The Prophet of Nefer-Rohu

The ancient Egypt had for a long time engaged themselves in wars and rivals which seemed to follow the old kingdom. This led to the interest of having a sense of messiah salvation. The prophecy of Nefer-Rohu was also referred to as Neferti and was a priest at the ancient times in Egypt during the rule of king Snefru.

The king at that time of the ancient Egypt must have been a very authoritative person as the text shows us that the people could talk to him on their bellies. The council entered in to a great house of life, prosperity and health to offer greetings. The king requested that the official of council of residence be brought before him to. He then requested them to choose one of their friends or relatives who could make fine speeches and entertain him and all chose Nefer-Rohu praising him of his good and mighty deeds. The king then sent for Nefer-Rohu and was brought before him immediately (Adolf, 1997).

When the Priest of Bastet Nefer-Rohu came, he explained to the king how the land was damaged with no one to safeguard it. For example he said that the rivers were dry, the sun would not shine again and complained that no one was concerned about it. He said that he would not foretell the future when the present was being ignored. The prophet also complained of how the kingdom would fall during his summon by the Egyptian Pharaoh Snefru. He also predicted the establishment of a new dynasty by Amen-em-het (1991-1786 BCE) (Molefi, 1996). The prophet insisted that he would not talk of the present but of what is before hand and explained how the land was in great calamity. At the end of the explanation on how the land was damaged, he however provides remedy by saying that a king from the south will come by the name Ameni and he will send away all the enemies of the land and all the wrong doing will be over.

The prophet talks more on how the Amenhet will unify the Egyptians. He describes that the Asiatic will move in with great force in the land taking their harvest and destroying their wealth. He puts it that no single protector will listen even as their belongings get destroyed (Adolf, 1997). This must be a terrible prophecy since Nefer-Rohu tells them that death will become so obvious that they will weep no more. All people will turn against each other with brothers' not in good terms and family members will begin killing each other. All men shall be shouting 'kill him' and death would be no big deal any more. The land generally would be in confusion and people will take up weapons of war.

The weak shall be strong and the poor rich, the top shall be down as the new king from South of Egypt takes in charge. The evil will have to change their speech and subdue out of fear. The Asians will fall and not able to come for war again and this will generally bring justice to the whole of Egypt. It was actually to be a turning point to the helpless and needy Egyptians of the middle kingdom who for a long time had suffered the consequences of their inhuman kings and unproductive land. Actually it was like the coming of a messiah; one who would save them from the hand of the Egyptians king and many civil wars and injustice which filled their land(Molefi, 1996).

It is important to realize the symbolic meaning of saying that 'I will speak of what is before me and not what I can't see'. This was important in order to  bring some form of truth to the people since they too could actually see what the prophet was saying with their physical eyes and would take it more seriously than if it was merely of unseen things. Through the way he spoke it is important to realize that he spoke on a mature way. In fact it seems he spoke the same way as User-Maat-Re. When the prophet says that a foreign bird will be born he might have meant that a new beginning or culture was to begin which is this case was to move fast among the people just like a flying bird (Margret, 2002).

The above gives us the assumption that the early pharaohs were self centered and focused on their self interests. The above text highlights the prophecy which brought joy to the inhabitants and caused fear to the king Snefru who seemed to seek entertainment from the people and mistreated his people. The pharaoh prophesied to come from the south but born in the Upper Egypt must have been a better one who actually sought to bring unity to the land. The beginning of good things to the Egyptians was sought to begin as the prophet even tells the people to rejoice as the wrong doing will be driven out of the land. This must be a very interesting moment to the whole of the land that were used to the mistreatment from their kings and marked a good beginning for them. The king must have been shocked with no word to say since he expected the prophet to say good things but instead proclaimed of his downfall and how another king was to replace him. The prophet must be a courageous man who dared to prophecy harsh and bad conditions to a king who could do anything to make him dead. He took the step of speaking all that he had without the fear of what would happen.

In conclusion, Nefer-Rohu was a prophet in Egypt who prophesied the downfall of the king and spoke of the calamity that had bestowed the land at that particular time. The king of Egypt had summoned the prophet with the idea that he would end up entertaining him but instead spoke words that were harsh and unexpected. The prophesied king to come from the south of Egypt was to bring unity to the land and cause justice to prevail. This was good news to the inhabitants but it must have been shock to the king Snefru who sought entertainment from his people and also mistreated them.