuation of the best moments of life we have lived in the here and now.”
The boatman showed great excitement in sharing his dreams of the future.
“We are to lead the best life possible so that this will be our future. Even the workers of the fields and mines, whose lives are shortened by hard labor under difficult conditions, have hope. They seek the greatest joy in the holidays, in the feasts of meat and beer and celebration, that this may be a recurring joy after death.”
The contrast with the beliefs of Joseph’s culture scarcely could be greater. Little had been spoken of the time beyond death in Canaan. The commonly expressed desire for the body to “sleep with one’s ancestors” implied rest and peace. And there was a sense that the spirit breathed into the body as life returned to God at death, a return to the unity that had been lost in Eden so long ago.
God’s assurance that death was inevitable, because mankind had departed from Him in Eden, stood directly at odds with this Egyptian view of continued life after death. Yet, what was the point of life for the human, or that God should allow mankind to continue to exist on earth, if there were not hope for the future?
Yes, there was a judgment to come. Had not Job said of old that he would stand before his Maker? As servants, we are accountable. No one had returned to tell us of the afterlife, yet the Creator God that called Abraham His friend is just.
If the spirit of evil is destroyed, and the spirit of the good man is welcomed home, is that not enough?
Until meeting Teyma, the existence of a question implied an answer. Like so many questions in these last few weeks, a single immediate answer did not offer itself. Instead, he could almost hear a continual dialog with God running behind his conscious interaction with the world.
The concept of death as explained by Farid, an afterlife that was the best that the individual had experienced of this world, kept running through Joseph’s mind during the afternoon and evening.
He watched the sights as he passed by them on the river, suddenly aware that he was watching his life pass before him.
Death – An Interlude
Night came, and sleep, but not rest. Although he dreamed of the afterlife, this was no “resting with his fathers.”
In the dream, a man wrapped in linen lay in a cave, asleep as if dead, or dead in sleep, he knew not which. Such was Joseph’s expectation, but then a voice spoke. Joseph knew not its source.
“You wonder about death, about what lies beyond. Do not wonder, because even if one were to return from the dead, how could he convey that for which man’s speech has no words?
”Rest in the knowledge that the God who made all remains the God of all, and He is just in the future that is yours and is His.”
In spite of the lessons Joseph already had learned, perhaps the greatest of which was his lack of knowledge and understanding, Joseph could not hold his tongue.
“This is an experience that is common to all, that we will leave this world either through death, or perhaps as Enoch, whom God willed to come directly to Him.
“Will you not make some attempt at revelation? Have you not also been a man who posed this question?”
“You are persistent, but persistence alone does not increase understanding. I will give you this answer, but by itself it has no meaning. Open your heart to the truth that answers are less important than understanding, that knowing is little without relationship.
“Because there are no words, you will see pictures. And yet the images are not of things. Do not try to put words to what you see, for then you will lose the understanding altogether.
“You will later say, ‘This happened, and then that happened,’ but sequences are an illusion necessary for you to exist in your world. Other worlds are not subject to such limitations.
“Be still and observe. Be quiet and listen. Simply be, and nothing more.”
There was little light in the cave, and no source for even the slight illumination evident.
Suddenly, shafts of colored light began moving about the cave. Words fail here, but since words must be used, “dancing rainbows” might best approximate the vision. These danced (how else to describe their movement?), sometimes separately, sometimes together, sometimes moving through one another.
Each rainbow was unique, the colors of slightly different hues and of varying intensity, some colors wide, others narrow or even missing entirely.
Some split into multiple rainbows. Some danced wildly. Others swayed so faintly that ‘movement’ is too large a word.
Some of the rainbows shed one or more specific colors onto others. Paradoxically, the rainbow giving its colors became even brighter in the color spectrum given away, as did the receiving rainbow.
Joseph watched, mesmerized by the changing picture before him, trying to discern some pattern, some meaning.
The original rainbows were gradually losing some of their color, white lines entering between the narrowing lines of richest color. But it was those who gave the most, those that had become the strongest in color, these were the ones who captured his attention. They grew white lines of the brightest white, shining intensely amid the radiant colors.
Meanwhile, none that withheld their colors could compare in brightness.
Soon the colored lines of the strongest rainbows diminished, but their growing white lines more than compensated, becoming brighter and broader.
