Chapter 708
"My lord, look over there!" the captain shouted in surprise.
It turned out that an Egyptian herdsman was herding a herd of cows to graze on the beach, but he did not expect that a crocodile was lurking there, and it almost bit the calves. The herdsman panicked and tried to chase the crocodile away, but he realized that the crocodile was not big, so he wanted to kill it. He ordered his hounds to harass the crocodile to prevent it from escaping back into the river, while he held a wooden stick and began to attack it cautiously …
The thrilling scene soon attracted the attention of the papyrus boats and the farmers nearby. They gathered around with pickaxes in their hands to watch the show. Someone even shouted, "Hey, do you need my help?! But you have to give me some points after you kill the crocodile! "
It was rare for the farmers to have a moment of leisure in their busy and boring work …
At noon, Ancitanos and the others passed by a city, Naukratis.
It was an Egyptian town that had a lot to do with the Greeks.
More than two hundred years ago, the Egyptians, with the full support of Greek mercenaries from Ionia and Calea, overthrew the rule of Assyria and gained independence. Pharaoh Psammeticus accepted the Greeks who had made great contributions and built the Daphnai Castle in the eastern part of the Nile Delta for the Greek soldiers to live in. He also issued an order to open Egypt's trade to the outside world and allow the Greeks to live in Egypt permanently.
Therefore, the Mileans built a processing workshop by the Karobic River. As the Greeks continued to arrive, a Greek town gradually grew around the workshop area, named Naukratis (meaning Queen of the Sea).
For a long time, the colonial city had become a common port for all Greek merchants, even under the current rule of Persia. In the past, Alcibidas had also conducted his trade here.
Seeing the people in the port area wearing the familiar Greek costumes, Ancitanos felt even more at home. However, his boat did not stop there. Instead, it continued to move forward.
Finally, at dusk, the ship passed through the Nile Delta and entered the wider Nile River. The sky was already dark, and the captain was not familiar with the river, so he did not dare to go further. He could only stop by the shore and go to hire trackers.
Ancitanos and his subordinates spent the night on the boat. Listening to the splashing sound of the Nile and the weird sounds of animals on the shore or in the river, it was a strange experience for the young people, but for Ancitanos who was already more than 50 years old, it was quite a torture. In particular, the mosquito bites really made him suffer. He only fell into a deep sleep late at night due to exhaustion.
The next day, he forced himself to stay awake and continued to move forward.
A few hours later, the ship passed by the ancient town of Giza.
When Ancitanos looked to the west bank and saw the outlines of the great pyramids on the plateau of Giza, his spirits rose.
At noon, the passenger ship finally entered Memphis, the capital of Egypt.
There were more ships shuttling on the Nile River near Memphis, but it was rare to see the delicate papyrus ships. Instead, it was more of a long, narrow wooden ship with a canopy in the middle, with many oarsmen, and the length of the ship ranged from a few meters to tens of meters. Of course, there were occasionally large, tall, and spacious passenger ships.
When Ancitanos was on the ship, he was amazed by the tall outer wall of Memphis, which was nearly 15 meters high. From outside the city, there were almost no buildings in the city, except for the towering obelisks and the palace in the center of the city.
Because the Pharaoh had received a message from the checkpoint at the mouth of the Karabic River in advance, the Diónia passenger ship was allowed to enter the dock in the inner city.
This is a good sign! Ancitanos thought to himself.
Ancitanos disembarked at the dock, where a carriage was already waiting.
After getting on the carriage, under the driver's control, the carriage sped toward the palace.
The inner city was where the prominent Egyptian officials, high priests of various temples, wealthy nobles, and members of the royal family gathered. Therefore, along the way, one could see magnificent temples, luxurious official residences, and mansions next to each other, showing the grandeur and luxury of the ancient capital.
The carriage traveled on the wide and straight road. According to Ancitanos's visual estimation, the road was wide enough for a dozen carriages to travel side by side. At the end of the road, an even taller wall lay in front of him. That was where the Egyptian palace was located.
When passing through the majestic gate, Ancitanos roughly estimated that the wall was more than ten meters thick, which showed how concerned the Pharaoh was about his own safety.
As the carriage continued forward, he could see dozens of towering golden statues standing on both sides of the road, each about 20 meters tall. Although they had the bodies of humans, they had the heads of animals. Ancitanos knew that these statues should be the gods that the Egyptians worshipped.
At the end of these huge statues, a magnificent and magnificent palace stood towering, making Ancitanos, who got off the carriage and stood in front of the steps, feel small.
