The Prince and the SphinxThe story of how Harmachis, posing as a Sphinx, assisted a young Egyptian Prince in becoming Pharaoh.
A prince by the name of Thutmose once reigned as the renowned queen Hatshepsut's successor in Egypt. Thutmose was the son of the pharaoh Amenhotep and the grandson of Thutmose III. Because he was the Pharaoh's favourite son, his numerous siblings and half-brothers were constantly plotting against him. These plots were typically intended to convince Pharaoh that Thutmose was unfit or unworthy to succeed him; occasionally, they were attempts to persuade the populace or the priests that Thutmose was cruel or extravagant or did not respect the gods and would therefore make a poor ruler of Egypt; however, once or twice, the plots were intended to endanger his life.
Thutmose was troubled and sad due to all of this. He began to spend less time at the Pharaoh's court at Thebes or Memphis and more and more often rode on trips into Upper Egypt or through the desert to the seven big oases. He would sneak out whenever he could, either with a small group of loyal followers or even by himself and in disguise, to hunt on the border of the desert, even when Pharaoh ordered his presence or when his position required that he attend some important celebration.
Thutmose was adept at all-male activities. He was a talented charioteer, and his horses were faster than the wind. He was a bowman who could place arrow after arrow in the centre of the target. Occasionally, he would pursue antelopes across kilometres of sandy desert expanses, and other times, he would look for ferocious lions in their dens amid the cliffs high above the banks of the Nile.
Thutmose avoided the pomp and ceremony one day while the court was staying in Memphis for the important festival of Re at Heliopolis, a few kilometres further down the Nile. He went hunting on the border of the desert. He only brought two slaves, and he drove his chariot through the brush and stunted trees as the cultivated country by the Nile faded into the stony waste and the expanses of sand and rock of the immense Libyan desert past Saqqara, where the famous Step Pyramid of Djoser is located.
To have as much time as possible before the intense heat of midday, they left at the crack of dawn. They followed the gazelle northward over the desert for many miles, parallel to the Nile but some distance from it.
Thutmose and his two followers arrived at a location not far from the enormous Pyramids of Giza, which the Pharaohs of the Fourth Dynasty had built more than twelve hundred years earlier, by the time the sun became too hot for hunting.
Under a few palm trees, they came to a halt. But at that moment, Thutmose got into his chariot and rode off across the desert, telling his servants to wait for him because he needed some privacy to worship the powerful deity Harmachis.
Thutmose moved quickly because the sand was smooth and firm, and eventually, he came close to the three pyramids of Khufu, Khafra, and Menkaura that were rising into the sky. The burning midday sun flashed on their golden peaks and glittered down their polished sides like ladders of light leading up to the Boat of Re as it sailed across the sky.
Thutmose was in wonder as he observed these artificial stone mountains. A massive head and neck of stone rose out of the sand between the largest pyramid and a nearly buried mortuary temple made of enormous square stone blocks that stood on either side of the stone causeway leading from the distant Nile behind him to the foot of the second pyramid, that of the Pharaoh Khafra, caught his attention the most.
This enormous carving depicted Harmachis, the deity of the rising sun, as a lion with the head of an Egyptian pharaoh—the guise he had become when he became the hunter of Set's worshippers. This "sphinx" was sculpted by Khafra out of a solid rock outcrop that just so happened to be located close to the procession causeway leading from the Nile to his enormous pyramid. Also, he had instructed his sculptors to create Harmachis' head and features in his likeness.
The Sphinx was nearly completely buried by the sands of the desert during the many years that had passed after Khafra was buried in his pyramid. Only its head, shoulders, and a small ridge in the desert, which indicated the line of its back, were visible to Thutmose. He stood for a considerable amount of time gazing up into the majestic face of the Sphinx, which was crowned with the Egyptian royal crown, which bore the head of a cobra on its brow and held in place the folds of embroidered linen that blocked the sun from its head and neck. However, here the folds were made of stone, and the only part of the serpent that was attached to the carved rock was made of gold.
Thutmose looked up at the Sphinx and begged Harmachis for assistance as the midday sun beat cruelly down on him.
He thought the large stone picture started to move suddenly. The eyes were no longer carved stone inlaid with lapis lazuli but sparkled with life and vision as they peered down upon him. It heaved and fought as if attempting in vain to throw off the sand that covered its torso and paws. The Sphinx then addressed him in a powerful voice but still being nice to him, much like a parent would.
"See me, Thutmose, Prince of Egypt, and realise that I am your father, Harmachis, the ancestor of all pharaohs in the Upper and Lower Lands. It is up to you whether or not you sit on Egypt's throne and whether or not people from all over the world come to prostrate themselves before you. It is up to you whether or not you become Pharaoh in reality and wear the Double Crown of South and North. If you do succeed in becoming pharaoh, all the Two Lands produce will be yours, along with the tribute from every nation on earth. In addition to all of this, you will live a long time and be healthy and strong.
"My heart is inclined to bring good things to you, Thutmose, and I will envelop your spirit in mine. My face is oriented your way. Nevertheless, see how the sand has encircled me on all sides, suffocating me, keeping me down, and concealing me from view. Commit to me that you will help me in every way a good son should and that you will prove to me that you are my son. Be close to me, and I'll be there for you always, guiding you and making you great."
Then, as Thutmose moved forward, it appeared as though the sun was shining through Harmachis the Sphinx's eyes. This blinded Thutmose and the world quickly turned black and whirled around him, causing him to collapse unconscious on the beach.
After he had recovered, the Sphinx's shadow engulfed him as the sun began to set over Khafra's pyramid.
He slowly stood up, and as he looked at the large object partially covered in the sand that was now turning pink and purple in the twilight, the vision he had seen came racing back into his head.
"Harmachis, my father! I ask you and all the Egyptian gods to attest to my promise, he wailed. If I become pharaoh, my first act as ruler will be to remove your figure from the sand, construct a shrine for you, and erect a stone inscribed with a description of your instruction and how I carried it out in Khem's sacred writing."
As soon as Thutmose turned to look for his chariot, his servants, who had been eagerly looking for him, rode up.
From that day on, everything went smoothly for Thutmose after he rode back to Memphis. Amenhotep the Pharaoh publicly recognised him as the heir to the throne very quickly, and not long after that Thutmose became King of Egypt and one of her greatest Rulers.