Joseph stood speechless while the pageant played before him. He could have imagined music in the air, notes almost painful to hear because the soul delighted in them so gloriously. But no word, no syllable was uttered in the harmony of the dance of colors. He could not even describe or mimic a single note in the unheard but pervasive music that commanded the rhythmic movement.
He knew not how long the scene played before him, for time had ceased to exist. Even the cave that had enclosed him and the world that had enclosed the cave both had disappeared.
The heavens were open above, and a diffused light extended from one horizon to the other. This dull whiteness was a light fog or mist masking the blinding luminescence beyond. In the foreground, there appeared stars, pinpoints of light too numerous to count. These appeared and then disappeared into the misty cloud.
Joseph looked back at the ballet of colors below, each rainbow moving according to its own choreographed script.
He followed a particular rainbow through its steps, although maintaining focus on a single rainbow among the countless dancers was at best improbable, at worst impossible. The ‘bow progressed through its journey to the brightest colors, and then it became streaked with white, and finally there shown only one bright white light in the instant before it disappeared.
Joseph thought of the brightness of the sun: the sun itself shone brightly, and the rays sent from it illuminated the object stuck. But in between the beginning and the end, between the sun and the object, the sunlight did not exist, being only an invisible beam without quality or substance. Such became these dancing colors, progressing to the brightest light, like a section of the sun’s rays captured in midflight. And then, like the sunlight, they disappeared from sight.
Yes, these once-colored lights had become like sunlight itself, invisible between the source and the destination.
Each rainbow appeared to go through the same transition. Some took much longer than others. None was taken until it had willingly given of its color again and again, deepening in hue.
Yet it was at this apex of its glory that it began to sport the colorless beams of light, appearing white against the other colors, having no shade or hue of its own.
At last, having yielded all its color, each disappeared below, then reappeared in the sky above as a pinpoint of light. Soon it was absorbed by the unseen light source that diffused through all the heavens. Each returned to the radiating womb that had birthed them all, yet there were never fewer rainbows below.
Then the cave walls returned to view and the voice spoke again. “You hear my voice, and it is true, but it is not real. You have seen a vision, and it is true, but neither is it real. What is true is what you are able to bear at this point, but the reality is much greater!
“The Creator God does not destroy. The things you understand as life and death are but shadows of a reality beyond your understanding.
“Now you will experience for one brief part of a second those things that are both true and real.
“This must be brief. The duration will be so short a time that multiplied by one thousand it would remain but the smallest part of the blink of an eye. You will understand why.”
The voice thundered as if it had stepped back to a great distance, “Prepare yourself, oh man!”
The dim light of the cave disappeared. In its place came what? To say “a fullness” is grossly inadequate, but to say “an answer” is even less true.
Joseph’s question in words was met with an indescribable experience for which he had little context. The mismatch between mode of question and mode of answer attests to the limits of our abilities.
Even so, some things can be said, although they are not real, only approximations.
There was a musical note, perhaps only a partial note, that sang like beauty in his ears.
The note was a royal blue to the eyes, restful and inviting.
The note was the caress of mother’s soft hand on the cheek, the softness of cool linen on a summer’s night.
It had the taste of clover honey with a grain of salt and a hint of ginger.
It had the aroma of frankincense, the weight of gold, and the electric feel of lightning nearby.
Yes, all five senses were filled, and senses of which Joseph had no knowledge also delighted and danced, reeled and laughed, as if in intoxicated delight.
There was no consciousness of self. There was only the note, which Joseph realized that he also sang, a note in praise of the Creator of all things, the source that was in all, beneath all, and above all.
Joseph woke suddenly from sleep, sitting upright with a gasp as he struggled for breath. His heart beat wildly. Every pore was drenched with sweat. His muscles ached as if he had labored without stop for a week.
He felt as though he were still in that presence, in that part of a moment that had occurred at the end of his dream.
He heard every blade of grass that rustled in the wind.
He saw his surroundings in the dark of night as if it were day.
He tasted the north wind, smelled the starlight, and felt the substance of the air.
Closing his eyes, he savored it all as his senses gradually returned to the level apportioned in their present environment.
