Journey into Magic and Mystery with The Girl With The Rose Red SlippersA Cinderella style tale from ancient Egypt, in which Horus gives the Pharaoh a rose-red shoe and instructs him to search of the owner.
Amasis was the Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt in its latter years, not too many years before the Persians took control of the nation. He welcomed all Greeks who desired to trade with or dwell in Egypt and offered them a city called Naucratis to call their own to fortify his nation against the prospect of invasion by Cyrus of Persia, who was conquering the entire known world.
A wealthy Greek trader by the name of Charaxos resided in Naucratis, not far from the location where the Nile empties into the sea at Canopus. Though the well-known poetess Sappho was his sister, and the island of Lesbos was his original home, he spent the majority of his life in Egypt trading and retired to Naucratis.
He noticed a large throng gathered nearby the slave auction one day as he was strolling through the marketplace. He entered their group out of curiosity and discovered that everyone was staring at a stunning girl who had just been placed on the stone rostrum to be sold.
Charaxos took a deep breath because he had never seen anyone so beautiful. She was clearly a Greek, with skin that was white and cheeks that were blushing roses.
As a result, when the bidding started, Charaxos decided to purchase her, and as he was one of the richest merchants in all of Naucratis, he was able to do so without any difficulty.
He learned the girl's name was Rhodopis and that as a young child, she had been abducted by pirates from her home in the northern part of Greece. She was raised as a slave by a wealthy man who owned many others. One of her fellow slaves was an unattractive tiny man named Aesop, who was always friendly to her and gave her the most captivating fables and stories about animals, birds, and people.
But, when she was an adult, her lord decided to sell the young woman to wealthy Naucratis to profit from such a beautiful girl.
Charaxos heard her story and felt great sympathy for her. In fact, he quickly developed a strong romantic interest in her. He provided her with a beautiful home to live in, complete with a garden in the centre and slave girls to care for her. He showered her with gifts of jewellery and exquisite clothing, treating her like his own daughter.
While Rhodopis was taking a dip in the pool with the marble edge in her private garden, an odd event occurred. While she lounged in the refreshing water, the slave girls held her garments and watched over her jewel-encrusted girdle and her rose-red slippers, which she was especially proud of. A summer day even in the north of Egypt gets very hot around noon.
An eagle appeared out of the bright blue sky and swooped straight down as if to strike the little gathering by the pool, interrupting the moment of calm and tranquillity. Rhodopis rose from the water and stood with her back against the marble fountain at one end of the garden, looking with wide, horrified eyes as the slave girls dropped everything they were holding and fled shouting to hide among the trees and flowers.
The eagle, though, paid none of them any regard. Instead, it quickly descended and plucked one of her rose-red slippers from her feet. Then, carrying the slipper with it, it soared into the air once more and flew off over the Nile Valley in the direction of the south.
Rhodopis sobbed as she mourned the loss of her rose-coloured slipper, certain that she would never see it again, as well as any other gifts Charaxos had given her.
Nonetheless, it appeared as though the eagle had been sent by the gods—possibly by Horus, whose sacred bird he was. He took out from Memphis directly up the Nile before swooping down to the palace.
At that time, Pharaoh Amasis was administering justice to his subjects while listening to whatever grievances they might have.
The eagle flew down over the courtyard and deposited Rhodopis' rose-red slipper in the pharaoh's lap.
When they witnessed this, the people yelled out in shock, and Amasis was also very surprised. He believed, however, that the girl for whose foot the little, rose-coloured slipper was fashioned must indeed be one of the loveliest in the world as he picked it up and marvelled at the delicate craftsmanship and small size of it.
Amasis the Pharaoh was so touched by what had occurred, in fact, that he enacted a law:
"Let my messengers travel to the very edges of my realm through all the cities of the Delta and, if necessary, into Upper Egypt. They should say that whoever's foot this slipper originated from will be the bride of Pharaoh and take this rose-red slipper that the divine bird of Horus delivered to me with them."
The messengers then fell to the ground while pleading, "Life, health, and strength be to Pharaoh!" As Pharaoh has spoken, his order must be followed!
Thus, they left Memphis and travelled through Heliopolis, Tanis, and Canopus before arriving in Naucratis. They learned about the wealthy merchant Charaxos and how he acquired the stunning Greek girl from the slave market and lavished all his fortune upon her as if she were a princess entrusted to his care by the gods.
They walked to the large mansion next to the Nile and discovered Rhodopis in the peaceful garden next to the swimming pool.
She yelled out in shock as they revealed to her that the rose-coloured slipper belonged to her. She asked one of the slave girls to bring the pair of shoes she had carefully stored in remembrance of her weird encounter with the eagle to her foot so they could see how well it fit her.
When the messengers realised that the girl they had been sent to fetch was indeed present, they knelt in front of her and addressed her as "The good god Pharaoh Amasis bids you come with all speed to his palace at Memphis." You would be treated with the utmost respect and given a prominent position in his Royal House of Ladies there because, according to him, Horus, the son of Isis and Osiris, sent the eagle that carried the rose-red slipper to prompt him to look for you.
Such a command was impossible to ignore. Charaxos, who was split between happiness over her good fortune and sorrow over his loss, said Rhodopis farewell before leaving for Memphis.
Amasis was convinced that the gods had sent her to him when he first beheld her beauty. She was elevated to the status of his Queen and the Royal Lady of Egypt, not just accepted into his Royal House of Ladies. They continued to share a happy life together till they passed away a year before Ambyses the Persian's arrival.
