They say that there was once a general in Egypt named Jhuti. He accompanied Pharaoh Menkheperre in all his campaigns in the countries of the South and North, he fought at the head of his soldiers, he learned all the tricks of war and received many awards for his courage, for he was an excellent commander and had no equal in the whole country.
[Menkheperra is the throne name of the 18th dynasty pharaoh Thutmose III, who reigned from 1525 to 1473. BC e. As a result of his campaigns, the borders of Egypt were expanded in the north to the bend of the river. Euphrates, and in the south - to the fourth cataract of the Nile.]
And then one day a messenger from the country of Haru arrived at the court of Pharaoh.
[Haru's country is Syria.]
They brought him to Pharaoh, and his Majesty asked:
-Who sent you? Why did you set off on your journey?
And the messenger answered Pharaoh:
- The governor of the countries of the North sent me. This is what he said: “The ruler of Jaffa, defeated by you, rebelled against your majesty. He killed Your Majesty's soldiers. He has destroyed your chariots, and no one can stand against him.”
When Pharaoh Menkheperra heard these words, anger seized him, and in anger he became like a leopard. And Pharaoh said:
“I swear by the life and mercy of the god Ra towards me, I swear by the love of my father Amon towards me, I will destroy the city of the defeated Jaffa, and he will know the weight of my right hand!”
And so Pharaoh summoned his seven men, the generals, as well as the scribes, and repeated to them the news that the governor of the countries of the North had sent him. But they were all silent as one, because they did not know what to answer.
Then the commander Dzhuti said:
- O you, to whom the whole earth pays homage! Order your great rod to be given to me. Order to give me Your Majesty's soldiers and chariots with the best of the brave men of Egypt. And then I will kill the defeated man from Jaffa and capture his city.
And His Majesty Pharaoh exclaimed:
- Excellent, excellent what you told us!
And they gave Jhuti the great rod of Pharaoh Menkheperre and gave him soldiers and chariots with the best of the brave men of Egypt, as he asked.
And after many days, Jhuti and his people arrived in the country of Haru. Here he ordered the production of two hundred large baskets, as well as many fetters, chains and wooden blocks. In addition, he ordered the forging of copper leg shackles weighing four weights.
[Nemes is a measure of weight in Ancient Egypt.]
When everything was done, the commander Jhuti sent a messenger to the defeated man from Jaffa to tell him:
- I, Jhuti, commander of the land of Egypt. I accompanied the pharaoh on all his campaigns to the countries of the South and North and received many awards for my courage. And so Pharaoh began to envy my courage and decided to kill me. But I escaped and left him, taking with me the great rod of Pharaoh Menkheperre. I hid it in a basket with food for my horses. If you wish, I will give it to you, and I myself will remain with you, and with me are my warriors - the best of the brave men of Egypt.
When the defeated man from Jaffa heard these words, he rejoiced, for he knew that the commander Jhuti was valiant and had no equal in all the land. And he sent a messenger to Jhuti to say:
- Come to me! I will accept you as a brother, and I will give you an allotment, the best of the lands of my country.
The defeated man himself came out of Jaffa to meet Jhuti with his bodyguards, as well as with women and children from his city. He led Dzhuti to his camp, but he did not take either Dzhuti’s warriors or their horses with him.
In the camp with the defeated Jaffa there were one hundred and twenty Syrian warriors, abundantly supplied with food for their horses in wicker vessels like baskets, Jhuti saw this and asked:
“Order that Pharaoh’s soldiers also be fed, for their faces are sad from hunger.”
And the defeated one from Jaffa did as he asked,
Then they sat down to feast, and an hour later, when they were both
already drunk, Jhuti said to the defeated Jaffa:
“While I sit here with the women and children of your city, order your soldiers to let my chariots in and feed my horses.” If you want, let each of them be brought in by some foreign slave.
And so the chariots were brought into the camp and the horses were given food. Along with the chariots, the great rod of Pharaoh Menkheperre arrived at the camp. They came to Jhuti and informed him about this. The defeated man from Jaffa heard this and said to Jhuti:
“I want to see the great rod of Pharaoh Menkheperr!” I swear by the Ka of Pharaoh Menkheperre, you already have it here, this great rod. Bring it to me!
And the general Jhuti did as he asked, and brought the great rod of Pharaoh Menkheperre. He approached the defeated man from Jaffa, grabbed him by the clothes and said:
- Look at me, O conquered one from Jaffa! Here is the great rod of Pharaoh Menkheperre, the fierce lion, son of Sokhmet, may Amon strengthen his right hand.
Then Jhuti raised his hand and struck the defeated man from Jaffa in the temple with his staff. The defeated man from Jaffa fell backward. Dzhuti put a stock around his neck, tied him with leather fetters and ordered him to bring the
the shackles of brass appointed for the fallen. And they put shackles weighing four weights on his feet.
Then he ordered Jhuti to bring two hundred baskets, which he ordered to be made in advance. He ordered two hundred soldiers to sit in them. They gave them stocks and fetters, and also gave them their sandals and weapons, and sealed the baskets with seals. Dzhuti ordered the baskets to be carried to his best soldiers, and there were five hundred of them in total. And Jhuti said to them:
- When you enter the city, release your comrades from the baskets, grab all the inhabitants of the city and tie them up immediately!
After this, one warrior Jhuti came out of the camp and said to the charioteer of the defeated one from Jaffa:
“These are the words of your master, go and tell them to your mistress: “Rejoice! Our God Sutekh gave Jhuti into our hands along with his wife and his children! Look, my face has turned his warriors into slaves!” So you say
about these two hundred baskets in which soldiers sit with stocks and fetters.
And the charioteer went to the city ahead of the warriors of Jhuti in order to delight the heart of his mistress.
He told her:
- We have captured Jhuti!
And so they opened the gates of the city in front of the soldiers, and they went inside. They freed their comrades from the cordon. zine and began to grab city residents, young and old. They immediately put stocks on them and tied them with fetters.
Thus is the mighty right hand of Pharaoh, may he live; healthy and powerful, stretched over the city.
At night, Jhuti sent a messenger to Pharaoh Menkheperra, may he be alive, healthy and powerful. And he told the messenger
say:
“Let your heart rejoice! Amon, your good father, gave into your hands the defeated man from Jaffa with all his people and his city. Send us people to take away the captives and fill the temple of the lord of the gods Amun-ra with slaves and... slaves who will bow down to the dust under your feet, now and forever.”
Here the story ends happily, how it was stored from beginning to end* by a scribe with skillful fingers, a scribe of the Pharaoh's army.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru