A to Z Challenge - "R"

R - is for "Ramose"

I don't know why I had such a hard time thinking of "R" when RAMOSE, the High Priest of Ptah, was practically the driving force in my historical novel. Oh, boats....I'll come to that.

Ramose was an ancient Egyptian name, meaning "Born of Ra." A variant of the name is Ramesses; Egyptologists usually use the Ramesses variant for pharaohs and Ramose for non-royals. Many notable bearers of the name followed my Ramose who lived (in my imagination) at the beginning of the First Dynasty, 3080 BC.

The office of the High Priest of Ptah was located in Memphis (the very early Ineb-hedj - City of White Walls - in my story). It was also common for the high priest to hold the title of sem priest of Ptah. The sem priest was recognized by dressing in a panther skin.

(I just read all this in Wikipedia - whew, am I glad I somehow got that right in the book.)

Now, as to boats. With the Nile the most important artery along the Two Lands, and the priesthood successfully keeping itself separate from the royal palace, it asserted its own powerful laws with the aid of legends, threats, and mysticism (sounds familiar?). Their temple boats and supply barges spread the priestly influence up and down the Nile, while collecting generous offerings to the gods. The priests ate well.

When Ramose went through the Field of Rushes, temple sistrum dancers wailed and undulated, mainly to keep mourners alert during the lengthy burial services (something boring politicians might think about).