Later, if Joseph had not been told that the experience was to be for only the briefest part of a second, he would have sworn that he had lived a lifetime, seen and felt it from beginning to end. Perhaps, even, there had been no beginning or ending, but that the brief instant was an eternity, time without beginning, time without ending, and that even now he still existed in that note of praise.
A call by a boatman to the shore pierced the darkness of the river, cutting through his thoughts, as well.
An answer came back across the water, and disappeared into the darkness.
The movement of oars sent sparkles of sound across the silent current of the Nile.
Joseph returned to the microcosm that is this world.
Memphis
Dawn was near. He could not return to sleep. He walked to the edge of the river, sitting on a stone made precisely for just such a study of the dark water at sunrise. Here he remained until the others were stirring and prepared to continue the journey.
They launched out onto the water.
People were more abundant, both on the river and on the land. The river was now crowded with fishing vessels as Fayed maneuvered his boat southward.
The majority of the craft were small and light. Like their colorless homes alongside the housing of the wealthy, their boats were but the minimally functional equivalent of the cargo ships and pleasure boats sharing their waters.
With some pride in his own vessel, Fayed said the boats of the poor were made of reeds bound with papyrus and patched with pitch to seal them. “My boat, of course, is solid wood,” he boasted.
Larger wooden vessels carrying goods moved in both directions. Some were very low in the water, heavy laden with products just bought or to be sold, requiring crews of up to a dozen or more.
These dwarfed Fayed’s boat as they glided past on the shoulders of the current as they moved north, or on the wings of the air bearing them south. Emphasizing that nature did not move quickly enough, impatient rowers pushed the large vessels faster toward their destinations. Some of these large vessels even had adjustable sails, not fixed, so they could catch the wind from more than one direction.
By the time their boat reached its docking point in Memphis, Joseph felt overwhelmed by the presence of so many people.
Boats pressed closely all around them. The cacophony of sounds from people on the river and on the shore rolled over the boat like an oppressive storm. The largest flock of sheep being stampeded by wolves in a thunderstorm might not be as noisome!
Joseph watched Fayed’s older son at the tiller as he calmly maneuvered between other boats to fit into what appeared to be a landing too small for their size. The sail was now down, momentum moving them forward.
The younger son still stood at the bow, but now he handled an oar, sometimes as a paddle in the water, later as a pole to push off the shallow bottom.
With perfect timing, he jumped from the bow as it stretched over the low landing area, holding a rope with which he helped make slight final adjustments in direction. This rope also served to tie the craft to a pole fixed solidly near the water’s edge.
Joseph did not feel eager to leave the now familiar boat, an island of order, and fall into the chaotic crowd.
Sellers of everything from sweets to donkeys crowded the walkway at the water’s edge, making offers for the goods they sold, crying that their wares were vital, indispensable for the new arrivals here in the city.
Fayed waved them off as he disembarked, telling Joseph to ignore them and follow his lead. The rest of his family knew their roles. They prepared to unload while Teyma guided Joseph along the shore, speaking only in Egyptian.
“This afternoon, you will meet some people. Some you may not see again. Others may become your best friends. One cannot tell what the future holds, so we prepare for as many futures as there may be.”
They turned down a narrow street lined with shops. Goods often spilled through open doors onto the ground or shelves set against the building, inviting passersby to see and examine, to touch and feel the wares.
Teyma pointed above the store and Joseph realized that a living area rested over the first floor shop. A man need rarely leave his building, for it was both home and place of work. Joseph marveled at the unnatural life such a man would lead, surrounded by walls and the sky above hidden.
The smell of food drew Joseph, but Teyma urged him forward to an open square. The midday sun was brighter as they passed out of the shadows of the narrow streets, but the open area seemed almost equally crowded.
Joseph could not read the Egyptian sign above the door, but the clothing displays hanging inside spoke the meaning. Teyma talked with a man whom he introduced as Ti, the owner. Joseph followed the Egyptian speech pretty well as Teyma described what he needed for Joseph.
Talia’s cloak was serviceable, but the rest of Joseph’s clothing looked as if he had just come from the fields. A linen tunic, bright in whiteness and lighter than Joseph’s coarser flax garment, gave the young shepherd an air of belonging in the urban throng.
