Lands of the Nile Chapter One: Introduction

See Also

• The Ars Magica Reference Document
• The Lands of the Nile Open Content page
• The Lands of the Nile product page on this wiki

Chapter One: Introduction

"[In Egypt] there are races horrible on account of their strange faces and monstrous appearance...it also abounds in wild beasts and serpents; and precious stones, cinnamon, and balsam are found there."

—The Beatus Map

This book describes the lands of the Nile Valley. The River Nile is a major geographical feature of Mythic Europe, dividing as it does the continents of Africa (to the west) and Asia (to the east), just as the Don separates Europe and Asia, and the Mediterranean Sea separates Europe and Africa.

Many people think of Egypt and picture barren deserts. However, more accurately Egypt and Nubia (and to a lesser extent Ethiopia) are the lands on either bank of the River Nile. These are therefore exceptionally fertile lands of plenty that are surrounded by deserts and wastes. Visitors are often struck by the bounty of the Nile Valley: its fecund pastures, fields, orchards and groves; its rich tropical forests teeming with animals; and its lush swamps, marshes, and reed beds.

This book concentrates on the lands of the Nile in the thirteenth century. There are countless books available - scholarly, popular, and game-related - which provide information about the culture, customs, and religion of pre-Ptolemy Egypt. That material has not been reiterated here, but could be consulted by troupes wanting to include elements of Ancient Egypt in their game. It should also be noted that this is also Egypt from the perspective of its 13th century inhabitants, and so there are features that do not agree with modern archeology.

Themes

There are a number of saga themes that run through the Valley of the Nile. None of these are mutually exclusive, and in fact some complement each other well.

The Red and the Black

The continent of Africa - which includes the lands of Egypt, Nubia, and Ethiopia - is a battleground between two vast magical spirits, entities so great that it is difficult to conceive of them as singular beings. Instead they are constructs of ideas that are most commonly summarized as The Red and The Black. The Red, sometimes called the Hunger, is the destructive force of the desert. It seeks endlessly to consume the lands on the edges of the Great Desert that constitutes the heart of Africa. It is a force of chaos inimical to mankind by its very nature and that promotes sterility and destruction. The Red has servitors and allies among hostile creatures, spirits, faeries, and jinn. One of its chief servants was a giant called The Kom, but it was slain and seeks to reconstitute itself (see Chapter 7: Pakhoras). The Cult of Dedun (see Chapter 7) indirectly serves the Red by accumulating power through death and decay.

The Black, or the Hope, is best expressed as the spirit of the Nile. The lands described in this book are awash with fertility and abundance, located as they are within the stronghold of the Black. This power is beneficial to humankind, but only by accident - the Black is too vast to notice the humans that thrive under its auspices. The Black has its servants much like the Red, including the lector priests who served as magicians to the pharaohs. Wesir, the human who first discovered how to become a Daimon (see Chapter 4: The Akh), became a powerful servant of the Black and is more commonly known under his Greek name of Osiris.

More about the Red and the Black can be found in Between Sand and Sea, Chapter 2.

Egypt Just Grows Marvels

The vast number of tombs found in Egypt is a puzzle. Muslim scholars are keenly aware that Herodotus, writer of the Histories, did not agree with the age of the world as calculated from Scripture, and that his list of pharaohs is far longer than possible. They are also aware that if they look for physical evidence of the pharaohs Herodotus names, they can find it: their tombs are where he says they are, and their names appear on lists written by the ancients. This contradiction is meditated upon by Sufis and Christian mystics alike, who have come up with a variety of conclusions, most of which have little bearing on the daily life of people. It is, however, considered good for every person, whose path on the Hajj goes through Egypt, to see the monuments, as they are part of the shared accomplishment of humanity.

It is generally believed that God put all these monuments in Egypt so that people would look at them and become wiser. There are more tombs than historically possible because God has made the lands of the Nile as a storehouse of wonders. By seeking out these monuments and digging up their treasures they are not diminished in any way, for God will make sure there are enough for all to appreciate the wonders. This is another aspect of the superabundance and fertility that is characteristic of The Black.

