~ First Reactualized Life ~
Nahknet
347 BC - 320 BC
Alexandria, Egypt
My first successful reactualization introduced me -- or should I say reintroduced me? -- to Nahknet.
Nahknet probably wasn't my first physical incarnation. A young wife and mother, she lived in Alexandria in the Fourth Century BC. Odds are that there are dozens, perhaps hundreds of incarnations prior to hers that simply haven't actualized themselves yet. But Nahknet is the first (and the earliest) clearly-realized memory reactualization to date, so for the time being Fleeta and I refer to her as my "first."
To tell you the truth, I wasn't at all surprised to learn that I actualized in 4th century Alexandria. Ancient Egypt has been a lifelong passion in my current incarnation. As a little girl, I used to pour over magazine articles and library books on the subject: mummies, Pharoahs, pyramids, Queen Nefertiti ... all held me in thrall. As a teenager, one of my most exciting experiences was going to see the King Tutankamen exhibit at The Seattle Art Museum. I am fond of arm bracelets, amulets, Elizabeth Taylor in "Cleopatra" and heavy black eyeliner.
I still think that Steve Martin's "King Tut" is the funniest song ever recorded.
Earlier actualizations often surface in greater clarity and detail than more recent actualizations. In other words, I usually remember more about earlier lives than I do about more recent lives. I don't know why this is so. I guess you could compare it to the middle-aged memory: some days it's easier to remember my seventh grade locker combination (19-7-3) than it is to remember what I had for dinner last night. In Nahknet's case, I am aware of the following:
I also know that she adored her husband and family ... that she dreamed of traveling to distant lands, once the children were grown and out of the nest ... and that she was fond of art, literature, popular music and swimming. These are emotional parallels that have reverberated throughout successive incarnations.
- Her father was a sarcophagus builder, as were her two older brothers and her husband.
- She married at age 14. Her husband Kheruef, son of family friends, was 15. As was the custom, there was no formal wedding ceremony: Nahknet simply moved into Kheruef's house, one sunny Tuesday afternoon in spring, and the marriage was thereafter considered legal and binding.
- She bore Kheruef three children ... two daughters and a son.
- Her vegetable garden was her pride and joy, and provided her with a substantial income of her own. Ironically, she hated vegetables and never actually ate them herself.
- She believed that the brain, not the heart, was the source of all human wisdom. This was in direct contradiction of popular belief.
- She could write backwards as well as she could write frontwards.
- She was allergic to kohl.
Nahknet died at age 26, from injuries sustained in a fall down a flight of stairs, while bringing her vegetables to the public market. When she died, her grieving husband wrote a song about her. Translated, the lyrics went something like this:
To hear your voice is pomegranate wine to me:
I draw life from hearing it.
Could I see you with every glance,
It would be better for me
Than to eat or to drink.
The song became an instant hit in Alexandria and turned Kheruef into a celebrity virtually overnight. "Pomegranate Wine" was covered throughout the centuries by a number of other musicians: most recently it was recorded by Egyptian recording artist Nahsteez Hamfallazar, on her album of classic Egyptian folk tunes.
© secraterri, 347 BC - 2006 AD
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~ in life, hope: in memory, truth ~