It's all Happened - April 10th, 2050BCE


Yes, you read right. IT'S ALL HAPPENED.

• My parents have came home. I have put this at the top because it is the best news of all. I thought it might be hard to get used to because it has been so long since we have been all together, but it has been perfect every second. Thank-you gods!


• I figured out a use for the water! Everyone around has thanked me, and even the Pharaoh himself. This is the reason my parents have came home, because of what I did. I dug a long trench from the Nile to my house, and so the overflowing water ran down, and I could water the crops and drink. I called it Irrigation. Once other people had seen what I was doing, they all started doing it too! Everyone!

It made me so happy to find a solution to this. But I am most of all happy that my family is all together again.

I think that Egyptians from this time period will always be remembered. We will be remembered for our detailed religion and afterlife, our clever ways of farming, using natural resources to build houses, mummification, tombs, and much much more! But most of all - our good looks!

• And one more thing that happened - Amun is walking!

Life. Is. Good.

Asenath

Thank-you Sobek - March 31st, 2050BCE


I think that these past few weeks everyone has been praying a lot more to Sobek than they usually do. Sobek is the god of water, with the head of a Crocodile. Overnight last night, he must have worked his magic and made the water come. Well, the Nile water didn't just come, it is overflowing!

But the sad thing is, the water that is overflowing is going into the ground, but going into the weeds and being wasted. People could be drinking this water, and using it on their crops. I wish there was something we could do about it, to save the water.

I will keep thinking though. I will not give up. I wonder what other people are thinking about it?

My mother hasn't been teaching me as much as she has recently, it is back to maths, religion, cleaning and cooking. But I am glad kind of it's back to the usual.

I am also glad because finally my parents will be coming home soon! They have almost got enough money to pay back the government, and we will all live together again! I am a bit nervous too, it has been so long since we have all lived together, it will take a bit of getting used too.

Asenath

Oh No - March 5th, 2050BCE

The Nile River when it was full - source.

Oh no. There is a drought here in Egypt. The Pharaoh must be really worried. If he isn't, he should be. All the people are so thirsty, and animals are dying everywhere. There are alot of people without eyelashes, their cats must have died... Ours did a few years back, and my eyelashes have taken a while to grow back.

Anyways (I always get sidetracked), I have to find water for Amun somewhere, soon. And for our crops. If I do not water our food, me and Amun will not have any food at all, and will die.

I went to my mother again a few nights ago, and she taught me some useful recipes to make with the crops I am growing. It is really hard to make recipes without actual ingredients, and just imagining while sitting on the ground.


She also taught me the complete process of mummification. It is a lot more detailed and intricate than I imagined, but I guess most things are not what you imagine. Here are the steps...

1 - Get a Jackal mask to dress up as the god Anubis. Memorise the spells and chants from the book of the dead, and repeat them over and over while doing the process.

2 - Wash the body with water, or palm wine.

3 - You grab a long hook, and push it up through the left nostril. Grab onto the brain and pull it around and jab at the brain to loosen it. Turn the body over and let the brain run into a bowl. Throw it away.

4 - Cut the left side of the stomach open. Take out the liver, lungs, intestines and stomach. Do not remove the heart.

5 - Put natron on all of the internal organs to absorb all the moisture. Then rub them with oils and resin, then wrap them in linen bandages. Place each organ into a separate cynoptic jar. Make sure you put each organ into the right jar.

6 - Cover the body in natron, and leave it for 40 days to dry. Then once 40 days is up, rub the body with oils and ointments. Put perfumed linen into the stomach cavity and sew up the opening.

7 - Put the magic charm over the stomach wound and a scarab over the heart. Wrap the entire body with linen bandages dipped in gum. Wrap each part separately. Place amulets such as ankhs in the bandages, too. The dead persons soul will use these in the journey to the kingdom of Osiris.

8 - Put a mask made of linen and glue over the body's head and shoulders. If there is time, paint or cover it with gold leaf. Next place a panel across the top part of the body, decorated with protective symbols and drawings.

9 - Place the completed mummy in a coffin that is shaped as a body. Make sure the coffin has been decorated with jewels, paintings and inscriptions of spells. Also make sure that the painting on the coffin resembles the dead body inside.

10 - Tell all the relatives the body is complete and is ready for burial. Get your Chief Priest to accompany the funeral procession to the tomb so that he can conduct the ceremony to open the mummy's mouth. The persons soul needs to talk in the afterlife.


- - - - - - - - - - - - -

My arm is soooo sore now. But I am glad I wrote this down, you never now when it may come in handy! And it also distracted me from my extreme thirst, I wish that the drought would be over soon.

Asenath

Egyptian Society - February 22nd, 2050BCE

Remember how I said my mother taught me about how our Society in Egypt is running and how it works? Every time I see her she teaches me more and more. While we talk about it, she has also been teaching me to make things, such as clothes, cleaning cloths and more. 

