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16777Translator: adomman
Editor: Snorri
Amon looked at Inanna for a long time and finally sighed and said: “You have never forced me to do anything, so I can’t blame you. I will tell Moses the news and see what he decides. But I will only tell him the situation he faces, not that he should submit to Enlil, and I won’t even say that this is Enlil’s test!”
Inanna: “If he voluntarily stays beyond the Plains of Duc, while looking upon his clansmen returning home, the miners of Duc will henceforth be free from the fate of being sinners. This agreement will also be valid for Moses, and I will guide him to join the Anunnaki divine clan. But this can only be told to Moses afterwards, you need to let him make his choice first.”
Amon narrowed his eyes and said: “Maybe Moses will make a different choice. It’s time for this matter to have an outcome. I will go to Moses now and see how he is doing with his people, and then go to your garden. …… But I am not doing this for Enlil, in fact I am already an enemy of Enlil, and sooner or later there will be a battle between the city of Salem and the city of Enlil in the north.”
……
On the day that the city of Salem celebrated the coming of Goddess Mourrin and God Amon, Amon quietly left the city of Salem, while Lynk followed along with Gabriel using a shuttle. They set off towards the southeast corner of the Plains of Duc, and two days later crossed the wilderness to bypass the city of Marduc established by Ussir and arrived at the place where Moses and others were stationed.
While Amon was looking for Moses, far across the Syah desert, Aristotle, who had been a senior advisor for many years, formally informed Rod Drick of his resignation and his intention to leave the city. He was going to take a ship to sail back to his homeland.
Rod Drick hosted a banquet for Aristotle, and after that, he invited the sage to his private study, where the two had a long private talk. Rod Drick sighed. “Sir, you have been by my side for a long time, and thanks to your guidance and teachings, I have been able to face so many things that have happened.”
Aristotle: “You have to trust in your own wisdom and abilities, and it is these that have enabled you to pass peacefully through many trials in the world. I have been at your side for ten years now, following you to many places, searching for questions worth thinking about in the world. Now it is time for me to return, my teacher is still waiting for me in the distance.”
Rod Drick asked: “Sir, what were you thinking about and searching for during these ten years that you left your homeland and came to a foreign land?”
Aristotle replied: “I was searching for the origin of divinity. I have been pondering what the gods are. I have been to shrines all over the continent, looking at all kinds of gods on the altars, and observing how people offer sacrifices, worship and pray. I also experienced the wars on the continent, where people fought and fought in the name of the gods, and I experienced the reform of the divine system in the Ejyptian Empire, and saw with my own eyes the changes of the main gods in that pantheon. Today, it is finally time for me to leave.”
Roddick asked again: “Did you come to any conclusions, Sir?”
Aristotle: “I can’t say it’s a conclusion, just the result in thinking. Do you remember last month? A man named Ninos came to visit me and told me about the three ways of perceiving and conceiving, not perceiving but conceiving, and not perceiving and not conceiving. It was very interesting and had something in common with my thinking.”
Rod Drick: “I don’t understand what you mean, can you explain it clearly?”
Aristotle: “I have been thinking about the origin of divinity, in search of the way things exist, and I think there may be three kinds. One that can be felt and destroyed, another that we can feel but not destroy, and a third that we cannot feel nor destroy, but is present.”
Roddick asked: “And what is that?”
Aristotle replied: “Reason, where dwells divinity.”
Rod Drick asked again: “Reason exists in our mind, so why should it not be felt? People believe in the gods, why do we need the reason?”
Aristotle laughed: “Words always fail to express the truth. You need to experience it. Not every person possesses reason in his mind, but divinity can only come from it. People may believe in the gods, maybe not, the statues may one day fall, but the divinity is not in there.
As I traveled around the continent, I entered all kinds of shrines and saw people worshipping all kinds of gods, but why are the gods on the altars called gods? Since ancient times, many things have been worshiped on the altar, but the true divinity does not even lie in the figures that people see. Divinity is the outcome of pure reason, the progress of civilisation from barbary. Divinity is life with reason. The eternal continuity of life is God. Sometimes it’s people themselves who are creating gods that don’t exist. By imagining a superior being they sublimate themselves and achieve more.”
Rod Drick rubbed his chin for quite a while, then said with a bitter smile: “It is indeed difficult to understand, I need to think about it. But the other day I received a letter from a god whom you and I both know, and whom you even saved.”
Aristotle asked curiously: “Which god is this again? Is it one that you Ejyptians believe in, why don’t I remember it?”
Rod Drick reminded: “Remember that boy who nearly had a finger cut off by the priest in front of the shrine in the name of the gods.”
Aristotle: “Supreme General Amon?”
Roddick nodded. “Yes, that’s him! Now at the site of the former town of Duc. A city seems to have been built there. There is a shrine in the city, and the statues on the altar are Amon with his arm around Mourrin, and the people there call him God Amon. Think it’s interesting? It was in front of the shrine of Mourrin that Amon almost had his finger cut off.”