A pair of sandals replacing his worn ones and a red kerchief, similar to the one on Teyma’s head (but darker red since it lacked the fading that came with time), completed his new wardrobe. An outer garment, similar to Talia’s but rougher, was to be for his work, while Talia’s garment would be reserved for the days of celebration and city visits such as today’s.
After terms of the sale had been discussed, Teyma told Joseph to visit with the shopkeeper while he returned to the boat to get the spices that were the payment.
Joseph practiced his Egyptian on the man as he asked questions about the city. Something that had aroused his curiosity was that only foreigners had beards while the Egyptians were clean shaven. He asked the reason.
The man laughed at his question. “Egyptians are fastidious about cleanliness and a daily shave is expected, as well as a bath. And lice in hair can be a problem. Yes, we take great pride in appearance and cleanliness. This is only one of the reasons we are not respectful of the easterners who cross our borders.”
The man’s smile faltered for a moment as he realized his gaffe and added, “I mean you no offense, of course.”
The man’s near apology seemed sincere, although implicit in his speech was the clear superiority of Egyptians over foreigners.
The statement bore no hostility, only truth from the Egyptian’s perspective. He probably was not even aware that his prejudice was rooted more in culture than in fact.
Since Teyma was their mutual friend, the Egyptian engaged enthusiastically in conversation regardless of Joseph’s origin, explaining the daily regimen of cleanliness for the Egyptian man.
Joseph replied politely in his best Egyptian, “Of course.”
Perhaps sensing he may have been somewhat rude to Joseph concerning Egyptians versus the Semites from the east, the man complimented Joseph’s coat. “That is a nice looking yellow daffodil on the front and, let’s see the back again. Oh yes, and the red poppy on the back. Very nice.”
Joseph accepted the compliment without revealing the man’s error in identifying the flowers.
As Teyma had suggested, most people do not really pay attention, seeing only what they expect to see and are ready to believe. The flower was red, therefore it was a poppy; Joseph was from the east, therefore he was dirty and infested.
Teyma returned with several small bags of spices as payment and they parted with Ti amicably.
They next stopped at a building on the edges of this district of shops. The front room was a shop with pottery, but the main attractions were the bronze items, including jewelry and statues of Egyptian gods, the best of which were artfully displayed in the second room. Teyma and the man talked about their experiences, in general, and his mentor was mindful to bring Joseph into the discussion often.
As they left, Teyma remarked to Joseph that this was a good man to know if you needed something made from bronze. Joseph shuddered as he pictured again the bronze statue made in Joseph’s image from his “dream.”
They talked briefly with several other people in the area, the visits very similar to those just experienced. By the end of the afternoon, Joseph had a mental list of men and their trades, along with some knowledge of this small part of the riverside city.
A final visit was to a man who cut hair. He also shaved men’s beards, but the necessity for removing a beard like Joseph’s was rare since all but the poorest Egyptians shaved themselves, and the poor could not afford the cost of a barber.
Teyma urged Joseph toward the man. “You are becoming an Egyptian in speech and clothing. Your face must also become Egyptian.”
Joseph sat on the mat on the wooden seat indicated. The barber proceeded to wash Joseph’s face and then to remove the slight beard, using what Joseph would have called a very small bronze hatchet. The edge was quite sharp, however, and the feel of the blade removing his whiskers was not altogether unpleasant.
Teyma said they would forgo shaving the hair from Joseph’s head for the moment.
Teyma had spoken with the man during the shave and now traded something Joseph could not see. The man gave Joseph a razor (this was only a bronze piece like a flint knife), and a flat piece of bronze so that Joseph could see himself as he shaved.
“Your first impression is important. I will leave it between you and Potiphar for anything beyond the obvious need for shaving your beard.”
Joseph summarized his thoughts on what he had just experienced to Teyma: “As a man with a beard (small though it was), I easily had been identifiable as a ‘barbarian,’ a dirty and uncouth easterner. Now I can pass for a ‘civilized’ man, all with a few strokes from a razor. How thin the line of our thinking!”
“Yes,” laughed Teyma. “Reality plays a secondary role to our ideas on a subject!”
As they walked, Teyma pointed toward men involved in a transaction across the street.
“I am sure you have noticed the men with scales, carefully weighing. Some transactions require this. And you also see the scribes who record the information for their masters.
