Missing Home: The Tale of Sinuhe
I spent three years at a university in another country. My overall experience was enriching. I got to try out new things and explore new places. It was a wonderful time when I met great friends and colleagues.
But I went during the pandemic so it was also very difficult and quite isolating. Being in a new place was both exhilarating and terrifying. As much as I enjoyed living by myself at university, I missed the familiarity of home and my culture.
The nostalgia for my childhood was strong and I guess that no matter where in the world I am, I will always have a strong connection with my hometown.
The Tale of Sinuhe is an old Egyptian myth that speaks of this longing for your home no matter where you live.
Sinuhe was a courtier and messenger of King Amenemhat I. Sinuhe was devotedly loyal to the royal family. At the time of this story, Sinuhe was a part of Prince Senusret’s expedition in Libya, known as Tjemeh.
When Sinuhe was in Libya, Amenemhat I suddenly passed away (was said to be an assassination, but there are different accounts). As a messenger approached the crown prince and delivered the tragic news, Sinuhe felt a wave of fear and hid himself in the bushes.
As he heard this message, Sinuhe could not believe it and was worried that he would be implicated in the death of the king (overthinking much?).
In that panicked mindset, Sinuhe walked away from the campsite and away from Egypt. And in a trance (god-induced according to our protagonist), he marched into his self-imposed exile across the foreign land.
He traveled on, without any clothes, food, or water, and in hindsight, he should have not lasted for long. But he had luck (and a deity, which he never fails to repeat to anyone who listens to him) by his side and ended up in the care of a man named Ammunenshi.
Ammunenshi was the leader of the tribe known as Retenu. He nursed Sinuhe back to health and asked him why he fled from Ancient Egypt-
“ Why have you come here? Has something happened at the residence?”
“When I returned from the expedition to the land of the Tjemeh, it was reported to me and my heart grew faint. It carried me away on the path of flight, though I had not been talked about; no one had spat in my face; I had not heard a reproach; my name had not been heard in the mouth of the herald. I do not know what brought me to this country; it is as if planned by god…”
The two men conversed for a while, with Sinuhe advising the tribe leader on how he should form an alliance with the new king of Egypt. Ammunenshi, in return, welcomed the foreigner to his tribe and his people.
Sinuhe lived with the tribe of Retenu. He married the eldest daughter of Ammunenshi who provided him with good land. Sinuhe settled into his new life quite well. He became the chief of the land and had many children while living in the most abundant place in the world.
Many many years had passed and Sinuhe never went back. He lived his life as a military commander and chief of his own tribe. His children were strong and had their own tribes. All was well and good, or so Sinuhe thought.
He missed his true home. He missed Egypt and as much as longed to be with his roots, he was too afraid of the new king- Senusret I would do as Sinuhe had abandoned his post.
The peaceful life that Sinuhe was disrupted by a hero from another part of the Retenu tribe. Sinuhe was reluctant, but he wanted to preserve his honor.
“He raised his battle-axe and shields while his armful of missiles fell toward me. When I had made his weapons attack me, I let his arrows pass me by without effect, one following the other. Then, when he charged me, I shot him, my arrow sticking in his neck. He screamed; he fell on his nose; I slew him with his axe. I raised my war cry over his back, while every Asiatic shouted.”
Sinuhe was victorious. But he didn’t feel that good. All he could think about was the distance that existed between him and his roots. He decided to make an offering for his victory and to make a prayer.
Whichever god decreed this flight, have mercy, bring me home! Surely you will let me see the place in which my heart dwells! What is more important than that my corpse be buried in the land in which I was born! Come to my aid! What if a happy event should occur! May god pity me! May he act so as to make happy the end of one whom he punished! May his heartache for one whom he forced to live abroad! If he is truly appeased today, may he hearken to the prayer of one far away! May he return one whom he made roam the earth to the place from which he carried him off!
May Egypt’s king have mercy on me, that I may live by his mercy!
More than his desire to return home, was his desire to be buried in his country as he was reaching old age (as Egyptians tend to be obsessed about the afterlife and its rituals).
It is a long prayer (very very long…) but it actually worked. Word of Sinuhe’s duel and his life reached the ear of the king who took pity on the poor man and asked him to come back home.
Sinuhe gave up his life in Retenu and made the journey back to Egypt and met the king, the royal family and the courtiers. Senusret I welcomes the old traveler back with happiness and showered him with food, clothes and gifts. The Pharaoh officially pardons him for running away and ensures that he is well taken care of while he was alive and builds him a beautiful pyramid for his journey to the afterlife.