Aristotle smiled and said: “That’s a good note for what I was thinking. Why did Amon stand on the altar with the goddess Mourrin in his arms? People understand the gods that they believe in their own way. The Amon we know is not eternal. He almost got his finger cut off because of the oracle of the goddess. If that really happened, would everything be the same today?
And what is the so-called eternity? Is it a perfection in faith, transcending him yet reflecting into him, like the stars reflecting into the water? My teacher, before I left home, told me to look for the ideal country. I now believe that the ideal country exists in the place where we cannot perceive nor destroy.”
Rod Drick asked: “Is this the answer to your ten years of observation and reflection?”
Aristotle replied: “It is one way to put it. As I said, words always fail to express the truth. If it is taken as the right answer, divinity will be considered as subjective, and pretended gods will appear among the real ones. And I shall be blamed for it.”
……
The two men’s conversation was a bit obscure, if someone heard it, they would be simply confused, and even Rod Drick himself who was a participant of the dialogue did not fully understand. Amon did write a letter to Rod Drick, sent a messenger to the city of Cape, and asked the governor to send someone to deliver it to the Pharaoh.
In the letter, he mentioned that the supreme warrior Gabriel had asked him for a duel in order to fulfill the orders of the Empire, and after losing the duel and becoming a prisoner of war, he offered the terms for redeeming the supreme warrior. Rod Drick didn’t pay much attention to it and casually opened the letter to read it. At that time, he was so frightened that he kicked over the table in front of him and hurriedly ordered several of his close mage subordinates to restore the letter to its original form, pretending that he had never read it before, and sent it to the capital.
After seeing the letter, Pharaoh Merneptah’s face was gloomy and he withdrew into the inner hall without saying a word, and then drove all the servants and court ladies out. He closed the door and flew into a rage, smashing everything around him as he roared: “Amon, I will not spare you! The gods will not spare you either!”
When he was tired of roaring and looked at the smashed things on the ground, he felt a bit ridiculous. Why should the Pharaoh of the Ejyptian Empire be so furious over a mere general? The gods had not forgiven Amon at all, and even if Amon did not write this letter, Seth had already sent down the oracle to the Ejyptian Empire to hunt him down.
After regaining his calm, Merneptah unexpectedly realized that he actually did not destroy this letter in his rage, so he ordered people to send it to the shrine for safekeeping. This was the most damning evidence of Amon’s guilt. If anyone wants to accuse the Empire of treating Supreme General Amon unjustly, let that person take a good look at this letter and it will be clear why the gods have judged him a sinner!
But no one openly raised any issue out of it, and the Ejyptian ministers were careful not to mention Amon. Regardless of whether Amon is guilty or not, it was as if the Empire’s Supreme General had never existed.
At this time, the internal situation of the Empire had stabilized, the new capital had taken shape, the main gods worshipped in the shrines of the cities had been replaced, and the forces of the various classes in the Empire had undergone some reorganization. Merneptah was in control, and the secular power was concentrated in the hands of the Pharaoh as never before, and the goal of the divine reform was finally nearing completion.
Now there is only one thing left to do. Like a painting with a blinding flaw, if not removed, the whole painting will not never be perfect, this flaw was the Adoratrice of the Shrine of Isis. She could not be easily touched when Merneptah first took power, but now that the reform had been completed, it was time to address the issue.
Ra was the only heavenly god, and Seth was the head of the neteru guarding the kingship and divine power. The Pharaoh, who was the only one representing the gods, could no longer tolerate the continued existence of the Adoratrice who symbolized the goddess Isis, guardian of Lower Ejypt.
The Adoratrice was a title passed down from generation to generation, not specifically referring to a particular person, but in reality, it was referring to Maria right now. Maria had a lot of prestige and influence, and Merneptah had to use this prestige and influence to change the original status of the Adoratrice. This would require the cooperation of Maria herself and the clever use of the will of the gods, and everything could be carried out perfectly.
Merneptah had heard Seth’s voice when he prayed in the shrine, and Seth had told him what to do. He told Pharaoh Merneptah to marry the Adoratrice and to make her the chief high priestess of the Empire, symbolizing the complete fusion of the divine and royal authorities of the Upper and Lower Ejypt.
In the ancient legend, Isis married Osiris, the first Pharaoh who founded the Ejyptian Empire, back when Seth was the guardian of royal authority and Horus did not yet exist in the world.
Today, Seth had become the head of the neteru, so if the Adoratrice, the symbol of the guardian of Isis, marries the Pharaoh, the symbol of divine authority, it would complete the return of history in the name of the oracle, and ending the history of the passing down of the title of the Adoratrice. This would be the most acceptable way for the people of Ejypt, as long as Maria herself came forward to announce this oracle.
Seth did not let Merneptah directly issue an order, he would go to talk to Maria first in the name of the gods. On the very day that Merneptah stormed in the palace, Maria, who was far away in Memphis, also heard Seth’s voice.
