Chapter 4

Mother Asherah, I have punished a man who betrayed you. He spoke ill of you, and so I punished him. I know what I have done is wrong, but I fail to care about anything anymore. The world is failing to recognize you anymore; you’ve become nothing but a shadow compared to Father Elohim, and I won’t stand for it. Mother, let me be your champion against those who persecute you. Let them love you once more. Amen. 1170 P.D.

The children of Zipporah followed their parents into the desert. Unaware of the problem now placed before them, they carried on. Gershom was the most rowdy, being less than five, and kept begging his parents for simple things. Unfortunately, neither child was ever to see their homeland again. With no reason for Zipporah to return, the couple agreed to take the children with to his homeland. As the months carried on, I waited for them to be struck down. Without thinking about it, I decided to drive them to madness. Without thinking, I made the choice: unlike his people before him, Thutmoses had not been circumcised, nor had his son. So, to his wife, I spoke haunting words:

“Dear Zipporah, your husband has failed in his duty to honor his lord. Both him and Gershom remain uncircumcised. If they remain so when they return to Kemet, your husband will be swallowed by the angel of death.” In his ear, I whispered: “Thutmoses, you have been chosen by the Lord to save your people from the chains of slavery, yet you have not accepted their traditions. Lord Elohim will have you and your son killed before you make it to Kemet.” Discussing this amongst themselves while the children slept, I smirked in glee. A month before they left Midian, Father Elohim had ordered Thutmoses and Zipporah to go to Kemet and speak to Pharaoh Amenhotep IV. Let my people go. The Hebrews were enslaved, and I had seen their torment with my very eyes. Yet, I couldn’t stand those who arrogantly believed they were my Heavenly Parents’ only special ones. Taking her son, Zipporah did what she thought best. She grabbed a rock and circumcised her child. She then did so to her husband. Standing, she held the foreskin up and shouted to the sky words of strength and faith. She then burned it. And with that, they journeyed forward. None one said a word to each other, and the family of four travelled onwards. Yet, a few days before they arrived in Kemet, news of a third child reached Thutmoses’ ears. The celebrations were short as they arrived at the gate. Though a third child meant less food all around, it didn’t matter. The man might have a second son. Demanding an audience with the pharaoh himself, Thutmoses revealed himself to be the pharaoh’s brother who disappeared. He knew that his heritage hadn’t been released to most of the kingdom, but he was in doubt that his brother would accept him into the fold once more. Yet, he had to try. “Prince Thutmoses,” the new pharaoh said, his voice as cold as ice and his eyes like flames. “You have returned to your homeland after these many years. Father, as you know, has died. My mother has fled to the desert, as well as our sister, never to return, all for you. You have killed one Kemetic and been the cause of two royal deaths.” Thutmoses ignored the claim. “Where is my mother?” At that, the court broke into laughter. Zipporah, holding her son, stood tall and proud as she faced those around her. Their daughter, Sitamun, hid behind her mother’s

dress. Thutmoses refused to back down as the pharaoh told him of the demise of the first Sitamun. Though clearly agitated, he stood his ground. I had a strange feeling the fallen prince would be executed if he didn’t get to his request soon. After all, Amenhotep clearly couldn’t stand the sight that was before him: the fallen brother. To be honest, I agreed, but in my mind, he was a better person than his most of his forefathers. But his brother clearly didn’t think so. It took him only a moment for his mouth to curl into a smile, a wicked one at that. I knew what coming. It wasn’t like I didn’t know what was going to happen when I saw it almost every day. “Well, then, brother. Why have you come back?” At that, Thutmoses threw down his staff. I raised my eyebrows at the snake, but nothing more. It slithered to the pharaoh, while everyone else instantly backed away. “I have asked you to release the people of Israel! My Lord Elohim commands you to do so. I, His humble servant, merely kneel at your feet.” “What?” Amenhotep laughed. “Why would you care about slaves? You are a Kemetic prince! My priests can do more than the Lord of Israel.” Thutmoses stared him squarely in the eyes. “Let my people go!” Amenhotep sighed. “They’re slaves, brother. Nothing more. I will allow you into the palace once more if you forget this foolish nonsense.” “Let my people go.” At that, the pharaoh simply dismissed them. He didn’t speak a single word as they were led away. The family was given no quarters for the night and had nothing. No shelter, no food, no warmth. The Hebrew slaves would give them no shelter due to their fear of the fallen prince, and the Kemetics wouldn’t in fear of their pharaoh. So, they simply set up camp outside the city limits and waited. With that, I moved on. I moved to the front steps of the palace and to the main living areas. Then, into the sleeping quarters of the pharaoh and his wife. They slept peacefully and had dreams of power and wealth. But I used what little power I had left to infect their dreams. If Elohim wanted His people to be free, I was going to do what He wanted. I ensured their dreams consisted of the wonderful things of Elohim and Asherah. I told them about the goodness of the sun my Mother and Father made. I brought warnings of plague if they didn’t make peace with the Hebrews.

