“My lord, look over there!” The captain shouted in surprise.
It turns out that an Egyptian shepherd was leading his herd of cattle to graze on the bank when a lurking crocodile almost bit his calf. Panicked, the herdsman stepped forward to scare the crocodile away. But as the crocodile wasn't a big one, he tried to hunt it down by having his dogs chase the crocodile to prevent it from escaping back into the river, while he, armed with a wooden stick, cautiously attacked the crocodile…
The thrilling sight soon attracted the passing papyrus boat and the nearby farmers, who gathered around with pickaxes to watch the excitement while the others shouted, “Hey, do you need my help?! But share some for me once you kill the crocodile!”
Amid their busy and tedious work, farmers would rarely have this moment of leisure…
By midday, they were passing through a town called Naucratis.
This is an Egyptian city with close ties to the Greeks.
Over two hundred years ago, the Egyptians won their independence by overthrowing Assyrian rule with the help of Greek mercenaries from Ionia and Caria. So Pharaoh Psammetichus accepted these brave Greeks, built the fortress of Daphnae in the eastern part of the Nile Delta to house the Greek soldiers, and decreed that he would open Egypt's trade to the outside world and that Greeks would be allowed to live in Egypt permanently.
Once the Milesians built a processing workshop on the banks of the Kanobikos river, the Greeks continuously arrived, resulting in a Greek town called Naucratis gradually emerging around this area.
So for a long time, this colonial city became a common port for all Greek merchants, even under the current Persian rule. Alkibiades had also traded here before.
Seeing people dressed in familiar Greek garb in the port area made Ansitanos feel close to home, but his ship didn't stop there as it sailed onward.
Finally, at dusk, the ship passed through the Nile Delta and entered the wider Nile. By this time, the sky was already dark, and the captain, unfamiliar with the river and afraid to move forward, had anchored on the bank and hired a towpath puller.
Ansitanos and his men spent the night on the ship, listening to the Nile and the unusual sounds made by animals on the bank or in the river – a strange experience for a young man, but for Ansitanos, who was already in his fifties, it was torture. The mosquito bites, in particular, caused him so much suffering that he could only fall asleep late at night from exhaustion.
The next day, he reluctantly pulled himself together and moved on.
A few hours later, the ship passed through the ancient town of Giza.
As Ansitanos looked to the west bank, he could vaguely make out the outline of the great pyramids on the Giza plateau, which finally lifted his spirits.
At noon, the passenger ship finally entered Memphis, the capital of Egypt.
On the Nile near Memphis were many boats, but there were lesser delicate papyrus boats and more narrow wooden boats with pointed ends, canopies in the middle, and numerous oars ranging from a few metres to tens of metres. And, of course, he could occasionally see large and spacious passenger ships.
On the ship, Ansitanos marvelled at the nearly fifteen metres high outer wall of Memphis, which meant that there were no visible buildings from outside the city other than the towering obelisk and the palace in the centre of the city.
Since the Kanobikos' checkpoint reported their arrival in advance to the pharaoh, the Theonian passenger ship was allowed to enter the dock inside the city.
‘This is a good omen!’ Ansitanos thought.
As soon as Ansitanos landed at the dock, a carriage was already waiting for them on the shore.
Once inside, the carriage immediately galloped off in the direction of the palace.
The inner city was the gathering place for prominent Egyptian officials, high priests of the various temples, wealthy nobles and royal family members. Along the way, he could see magnificent temples, luxurious official residences and mansions, all of which illustrate the grandeur and luxury of the ancient capital.
The carriage drove along the broad, straight road, which, according to Ansitanos' vision, was wide enough for more than ten chariots to pass side by side. Then at the end of the road lay a taller wall, the Palace of Egypt.
As he passed through the majestic palace gate, Ansitanos roughly estimated the walls to be more than ten metres thick, showing the Pharaoh's concern for his safety.
Further along the road, Ansitanos saw dozens of towering golden statues on either side of the road, each about twenty metres high. Although they had human bodies, they had animal heads. Ansitanos knew these statues were supposed to be the deities worshipped by the Egyptians.
At the end of these statues stood a magnificent palace, which made Ansitanos feel small as soon as he got out of the carriage and stood in front of the stairs.
At the top of the hundred steps, and on either side of the main entrance to the palace, is a massive statue of a white sheep, lying down with its eyes open, looking down at the visitors, making the centre of Egypt less solemn and mysterious, but also more elegant and peaceful.
