Ancient Times #30

byKRoache

753 followers

4 years ago

Im’s first day in his new job mirrored that of countless thousands of other people before him. He got lost in the building numerous times. He forgot everybody’s name as soon as he was introduced to them. He mislaid that important papyrus, the one that his boss stressed the importance of keeping safe. All before lunch too. He couldn’t quite believe he was really there.

*****

Im had been tasked with drafting a resolution to curb the growing excess of what Rudamon termed ‘immoral conduct’. A law was to be passed that would hopefully give stricter powers to enforcers of the law, which in reality, if approved, could see his brother and sister behind bars!

Rudamon was really a bit of a prude in Im’s estimation. However, it wasn’t just immoral behavior his boss wanted curbing. It was ‘unacceptable public behavior and binge drinking among the young’. In Rudamon’s opinion the younger generation had no respect for their elders anymore. He deplored the youth of today’s lax attitude towards drink and drugs which he believed was leading towards Egypt’s downfall. Rudamon was going to put a stop to it.

Im put his pen down. He was pleased with his afternoon’s work. Reading his work again slowly to make sure it was error free, Im felt he was on his way.

FOR THE ATENTION OF THE COMITEE FOR LAW AND ORDER

proposals

• unruly public behavior brought about by excessive alcohol abuse – punishment will be a fine determined by a judge

• licentious public behavior or fornicating in public brought about by excessive alcohol abuse - punishment will be a fine determined by a judge

• disturbance of the peace brought about by excessive alcohol abuse - punishment will be a fine determined by a judge

• theft or vandalism brought about by excessive alcohol abuse – punishment will be a public flogging

• rape and violence brought about by excessive alcohol abuse– punishment will be castration

note – the word alcohol can be substituted for any narcotic substance

Im

Having read through his proposal three times, Im was more unsure than ever of his first attempt. Im felt he may not be radical enough in his suggestions, he left the papyrus on his boss’s desk anyway.

Im pondered on the events of his first day as he made his way to his little flat at the back of the palace. He wasn’t really sure what to make of it now.

Because he had missed his morning run and swim Im felt a little irritable. As he entered the door to his apartment the smell of kaphi from the incense he had burnt that morning to get rid of the damp, greeted his nostrils.

The fresh pine smell almost immediately cleared his head. Imhotep’s spirits began to lighten. He couldn’t be homesick already, could he?

Im’s flat consisted of two small rooms. A single-story structure tacked onto the back of the palace, with no garden. If Im didn’t know better he would have sworn their original intent was to be used as couple of cupboards. A desk in one room and his cot in the other filled the apartment, leaving no room for anything else.

As Im’s wages were next to nothing, it was a good job the place was rent-free. When he had spread his belongings around a little and personalized the place by writing his name in big letters above his front door, he felt a little better. Having unpacked, Im decided to have an early night.

The following day, Im was flattered and extremely surprised when Rudamon thanked him for his proposals from the previous day. Rudamon had been pleased with them and was going to bring them up at the afternoon meeting.

When they were eventually ratified, it would be Im’s job to brief the messengers who would scour the country ringing bells and proclaiming them law. Anybody in breach of the new laws would be punished. Ignorance was, of course, no defense.

When Im considered all the power that had been bestowed on him, he felt a little giddy for a moment.

*****

In Im’s first week he had only seen TJ three times. The first time he saw him was from a distance. The other two times was when he passed him in a corridor. TJ completely blanked Im both times.

Up until then Im had wondered how TJ would react to the employment of a nobody who had thwarted him in his devious plan to close the village. When questioned, Rudamon had been slightly vague regarding his popularity rating with TJ.

Never mind, Im wasn’t going to lose any sleep over it. It would have been preferable to have a positive working relationship with the second most powerful man in all Egypt, but under the present circumstances he could cope without being Mr popular.

TJ’s obvious immense dislike regarding Im only served to spur him on to be a greater success in his new vocation.

To gain further experience Im had been granted a position among a council of elders to debate the security of Egypt’s borders.

That afternoon he was to be allowed to sit among Egypt’s policy deciders to hear first-hand how affairs of state were handled.

He was, however, told under no circumstances was he allowed to speak. To breach this order would be to say goodbye to his career. Im agreed.

TJ normally sat on this council but would unfortunately be away from Thebes for this sitting.

Im felt like a five-year-old who had been dragged along to an adults only seminar because the folks couldn’t get a babysitter.

The youngest person in the chamber was at least three times his age. It was probably a little unfair to say that he had attended far livelier funerals than that particular session, but in doing so he wouldn’t have been too wide of the mark.

Proceedings started with a roll call. Im wanted to laugh out loud at the solemnity of the order of business. When the elder came to call out his name he spat it out with a venom that shocked Im. It appeared that TJ wasn’t the only one who thought his appointment wasn’t such a good idea.

Im listened to old men bemoaning the lawless conditions of any part of Egypt outside the city limits. Far from suggesting any possible solutions, nearly everybody was intent on outdoing each other with tales of how ‘you could travel safely anywhere in my day’.

Rudamon hadn’t said much throughout the long session except for trying to keep the debate to the point.

Im had been disillusioned by the whole display. If that was how his supposed betters behaved and sought to rule over him, he was sorely tempted to head for pastures new.

As he lay awake that night, he thought about what he might say to Rudamon in the morning when he was debriefed. Should he speak the truth - or tactfully temper his feelings a little?