August 30, 2011

• Ancient Egypt, Land of Magic and Romance

   

  Background to The God’s Wife, by Lynn Voedisch

  

  “Religion and civic duty in the vast Egyptian civilization were one and the same, and if some of the appointments and duties required by Pharaoh’s law seem absurd to us now, they were taken on with complete earnestness many thousands of years ago. One of these offices was the real job of God’s Wife of Amun. It has a haunting sound and conjures up images of a lonely woman living in a temple, playing handmaiden to an invisible force. However, it was much more than that.

   

  Egyptologists are still learning about this position, which rose up in some dynasties and disappeared from others. It first came to light in the earliest days of the 2,000-year civilization, but then had nowhere near the power and influence that readers will find in the following novel.  Girls were chosen from the pharaoh’s family to “marry” the icon of Amun and please him on earth, although how she did this remains a total mystery.  Amun, by the way, became the highest of the triad of the most important gods in Thebes or Wast, during the time of the novel. To go into the dizzying number of gods and their relationships would take another book!

   

  The practice of electing a God’s Wife rose again in the 18th Dynasty, where The God’s Wife takes place. My fictional character, the daughter of a fictional pharaoh, takes on all the pomp and power that was afforded a God’s Wife at that time—which was an era when women were growing in influence in Egypt. It was the period of Nefertiti and Hatsepshut, the queen who dressed as a man in her bid to be called a pharaoh. Hatsepshut too was a God’s Wife.  The role died out again after the 18th Dynasty only to resurface late in the New Kingdom, when Egypt was invaded by Nubian kings, and women were again empowered…..

   

   

   

  While we know that the God’s Wives were granted large tracts of land and given livestock (a sign of wealth) it is not certain that they were second only to the Pharaoh in power. However, since the God’s Wife topped the Chief Priest of the temple of Karnak (which was the holiest place of worship in the 18th Dynasty), it would seem that no one else could touch her in power. So I am following the opinion of some Egyptologists and placing her second to the Pharaoh in rank.

   

  The question of virginity is also a cipher. Some say she was pledged only to the Amun and thus was virginal. But many God’s wives were married, so I am taking the virginal story as a myth.

   

  Dr. Peter Dornan, of the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago, filled me in on so many things about the God’s Wife that I am in debt to his knowledge.  However, he couldn’t’t say exactly what the priestess did to satisfy the idol. There, he said, I was free to use creative license. So, being a writer, I did.

   

  In Egyptian royalty, pure blood was treasured, thus incest between members of the royal family was common. Brothers and sisters, half-bothers and half-sister, uncles and nieces, all kinds of relationships that we quail at now were considered quite normal and even encouraged. It’s obvious to us that this caused all sorts of illnesses and instability that made dynasties fall, but the Egyptians didn’t understand genetics. When in my book you come across a romance that seems incestuous by 21st century standards, try to look at it through ancients’ eyes. To them it was normal and even favored.

   

  Also, in an effort to get away from Greco-Roman names for places and Gods, I have named things as often as possible in the Egyptian language. Thus Egypt is Kemet, which means “black land,” named for the rich deposit of earth the Nile left on the land after it overflowed its banks each year. (One has only to visit Egypt once to realize that it is nothing more than a green verdant stripe down the middle of red desert on either side. The Nile is life giving in every way possible.) Wast is the word for Thebes. Eset is Isis. Hor-heb is Horus. Tehuti is Thoth. It becomes easy to pick up the authentic words.

   

  I’ve tried to be accurate in every way, but there is one detail in which I let my fancy take flight. The long row of ram-headed sphinxes leading to Karnak temple…..

   

  

   

   

  …….had not yet been built in the 18th dynasty; that was the work of a later pharaoh. But they take your breath away when you approach the temple’s front pylons. So, in my fictional world, they appear out of time.

   

  For those who want to delve deeper into Egypt, the role of the God’s Wife of Amun, and Egyptian terms, please visit my Web site at www.lynnvoedisch.com

   .The other setting in this dual-plot tale is modern day Chicago—another city beset with magic.” 

  Enjoy, Lynn Voedisch

  • 2:17 pm
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