Karl Sanders - Guitar Bass Vocals
Dallas Toler-Wade - Guitar Bass Vocals
Tony Laureano - Drums Percussion Vocals

Additional Vocals - Jon Vesano
Guest Vocals - Mike Breazeale

Produced by Bob Moore
Engineered by Bob Moore
Mixed by Bob Moore and Nile
Recorded at The Sound Lab, Columbia SC
Mastered at Scott Hull at Visceralsound MD
Artwork & layout by Orion Landau
psychicsparkplug@hotmail.com
Management: Gunter FOrd for World Management
fax: (732)747-3357, worldent@monmouth.com

Contact Nile:
PO Box 6505, Greensville, SC 29606

Official Nile website:
www.nile-catacombs.net

The Blessed Dead
Music and Lyrics Sanders

Looked Down Upon With Scorn
We Work the Fields of the Masters
And Share Not the Bounty of the Black Earth

Destitute Serville Cast Out
Affording No Tomb
We Shall Be Buried
Unprepared in the Sand

We Shall Never Be The Blessed Dead

Scorned By Asar
Condemened at the Weighing of the Heart
We are Exiled from the Netherworld
Serpents fall Upon us Dragging us Away
Ammitt Who Teareth the Wicked to Pieces

Pale Shades of the UnBlessed Dead
None Shall Enter Without the Knowledge
Of the Magickal Formulae
Which is Given to Few to Possess

Not for Us the Sekhet Aaru
Our Souls Will be Cut to Pieces with Sharp Knives
Tortured Devoured
Consumed in Everlasting Flames

We Shall Never Be The Blessed Dead

Execration Text
Music Toler-Wade    Lyrics Sanders

Mut The Dangerous Dead
Trouble me No Longer
I Inscribe Thy Name
I Threaten Thee With The Second Death
I Kill Thy Name
And Thus I Kill Thee Again
In the Afterlife

Bau Terror of the Living
Angry Spirits of the Condemned Dead
I Write Thy Name
I Burn Thy Name In Flames
I Kill Thy Name
And Thus Thee Are Accursed
Even Unto The Underworld

Mut The Troublesome Dead
Plague Me No Longer
Thou Art Cursed
Thy Name is Crushed
Thine Clay is Smashed And Broken
Thy Vengeance Against the Living
Shall Come to Naught

Sarcophagus
Music and Lyrics Sanders

Who Dares Disturb
My Blissful Sleep
Again in Anger
Must I Rise
How Long Unknown
I Lay Entombed

My World
So Long Forgotten
Did Disown Me
Usurper
I was Scorned

Ah
The Suffering They did Inflict

Stained With Cosmic Black Sins
The Sun No Longer Sets Me Free

Kheftiu Asar Butchiu
Music and Lyrics Sanders

Kheftiu Asar Butchiu
Enemies of Osiris Who Are To Be Burned
Let There Be Fetters on Your Arms
Let There Be Shackles on Your Necks
Let There Be Chains Upon You
Ye Shall Be Hacked to Pieces For
What Ye Have Done To Osiris
You Have Put His Mysteries Behind Your Backs
You Hath Dragged the Statue of the God
From The Secret Place
You Hath Desecrated The hidden Things of the
Great One
You Are Doomed To Stand And Receive in
Your Faces
The Fire Which The Serpent Khetti Is About To
Spit At You

Khetti
Great Serpent Who Lieth In Undulations
Before the Damned
Khetti
Open Thy Mouth Distend Thy Jaws
Belch Forth Thy Flames Against My
Fathers Enemies
Burn Up Their Bodies
Consume their Souls
By the Fire Which Issueth From Thy Mouth
And By The Flames Which Art In Thy Body

The Fire Which Is in the Serpent Khetti
Shall Come Forth
And Blaze Against The Enemies of Osiris
Whoseover Knoweth How to Use
These Words of Power
Against the Serpent Shall Be As One
Who Doth Not Enter Upon His Fiery Path

Unas Slayer of The Gods
Music and Lyrics Sanders

Poureth Down Water From the Heavens
Tremble the Stars
Quake the Bones of Aker
Those Beneath Take Flight When They See
Unas Rising

