Egypt

22

Now that the audience was over, Nakht could not contain his anxiety. He paced back and forth in the antechamber, trying to catch his breath, like a man who had just run a race and didn’t know whether or not he had won. The ambassador, too, was nervous.

‘I think that went very well. I think you did extremely well.’

‘But was it good enough?’ asked Nakht.

‘We shall see, we shall see. But the offer is there, on the table. It is a very fair offer. No one could mistake the integrity, or the value of it, for both sides,’ said the ambassador.

Nakht shook his head.

‘The Crown Prince, for one, is never going to be persuaded. He has another agenda. And there is an old admiration and appetite for war within both our cultures, which interprets peace as weakness…’

‘You are right about that. As for the Crown Prince, he will do everything and anything necessary to protect his inheritance of the throne, and the continuation of the war. He has the most to lose through a marriage alliance,’ agreed Hattusa.

But as we prepared to make our way out of the palace, the ambassador was suddenly accosted by a messenger, who whispered urgently to him.

‘We have been asked to attend an urgent meeting with the King’s brother, the Chief Steward,’ he explained. ‘Immediately.’

‘Excellent,’ said Nakht, rubbing his hands together. ‘The wheels are already in motion.’

We were swiftly escorted through the palace to a private apartment, where the Chief Steward was waiting, together with several other nobles from the audience.

‘We wish to discuss your proposal in more detail. We have some questions,’ he said quickly.

‘We note the absence of the Crown Prince from this meeting,’ replied Nakht.

‘This conversation is private. It has not happened. Nothing has been spoken. No scribe will make a record. Is that understood and agreed?’ said the Chief Steward.

Nakht inclined his head. I could tell he was pleased, and was feeling in control of the situation.

‘The King is disposed to consider your proposal further. At first this marriage seemed a sign of Egypt’s absurd desperation, and he would have dismissed it without thought, had not your speech contained other points of interest. But many questions remain. For instance, if we were to concede, and supply Egypt with the prince your Queen so obviously needs, how will the nobles of Egypt react to a Hittite prince on the throne? Surely he would be merely a puppet, and one could imagine his usefulness could easily be-outgrown. What would happen then?’

‘He would be welcomed for these reasons: firstly, he will take his place in the greatest dynasty Egypt has ever known. He will join a Queen who is admired and loved, and who commands the affection of all her subjects…’

The Chief Steward shook his head. ‘Let us be candid. Your Queen is desperate. She will soon have no husband. She has no child. She is confronted by an avaricious priesthood, and a rebellious army whose general has made no secret of his claim to the crowns. She is playing her last throw of the dice, and we are not so stupid as not to know this. That is why you are here.’

‘Of course, you are right,’ admitted Nakht, to my surprise, but then he continued: ‘But one must always seek a way to turn a crisis into a success, don’t you agree? I’m sure this is a general rule of politics here as well. You have a King whose recent marriage has caused great disagreement among his own family. The Princes are antagonized. Their mother has been banished. She, too, has her supporters. There is considerable dissent within the Hittite court about this. The mother of the Princes was extremely popular. In addition, your recent harvests have been poor. Your people are hungry, and your troops, when they return, will need to be paid and fed. All kings know they have to make difficult choices, especially when faced with internal dissent; usually, they organize a marriage, or find a useful war. Well, the war is no longer useful, and the marriage has only made things worse…’

The Chief Steward stared at him, then glanced at his colleagues, who conferred among themselves in their own language. Nakht waited calmly.

‘There may be room for a mutually beneficial solution to both of our internal political dilemmas. However, you get both domestic and international stability from this. What do we get?’

‘You get a Prince on the throne of your arch-enemy, Egypt, which you present publicly as a diplomatic triumph, tied up with an excellent new economic treaty. You get peace in the Levant, which means we negotiate a division of the existing minor powers, a fair share of the spoils, and a balance of power which will allow you to expand further to the east, as I understand is your intention, following your alliance with Babylon. You cancel at a stroke the justification for the Crown Prince’s belligerent attitude to foreign affairs, and you focus his youthful energies more wisely on other areas of concern,’ said Nakht confidently.