Every place along the Nile has an undiscovered treasure. This is a belief so firmly held by Egyptians that there is a government department which licenses a guild of treasure hunters, and takes a cut of their finds (see the Guild of Seekers in Chapter 4). For decades, during droughts, the Egyptian government subsisted almost entirely on treasure taxes. Treasure is everywhere, and if there is a place without a treasure, a faerie is likely to put one there and then help you find it, or help you suffer in failing to do so.

Secrets and Mysteries

Egypt is frequently visited by Westerners keen to trade in gold, spices, ointments and lectuaries, precious stones, and silks. Merchants from various European nations have fondachi, or trading stations, in Alexandria. Papal injunctions on the export of wood and iron - both vital to the Saracen war efforts - to Egypt are largely ignored in the pursuit of profit. However, few westerners have bothered to leave the Lower Nile, and many have penetrated no further south than Cairo. Most of Egypt is a mystery to them. The lands to the south of Egypt - the Nubian kingdoms of Nobatia, Makuria, and Alodia, and the Ethiopian Empire beyond that - are even less well-known in the west. The Great King of Makuria has forbidden all foreign trade, and this has rendered Ethiopia Orientalis (as Europeans call the land south of Egypt) a mystery.

The Red is a devourer of secrets, and many mysteries are buried under the sands. As an agent of oblivion, some of these mysteries no longer have answers; their explanations have been consumed and lost for all time. Other mysteries never had answers; they are simply marvels created by God. Player characters who are used to uncovering secrets might find this lack of explanation frustrating, but that is the nature of the land.

Of course, not all mysteries lack or even need explanations. Egypt in particular is seen as a storehouse of ancient knowledge just waiting to be uncovered, and some within the Order of Hermes wonder if the secrets of the first magicians can be found hidden in its tombs. Mystery and lost knowledge is great motivation for stories.

A Note for Troupes Doing Their Own Research

This book reflects 13th century Egyptian folklore, and deliberately includes some features that contradict modern knowledge of ancient Egypt.

Legible Scripts

The most learned of Copts can read hieroglyphics, because hieroglyphics are just another way of writing an ancient form of the Coptic language called Demotic. In the real world, this is partially true: some later hieroglyphic inscriptions are in a Coptic language. In period it was believed that the oldest and wisest Copts could freely translate the writings of the ancients. This makes some of them great healers, oracles, and magicians since they can read the spells encoded by ancient priests, while others can read the language but pursue the will of the Divine instead.

Key hieroglyphs denoting warnings and curses are taught at the Seekers' Guild (see Chapter 4: Tombs) by rote rather than as a language, and the gist of a text can be understood with an Intelligence + Profession: Seeker stress roll against an Ease Factor related to the age and complexity of the text (common curses are Ease Factor 6, typical texts are Ease Factor 9). A botch indicates a tragic misunderstanding of the content.

Tomb Traps

Hundreds of books were written for medieval, Egyptian treasure hunters. Books that described realistic tombs were not as popular as those that claimed to provide the secret methods of disarming intricate traps and pacifying guardian spirits. The more exaggerated a book's claims, the more comprehensive it was seen to be, and so the more popular it was. In the setting, tombs are filled with bizarre traps, strange creatures and logic puzzles, because people in the thirteenth century believed they were. It was a way of explaining why the omnipresent treasures had not been taken already.

Ancient Egyptian Magic Was Relatively Weak

Hermetic magic is far more offensively powerful than the Biblical account of Egyptian magic. There are a handful of magicians who were stronger than the Pharaonic magicians described in the Bible, but they were not tomb builders. The priest-magicians excelled at healing magic and commanding spirits.

Endlessness

There is an endless quality to the Nile Valley, a feeling of perpetuity that can be disquieting to those not used to it. Every day is the same as the previous one; the weather is largely unvarying from day to day, and there is little change in day length with the season. Crops grow all year round, and there is no clear season of new life or harvest as there is in more temperate climes. The only true marker of the turning of the year is the annual flooding of the Nile, and this only affects Lower Egypt to any great extent.