The Akh of Unas Is Behind Him
The Conquered Are Beneath His Feet
His Gods Are In Him
His Uraei Are on His Brow
The Words of Unas Protect Him
Unas This Bull of The Heavens
That Trusteth With His Will

Living On Utterances of Fire From
The Lake Of Flame
Unas That Devoureth Men and Liveth on The Gods

Behold Amkehu Hath Snared Them for Unas
Behold Techer Tep F Hath Known Them and
Driven Them Unto Unas
Behold Her Thertu Hath Bound Them
Behold Khensu The Slaughterer of Lords
Hath Cut Their Throats for Unas

Unas Hath Ingested Their Spiruts
Hath Freased On Their Immortality
He hath Consumed their Shadows
Unas The Slayer of the Gods

Unas The Sekhem Great
The Sekhem of the Sekhemu
Unas The Ashem Great
The Ashem of the Ashemu
Behold Orion
Unas Riseth

Unas Hath Taken Possession
of the Hearth of the Gods
Unas Feedeth on their Entrails
Ha Hath gorged on their Unuttered Sacred Words
He Hath Assimilated the Wisdom of the Gods
His Existence is Everlasting

Behold the Souls of the Gods are in Unas
Their Spirits are In Unas
The Flame of Unas is in Their Bones
Their Shadows are With their Forms
Unas is Rising
Hidden Hidden

Churning The Maelstrom
Music and Lyrics Sanders

I Am the Uncreated God
Before Me The Dwellers in Chaos are Dogs
Their Masters Merely Wolves
I Gather The Power
From Every Place
From Every Person
Faster Than Light Itself
Hail To He Who Is In The Duat
Who Is Strong
Even Before The Servants of Serpents
He Gathers The power
From Every Pit of Torment
From They Who Hath Burnt in Flames
From Words of Power Uttered By the
Darkness Itself

Hail To He in The Pit
Who Is Strong
Even Before the Terrors of The Abyss
Who Gathers The Power
From The Wailings And Lamentations
Of The Shades Chained Therein
From He Who Createth Gods From
The Silence Alone

I Whisper in the Ear of the Dead
Music and Lyrics Sanders

I Whisper in the Ear of the UnBlessed Dead
And My Words of Power are Heard in
the Underworld
The Dead
They are Compelled to Obey Me
Even Unto the Worlds Below
Yea I Whisper in the Ear of the UnBlessed Dead
And they Heed my Necromantic Demands
For I have Bound Them
Inexorably
Cursed in this Life and the Next
I Whisper in the Ear of the UnBlessed Dead
And They Tell me Things No Living Man Knoweth
For I Have Taken Possession of their Shadows
And They Are Mine To Command in
the Netherworld

I Dream of the Dead
And Their Shades Showeth Me Visions
Which No Living Man Can Know
I Whisper in the Ear of the Dead
And Mine is the UnWritten Knowledge
That Lieth Under The Black Earth

To Speak The Name of The Dead
Is To Cause Them to Live Again

Wind of Horus
Music and Lyrics Toler-Wade

Ashu Give us Power
To Oppose this Legion of Shrikes
They hath Defiled our Monuments and Graves
For their Greed of Treasure
Ashu Sehu Neferui Skhenn
We are the Breath of Horus
Hot as the Desert Wind
We are the Slayers and Reapers of Men
By the Arrows Shot from Lanata
You will Fall to your Knees Dead
or Begging Quarter
Torn to Shreds by Obese Vultures
Fossilized in the Desert Sand
We are the Breath of Horus
Hot as the Desert wind
We are the Slyers and Reapers of Men
You will Never escape
This Valley Gallala
Left do Decompose
Forbidden the Underworld
Bemused to Battle Lust
I Gash your Blood
And Splatter your Blood
Upon the Altar of Bes
We Erect one hundred Pyramids
With your Severed Heads
Ashu Sehu Neferni Skhenn