‘Such as?’

‘Freed from the vast burden of our wars, your armed forces can be settled along your domestic borders, where, I understand, they are needed imperatively. After all, they cannot be everywhere at once. Your local enemies must know this. I believe there have been a number of aggressive sorties and attacks recently…’ he added, for effect.

I could feel the negotiation going Nakht’s way, but the Chief Steward followed up swiftly.

‘Egypt and Hatti are the only two truly great empires in the world. But look at it from our point of view. Mittani we have conquered. Babylon we have conquered. Byblos, which is yours, has struggled and may fall. Ugarit is now loyal to us. Qadesh you have lost. Carchemish is ours. The game is in our favour. We hold more pieces than you.’

‘For now,’ conceded Nakht. ‘But Assyria remains a thorn in your side, and it will not rest until it has won Mittani. Arzawa is inclined to us. Alashiya will always remain our trading partner. But above all, you are almost entirely dependent on the import of Egyptian wheat. What would you do without it? One bad harvest, one harsh winter, and your people would starve. If you refuse us what we propose now, we might stop all grain trading in the future. You could not expect sympathy if General Horemheb were to take power in Egypt.’

Nakht watched as that sank in. He knew he had won that round. So he straightened his robes, and then introduced another subject.

‘And what of Aziru of Amurru?’ he continued.

‘He is loyal to Hatti,’ replied the Chief Steward awkwardly.

‘Be careful, brother. How can such a treacherous creature as Aziru be considered loyal? You are aware of his connection to the Army of Chaos? His alliance with you is false and unreliable, and yet you protect him-or at least your Crown Prince does. Dangerous petty tyrants like him create the conditions in which anarchy flourishes. Do not be beguiled by him. It is in both our interests to subjugate him, and his forces, and bring stability to the region-a stability we jointly monitor and control, through the agreed appointment of vassal kings, which we instate, supported by loyal garrisons and forces.’

The Chief Steward gave nothing away.

‘We have no contact with the Army of Chaos.’

‘Of course not,’ agreed Nakht, diplomatically. ‘Not officially, anyway. But let us be candid-we are aware of Aziru’s contacts with the Army of Chaos, and of his negotiations with some inside the Hittite administration. We are aware of his change of loyalty. We have much experience of this snake, and we warn you, brother, to take care lest you are bitten and poisoned in turn.’

The Chief Steward shook his head.

‘This is a matter of internal policy. It cannot concern Egypt.’

‘It deeply concerns Egypt. It must form part of our agreement. Aziru must be dealt with, in such a way that he will trouble none of us any further. By that, I mean definitively. That is something you could help us with. I have not said that, of course.’

The chamber was silent. No one could be in any doubt as to the meaning of Nakht’s words.

‘We must consider further. You have brought an unexpected new element into the proposal. There are-implications,’ said the King’s brother.

‘I quite understand. These things are complex. There are always competing loyalties. There are always risks,’ replied Nakht. ‘But there are great gains to be made by compromise. I would remind you, gentlemen, that the opportunity for change comes only once. It must be grasped confidently.’

The Chief Steward stood up, and Nakht followed suit.

‘You and your retinue will remain under guard, here within the walls of the palace-for your own security, of course. But the King also wishes you to witness and admire the marvels and wonders of his city, so you can tell your people of his great achievements. The ambassador here will escort you. I will of course report privately to the King immediately, but I cannot say when he might have the leisure to consider all of this further. No decisions have been made.’

‘No doubt he has many pressing concerns to attend to. But I would remind you: every day is important. Let us not hesitate. Those who would destroy our proposal for peace and stability are gathered around. They are here, in this city. We know this. We must not give them time to strike.’

The Chief Steward considered him.

‘Then is it well you are here in the city for our great festival to celebrate the bounty of the harvest, which begins tomorrow. We call it the Festival of Haste.’ And he smiled at the irony.