“Writing is a very beneficial tool in the city, Joseph. You will do well to add this to your skills. Do you know numbers?”
“Numbers I do know. A shepherd must know how many sheep there are, how many lambs should be added after the spring lambing, how much weight in wool will fetch so much in trade, and such. Yes, the shepherd has good uses for numbers, but for writing I have had no need.”
“A tent has served you well, but you will learn the benefit of a place to sleep that is already set up and always in one place. You will see the value of writing in time, as well.”
The Temple
The day was not yet done. Teyma had one more place to show Joseph.
“We will make the short walk to the Temple of Ptah.
“There are three main gods in Egypt. There is the great god, Amun, who rules over all. And there is the sun god, Ra, the sustainer of life. And the third great god is Ptah, who conceived the world with his thought and with his tongue.”
Joseph could see the temple not far ahead of them. When they walked through its gates, he could see that this was like a city within walls.
There was the temple, of course. A magnificent structure with columns and arches, doorways and sculptures.
And there were a multitude of buildings surrounding the temple, like the houses/shops of the artisans and craftsmen surrounding the houses of the wealthy.
Indeed, Ptah appeared to be a rich god!
As if reading his thoughts, Teyma said, “There are many needs of the priesthood, and they have great wealth. They barter with the harvest of the crops and herds on their lands, but they also use coins. I find they are a good source for the money that makes some relationships run more smoothly. I confess there are times when nothing but a gold or silver or copper coin will do.”
Teyma guided Joseph toward the housing of the priests. Although the priests served only one month of four, rotating from their private lives of three months for one month of public service, there were also some men other than the high priest who remained full time at the temple.
They could see that the overseer of the priests was involved in a conversation with several of the priests. Teyma motioned for Joseph to wait until the conversation was ended, but the overseer saw him and waved for Teyma to come forward.
The overseer still was speaking as they drew near.
“Until the high priest establishes the temple guard, you men will fulfill the duties that we have discussed. Disperse to your regular duties until you are called to this service.”
The men took their leave.
“What have you brought us today, Teyma?” The overseer looked expectantly at Teyma before casting his eye upon Joseph.
Teyma pulled a small package from beneath his overcoat. “Alas, I pass through Memphis on other business, but I could not neglect my friend. This is a small token for you until I return later in the year with goods worthy of the Temple of Ptah.”
The overseer accepted the package, opening it with some anticipation. “Thank you, Teyma! Ah, you remember my love of cinnamon! It is a gift of the gods, indeed.”
“You are welcome. I bring my young friend, Joseph. He has never seen the Temple of Ptah, and it is time that he should be enlightened.”
“Yes, he should. We get few visitors who are not seeking prayers for some reason, or services for one who has died. Everyone is content to let us pray for the people and perform the services for the gods, but few come to appreciate what we do.”
The man seemed genuinely pleased to give a tour of the temple. He described the life of the typical priest, working to help the gods restore the sun to the heavens each morning, and the tasks all through the day and into the night that ensure the continued ma’at, harmony in Egypt.
And there were the fields of crops and the herds in their pastures, along with all of the workers who kept the supplies of food and water and manual labor readily available.
Joseph could not help but be aware of the sharp contrast between Egypt and Canaan in the sphere of worship. Although his father had led the sacrifices and prayers, every person in the camp partook in the worship of God. Joseph always had felt this was to be personal, not a second hand relationship experienced vicariously through another person.
If Joseph experienced Memphis as a foreigner, he realized that his understanding of God and of man’s relationship with God were even more foreign to Egyptian ways.
Something held back his speech. Stunned silence may have been a blessing so that he did not antagonize a friend of Teyma’s when such action would do no good.
They made their way back to the boat where Fayed and his sons were preparing for the return trip. The boatmen had traded for the few items unavailable to them in the delta and were prepared to leave. Home was their next port.
They bid their farewells and watched as the boat pushed out into the current moving slowly northward.
Petra, Talia, Kedar, and Miriam had already gone to a prearranged place to prepare camp for the night. Teyma outlined the plan for the following day as they walked toward his family.
“Tomorrow, we will leave for the king’s palace. The distance is only a few hours’ walk. Captain Potiphar handles the king’s affairs. The Residence and land require a large staff, and the captain oversees much of the detail of all that belongs to the king – farms, herds, servants.
