Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece Chapter 51: Envoy to Egypt (2)

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"My lord, look there!" the captain exclaimed in surprise.

It turned out that an Egyptian herder drove a herd of cattle to graze on the beach, but didn't want a crocodile lurking there and almost bit a calf. The herder panicked and tried to drive away the crocodile, but found that the crocodile was not big, so he wanted to hunt it down. He drove his hound to harass the crocodile to prevent it from escaping back into the river, and he held a wood in his hand. Great, start attacking cautiously...

This thrilling scene quickly attracted the passing papyrus boat and the nearby farmers. They held a pickaxe and surrounded them to watch the excitement. Some people shouted: "Hi, do you need my help?! But score me a little after killing the crocodile!"

In the busy and boring work, it is rare for farmers to have this moment of leisure...

At noon, Ansitanos and the others passed through a city-Naukratis.

This is an Egyptian town that has a close relationship with the Greeks.

More than 200 years ago, with the full support of Greek mercenaries from Ionian and Kalia, the Egyptians overthrew the rule of Assyria and gained independence. The pharaoh Psameticus accepted these heroic Greeks and built Daphne Castle in the eastern part of the Nile Delta for Greek soldiers to live in. He also issued an order: open Egyptian trade to the outside world and allow Greece People live permanently in Egypt.

So the Miletus built a cargo processing workshop on the banks of the Karobic River. With the continuous arrival of the Greeks, a Greek town gradually emerged around this workshop area, named Naukratis (and the meaning of the Queen of the Sea).

For a long time, this colonial city has become a common port for all Greek merchants, even under the current Persian rule, where Alcibidas traded here before.

Seeing the people in the port area of ​​the city wearing familiar Greek costumes made Ansitanos feel very cordial, but his boat will not stop here, but continue to move forward.

Finally at dusk, the ship passed through the Nile Delta and entered the wider Nile River. At this time, the sky was dark, and the captain was not familiar with the river, so he dared not go any further, so he could only park on the shore and go to the shore at the same time. Hire trackers.

Ansitanos and his subordinates all spent the night on the boat, listening to the sound of the Nile water and the strange sounds of animals on the shore or in the river. This is a peculiar way for young people. Experience, and for Ansitanos, who is already more than 50 years old, is no small torture. Especially the bites of mosquitoes, made him really suffer, and it was late at night that he fell asleep because of exhaustion.

The next day, he barely cheered up and moved on.

A few hours later, the ship passed the ancient town of Giza.

When Ansitanos looked over the West Bank and could vaguely see the outlines of the tall pyramids on the Giza Plateau, his spirit finally lifted.

At noon, the passenger ship finally entered Memphis, the capital of Egypt.

There are more boats on the Nile near Memphis, but there are few delicate papyrus boats, and more common ones are narrow, pointed at both ends, with a canopy in the middle, equipped with many oarsmen and captains. Wooden ships ranging from a few meters to tens of meters, of course, occasionally you can see tall and spacious large passenger ships.

When Ansitanos was on the ship, he marveled at the tall outer wall of Memphis. It was nearly 15 meters high. It was almost invisible outside the city, except for the towering obelisk and the palace in the center of the city. .

Because the Pharaoh had received a call from the Karabuk River whistle card in advance, the Dionian passenger ship was allowed to enter the inner city pier.

This is a good sign! Ansitanos thought.

Ansitanos landed on the pier, and there were carriages waiting on the shore.

After getting on the carriage, under the control of the coachman, the carriage galloped towards the palace.

The inner city is a gathering place for prominent Egyptian officials, high priests from various temples, wealthy nobles and royal family members, so you can see magnificent temples, luxurious mansions and mansions next to each other along the way One, showing the grandeur and luxury of the ancient capital.

The carriage was driving on the wide and straight avenue. According to Ansitanos’s visual observation, the avenue was wide enough for more than a dozen carriages to drive side by side. At the end of the avenue, a taller city wall lay in front of you, that is, the Royal Palace of Egypt. Where.

As he passed through the majestic city gate, Ansitanos roughly estimated that the wall was more than ten meters thick, showing that the pharaoh cared about his own safety.

The carriage goes further, and you can see dozens of towering golden statues on both sides of the avenue, each of which is about 20 meters high. Although they are human bodies, they have animal heads mounted on them. Ansitanos knew that these statues should be gods revered by the Egyptians.

At the end of these huge idols, a magnificent and magnificent palace stands majestic, making Ansita Noston, who got out of the carriage and stood in front of the steps, feels insignificant.

