Children of the Past

Ancient Egypt - Sister Saves the Day

I live in Upper Egypt, in a city called Thebes. Here in the city, it is crowded and full of people. It is the year 1479 BC, the eighteenth dynasty of the New Kingdom, and the wonderful pharaoh, Queen Hatshepsut, is currently ruling Egypt. My family and I live in a house with a large private courtyard filled with plenty of plants and flowers. Many houses in Thebes are made out of mud bricks, and so are ours. Around the courtyard, we have rooms for each of us to sleep in, to dine in, a few spare rooms for guests, and a small room where our slave slept. 

My name is Tchay, and I am eight years old. I have a sister, Herneith, who is eleven. Our family owns a furry white cat called Bastet. My father and mother are both respectable doctors, so they have enough money for my sister and me to both study at school. Schools are usually for children of noble, elite, or families from the higher levels in the social pyramid. Unlike most parents, my parents expect the same from both boys and girls. Therefore, they expected both my sister and me to succeed in school no matter what gender we are. Every morning, Father and Mother will take Herneith and me to the House of Life, where we go to school. Then, they would go off on their own to treat patients who needed their help. 

One day, my teacher announced that there was going to be a test on engineering the next day. I could not concentrate for the whole day. Engineering was the one subject that I struggle with a lot. After school that day, I ran home and shut myself in my room. I pulled out the study guide and started studying. But no matter how many times I read my study guide, I still didn't understand the principles of engineering. A few hours passed, but I still had trouble with my study guide. I was desperate for help, but Father and Mother were not home yet to teach me. 

I started to cry, if I failed the test tomorrow, what would my parents think of me? Hearing the sobbing noises from my room, my sister came to check on me. She asked me what was wrong, and I told her. Kindly, she took a look at my study guide and explained each principle to me. Although I had help, I wasn't sure if I would remember what my sister taught me for the test. When I was young, I was told that going to bed early will give you energy for important events. Since I would need to take a test tomorrow, I decided to go to bed early.

Early in the morning, I woke up to the sound of the birds chirping. We had bread and fruit for breakfast and then started our way to the House of Life. Herneith and I said goodbye to our parents and went to our classes. Just before going into my mathematics class, Herneith told me not to worry and wished me luck. As I took my seat, the teacher started handing out sheets of papyrus with math problems to solve. I was really nervous, but when I read the problems, it didn't seem that hard. I am so thankful to have a sister that would help teach me.