CHAPTER 1

The Legend of Coming into Existence

In the realm of divine light the Great Angel was excited. An absoluteforce was attracting all the angels. Long before the creation of theuniverse, the angels were like drops on an ocean of divine light,which was an infinite source of energy. Because of its homogeneity,there was no concept of time or place. In this ocean of absolute wisdomand existence, God easily communicated with the angels. The angelswere nothing but divine light drops; they were differentiated by the sizeof their glowing spots. The Great Angel was coming after this reality.When the divine call attracted the angels, they were ready to perceivethe message of the Lord:

    Oh my angels, you should know I'm a treasure of the unknown.
    Although I am almighty, my passion is to be known.
    I'll put into existence therefore new universes.
    I wish to share my power of creation with humans.
    There will be a planet that I simply call earth.
    It will be dominated by mankind from their birth.
    I will create them by destiny of evolution.
    To change the earth, they will be equipped with divine notion.
    You are the creature's ocean of the divine light.
    You will witness the birth of the universe from first sight.

The angels were curious about humans. The Lord instantly repliedto their thoughts. He made them aware of human shapes. They wereenchanted by them from the first time they saw their shapes. Theybegged the Lord to take a human appearance—even spiritually. TheLord intended to make humans loved and respected by the angels. Theirwish was answered immediately. In the meantime, the Lord ordered thecreation of the universe.

A magnetic field appeared in the ocean of light with the Lord'spassion. This field started to suck energy from the ocean and turnedinto a black hole. Vibrations created by the pressure in the black holetransformed the energy into particles. The angels heard a huge sound,and radiating colors burst out of the accumulated energy. The energyscattered particles that created electrons and protons that would lastforever and formed matter. With the assembling of these particles, a newuniverse was born. The angels were confused. They had never perceivedsound or colors before, so they were curious. The Lord explained.

    Colors are divine decors of a finite world at best.
    They hold the reality of creation's secret.
    Mankind will learn from them the story of beginnings
    Colors will also define the essence of all things.
    Colors will make the world beautifully artistic.
    They will make the planet entirely unique.
    If humans had never been my beloved creatures,
    Would I bother to decorate the world with colors?
    Who creates anything that resembles this beauty?
    Colors are the real proof of the Lord's unity.

The angels questioned the sound after the colors.

    The sound is the hallmark of my will for new happenings.
    For a finite world, it is permission for new beginnings.
    Vibrations in the universe will form all about matter.
    Vibrations in the world make sounds for us to hear.
    With sounds, my creatures will understand each other.
    Many species will make sounds to come all together.
    Sounds will contribute to the evolution of humans.
    It will also ease for them to get the earthly notions.
    Sound is the way that mankind will find divine beauty.
    The Lord will use this language to speak humans directly.

During the divine communication between the angels and the Lord,the creation of the universe progressed. The formation was taking placein an environment where divine wisdom and energy (spirit and divinelight) existed everywhere. In other words, the universe was overlappingwith the ocean. All the protons and electrons were scattered into theuniverse after the big bang. In spite of the huge distances among them,they acted the same way and turned out to be the helium and hydrogenatoms by the will of the Lord.

Later on, the planets and galaxies came into formation—and theuniverse started to expand because of the gravity of the ocean of energysurrounding it. The Great Angel was enchanted by this progress anddesired to be a part of human evolution. After a while, he would findhimself in a finite world without even noticing that the Lord hadgranted his wish.

CHAPTER 2

Birth in the World

In 2638 BC, during the beginning years of the fourth dynastykingdom in Egypt, pharaohs had absolute power. They weresupposed to be the sons of the sun deity. In spite of their undisputedauthority, they used to rule the country with justice and rightfulness.Their main assistants in their duties, the queens, were respected by allEgyptians. This esteemed position in the community stemmed fromtheir religious beliefs.

Osiris, the deity of fertility and benevolence, was murdered by thedeity of cruelty and aridity. His wife, Isis, revived him and returnedhim to life. Ma'at laws, which were the essential rules of the Egyptiancivilization, had also been prepared by a female deity. The pharaohs wereobliged to make the Egyptian citizens happy and to find jobs and foodfor their subjects, according to the Ma'at rules. Criminals were punished.Building temples to endure thousands of years was another importantduty of the pharaohs. These temples were not only for worshipping.The priests of the temples were educating the children to read, write,and learn the arts (music, painting, sculpture, and science) medicine,mathematics, architecture, and astrology. This social order combinedwith the fertility of the river Nile to be the foundation of a civilizationthat would last four thousand years.

