Nesmut was a tall girl with fair skin and a slender frame

Nesmut,

an Ancient Egyptian Cinderella Tale

Nesmut was a tall girl with fair skin and a slender frame. Her eyes were like two sapphires shimmering in the afternoon sun. Her hair was a fiery red, like the roaring flames inside the artisan’s pottery oven.

Captured into slavery when she was but a child, Nesmut spent her days tending to the cattle and doing laundry. She was a pleasant person, a smile always spread across her sun-kissed cheeks. She liked to sing songs and write poems in the dirt along the Nile, where the cattle liked to drink, to pass the hours along. Unlike most slaves, she could read and write quite proficiently.

She was well-liked by all; especially the priests of the nearby temple. She often spent her free time there, and observed the sacred rituals that they preformed.

Although she never minded her life, and took each day as it came, Nesmut loved to dream. She dreamt of living in a grand palace; she dreamt of gold and vast wealth; she dreamt of falling in love and being swept away to a faraway land where she could live to be her own person.

By the end of the day, when the sun started to snuggle into the desert horizon, Nesmut would awaken from her dreams of grandeur and return to her small blanket on the floor of her master’s house.

Her master was a merchant. He traded things like papyrus, gold and other jewelry for cedar and ebony wood, ivory, panther skins, and lions for the palace. He was not a very wealthy merchant, but he made his way.

Nesmut could always find her master at his desk, planning his next big trip for trade, whenever she came inside for the evening.

One night, she returned from doing the laundry to find her master missing. Puzzled and curious as to where he was and why, Nesmut set out looking for him. She found him in the city square, talking to some of his friends. They were excited, and chattering on about some Nubian king and his nobles, who were passing through town next week. They said that the Pharaoh was going to hold a grand welcoming celebration, in the King’s honor. They were excited, because in the few days that the King and his entourage were staying in town, there would be many an opportunity to trade things.

Nesmut’s heart grew heavy. How she wished she could attend! Just thinking about all the extravagant people and wondrous food and merriment made her lightheaded with excitement. But…there was no room for a peasant in such a beautiful setting. Sad and disappointed, Nesmut turned around and went home to retire for the evening.

All night long, she could do nothing but think of how much fun it would be to attend the celebration. She imagined she was the daughter of a rich nobleman—the pharaoh’s royal treasurer/tax collector. She was draped in gold jewelry and sprinkled with nice scented oil. She would wear the finest makeup, and have the most beautiful dress. She would stand around and socialize with the other nobles, and then go wander off to a corner of the room to observe silently.

She would have so much fun; the hours of the night would fly by like minutes. Before she’d know it, the dawn would come, and that’s when she’d meet her prince charming. The two would fall madly in love, and she’d be whisked away to become his queen in a far off land.

Nesmut grew more and more melancholy as the days went by, knowing that there was no escape from who and what she was. She was a peasant girl. And peasants weren’t allowed at the celebration. This was for nobles and important people only.

On the evening of the celebration, Nesmut was given relief from her duties. She sat out on the bank of the Nile, and stared up at the sky. What she wouldn’t give to be allowed to attend…

Just then, a figure descended from the heavens. Nesmut watched in awe as the figure landed in front of her, enshrouded in a cloak of stars. Elegantly, the cloak was removed, to reveal a fair skinned woman with long, shimmering black hair; and eyes as dark as ebony. Nesmut’s jaw dropped. “Nephthys…” She stammered. The beautiful goddess of the night nodded; a smile lit up her porcelain face. “You have been such a devoted friend to my temple; you deserve to be rewarded.”

With a wave of Nephthys’ delicate hand, Nesmut was draped in gold necklaces and a silk dress. She smelled like some kind of exotic flower, and was wearing the finest makeup in the land. The goddess looked over her work, and thought for a moment. “You’re missing something…” Snapping her fingers once, a chariot appeared, with seven sleek black jackals to pull it. They each had a jeweled gold collar around their necks, and their eyes were a bright yellow.

Nesmut was amazed. She could hardly believe her eyes. She stared back at Nephthys in awe. Nephthys herded the young girl into the chariot, and said, “Go on and enjoy yourself.”

The next thing Nesmut knew was that she was riding through town. Everyone she passed stopped what they were doing to look at her, even the soldiers digging irrigation tunnels for a new farm.

Her heart thrashed wildly in her chest as she walked into the palace. It was better than she imagined. There were a lot of people, and all so elegantly dressed. She was surrounded in grandeur. There were tables lined end on end, overflowing with food of every kind. She was so overwhelmed, all she could do was sit in a corner of the room, and observe everything from afar.

That’s when she saw him; the Nubian King everybody was talking about in the town square earlier that day. She recognized him by the cap-crown on his head, adorned with the double-headed cobra. He was tall, dark and handsome, with long gold necklaces with solid gold ram’s heads on the ends. He wore a kilt of the finest material. Nesmut couldn’t help but stare, and she learned that his name was Anlamani.

Noticing that he was being stared at, Anlamani decided to go over and make conversation with the bright-haired beauty. The night wore on, and the two talked much.

By the end of the party, Anlamani had decided he wanted to marry this girl. As he proposed, Nesmut broke down into tears, and ran off, crying, “You can’t marry me, I’m a peasant girl!”

Nesmut was so heartbroken, she cried all the way home, and the rest of the night long. The next morning, there was a knock on the merchant’s door. The merchant went to answer it, and was amazed by what he saw. He was speechless as none other than Anlamani stood in his doorway. Anlamani bought Nesmut’s freedom, and the two were married later that same day. Then all Nesmut’s dreams came true as she became queen of a faraway land, and lived happily ever after.

By Rachel Fakih