IN THEIR DARKENED SHRINES

I. Hall of Saurian Entombment
Music and Lyrics Sanders

Through Subterranean Labyrinths of Catacombs
We Hath Crawled To Gather in this Dimly Lit
Hall Of Colossal Proportion
Which Few Ever See
Along Black Walls
Rise Tier after Tier of Carven Painted Sarcophagi
Each Standing in a Niche in the Stone
The Mounted Tiers Rising Up
To Be Lost in the Gloom Above
Thousands of Carven Masks
Stare Down Upon Us
We Who are Rendered utile and Insignificant
By This Vast Array of the Dead

II. Invocaton To Seditious Heresy
Music Toler-Wade    Lyrics Sanders

And Here I Stand
I who would be master of the Black Earth
Have summoned you here secretly
You who are faithful to me
To share in the Black Kingdom that shall be
Tonight we shall witness
The breaking of the chains which Enslave us
And the birth of a Dark Empire

Who am I to know what powers lurk and Dream
In these murky Tombs
They hold secrets forgotten for three thousand years
But I shall Learn Thay shall teach me
See how thay sleep staring through their
Carven Masks
Priests Monks Acolytes Kheri Heb Rekhi Khet
The Mummified Remains of the Sacrificial Whores
of The Cannibalistic Serpent Cults of Thirty
Centuries With Black Incantation and Foul
Necromantic Art
Propitiated with the Blood of the Living
We will waken them from their long Slumber
The Ancients knew Nay Commanded the
Words of Power
And shall teach them to Me
I shall restore them to Life
To Labour for my own Dark Imperial Dasires
I will Waken Them Will Rouse Them
Will learn their forgotten Wisdom
The knowledge locked in those withered Skulls
By the Lore of The Dead
We shall Enslave the Living
Pharaohs and Priests long Forgotten
Shall be our Warriors and Slaves
Who will Dare to Oppose Us
Out of the Dust shall Avaris Rise

III. Destruction of the Temple of the Enemies of Ra
Music and Lyrics Sanders

Foul Enemies of Ra who have Rebelled
Malicious Fiends
Spawn of Inertness Impotent Rebels
Nameless Filth
For whom Blazing Pits of Fire have been Prepared
By the Command of Ra
Down Upon your Faces
You are Overthrown
Your Skulls are Crushed in
You are Destroyed Annihilated
Gashed with Flints Your Windpipes Cut
The Joints of your Backs are Rent Apart

The Fire of the Eye of Horus is Upon You
Scorching You Consuming You
Setting you on Fire Burning you To Ashes

Unemi The Devouring Flame Consumes You
Sekhmet The Blasting Immolation of the Desert
Maketh and End of You
Xul Ur
Adjugeth you to Destruction
Flame Fire Conflagration Pulverize You

Your Souls Shades Bodies and Lives
Shall Never Rise Up Again
Your Heads Shall Never Rejoin your Bodies
Even The Words of Power
Of The God Thoth
The Lord of Spells
Shall Never Enable you to Rise Again

IV. Ruins
Music and Lyrics Sanders

I Knew They were Accursed
so remote were these nameless desert ruins
Crumbling and inarticulate the debris of
its collapsed walls was
Nearly hidden by the sands of uncounted ages
It must have been thus before the first stones of
Memphis were laid
And the bricks of Babylon unbaked,
Fear spoke from the age worn stones
This desolate survivor of the Deluge
This crumbling antidiluvial ancestor
Of the Eldest Pyramid

Only the grim brooding desert Gods
Knew what really took place here
What indescribable struggles and bloodshed
Awoke some distant throng of condemned spirits
Time ravaged remains these night black ruins
Of some vanquished and buried Temple of Belial

But as the Night wind died away
Above the desert rim rose the
Blazing edge of the morning sun
Which in my fevered state
I swore that from some remote depth there came a
Great crash of metal
Like a great Bronze gate
Clanging shut whose reverberations swelled out
To hail the rising Sun as Memnon hails it
From the banks of the Nile

