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The End of a Dynasty
A great barge drifted lazily down the Nile, carrying a sarcophagus with a small mummy hidden inside. The boat drivers with their long wooden poles took care to weave around the papyrus plants, and had strategically chosen a route that was free of deadly cataracts.
Ramses II stared blankly at the scene from the back of his boat. Ever since his best doctors had given him the news that his dynasty had ended, he hadn't said a word. Now that the embalming was complete, he would never see his son - dead or alive - again.
His son would be placed in a pyramid and sealed forever along with Ahmose, Hatshepsut, Tut, and all the other deceased pharaohs that Ramses failed to remember. Just before exiting the boat, he thought twice about thanking the sun god, Re, for the bright streak of sunlight that he had placed on the young prince's tomb. Why should he thank his gods if they had allowed the God of another to destroy him?
The ceremony took place just outside a small, hurriedly- built, and sturdy pyramid; there was no time to construct proper ceremony grounds. Everyone watched as the priest blessed each item that had been given as tribute to the young prince; the Pharaoh had made sure there was enough to sustain his son in the afterlife. The priest thanked every deity there was for the necessary items, each ranging from tiny wooden cats to pots of fertile soil from the delta.
The priest slowly brought his blessings to a close, and the pharaoh watched intently as the carefully chosen scribes scratched the final hieroglyphics on the tomb, and then sealed his son inside- forever.
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