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My Meandering Mind Stops by Ancient Egypt
Earlier this month, when I finished the novel The Eloquent Scribe, by T. Lee Harris, my meandering mind was full of all things Egypt. First of all, the real protagonist in the book is not the young scribe, Sitehuti (who is an engaging youngster), but the Sacred Temple Cat who “adopts” him. Nefer-Djenou-Bastet helps Sitehuti out of a potentially rough spot, and then becomes his constant companion through the rest of the book. Being a Cat Lady, I thought about an actual cat breed, called the Egyptian Mau, that I had heard of but never bothered with. In the book, the author describes “Neffi” (the nickname for the cat, that Sitehuti uses from the very beginning) as being regal, and spotted. So the first thing I did was search for a picture of an Egyptian Mau cat, and found several. They are actually spotted, and very beautiful (and very expensive-kittens can cost $2,500). They come in at least three colors, silver, bronze, and black. I expect that Neffi looked somewhat like this.
My meandering mind then went back to my youth, when I became interested in ancient Egypt, perhaps around the time that King Tutankhamen’s tomb was in the news. I remember reading a book about the expedition, led by Howard Carter, that discovered the tomb and enjoying the history. With all the colorful characters and exotic doings, ancient Egypt is attractive. And, being Jewish, my people who were slaves in Egypt, gives me a tenuous, but real, connection. If I am not mistaken, the Pharaoh who enslaved the Jews was Ramesses II, the exact Pharaoh in The Eloquent Scribe!
Egypt also figures in a series of novels about the Arthurian legend, written by Jack Whyte. The Camulod Chronicles describes Arthur’s near ancestors, who were Roman Britons, and tells his story in a most interesting manner. In one of the later books, his guardian, Caius Merlyn Britannicus (thus, Merlin), meets up with a pair of Egyptians, described as Wizards, who carry with them a chest filled with many obscure, unknown materials. The wizards are intent on murdering Arthur, but Merlyn gets in the way, and takes the chest, and kills both evil wizards. Much later, he gets a chance to go through all the materials in the chest, and many prove deadly.
Meandering Mind then remembers another Egyptian wizard connection, in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Over the summer between Harry’s second and third years at Hogwarts, the Weasley family wins a lottery and takes a trip to Egypt with their winnings. They are there to visit their son Bill, who is a “curse-breaker” for Gringott’s, the Wizarding bank. They have a great time there, learning about Egyptian wizards in their travels visiting various tombs. In a letter to Harry, Hermione Granger states that “the Egyptian wizards were fascinating”, and she makes changes to her homework in light of what she has learned over the summer.
Meandering Mind returns home, still interested in ancient Egypt. If any Ricochetti have favorite literature about ancient Egypt, I’d love to hear what is out there, since I want to read more about Egypt. What would you suggest I challenge Meandering Mind with next?
Published in Group Writing
1922?
You could try finding something about Napoleon in Egypt.
A large collection of the contents of the tomb toured in the US. I saw it at the Field Museum in 1977.
Or the US tour of some of his grave artifacts in the late 70’s. That’s when I saw them at the Los Angelos Museum of Fine Art.
@rushbabe49 when I saw The pictures I thought you were going to launch into a article on Savanna cats. I always wanted to own a savanna, they’re illegal here in Georgia. Outstanding a magnificent animals though
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savannah_cat
The Tut’s Tomb exhibition was in Seattle too, around 1977, because I went with my (first) husband. Tickets were really expensive, but worth it. And I have never heard of a Savannah cat, but will follow your link.
Aha, I see why they are illegal in Georgia, since you have to find a Serval Cat to make the cross. Servals can be very aggressive, but they are very exotic-looking. Way back when, I went on a behind-the-scenes tour of the Cat House at the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, and the keeper told us about the Servals’ behavior.
RB, I hope you saw the series Early Edition, one of the main characters/stars was a cat.
Not as a recommendation for you, but I recall as a young teenager checking the book The Egyptian out of the library. It had some salacious parts that particularly piqued my interest at that age. This is from the entry at Amazon.com:
Speaking of King Tut, Steve Martin had a novelty hit, coinciding with the King Tut collection tour. Here he is, back with SNL was funny:
This closes out May’s theme, “May Day, Mayday, May Days.” Share your own journey, of the mind or otherwise. Stop by and sign up now for June’s theme: “Journeys.”
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The real King Tut was a frail, inbred, club-footed person. He died young, which was probably a blessing. The archaeologists of the 20th Century learned a great deal about him from X-rays of his mummy, and DNA samples. Here’s to modern technology!
I was always impressed by how well those two women dancers behind him did, considering how little time they probably had to practice and rehearse.
That is a beautiful cat. I like cats but am totally allergic to them. Years ago when I was living near Northgate I used to go to the laundromat on Sundays. One of those Sundays a guy walked by walking a cougar cub on a leash. I went out to take a look at it. It was quite young and really cute. Unexpectedly, I had the same allergic reaction to it that I have to domestic cats. I suspect that there is something common to all cats in their dander. I also suspect that that cub eventually ended up being given to a zoo or some rescue mission. Cougars are somewhat easier to keep than other large cats, but as adults they can be unpredictable and dangerous. A friend of mine who I taught with had one for many years in her house in Issaquah. One day when she went into the cat’s cage to feed it, it attacked her and nearly killed her. Sort of an object lesson in trying to domesticate a wild animal.
How about literature about Egyptologists? Dr. Barbara Mertz, an Egyptologist, wrote a long series of fictional accounts about turn-of-the (20th)-century Egyptologists, in which cats feature prominently. You’ve just given me a mental picture to use for their cats, thanks!
First book in the series is called Crocodile on the Sandbank.