Another country shared the fertility of the Nile, but it never reachedthe level of Egyptian civilization. Nubia was situated on the southernborder of Egypt. It was no less rich than Egypt in natural resources. Thenortheastern part of the country, in spite of some deserts, had rich goldmines. In the southern part, there were forests with valuable timber tomake ships and abundant animals for hunting. In central Nubia, twobranches of the Nile met and created a fertile land for agriculture andconvenient waters for fishing. In spite of these favorable opportunities,they could never establish a civilization like Egypt. Nubians had norules to provide social order or leaders to apply them. It also lacked theteachers to educate the younger generations. Young girls were beingtaught housework, and boys were taught to hunt. Women had no socialresponsibility or much respect in their society. They used to give birthto the children and keep the houses in order. From time to time, kingsand princes ruled the country, but they never had much power over thescattered and independent tribes.

Aspelta, one of the chiefs of these tribes, was getting ready for ahunting party. He woke up early in the morning. His men loaded thedonkeys with hunting equipment. Aspelta was taking his only sonwith him. In spite of his eleven years of age, Kumma was a strong andclever boy. His father decided that he was sufficiently mature to meetthe wilderness and direct the men. This hunting safari could be a goodstart.

When preparations were completed, father and son were riding ondonkeys in the middle of the group. Aspelta's men surrounded themfor protection. Three donkeys were loaded with goats as reserve foodin case they did not hunt anything. Their destination was not far fromthe village. Due to the last days of his wife's pregnancy, Aspelta hadnot wanted to go too far. They reached the camping place at noon. Ariver entered the reedy land to form a natural bay; five hundred stepsfrom the shore, there was wood. Between the wood and the shore, thetents were set up in a plain. Aspelta and Kumma sat on rugs under theshadow of a willow tree.

Aspelta said, "This is the first time you have come hunting with me,Kumma. Don't ever take hunting as a simple game. This is a fight forsurvival. If you underestimate the animals, you can be the hunt. If youoverestimate them, you lose your courage and will be in danger. Youneed to watch where you are, be careful, and use your brain."

Kumma was already watching each detail very carefully, but hisfather's words had a big impact on him. Aspelta was giving orders toeach group of men. Some men would unload the donkeys, place theequipment properly, and set up tents. Others would slaughter the goatsand prepare the meal and the fire. Aspelta preferred to watch the latter.One of the goats was brought to a hollow. A man stepped on the animal.Another tried to cut its throat, but he only succeeded after many cruelattempts. The blood from the animal's head poured into the hole. Itsrear legs were still moving. Kumma's sadness did not escape Aspelta'sattention.

"You should get used to these kinds of scenes, my son. A goodhunter must be cruel. You must kill to survive. Otherwise, they maykill you. Don't forget the nature is also cruel."

Aspelta and Kumma had a good rest under the shadow of the trees.A few hours later, the meal was ready. After a delicious lunch, Aspeltastarted to give new orders. Some men were sent to dig a deep hole closeto the shore; others went fishing with spears. Suddenly, one of themthrew his spear into the water. Kumma ran toward the shore. When thespear was out of the water, there was a fluttering fish at its sharp end. Afew minutes later, other men started to catch fish. Kumma liked fishing.He took a spear and tried to catch one. He failed each time he tried.

He said, "Dad, can I catch fish like your men? Can you teach mehow to do it?"

Aspelta said, "You should find out how to catch a fish by your ownobservations. We mostly stay alone in the wild and cannot always findsomeone to ask. Find your own way, son."

Kumma realized he wasted his time by trying without observing.He watched the men more carefully. They were holding the spears veryclose to the surface. He had thrown his spear from a distance and scaredthe fish. He tried some more times, more carefully, but still failed. Hecame closer to the hunters and noticed they were throwing the spearsa little bit in front of the fish. Other fishermen were walking out ofthe water. Kumma was up to his knees when he saw a moving shadowbeneath the water. Without any rush, he brought the spear as close aspossible to the surface and threw it in front of the fish. He could notbelieve his eyes when he raised the spear out of the water. He had caughtthe biggest fish of the day.

Some men were cooking the fish while others were placing sharpenedsticks vertically into a hole. They covered the top of the hole withwooden sticks, reeds, and grass.

Kumma asked, "What are these men doing, Father?"

Aspelta replied, "Early in the morning—before sunrise—someanimals come here to drink water. If we are lucky, we can catch onewith our trap."