On the top of the hundred steps, on both sides of the main entrance of the palace, there was a huge white goat statue. They lay on their stomachs, looking down at the guests outside the palace with their eyes wide open, making the center of Egypt less solemn and mysterious, but also more elegant and peaceful.
An official led a team of mighty guards, walked down the steps with steady steps, and said, "Messenger from the Kingdom of Diónia, the great Pharaoh is waiting in the main hall. Please follow me to see him!"
Ancitanos bowed and opened his hands, letting the guards check if he was carrying any weapons.
Ancitanos walked up the steps, passed through the huge pillars, and walked into the main hall.
The four extremely smooth walls were complemented with glossy plaster, and painted with colorful floral decorations. On the smooth marble floor, there were lively lotus flowers, aquatic plants, birds, and animals, as if he was in the fresh nature. In addition, there were all kinds of strange and exquisite gold and silver utensils in the hall, making the entire main hall look magnificent.
Pharaoh Nektanib sat high on the throne.
This general-born pharaoh was tall and strong, with dark skin. He usually liked to wear the red striped Nemes headscarf, which symbolized his identity as a pharaoh, which was simple and elegant. However, he obviously valued this audience very much, so he wore the most orthodox red and white crown, which symbolized the unity of the two powers, and a gold-made Uraas (a type of Egyptian cobra) decorated his forehead. At the same time, he also wore a fake beard, and held a scepter in his right hand.
On his left sat the Queen, a golden goose tiara clasped lightly on her head, and her outstretched wings pressed down her straight black hair so that it fell on her chest. She was wearing an expensive brooch and a gorgeous dress, looking graceful and luxurious.
Ancitanos knew that Egyptian women had a higher social status, especially the queen, and even participated in state affairs. But today was the first time he saw a woman appear in a major state event, and he was slightly surprised. He did not know that it was precisely because the queen was not of royal blood that Pharaoh Nektanib frequently let her appear in state events to improve her status and stabilize his and his family's rule.
There were many ministers and generals standing on both sides of the main hall, and they all looked curiously at Ancitanos who walked into the main hall.
Ancitanos stood calmly in front of the throne and bowed respectfully. As a Greek scholar, he had to study historical materials from all over the world. When he was young, Ancitanos specially bought Egyptian slaves and studied Egyptian writing and language seriously. At this moment, he spoke loudly in standard Egyptian, "Honorable Lord of Upper and Lower Egypt, I bring the friendly greetings of the King of the Devers of the Kingdom of Diónia, and at the same time, I offer generous gifts to express his sincere congratulations! Congratulations on being favored by God Amon and becoming the master of Egypt! "
As soon as Ancitanos finished speaking, the minister closest to the pharaoh came forward and whispered a few words to the pharaoh.
Pharaoh Nektanib heard that the gifts from Diónia were a large number of spears, swords, shields, armors, and even a few three-tiered oar warships docked at the mouth of the river … He was very satisfied: Egypt now did not lack food, nor did it lack gold, silver, and jewelry. What it lacked was better weapons and soldiers.
Therefore, there was also a smile on his face, "Thank you very much for the sincere blessings and generous gifts from the King of the Devers of the West! Although Egypt and Diónia are far apart, I have heard many times about the prestige of the Kingdom of Diónia and the bravery of the King of the Devers. I am very happy to be greeted by a king who also has the noble blood of the gods (Egyptians believe that the pharaoh is the incarnation of the gods, and the pharaoh often publicly claims that he is the son of Ra)! I warmly welcome your visit, messenger of Diónia! "
Pharaoh Nektanib stood up, stretched out his left hand, and made a welcoming gesture.
What he said was not polite words, but he did have a little understanding of the Kingdom of Diónia. Although among the city-states and countries along the Mediterranean coast, the Egyptians were the most closed and conservative. They preferred to work on the land rather than sail ships and trade. Therefore, to this day, many Egyptian officials probably did not know that there was a Kingdom of Diónia in the Mediterranean Sea. But Pharaoh Nektanib was different. Before becoming a pharaoh, he guarded the town of Sais for many years. Sais was not far from Naukratis, so he had heard many magical rumors about the Kingdom of Diónia from Greek merchants who came to Naukratis to trade.
"Dear Pharaoh!" Ancitanos continued Nektanib's words and continued, "Although Diónia and Egypt are far apart, because of this, there has never been any conflict of interest between the two countries. On the contrary, they can make up for each other's shortcomings. Therefore, the King of the Devers hopes that Diónia can establish a more friendly relationship with the country ruled by the pharaoh!"
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