Ancient religious practices focused on another aspect of endlessness: immortality. The elaborate ritual of death was geared toward the apotheosis of the ghosts of the favored dead, granting immortality as a Daimon. As a consequence of these rites, ghosts would become cleansed of the negative influences of the Red and become powerful allies of the Black. However, servitors of the Red sought - and still seek - immortality through mastery of decrepitude and decay within the Cult of Dedun. It is no coincidence that Herodotus put the site of the death and resurrection of the phoenix in Heliopolis (now a suburb of Cairo).

Dating Pharaonic Egypt

In Mythic Africa, the time of the pharaohs in Egypt lasted, at most, 2070 years, followed by another 302 years of Ptolemaic rule. The Earth was, according to the scholar Maimonides, created 5278 years ago (4058 BC). The flood survived by Noah occurred 1656 years after Creation (2402 BC). Misr, son of Ham, son of Noah, was the first king of Egypt, and his sons founded many of the cities, which still bear their names. Within six hundred years their civilization was thriving and powerful, because Joseph was sold into Egyptian slavery in 1842 BC. Local folklore holds he was a skilled magician, possibly even Imhotep under another name, so Egyptian magic was also established at this time. The Exodus occurred in 1610 BC, and some thinkers suggest monument building became less prolific after the loss of the Jewish slaves. Alexander conquered Egypt in 332 BC leading to the Ptolemaic Dynasty, which ended in 30 BC. The Muslims completed their conquest of Egypt in 641 AD. Despite this, every monument which was found in Medieval Africa is found in Mythic Africa, along with many more.

Geography

The dominant feature of the region covered by this book is the River Nile. Through most of its length it flows through desert, and there is little in the way of significant uplands until Ethiopia.

The Nile Valley

The land is so burned and sterile that it supports no herb and no manner of tree, except where the river Nile waters the ground when it is flood; in these parts alone a great abundance of wheat can grow.

— William of Tyre

The Nile is generally accepted to be the same as the River Gihon, one of the four rivers of Paradise. Its source is shrouded in mystery, the subject of scholastic debate, and the goal of several expeditions into Ethiopia Orientalis (for more on this issue, see Between Sand and Sea).

The Nile Valley is hemmed in on both sides by desert. The only habitable land is a narrow fertile strip which floods each year between June and September, depositing a rich layer of black silt. The river is lined with palm gardens and orchards, and broad fields beyond that. The Nile is the only source of water for much of Egypt and Nubia, where no rain falls at all in many years. The flood of the Nile is known to result from an abundance of rain in the Abyssinian Highlands.

Abyssinian Highlands

Between Nubia and Ethiopia are the Abyssinian Highlands, sometimes known as the Land of Havilah. This region incorporates the Semien Mountains that form the eastern border of the Ethiopian Empire, and is home to the island-studded Lake Tana.

Deserts

Three deserts enclose and surround the regions covered in this book. The mighty Libyan Desert forms the western border of Egypt and Nubia. The Nubian Desert lies between the Upper Nile and the Red Sea. Finally, the Danakil Desert separates the Nubian Kingdom of Atbara from the Ethiopian Empire. The most common terrain in all three deserts is ergs: rolling windswept sand dunes.

People

There are a number of different peoples found in the Nile Valley.

Copts

The Copts are the aboriginal people of Egypt, descended from the builders of the pyramids. Physically, they share physiognomy with other Semitic races such as the Jews and Syrians, tending toward dark hair and eyes, and olive complexions, although they find paler skins more aesthetically pleasing, and some use white pigments and bleaches to lighten their skin. Red hair is a sign of bad luck.

Egyptian Muslims

Egypt was conquered by the Umayyad Caliphate in 639, and the native population was gradually converted to Islam over the successive centuries. Today, the Muslim population in Egypt is a blend of converted native Copts and Arab settlers from the east.

Nubians

The Nubian people are descended from a tribe called the Nobatae who entered the Nile Valley about the time of the collapse of the Empire of Kush. They are a black-skinned Christian people who have borrowed heavily from Greek culture. The Nubians have a unique treaty with Muslim Egypt that keeps them safe from the threat of invasion in return for a yearly payment of slaves.