T h e   B l e s s e d   D e a d

The phrase "the Blessed Dead," is a reference to those who obtain the "blessed" condition in the afterlife: the beautified condition of eternal life in the presence of Osiris in the Sekhet-Aaru, or "Field of Reeds." Those who had lived a moral life, observed the proper burial rites and procedures, and possessed all the correct magickal spells to navigate the treacherous and horrific Egyptian underworld, who could recite the 42 negative confessions, and whose hearts were found to be pure at the "Weighing of the Heart," were then allowed to be "Osirified" - to become a person like as unto Osiris - and enjoy a pleasant afterlife as one of the blessed dead.
Proper Burial, though, was an expensive undertaking. It was usually afforded only by pharaohs, priests, and the wealthy class. What of those who could not afford the extravagant tombs, mummificaton, magickal amulets, and costly papyrus texts on which were written the necessary magical spells for successfully navigating the underworld? Even liven, which was used to wrap the mummies, was no expensive in ancient Egypt that people had to save what little scraps of it they could for years to have enough to have themselves wrapped. Also of mention would be the cost of professional mourners, embalmers, and priests for the "Opening of the Mouth" ceremony. This was all extremely expensive. Even a wealthy person in ancient Egypt would spend a lifetime saving and preparing for his or her burial and afterlife. I suppose it is no small coincidence that the religious priests were directly involved in the embalming industry.
But what of the middle and lower classes of people - the common working man? What then of the slaves and servant classes? If all these costly preparations and arcane knowledge were essential to achieving a state of blessedness in the afterlife, would a person of limited financial means be condemned beforehand to burn in torment in the afterlife, so only the wealthy became the Blessed Dead? While most of the population certainly accepted this fatalistic concept . and by all that we know of ancient Egypt, embraced life and the hope of an eternal afterlife - most ancient Egyptians probably were resigned to do whatever funeral preparations were within their means. It stands to reason, however, that certainly some small number of lower income / slave / working class people (predestined, of course, to certain financial / spiritual doom, as upward caste mobility was very limited in ancient times) would be less than inclined to accept at face value the idea that, no matter what, by the end of their lives they would not be able to afford to be buried as one of the blessed dead. Would they be resigned to their eternal fate, or live their lives with subversive viewpoints - perhaps rebelling against the established religious order, or perhaps choosing to worship amongst the plethora of "other gods" of the Egyptian pantheon? (Budge refers to them as, "Wretched little gods.")
Certainly the existence of the ancient cult worship of the god, Set, is not without some sort of seditious causality. Perhaps these, then, are the countless legions of souls damned to fiery pits of torment in the underworld: the "Hated of Ra" or "Enemies of Osiris." This probably would also liken these wretched and lost souls to the followers of Set and his Sebau fiends, who werethe original enemies of Osiris and precursor role models on which later religions based their ideas of "Hell" and "Satan" and his "infernal legions." I am reminded of John Milton, who, in Paradise Lost, wrote of Lucifer, after he had been cast down and came to realization of his unrepentant autonomy, "It is better to rule in Hell than serve in Heaven." And thus, that brings us full circle to the chorus refrain of "The Blessed Dead," complete with infernal choirs of the underworld defiantly proclaiming, "We Shall Never Be The Blessed Dead."

