If the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, what were the first steps Hemienu took when starting the construction of the Great Pyramid? Six letters from Hemienu is a work of epistolary historical fiction, with a very heavy emphasis on historical, which explores the sort of details that would have required his attention immediately after choosing a building site for Khufu’s Pyramid.
The purpose of these imaginary missives from the desk of the Overseer of All the King’s Works is to give the reader an idea of the amount of planning, materials, and manpower involved not only in building the Great Pyramid, but in preparation for the work itself. There were mines and quarries to be opened, a fully functional workers’ city to be constructed, and an entire nation to be mobilized.
In many ways this is a re-introduction to the Hemienu to Houdin series, but it is also intended to be a stand-alone monologic narrative (fancy-speak for letters from just one person that tell a story) of how Hemienu initiated the project that would occupy all of Egypt for more than two decades. Methods and materials, labor and logistics, tools and tasks, they are all here for your evaluation, along with a short annotated bibliography at the end.
Note: The names used, with the exception of the Grand Vizier himself, are invented but not without some forethought (the Overseer of the Expedition to the Sinai to open the copper mines, for instance, is named Biah-Ahky, which translates to copper miner), and the titles and positions they hold do have their historical counterparts.
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Tags: Aswan, Bak, Corvee, Egyptian Measurements, External Ramp, Facing Blocks, Giza Plateau, Hemienu, Internal Ramp, Jean-Pierre Houdin, Khufu, Khufu's Pyramid, King's Chamber, Lebannon, Logistics, Pyramid City, Quarries, Sinai, Tools, Tura