On the hundreds of steps and on each side of the palace’s main entrance, there is a huge statue of Aries. While it's solemn and mysterious, it's also a bit more elegant and peaceful.

An official and a group of mighty guards walked steadily down the steps: "The messenger from the Kingdom of Dionian, the great pharaoh is waiting in the hall, please come with me to meet!"

Ansitanos bowed and bowed, opened his hands, and asked the guard to check whether he was carrying any weapons.

Ansitanos went up the steps, passed through the huge pillars that could only be hugged by three or four people, and walked into the main hall.

The extremely flat walls are supplemented with smooth plaster and painted with colorful flowers and plants; and on the smooth marble floor, there are vivid lotus aquatic plants, birds, and animals. It is as if you are in the fresh nature; coupled with the various, peculiar and exquisite gold and silver utensils in the hall, the whole hall looks beautiful.

Pharaoh Nekhtanibu sits high on the throne.

The pharaoh born by the general is tall and strong with dark skin. He usually wears the red striped Nemes headkerchief, which symbolizes the identity of the pharaoh. It is simple and elegant. But he obviously valued this interview, so he wore the most orthodox red and white crown that symbolized the unity of two powers. The gold uraas (a kind of cobra in Egypt) adorn his forehead. He also wears a fake beard and holds a token in his right hand.

Sitting the queen on his left hand, the golden goose-shaped crown lightly clasped her head, and her open wings pressed down her straight black hair, letting her long hair hang down on her chest. She wears a precious chest ornament and a gorgeous skirt, which looks graceful and luxurious.

Although Ansitanos learned from the data that Egyptian women have a higher social status, the queen is especially so, and even participates in state affairs. But today, for the first time I saw a woman appearing on a major state event, I still felt a little surprised. He did not know that it was precisely because the queen was not of royal blood that Pharaoh Nekhtanibu allowed her to appear frequently on state occasions in order to improve her status and stabilize his and his family's rule.

A number of ministers and generals stood on both sides of the hall, and they all looked at Ansitanos who entered the hall with curious eyes.

Ansitanos stood calmly in front of the throne, and finished his salute respectfully. As a Greek scholar who wanted to study historical materials from various places, Ansitanos bought Egyptian slaves when he was young, and studied Egyptian characters and language seriously. At this moment, he said in standard Egyptian: "Honorable Lord of Upper and Lower Egypt, I brought friendly greetings from King Davos of the Kingdom of Dionian, and at the same time offered a generous gift to express his sincere congratulations! Congratulations on your being favored by God Amon and becoming the master of Egypt!"

As soon as Ansitanos had finished speaking, the minister closest to the Pharaoh approached and said a few words to Pharaoh in a low voice.

Pharaoh Nekhtanibu heard that the gifts given by Dionia were a large number of spears, swords, shields, armor, and even several three-tiered paddle warships docked at the mouth of the river..., I feel very satisfied: Egypt now has no shortage of food, gold and silver jewelry, but more sophisticated weapons and soldiers.

Therefore, there was a smile on his face: "Thank you very much for the sincere blessings and generous gifts from King Davos from the West! Although Egypt is far away from Dionia, I have heard of Diony many times. The prestige of the sub-kingdom and the bravery of King Davos, I can be greeted by the king who also has the noble blood of the gods (the Egyptians believed that the pharaoh was the incarnation of the god, and the pharaoh often publicly declared that he was the son of Ra). Happy! I warmly welcome your visit, Envoy of Dionia!"

Pharaoh Nekhtanibu stood up, stretched out his left hand, and made a welcome gesture.

What he said was not a polite remark, he did have a little understanding of the Kingdom of Dionia. Although among these city-states and countries along the Mediterranean coast, the Egyptians are the most closed and conservative. They prefer to take care of the land instead of sailing for business. Therefore, to this day, many Egyptian officials probably don’t know that there is a Dionian in the Mediterranean. kingdom. But Pharaoh Nekhtanibu is different. Before becoming a pharaoh, he spent many years in the town of Sais. Sais city is not far from the city of Naukratis, so he has heard a lot about the trade of Naukratis. The magical rumors about the Kingdom of Dionian circulated by the Greek merchants.

"Honorable Pharaoh!" Ansitanos took Niktanib's words and continued: "Although Dionia and Egypt are far apart, because of this, the two countries have never There has been any conflict of interest, but on the contrary, they can make up for each other's shortcomings. Therefore, King Davos hopes that Dionia can establish more friendly relations with the country under your rule by the pharaoh!"