E x e c r a t i o n   T e x t

Among the most sinister objects from the ancient world are the figurines in human shape which were used to cast spells on the persons they depicted. Such objects survive to this day usually only when they are buried as a part of a rite, and usually in the vicinity of a tomb or necropolis. Archeologists have found the remains of such rites at the royal cemeteries of Giza, Saqquarra, Lisht, and at several forts in Nubia. Stone, wax, or mud figures, or broken clay tablets or clay pots, are inscribed with lists of the enemies of Egypt. The body of the figure is usually flattened to make room for the next, or sometimes a papyrus is inserted inside the body cavity. On the back, the arms, or the arms and legs, are bound together. The inscriptions found on them are called "execration text." These texts threaten death to specific people. Often, they include the name, parenlage, and title of the enemy, usually executed traitors or prisoners of war. The execration texts were mainly aimed at enemy rulers, hostile nations, and tribes in Nubia, Libya, and Syria-Palestine. Magickal incantations and rites were used to cause death and suffering, and to prevent the angry spirits of the executed from taking vengeance on those who had condemned them. Usually included in these texts are long-standing enemies of the state, as well as the personal enemies of those involved in the cursing rites. There is also often a catchall phrase against any man, woman, or eunuch who might be plotting rebellion. Amongst the common people, the execration rituals were carried out after the killing of a personal enemy of the execution of criminals.By killing the enemy's name, which was an integral part of the personality, this rite would extend the punishment into the afterlife. The spirits of defeated enemies or executed traitors were regarded as a continued supernatural threat, which needed to be met with magic. The wording of the texts is similar to that of contemporary spells on papyrus which promise to protect against the malice of demons and ghosts.Those named in the execration texts are reffered to as "mut" - the dangerous dead.It is also the word used to describe the troublesome dead in the protective spells for private persons. The stone figures and red clay pots on which the execration texts were written were ritually broken as part of the cursing ceremony, in order to smash the enemy's power. A pit near the Egyptian fort in Mirgissa in Nubia contained hundrets of such pot shards, as well as over 350 figures. Deposits of figures have been found with iron spikes driven through them, or nailed to the outer walls, as the bodies of executed traitors and foreign enemies sometimes were. The more elaborate enemy figurines were sometimes trussed up like animals about to be sacrificed. Some are shown with their throats cut, the method used to kill sacrificial animals. The dismembered body of a Nubian and a flint sacrificial knife were found near the Mirgissa pit. Some Egyptologists believe that human sacrifices routinely accompanied execration rituals, while others have argued that the figures were normally a substitute for such sacrifices.

S a r c o p h a g u s

The song, "Sarcophagus," could be thought of as continuation of the Nephren-Ka saga - perhaps e revisitation of the Lovercraftian mythos that this band has been exploring since our earlier work. In this latest chapter, whilst naively excavating in the Catacomb of Nephren-Ka, we have unwittingly awakened our protagonist from his long, restful interment. After wreaking his underworld vengeance upon us for disturbing him from his oblivion, he is tormented by memories of the unholy transgressions that had cursed him his anguished eternal entombment... In all seriousness, though, I sometimes het the uneasy feeling that perhaps it would be best to leave Lovercrafts's characters sleeping, undisturbed in an eternal dormant state - dead, as it way, but dreaming. Who knows what we might awaken?

K h e f t i u   A s a r    B u t c h i u

In the Book of Gates, another text descibing the Egyptian underworld, within the Eighth Division of Night is the Gate of Set-Hra. The scenes depicted in this chapter describe some of the tortures which are inflicted upon the original enemies of Osiris. It is impossible for Osiris to slay all of his enemies at once, ven though they are in his power. While various batches of them are awaiting their turn at the Block of Slaughter, they are kept tightly fettered and bound. One of the forms of torture depicted describes the "Kheftiu Asar Butchiu," i.e., the enemies of Osiris who are to be burned. Their arms are tiedbehind their backs in position which cause intense pain, and they are doomed to stand and receive in their faces the fire which the serpent Khetti, saying, "Open thy mouth! Distend thy jaws and belch forth thy flames agains my father's enemies! Consume their souls by the fire which issueth from thy mouth and by the flames which art in thy body."