Anyway (I am being sidetracked), back to the society. I knew most of the basics, but now I know everything in detail. 

The whole universe is ruled by our Pharaoh, who is currently Mentuhopet of Thebes. Nobody calls the pharaoh by his real name, though. It would be very disrespectful. Instead we call him Pharaoh, meaning Great House. She says that he demands very high taxes, which is unlucky for everyone. The Pharaoh is the son of Re, the sun god, who rises every morning to watch over us. Because of this, he has very big responsibilities. He has to make sure that there was enough food and water for everyone, that the gods look kindly upon all of the people, that the country can defend themselves against anyone, truth (ma'at) was worshipped by everyone, and much more which even my mum wouldn't know!


The reason that ma'at is such a great god is because he is everything our society is about. He means justice, truth, order and balance. I think that he is why our society is the way it is, and he keeps it balanced and functioning. If we do not obey everything he says, we will not have an afterlife. (or just have extremely bad luck, and not be happy there). He is so great because he is the reason that I was born free, and why my parents can be let go from slavery once they pay back the government.

Another great thing is that men and women are equal in most things. Both men and women can own land and property, and sell it. They can both decide to have a divorce, and if they do, the man still has to provide for his ex wife (score!).  The people underneath the gods and Pharaoh is the Priests, Army, Scribes, Public Service Senior Officials, and then there are Slaves and Public Service Junior Officials. 

So basically, from what my mother told me, Pharaoh controls everything in Egypt and keeps everything going well, but everything he does must be approved by the gods.

I am learning a lot from my mum, I guess you can learn a lot from living in a palace! 

Asenath

More about Slavery - February 1st, 2050BCE

Tonight while I was having my weekly lesson with my mother, she taught me about something completely new, not just bible and boring maths. She taught me all about the way our society is ruled, and the rights of people. And from this, I learned a lot about how my parents have to run their everyday lives. It has made me feel a lot of sadness for them, and I am pray every night to Bastet to protect me and them. (And also to Anubis, to let me still get to the afterlife, because I sneak into the palace once a week).


First I will tell you how my parents live their everyday lives. When they wake up before the sun has risen, they get fed little food, mainly bread and water, and then are made to go and get everything ready for the Pharaoh to wake up. This includes lying out his clothes for him and his family, cleaning up their rooms, and having breakfast ready on a tray for when they awaken.

Once the people in the palace have woken up, they are sent to the kitchen to clean and wash up the dishes among other slaves. Through the day the bring meals and wait on the people in the palace, make beds, dust, simple jobs like that.


Even though this is a lot of work for them, they do their job very well, and try their hardest to please the Pharaoh.

I am so glad that in Egypt, when your parents are slaves, their children don't have to become slaves too, and are born free. This is also some part of what my mum taught to me tonight. But I will tell you about that when I get a chance next, I am so tired I could fall asleep right now. And I have a lot of information to sink in, too. Until next time,

Asenath

Greetings - January 21st, 2050BC


Hello everyone. Well, I guess I should start off by introducing myself. My name is Asenath, daughter of Aapep. I am 13 years old. I am living in Egypt, and it is the year 2050 BCE - Middle Kingdom.

My parents are both slaves to the Egyptian Pharaoh, Mentuhotep of Thebes. My fathers father stole something from the Pharaohs temple (no one will tell me what, hmmph) and so my dad had to become a slave, too, because there was no one around to look after him - he has been a slave most of his life. And the only way my mother could marry my dad is if she became a slave too. I have no idea why she did, though. I would never want to be a slave though, not even for that. She said I would understand in a year or two, yuuuck.


Because both my parents are slaves, I have to take care of my younger brother, Amun all the time. My parents cannot teach me anything about becoming an adult in the daytime, so once a week on their day off, I have to sneak into the palace with Amun at nighttime and my mother teaches me about many things. Sometimes it's cooking, sometimes cleaning, but most of the time maths and religion. She has taught me about many gods who will always look after me while I am out on my own, and special god for women. One god is called Bastet for protection. My mother said that Bastet will also guide me in the future, ready to have a family. Bastet has the head of a cat. I am sometimes scared about sneaking into the palace at night, wondering whether or not it is good of me and if the gods will be unhappy about this, but mother says that I have too, and I guess she is right.

Where do I live? Well, me and Amun live in a small house my father used to live in with his father before, well, they became slaves. It is a small mud house in the forest right near the Nile River, so I can easily sneak down and get enough water to last us at about a week at a time. People have seen the house and know I am there, but they do not really seem to mind much. I am glad about that.

Well, there you have it - thats a bit more about me. I have to go, Amun is crying. Again.

Asenath
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