Ethiopians

The Ethiopians are related to the Nubians, and share a similar appearance, although culturally they are quite different. They have lived in the region since the dawn of time; the ancestors of the current Empire traded with the ancient Greek city-states, with Pharaonic Egypt, and with the Empire of Kush.

Mythic Aithiopes

The Mythic Aithiopes (singular Aithiops) should not be confused with the Ethiopians, although they are clearly related to them, and to the Nubians. There are numerous tribes of Mythic Aithiopes scattered to the southeast of Nubia and east of Ethiopia, where they eke a living from the fetid swamps and dry grasslands. The sad truth is that these people are regularly raided by organized Egyptian and Nubian expeditions in search of slaves and livestock. The Aithiopes' tribelands provide most of the slaves sold in Qus and Cairo; from there they are distributed throughout the Ayyubid Caliphate.

Upper Versus Lower

Perhaps confusing to the modern reader used to maps oriented with north in the upper quadrant, the terms 'upper' and 'lower' when applied to the nations along the Nile refer to the direction of its flow. Thus Lower Egypt is the most northerly region about the Nile Delta, Upper Egypt is centered around Qus, although in ancient times Upper Egypt extended deep into Nubia. Lower Nubia is now considered to start at the first cataract and end at the third, and Upper Nubia extends south as far as the Abyssinian Highlands.

Other People

In the Nubian Desert live a race of Magic Humans called the Blemmyae, who have no heads but rather faces in their chests. The five tribes of Blemmyae are vital to the economies of both Nubia and Egypt, as only they know the location of the gold deposits in the desert that made Egypt so rich in ancient times.

South of the Ethiopian Empire are several sultanates inhabited by colonists from Yemen, across the Red Sea.

Languages

The following languages are spoken in this region. Most characters should take the appropriate dialect as a specialty but Educated or well-traveled speakers will have tried hard to rid themselves of their dialect and may have standard specialties (see ArM5, page 66).

• Amharic (Agaw, Amhara, Tigray)
• Arabic (Masri, Khaliji, Maghrebi)
• Beja (no dialects)
• Coptic (Boharic, Sahidic)
• Nubian (Alwa, Dongolawi, Kenzi, Mahasi)
• Oromigna
• Romaic Greek (Nubian)
• Tamazight (Siwi)
• Tigrinya (Dahlak)
• Various tribal tongues of the Mythic Aithiopians

Languages of Egypt

Arabic is the principal tongue of Egypt, in the local dialect of Masri, or Egyptian Arabic. The Maghrebi dialect is used by travelers from North Africa, and the Khaliji dialect is used in the Arabian Peninsula. Arabic has its own script which is shared between all dialects.

Coptic is the descendent of Demotic (see later), and is the language of the aboriginal Egyptians. The language has been in decline since the Muslim conquest of Egypt, although up until a century ago it was the spoken language of the native population outside the capital. The Boharic dialect of Coptic is the form spoken in Lower Egypt, the Sahidic dialect of Upper Egypt having entirely died out except among the Nubian clergy (see later). Coptic uses a script derived from the Greek alphabet with the addition of letters from Demotic.

The Siwi dialect of Tamazight (the language spoken by Berber tribes) is native to the Siwa Oasis.

Hazards of the Desert

Deserts present a range of hazards that must be overcome if characters are to travel safely within them.

The sun burns hot in the deserts, meaning that characters need to take precautions against heat and sunstroke. This includes covering their skin to avoid sunburn and carrying adequate supplies of water to stave off dehydration. The Deprivation check time for lack of water is reduced in the deserts to 4 hours, while the sunlight does +1 non-combat damage if skin is left exposed (see ArM5, pages 180–181).

Another (usually natural) hazard of the ergs is dry quicksands, which can swallow a man and his mount in seconds. If a character steps on one of these, he begins to sink immediately and is pulled under within two rounds. Death from suffocation follows if he is not rescued (again, see ArM5, pages 180–181). A character who is caught in an area of dry quicksand may make a Strength or Quickness stress roll against an Ease Factor of 9 in the first round to leap or pull himself free before he sinks a significant distance, with a botch indicating that his arms are trapped in the following round. Thereafter it is up to his companions to help him escape its clutches, though if his arms are free he may assist in the second round, reducing any further Ease Factors that he may have to roll against by 3. Thereafter he has been pulled under and is not able to help.