U n a s   S l a y e r    O f   T h e   G o d s

Unas was the ninth and last Pharaoh of the 5th Dynasty. He is said to have lived from 2375 to 2345 B.C., but some Egyptologists date him as far back as 3330 B.C. The internal structure of his pyramid is known for incorporating several inovative features, but is most recognized for the inclusion of vertical lines of hieroglyphs on the walls of the vestibule and burial chamber. When Maspero opened the Unas pyramid in 1881, he found the texts covering these stone walls to be extremely difficult to decipher, because of their archaic characters, forms, and spellings. These were magickal/religious texts, designed to ensure the safe passage of the Pharaoh into the next world. They are known today as the "Pyramid Texts." According to these texts, Unas became great by eating the flesh of his mortal enemies and then slaying and devouring the gods themselves. Those gods that were old and worn out (Egyptian gods aged and died) were used as fuel for Unas's fire. After devouring the gods and absorbing their spirits and powers, Unas journeys through the day and night sky to become the star Sahu, or Orion. While this is certainly not the first reference to cannibalism in Old Kingdom texts, what is notable is the mothod by which the Pharaoh Unas achieves deificiation and immortality: by turning on the gods, slaying and then devouring them, and thus ascending to the heavens to become the star Orion. The concept was remarkable to Maspero, who found the idea to be of "absolute savagery." Maspero seemed to be reeling from a confrontation with a symbolic revival of pre-dynastic cannibalistic rites - which are suggested, according to Maspero, by the gnawed and disconnected bones found in certain early graves. Professor Petrie suggests that at the original Sed festival, the tribal king appears to have been sacrificed and devoured, so that his people might derive from his flesh and blood the power and virtues which made him great. This practice was based on a belief in contagious magick. Bulls and boars were eaten to give men strength and courage, deer to give fleetness of foot, and serpents to give cunning. The blood of slain and wounded warriors was drunk so that their skill and bravery might be imported to the drinkers. Similarly, Unas feasts after death on the spirits of the gods, and on the bodies of men and gods. He swallows their spirits, souls, and names, which are contained in their hearts, livers, and entrails, thus, Unas becomes all-powerful. In attempting to bring this epic-length text to song form, it was necessary to make some minor concessions, firstly, that every version I have at home of the text is translated somewhat differently, and thus there is not any singularly definitive version; and secondly, that it would just not be possible to include every last line from the original text. That would probably necessitate a song inconceivable in length. As it is, in concise song lyric form, "Unas Slayer of the Gods" weighs in at about 12 minutes plus - and that is using what would be considered only the bare minimum essential lines for the development and presentation of the main aspects of the text. For those interested in reading the entire work, there are several versions readily available online or by ordering from a local bookstore. I typed in "Unas Slayer of the Gods" in a couple of serach engines and was astounded at the number of results that came back.

C h u r n i n g   T h e    M a e l s t r o m

Last year, after the release of Black Seeds of Vengeance, I received an e-mail containing the text of a work whose origins had until then been completely unknown to me. Entitled, "The Chapter for Bringing Heka to those who Burn," the author claimed it was part of a larger collection of works known as "The Book of Resurrecting Apophis." In Egyptian mythology, Apophis is also known as Apep, the terrible monster serpent who, in dynastic times, was a personification of the darkness of the darkest hour of night. Apep is the dreaded embodiment of utter evil in the form of a giant snake that arises anew each night to struggle against Sun god, Ra. Against Apep, Ra must not only fight, but must successfully conquer every night, before he could rise again in the east as the morning sun, lest darkness and chaos engulf the entire earth during the day as well. Apep was both crafty and evil doing, and, like Ra, possessed many names; to destroy him it was necessary to curse him by each and every name by which he was known. In Egyptian papyri, Apep is always represented in the form of an enormous serpent, into each undulation of which a knife is stuck.In the Book of Gates, we see him fastened by the neck with a chain (along which is fastened the Goddess, Serqet), the end of which is in the hands of a god, and also chained to the ground with five chains. Coincidentally (or perhaps not), Apophis is also the name the Hyskos king Aussere adopted during his reign over the conquered and subjugated Egypt of 1570 B.C. The Hyskos had invaded Egypt and established their new political and religious capital city, Avaris, in the delta region of Egypt. Avaris is alse the site of the original Temple of Set. Set (or Sutekh, to the Hyskos) was the chief god of the Hyskos at that time, but in Egyptian mythology since pre-dynastic times, Set was the murderous brother of Osiris, and the original ultimate embodiment of the forces of darkness, chaos and evil, at whose command was the monster serpent, Apep. During the early period of the Hyskos occupation, the Hyskos faced little significant opposition. But during the reign of Apophis I, the Theban princes of Egypt rose up to drive the Hyskos back out of Egypt, a feat that is recounted on two large stelae set up by Kamose in the Temple of Amun at Karnak. The text which I received was in three languages - Egyptian, Greek, and modern English, along with rubric instructions for the proper recitation of the chants, which are to be memorized and repeated as a sort of mantra, and as such should be spoken in Egyptian rather than English. The translations were given only to throw light upon the meanings of the spell. Upon closer examination of the text, it seems to bear superficial resemblance to Chapter 24 of the Papyrus of Ani, "The Chapter for Bringing Magick to Ani," (which is also known in some Books of the Dead as "The Chapter for Gaining Power," and in modern ritualmagick as "The Gathering of Heka.") But the similarities go immediately astray, for "The Chapter for Bringing Heka to those who Burn" seems as though it is, in this incarnation, a blasphemous underworld perversion of the chapters contained in the Theban Recension of the Book of the Dead. Perhaps it was intended for use by ancient cultists who would be intent upon using the darker forces of Chaos and the spiritual energy of those souls burning in the fiery pits of torment in the underworld for their own cultist ambitions of upsetting the ordered structure of the ancient Egyptian world. More likely, their goal was probably to alter the political balance of rival religious factions in the turmoil of those tumultuous intermediate times. By the end of the 14th Dynasty, Egypt's once considerable might as a nation had eroded due to internal political struggles, so that it was unable to defend itself against invaders. The Hyskos overwhelmed the Egyptians at the end of the 14th Dynasty, remaining in power until being expelled during the 17th Dynasty in a great war, which lasted, according to Manetho, about a quarter of a century.