Then an official, with a group of muscular guards, stepped down the stairs and said, “O envoy of the kingdom of Theonia, the great Pharaoh is waiting for you in the hall. Please follow me to meet him!”
Ansitanos returned the greeting and showed his hand to the guards, who checked if he was carrying any weapons.
Ansitanos then stepped onto the stairs, walked through the massive rows of columns that required four people to hug them, and entered the great hall.
The four extremely flat walls are finished with smooth plaster and painted with colourful floral motifs. The smooth marble floor is decorated with vibrant lotus flowers, aquatic plants, birds and animals as if they were in the middle of nature. And the hall is beautifully decorated with various exquisite gold and silver objects.
And the Pharaoh Nectanebo sat on the throne.
The Pharaoh, a former general, was tall, muscular and dark-skinned and usually preferred to wear the simple yet elegant red-striped nemes headdress, a symbol of his status as Pharaoh. However, given the importance he attached to the meeting, Nectanebo wore the most orthodox red and white nemes, symbolising the unity of two powers, and the Uraeus (an Egyptian cobra) made of gold, which adorned his nemes. He also wears a false beard and holds the symbol of power in his right hand.
To his left sat the queen, wearing the Nekhbet headdress, the wings pressing down on her straight black hair, causing her long hair to hang in front of her chest. She also wore an expensive corset and a beautiful kalasiris that made her look elegant.
Although Ansitanos had heard from his sources that Egyptian women of high social status, especially the queen, were also involved in state affairs, he was still surprised to see a woman appearing at a major state occasion for the first time today. But what he didn't know was that the only reason Pharaoh Nectanebo allowed the queen to make frequent appearances at state matters was to elevate her status, as she was not of royal blood, and thus secure his and his family's rule.
On either side of the hall stood many ministers and generals looking curiously at Ansitanos as he entered.
Ansitanos stood calmly before the throne and gave his greetings. As a Greek scholar who studied historical sources from all over the world, Ansinatos, in his youth, had bought Egyptian slaves specifically to learn the Egyptian script and language. Thus he said aloud in fluent Egyptian, “O Venerable King of Upper and Lower Egypt, I bring you the friendly greetings of King Davos of the Kingdom of Theonia, along with a generous gift to express his sincere congratulations! Congratulations on being chosen by the god Amun to be the ruler of Egypt!”
As soon as Ansitanos said this, the minister closest to the Pharaoh approached the Pharaoh to whisper a few words.
Pharaoh Nectanebo felt great satisfaction when he heard that Theonia's gifts included a considerable quantity of spears, matching swords, shields, armour, and even a few triremes docked at the mouth of the river…after all, Egypt has plenty of food, gold, silver and jewellery but lacks quality weapons and elite soldiers.
So he said, with a smile on his face, “Many thanks to King Davos of the West for his heartfelt blessing and generous gift! Though Egypt and Theonia are far apart, I have often heard of the glory of the kingdom of Theonia and the bravery of King Davos, so I am pleased to accept the greeting of the king, who also has the noble blood of the gods in him*! So it is with great pleasure that I welcome you, the envoy of Theonia!” (The Egyptians consider the Pharaoh to be the embodiment of the gods, with the Pharaoh often publicly proclaiming himself to be the son of Ra.)
Pharaoh Nectanebo then stood up and extended his left hand in a welcome gesture.
What he said wasn't just to act polite since he actually knew something about the kingdom of Theonia. Although Egypt was the most closed and old-fashioned of these city-states and kingdoms on the Mediterranean coast, preferring to tend the land rather than sail their ships for trade, resulting in many Egyptian officials being unaware of the addition of a Theonian kingdom in the Mediterranean to this day, Pharaoh Nectanebo was different from them. Before he became Pharaoh, he had spent many years in the city of Sais. And since the city of Sais was not far from the city of Naucratis, he'd heard many of the mysterious rumours about the kingdom of Theonia spread by the Greek merchants who came to trade in Naucratis.
“Venerable Pharaoh!” Ansitanos continued Nectanebo's words, “Theonia and Egypt may be far apart, but that is precisely why there has never been a conflict of interest between our two kingdoms. On the contrary, this would allow us to compensate for our shortcomings, so King Davos wishes Theonia to establish a more friendly relationship with the kingdom you rule, Pharaoh!”