Characters also must be wary of brigands, who prey on caravans crossing the deserts. They are likely to avoid a caravan that is clearly well guarded, but this depends on how desperate they are for goods to support themselves.

Sandstorms and dust storms may suffocate travelers or even strip the flesh from their bones. These may be natural, created by the magic of malevolent sorcerers, or the manifestations of elemental jinn. Some may even be witches in disguise.

Various other desert jinn and demons seek to harm unwary travelers. In some cases they may use powers that affect the mind or conjure illusions, presenting travelers with visions of lush, palm-filled oases where they may quench their thirsts. A character may only realize that she has been deceived when she takes her first long draught of water, only to find her mouth full of sand.

Varieties of Christianity

The Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria is distinct from and in schism with both the Eastern Orthodox and the Roman churches. It is monophysite in belief, holding that following the Incarnation, Christ has just one nature which is either divine or a synthesis of divine and human. The opposing position (dyophysitism), held by the Roman and Eastern Churches, is that Christ maintained two natures, one divine and one human, after the Incarnation.

The Coptic Church was founded by Saint Mark the Evangelist in the first century after Christ. The see of Alexandria had a strong influence on the development of Christianity as a whole, being the birthplace of the monastic tradition, and its catechetical school produced many important scholars, not least Origen, who is called "the father of theology." At the Council of Chalcedon in 451 the dyophysite position was adopted as doctrine, and was accepted by the sees of Rome, Constantinople, and Antioch, but rejected by the see of Alexandria. The Coptic Church thereby entered into schism with the "Chalcedonian" congregations. They elected their own patriarch of Alexandria in opposition to the Melkite or Imperial patriarch elected by the see of Constantinople. Naturally, the Melkite patriarch had the support of the Byzantine governors of Egypt, and the Coptic Church was persecuted as heretical, and its followers driven underground. Upon the Muslim conquest of Egypt the Melkite Church was driven out along with the Greek rulers, and the Coptic Church experienced a minor renaissance. Despite gradual conversion from Christianity to Islam in the six centuries since the invasion, the Coptic people and the Coptic Church are still a significant presence in Egypt.

The Nubian Church is in full communion with the Coptic Church, and receives appointment to its bishoprics from Alexandria. The Kingdom of Makuria was originally converted to Christianity by Melkite missionaries; while the church in Makuria is now part of the Coptic hierarchy, there is still a significant Melkite minority in Makuria that practices the Greek rite under authority from the Patriarch of Constantinople.

The Ethiopian Church is monophysite in belief, but is not part of the Coptic congregation.

Languages of Nubia

The language of the three Nubian kingdoms is Nubian, descended from the language of the ancient Nobatae. Mahasi, Dongolawi, and Alwa are the dialects spoken in Nobatia, Makuria, and Alodia respectively, whereas Kenzi is spoken by the Banu al Kanz. Mahasi is on the verge of separating into a separate language, and those who know this dialect have a larger penalty than usual when talking to speakers of the other Nubian dialects. Nubian uses the Coptic alphabetic script, but extended to include sounds not used by Coptic.

Familiarity with Masri Arabic is common in Nobatia, which trades extensively with Egypt.

Religious documents are mostly written in Nubian Greek, a dialect considered barbaric by most native Greek speakers. The indigenous clergy use Greek for the liturgy as well, although the numerous Egyptian clergymen and monks use the Sahidic dialect of Coptic.

Languages of Ethiopia

The three highland kingdoms of Ethiopia speak Amharic, descended from the language of the Ge'ez with a Semitic base. Agaw, Amhara, and Tigray are the dialects of the Agaw and Shewa, Bet Amhara, and parts of Medri Bahri along the escarpment, respectively. Tigrinya is spoken by the lowlands people of Medri Bahri, with a distinct dialect in the Dahlak Archipelago. The Oromigna language is a Nubian-derived language also used in the southern sultanates of Ethiopia and the pagan tribes toward the Torrid Zone. Amharic, Tigrinya, and Oromigna are all written using the Ge'ez script (see later).