I   W h i s p e r    i n   t h e   E a r   o f   t h e    D e a d

The inspiration for this song comes from the exploits of Nectanabus, the last native Pharaoh of Egypt. His reign was during the 4th century B.C. and he was historically rumored to be a great sorcerer and necromancer. It is believed that Nectanabus ruled Egypt, overcame his enemies and even kept his political rivals in check by means of the exercise of magickal and necromantic arts. He is credited with possessing the power to restore amputated limbs and the capacity to replace the heads of the slain and decapitated without injury. Nectanabus was said to have been deeply learned in the wisdom of the oldest of the ancient Egyptians. He "knew what was in the depths of Nile and in the pits of the Duat, and in the stars of the Heavens." He was skilled in reading the stars, foreselling the future of the unborn, and a master of communition with the dead. He is also called "The Lord of the Earth" and is said ti have "secretly ruled all earthly kings by magickal means." It is said that he whispered his commands in the ears of the dead, so that they should carry out is designs in the spirit world. According to early historians, Nectanabus exercised control of many of his enemies by enslaving the souls of the newly dead, commanding them to learn the secrets of his enemies via the spirits of the underworld, and using this knowledge against his enemies. Nectanabus continued his necromantic ambitions, even using means of sorcery to achieve miltitary ends until the day the gods decreed his rule should end and Nectanabus was forced to flee to Macedonia.

W i n d   o f   H o r u s

This song was inspired by a battle from a book called River God by Wilbur Smith. The story takes place in the later half of the 14th Dynasty, and is about a struggle to restore the majesty of the Pharaoh of Pharaohs. Tanus, leader of the mightiest army of Egypt, the Blue Crocodile Regiment, hunted down and destroyed the Shrikes, a horrid nomadic tribe of thieves, rapists, and murderers that plagued the Egyptians. The title of the song "Wing of Horus," refers to the name of the boat of the Blue Crocodile Regiment. It is an enchantment of the god Horus to cause the wind to blow the Egyptians' sails in time of need. The repeated chant in the song is to invoke the god Ashu, who robs the enemies of the Egyptians of their virtues, weakening and destroying them. The word Lanata is mentioned in the song. Lanata was a bow made for Tanus by Taita the slave and was made of wood, ebony, rhinoceros horn, and ivory tusks. The bowstring was made out of the guts of a lion that Tanus had killed with his bronze-bladed war spear. Tanus was probably the only one in his army strong enough to use the Lanata bow. It had so much tension that he had to use a different technique just to pull the bowstring back. Tanus practiced until he could shoot three arrows at a time piercing the heaviest of armor.

I n   T h e i r   D a r k e n e d   S h r i n e s