At that time, Maria was praying to Isis in the shrine. Although the title of Goddess Isis had now been changed to Great Mistress of Ra, Maria did not change her faith because of this, her faith remained as pure as ever. Just then, a voice rang out in her soul: “Maria, your prayer has touched the gods, and you will listen to the oracle of the Head Neteru.”
Although the voice sounded in the soul, Maria could sense the direction it came from, as if the statue of Seth located at the side of the main shrine was speaking in a strange way.
Maria had been the Adoratrice of the Shrine of Isis for almost seven years, but she had never heard the voice of the goddess Isis, and today for the first time she heard an oracle that actually came from Seth himself. Maria was stunned for a moment, but not overly alarmed and excited, and then calmed down and replied through her soul: “Lord Seth, what is your command?”
Seth asked: “Why do you address me as Lord?”
Maria replied: “By your will, you sent an oracle to make the Ejyptian Empire recognize Ra as the only god, so how should I address you?”
Seth: “You can call me the symbol of divine glory, the Head of all the neteru, a neteru that has transcended eternal life is not a mortal like you. I have come to tell you about the ultimate change that will take place in the Ejyptian Empire, and your destiny as the Adoratrice. You will become the chief high priestess of the Ejyptian Empire and marry the Pharaoh and receive the blessings of all the neteru.”
Maria’s face lost its color and her voice trembled slightly: “Why me? I am the Adoratrice of Isis, not the Empress of the Ejyptian Empire.”
Seth: “It is the gods who gave you the status you have today, and since you have it you have to pay the price for it. You once were the mere daughter of a merchant. We gave you everything you have today. Now that the god is giving you an order, what makes you think that you can take it as a request?”
Maria replied: “If the oracle must be like this, then please depose me as the Adoratrice and choose another Adoratrice who is willing to become the chief high priestess of the Empire and marry the Pharaoh. I will also thank the god for relieving me of my duty.”
Seth said slowly in a solemn voice: “The Adoratrice is a glorious title, but those who receive the title may also suffer a tragic fate, just think of what happened to the Adoratrice forty years ago. Now that the Empire’s divine system has changed, the only way to end this is to follow the tide. Deposing you and replacing you with another Adoratrice will not solve the problem; you are the Adoratrice to the people of Ejypt.”
Maria: “I refuse! Whatever misery is ahead, I refuse.”
Seth snorted coldly: “Have you turned your back on your faith?”
Maria’s voice regained its firmness: “I know my faith well, and it has never been clearer than now. The meaning of the Adoratrice is guardianship and blessing. Accepting this exceptional identity, I have to live in a different way, which is my honor, mission as well as responsibility. In order to do so I had to face all kinds of intrigue, to observe the corners that even the light of the gods do not touch, to not even let the people I love touch. This is the price I paid and the vow I made to the goddess Isis, but that vow did not include the request you made.”
Seth paused momentarily before he said: “Maria, this is the wisest choice you can make as a human being, marrying the Pharaoh is just a symbolic event, the Pharaoh will not even touch you if you don’t like him, and you can even choose the lover of your choice. You just have to agree to this condition, it is the oracle of the gods and the need of the Ejyptian Empire.”
Maria asked in response: “Seth, you have replaced Horus as the Head of the neteru, and in order to steal Isis’ glory you actually want the Adoratrice of Isis to cooperate, don’t you think such a request is ridiculous?”
Anger appeared in Seth’s voice: “How dare you speak to me like that! Maria, I sent down the oracle not because of you, but because of your status as the Adoratrice. In fact, I can also speak to you in the voice of Isis, but as a neteru of eternal life I want to tell you that the goddess Isis is long gone, you are in fact the most ridiculous person in this world.”
Maria’s shoulders moved as if trembling, but she replied with an answer that surprised Seth: “Even if the goddess made such a request, I would refuse, because that is not what I am guarding and blessing, it is the gods that have turned their backs on themselves. I have never heard the voice of Isis, but it does not prevent me from accepting the guidance of the light within, whether she is there or not, whether you ask or not… Hearing your voice, it is as if I see your fall, the god in the heart and the god on the altar will no longer be you, but the faith that guides me remains.”
Seth turned silent, and the depressing atmosphere in the shrine became suffocating. When he spoke again there was no longer any anger in his voice. Seth said coldly: “I just came today to tell you about the oracle which will be passed down, not to ask you to agree. Three months later the cities of the Empire will receive the oracle, the Adoratrice will marry the Pharaoh in accordance with the guidance of the god, and become the chief high priestess of the Empire, symbolizing the final integration of the divine authority of Upper and Lower Ejypt with royal authority.
Whether you agree to it or not, someone will announce this for you. Even if you die, someone will dress up as you and complete this ceremony. In the official annals of the Ejyptian Empire, this account will be left behind, and in the chanted psalms of the shrine, this story will be recounted. Prepare yourself well, and I will come back to you in three months to ask you whether you will complete it voluntarily or let me do it for you; it makes no difference to the Empire.”
Seth!!!! In the name of Amon, I tell you to die!!!