Khaliji Arabic (the dialect spoken in Arabia) is spoken by merchants in Medri Bahri, who trade extensively in the Red Sea, Yemen, and throughout the southern sultanates of Adal, Ifat, Hadiya, and Dewaro. It uses the standard Arabic script.

Other Languages

Beja, spoken by the Blemmyae, is the only extant descendent of Meroitic (see later). The Blemmyae have no written form of their language, and therefore cannot translate the script on Kushitic monuments.

The slaves captured from the southern regions of Nubia speak a number of different languages; each tribe should be considered to speak a different language, although the core vocabulary is similar, and someone who knows one language can make himself understood in any of the others. Slaves are discouraged from speaking their own language, and tend to be taught Arabic by Nubian slavers in order to increase their value in Egypt.

Languages	Penalty to both speakers
Same language, different dialects	–1
Mahasi and any other Nubian dialect	–2
Oromigna and any Nubian dialect	–2
Amharic and Ge'ez	–2
Beja and Meroitic	–2
Ancient Egyptian and Demotic	–2
Demotic and Coptic	–2
any two Aithiopean languages	–2

Too Many Languages

In truth, Ethiopia is awash in dialects, subdialects, and variants of spoken languages. In the 18th century, one linguist noted over fifty distinct spoken languages spread across the country. Rather than attempt to simulate this rich and immense diversity, which would result in an excessive amount of experience points spent on Living Languages, we have chosen to consolidate the situation and use only the most widely used languages. No disrespect is intended and more dialects could be added if your troupe desires.

Dead Languages

• Ancient Egyptian
• Demotic
• Meroitic
• Ge'ez

Ancient Egyptian is the language of the pyramid-builders. Over the long history of the Egyptian people this language gradually changed; these versions would be considered different dialects if enough about them was known. It was written using hieroglyphs and later hieratic, a cursive alphabet deriving from them. Eventually Ancient Egyptian evolved into Demotic, which was used up until Roman times. This language used the Demotic alphabet, derived from hieratic. The Demotic language gave rise to Coptic, and is still understood by scholars today.

Meroitic is the language of Kush; it is entirely unrelated to either the Ancient Egyptian that preceded it, or the Nubian that followed it. It was written using two scripts, a hieroglyphic and an alphabetic script, although there are few left alive today who know either of these, even if they speak Meroitic.

Ge'ez is the forebear of Amharic. It is the ancient language of Axum and still used in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church's liturgy. Ge'ez and Ethiopia's current languages are written in a unique script of two hundred characters which represent syllables and compound sounds rather than individual letters.

Glossary

Akh: a new soul formed from the fusion of the ba, ka, and khu. Akhu are Daimons that dwell in the Magic Realm.

Ba: the traveling soul of a dead person, constantly in search of the khu.

Baqt: agreement between Muslim Egypt and Christian Nubia that keeps the latter safe from attempts at conquest.

Cataract: a wide waterfall of the Nile. These are not navigable, although some can be negotiated via portage of boats across land.

Domestikos: One of thirteen kings who pay fealty to the megabasilikos.

Field of Reeds: a paradise within the Magic Realm where ka live out their days.

Ka: the ghost of a deceased person that travels between the mundane world and the Field of Reeds.

Kentake: the mother of a Kushitic king or qore, who shares power with her son.

Khu: the Divine soul that flees the body at the time of death.

Megabasilikos: 'Great King', overall ruler of Makuria and Nobatia.

Mut: the ghost of a person with unfinished business, equivalent to a shade.

Qore: a Kushitic king; the term is still used in Alodia.

Sahir: magician who works through the summoning of jinn. They are members of the Order of Solomon; for more details see The Cradle and the Crescent, Chapter 3.

Serdab: part of an Egyptian tomb which the dead person's ghost inhabits when in the mundane world.

Ushabti: a statue carved to represent a person or animal that will serve a dead person in the afterlife. Egyptian ghosts can possess these statues.

Wadi: a seasonal stream or river.

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