Book 2.Heiress of the Gods Ta-Netjer (The Palace of the Dazzling Aten, #2) / The Palace of the Dazzling Aten (ePub)

Ancient Egypt.
Pharaoh Ramses III ascends the throne. He has three wives Isis, Tyti and Tije. Isis and Tyti belong to the royal family. Tije is the daughter of a court dignitary. Tije is the mother of Pentaweret, the pharaoh's firstborn. However, the Pharaoh appoints his son, born of Queen Tyti, as his successor. In addition, he alienates his third wife and moves her to the Northern Palace, intended for senior concubines. Tije conspires with the High Priest of the temple of the goddess Meretseger to overthrow Ramses III and place her son Pentaweret on the throne. The High Priest keeps an ancient papyrus in the secret vault of the temple, according to which Tije is the heiress of the ancient gods. Tije and the High Priest win over the Dark Gods to their side. According to their plan, Ramses III must die from the curse. However, Nekhbet and Wadjet, the vulture goddess and the cobra goddess, are called upon to protect the pharaoh and his power. But Tije and the High Priest do not give up, they find new helpers and followers. The Palace of the Dazzling Aten, the home of the pharaoh's family, becomes the center of intrigue, black magic, betrayal and hypocrisy.
"...The ritual has changed over the centuries. However, at the time of Ramses III, no one could say for sure: why the ritual is called The Feast of the Tail and why the pharaoh puts on a special belt with an ox tail attached to it before this ritual. Perhaps this was a reference to the God the Bull Apis or the God the Bull Beh, who were especially revered in Waset. The cult of Apis represented fertility and strength. Apis was also associated with the god Osiris.
The day of the Heb-Sed ritual came. Before the ritual, the pharaoh fasted for seven days and did not touch women. Finally, he woke up at dawn. The servants helped the pharaoh to take a bath in a special ritual barrel. The edges of the barrel were covered with special ritual signs. Then the court hairdresser removed all the hair from the body of the pharaoh with a special razor, including on the head. After that, the pharaoh dressed in a white tunic.
Soon a procession emerged from the gates of The Dazzling Palace of the Aten: the Medjays carried a stretcher on which the pharaoh sat. The procession made its way to the completed Mortuary Temple of Ramses III. The Pharaoh was accompanied by the First Counselor, the Governor of the palace, the Vizier, Ramses the co-ruler, two younger sons from Isis, the wife of Isis and Tyti. Tije was not invited to The Rebirth of the Pharaoh's Power ritual. All participants in the ritual also fasted, abstained from sexual intercourse, and washed their bodies early in the morning.
The procession approached the South Gate of the Temple. The water channel separated the temple from the pharaoh and his retinue. On the water stood the Golden Boat of Ra, which transported Ramses III and his retinue directly to the South Gate of the Temple.
There they were met by the High Priest. His name was Atoneheb, he was one of the sons of the pharaoh, born from concubines of the highest rank. He bowed respectfully to his father-pharaoh. After that the priest made a special prayer and fumigated the pharaoh and his retinue with special incense. After that, the pharaoh left his palanquin and, surrounded by his retinue, followed the priest into the temple.
The three main royal rituals in Egypt were: enthronement, which, if everything was normal in society, occurred immediately after the death of the previous pharaoh. The coronation of the pharaoh usually took place at the beginning of the year or at the beginning of the season, when agricultural work began after the flood of the Nile, that is, it fell at the time of sowing. The third important ritual is Heb-Sed, the 'Tail Festival'. The essence of this ritual was that the living pharaoh, as it were, was dying. And everything connected with the Heb-Sed ritual was, first of all, connected with the death and rebirth of a livin...