When dinner was served, they brought Kumma the fish he hadcaught. It was so tasty. Kumma gained confidence after his catch. Hewas dreaming of being a good hunter who was capable of huntinganything. After the meal, they set a big fire where everybody wouldsleep. Some men would stay awake and patrol.

Kumma said, "As you can see, my son, in order to be a goodchief, you must think of every detail in advance. You must explain anddelegate each the duties you expect from your men."

Kumma gazed at the sky when his father finished talking. He hadnever realized there were so many stars in the sky. After falling asleep,he dreamed of being torn apart by wild animals. He woke up in a panic.He heard howling. He woke his father and asked about the wild soundscoming from every corner.

Aspelta answered, "The howling is coming from jackals. Theyshould have smelled the blood of the goat we slaughtered. They mustbe the dark ones that can be found in this area in singles, pairs, andherds. With so many howls, it must be a rather big herd. They do notattack humans if they are not very hungry."

"What if they are very hungry?"

"Then they can be wilder and attack everything."

"Do you mean it's our final hours, Father?"

Aspelta tried to calm his son. "Don't be afraid, my boy. A goodhunter must be clever and brave."

After a short break, Aspelta turned to some of his men and toldthem to take the hide and remaining meat of the goat with them. Hechose four of his best archers and gave them bows and plenty of arrows.The other group would stay with Kumma near the fire.

After lighting some torches, Aspelta and his men walked towardsome nearby acacia trees. Kumma could see them under the light of thefull moon. They hung the hide and the meat on the branches of threetallest trees. Four archers climbed into the trees. The rest returned to thecamping site. It did not take long before Kumma noticed the jackals.They were trying to reach the hide and the meat by pushing and pawingeach other. A few jackals jumped up and fell down together. The othersreached the hide and the meat by trying to eat as much and as quicklyas possible. The ones that could not find anything to eat were staringat the camp.

In the meantime, the archers started to shoot the jackals fromthe trees. The jackals that could not get sufficient meat attacked thewounded members of the herd. Now they were the hunt. The men in thecamping area had difficulty keeping the donkeys from being scared bythe howls. One of the archers fell slowly from the tree, and the jackalsattacked immediately. The scream of their friend froze everybody'sblood. Kumma felt as if his dream had come true. The other archerstried to shoot as many jackals as they could, but they could not savethe life of their friend.

Kumma was very scared and affected by all the things he hadwitnessed. His only consolation was to be near his father.

Aspelta said, "After I pass away, my son, you will be surroundedby humans who will be more dangerous than the jackals. In order toovercome your rivals, you should divide them by throwing separatefood in front of them. Wait behind the traps as we did tonight. At yourearliest convenience, kill them one by one without leaving any breathingcreature behind. Don't forget how it happened tonight; your first andonly mistake becomes your last before dying."

Kumma was not ready to hear that much cruelty. He said, "I do notwant to be the chief of the tribe after you, Father."

Aspelta smiled bitterly and said, "That will not save you from death,my boy. Because you are the son of the former chief, nobody wouldbelieve you—even if you had wanted to renounce. They will always seeyou as a threat."

Kumma was about to accept his destiny.

Aspelta said, "Not only that. Neighboring tribes can attack you inanimosity. You must be superior to them as well. You can gain most ofthe instincts and abilities needed to survive during safaris. The jackalswe killed tonight were superior to us in quantity and strength, but wewon against them with our courage, carefulness, shrewdness, and trickytraps—all which we gained in hunting."

In the morning, Aspelta and his men woke to the voices of messengersfrom their village. Kumma's mother, Nitokris, was about to deliver herbaby. Kumma, his father, and some of the men rode on donkeys andhurried back to the village. When they entered the home, a doctor waswaiting for them in front of Nitokris's room. In one corner, a doctor'sassistant was preparing hot water. When Aspelta and Kumma reached thebed, Nitokris smiled. She had been encouraged to know that her husbandand son would be with her during the birth. Kumma held his mother'shand. She was suffering from the regular pains, but she was smiling.

The doctor asked Aspelta and Kumma to wait on the terrace.Kumma heard his mother's screams but was unable to do anything.An hour later, the doctor left the room. Kumma knew something waswrong because of the man's pale face and trembling voice.

The doctor said, "I do not know how to tell you, Chief Aspelta, butthe baby entered the birth channel from the opposite side. We can onlysave the mother or the baby under this circumstance."

Kumma felt a pressure in his heart. His legs were hardly carryinghis body. He had difficulty understanding why his mother should havebeen sacrificed to save an unborn baby. His father was thinking beforeanswering the doctor's question. Kumma looked at his father with fearand anxiety.