Yes, interfering was against the rules, especially since I went extremely far. When I slipped out that night, I was visited by the archangel Gabriel. He looked at me for a moment before unrolling a scroll. I knew what it was before he even read it. “‘For breaking the rules, yet again, Mother Asherah and Father Elohim have decided to continue the woman’s punishment for all eternity.’ Why couldn’t you just leave it be? You only keep punishing yourself by adding to these people’s troubles. They would’ve released Inanna centuries ago if you didn’t interfere with humanity.” Glaring at him, I didn’t speak. The Adamite language was becoming so foreign to me: there wasn’t a human alive who even spoke it. All of my brothers had been locked away until Armageddon, so there was no one. I learned every civilization’s language once I was there for centuries. Yet, the civilization would eventually fade to dust, and I would still remain. No one would ever know me. I was a shadow. Though their punishment involved imprisonment for all eternity, they weren’t alone. I was doomed to walk Adamah unseen and alone until the end of humanity. “Do you have nothing to say?” “No,” I grumbled. “There’s no point.” Nodding, the archangel departed, and once more, I was all alone. And while the wind blew the sand and the night creatures whistled sweet tunes in our ears. The only light came from Osiris and the eye of Horus, or as the Greeks called it, Selene. Inanna was forever unreachable. I remembered when I tried to save her. And I remembered how I failed.

... Though I knew their gods were only past pharaohs and their underworld wasn’t accurate, I had to say their interpretation of events was very impressive. Yet, I remembered visiting that unholy place. Though the archangels told me to return to my sacred duties once they butchered Inanna, I ignored them. I went to find her. I went to that fiery, torturous place of sickness to find her. I made one simple deal with the unnamed one: Inanna’s undamaged soul for my wings. He accepted. So I shed my angelic identity to save her. The unnamed one revealed her soul and I offered myself. And before my very eyes, Inanna was brought before me. Together, we

traveled through the first six of the Nine Circles. She was considered a heretic for loving me. I was, after all, a traitor, and loving the enemy was heretical. When we crossed the next layer, all I saw was battle after battle. At that point, the land of the unnamed one would be considered almost vacant compared to today. Most of the men and women were simply fighting for no reason. It was simply battle after battle for the sake of bloodshed. Shielding her from the violence, I led Inanna away from the terrifying sight into the next circle. The next circle was entertaining to me. We both laughed as the people fought over how much money they deserved. Though they would sometimes get into fistfights over it, there really wasn’t much to observe. No one noticed us as we passed through as silent as the cosmos and slipped into the land of those who were forced to eat forever. They could never stop; it didn’t matter if they were full. Their punishment was eating forever and forever without stopping even once.

Our next stop, though brief, was for adulterers. As I thought back on it, I hoped some of the human beings I visited became permanent residents there. We passed through to find our way into the last circle, which only included those who were good in heart but did not believe in Elohim or Asherah. It was nothing more than a Heaven for the nonbelievers. As we passed through, we waited for the gate to open. It took some time, and when it did, I led her through the gates of misery and into the limbo between the realm of the celestial; the space between the mortal realm and the realm of death. Glancing back at her for the first time, I laughed. I had won the battle. We were victorious. I should’ve known better. Our hands separated and Inanna was dragged into the eternal realm of torture and the archangels chained me. I screamed after her and she howled my name, the name that has been stripped from me. As with every ending, her end was the opposite of happy and only tore me into pieces. I would never see beloved Inanna again.

... “My dear brother. My wife and I have discussed your situation and we have come to a different conclusion.” Watching from the shadows, I stood still and held my breath. Pharaoh Amenhotep summoned his brother and his wife to the throne room. He seemed rather happy for a man about to make a horrible decision. Thutmoses and Zipporah stared at the pharaoh, anticipating the worst.

But, unlike what I expected, he didn’t have the couple, or their children, sentenced to death. He did something rather unexpected. “Unlike what you believe, I have had a vision. My brother, both Nefertiti and I have seen it before our very eyes: the sun god came to us in a dream to tell us that there is only one true god of this world. His name isn’t Elohim, but Aten. He rules over the world with wisdom and strength. There are no other gods. Your people are right. I am releasing them from slavery. All of Kemet will join your religion under the true god Aten!” I almost fainted at his words. He got that from my message? And for the next decade, he was true to his word. Thutmoses was elected as the head priest, with Zipporah as his assistant. Their children: Sitamun, Gershom, and Eliezer, were educated and raised with the pharaoh’s only son, Tutankhamun Nebkheperure. Amenhotep changed his name to Akhenaten and ruled jointly with his wife. And after his early death, Nefertiti ruled in his stead. It wasn’t until an advisor poisoned her and put the only heir on the throne that life became bittersweet. Led by his advisors, the boy would be known by Israel as the pharaoh who enslaved them once more. Elohim and Asherah, afraid their people would be massacred, began the plagues. I watched as the innocents were killed over the course of five years as the wrath of my Parents came down upon the people. Then, I did the unthinkable: Gabriel came to visit me and instruct me about the final plague. An angel had to be sent to kill the firstborn sons of all of Kemet, but none of them wanted to take the task as the Angel of Death who would sweep through the nation and unwind the souls of the firstborns. So I agreed to take up the task. Walking past the posts covered in blood, I removed the souls behind the bloodless posts. Then, I got to Pharaoh Tutankhamun’s only son. Simply touching his skull, the boy fell limp. Once the deed was done, I cried. No angel in the celestial realm wanted to take this task, so it had to fall to me. I know that Thutmoses led the Israelites out of Kemet, but I did not follow; I wallowed in my own misery. I let it consume me for decades.