“You will find King Senusret II is true to his name, a 'man of power.' His father was King Amenemhat II, who died only recently. That name places great emphasis on the god Amun as the greatest of all gods. Amenemhat means, ‘Amun is foremost.’ They do have one god over all, but sometimes this is hard to see in their practices.
“King Senusret’s city is Amenemhat-Itj-tawy. It means ‘Amenemhat - the Seizer of the Two Lands’. The ‘two lands’ are upper and lower Egypt,” Teyma translated. “The city is known simply as Itj-tawy.”
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“Teyma, you know of the one true God, and yet you speak easily of these Egyptian gods as if they have a place in God’s world.”
Teyma was silent for a moment before responding.
“Yes, I have been called a doubter, even an unbeliever. But this is most untrue, because I believe so intently that truth is larger than we can know.”
“When you meet a man who knows of no gods, who is innocent in his lack of belief, instruction of the one true God is our duty and privilege.
“When a man has held a belief in other gods for his whole life, the task is more difficult.
“Consider my understanding of Abraham and your understanding of Abraham. There is little doubt that what has been told to me as a son of Ishmael varies somewhat from what has been told to you as a son of Isaac.
“But let me put the question in another context.
“If you were told by someone that there was a different way to shepherd your flock, and they described something which seemed at odds with all you have been taught and learned, what would be your first reaction?”
“I might learn some small things that are new and useful, but I cannot imagine there was much of substance that would be better.”
“No, of course not. Your ways have served you and your family for generations. To throw out all you have learned and to adopt new ways would be difficult, almost impossible. To do so would be to say that you had been wrong all these years, fooled by the generations before you who have given you bad information.
“There is a saying: ‘It is easier to fool a man than to convince him that he has been fooled.’
“Do you understand what I am saying?”
Joseph nodded. “I think so. But then how do you teach people a new thing?”
“There is no better way than to show them. Words do not travel very far, but actions of character convey what mere words cannot.”
The answer did not seem satisfactory. In Joseph’s mind, the only way to maintain order was to set crooked things straight. How could Teyma simply stand beside idolatry and not call it by name?
Joseph remembered telling the traveling merchants the meaning of their dreams and asking for their idols as payment. By using the gift that God had given him, interpretation of dreams, Joseph had demonstrated a higher power. These men knew of the God of Abraham, and their resistance to evil had not been strong. Joseph’s actions had served as a reminder.
Of course, he had known of the one true God, also, and he had been blind to his own evil toward his brothers. And yet the idolatry seemed worse evil somehow, that is, if there were degrees of evil.
Silence did not seem appropriate here, but Joseph could not think of an effective way to make his argument other than logic, and he knew that logic was not necessarily the best tactic with Teyma.
Joseph thought of his hesitancy to question the priest, to assert God’s existence. Then he realized that perhaps Teyma was right: a word spoken when asked would do more than a speech delivered to one who will not hear.
A few moments later, Teyma said, “I have spoken to one of the king’s couriers. They arrive and leave daily. He will alert Captain Potiphar of our expected arrival.”
For someone who always wanted to know answers, there had been a great deal of information, but still not answers to the questions he wanted to ask. Joseph started with those that were of most concern to him.
“What is Captain Potiphar like?”
“He is a fair man, very straightforward. He has high expectations of his people. Like anyone who depends on other people, he must oversee, always leading, prodding where necessary.”
Now looking at Joseph as they drew near their campsite, Teyma added, “We will see if perhaps your skills will be of value to him, and the position with him of value to you.”
“And what will he want me to do for him?”
Teyma showed some exasperation before laughing loudly. “Looking for answers to be handed to you again! That is for you to discover!”
By now they had joined the others of their caravan. Dinner was prepared and the evening was soon like those Joseph had experienced on the way from Canaan, a meal in a family setting.
Joseph slept well, but he again dreamed of his brothers here in Egypt. As in the previous dreams, they were obedient to him, but the events that brought them under his charge were not clear.
Joseph suspected he was beginning to understand the word “patience.” He was not eager to broadcast this dream of his brothers waiting ahead for him or to rush its reality, but was content to wait for its fulfillment.
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