James Nicoll Reviews

Blue Eye of Horus, Volume 2 is the second volume for Chie Inudou’s historical manga. It’s Aoi Horus no Hitomi — Dansou no Joou no Monogatari in the original Japanese. The series focuses on Hatshepsut, who will one day be famed as one of Egypt’s few women pharaohs¹.

At present, Hatshepsut is not a pharaoh. She is merely Pharaoh Seti’s sister. And wife. If there is a path between where she is and ultimate power, that path is not clear.

When opportunity presents itself, Hatshepsut acts.

Wishing to establish himself as a great pharaoh, Seti sets off with an army to crush Egypt’s enemies. This means that Seti is not present to oversee various important public works. Hatshepsut steps in to take over the role, despite the fact that women traditionally do not perform that duty.

What she learns is that building great works is difficult and often dangerous. Her lofty status can do little for workers on whom heavy stones have fallen. At best, she can offer sympathy as they die.

Her efforts to ease the plight of enslaved prisoners of war prove more effective… at least for the moment. She does not, of course, claim that slavery is wrong. Egypt depends on slaves. She only frees a few who happen to have caught her eye and whose freedom might foster a more amicable alliance between Egypt and its subject states. If this inconveniences the priests who are her most significant impediment to power, so much the better.

Finally, there is the matter of Lady Sothis. One of many women in the harem, Sothis pursues Seti in two ways. First, she does her best to be irresistibly alluring. Second, whenever she and her minions notice a rival has in some way outdone Sothis, they murder that rival.

Having befriended some of Sothis’ victims, Hatshepsut is displeased to discover her friends have been murdered. Justice must be done!

Alas for Hatshepsut and for justice, Sothis has many allies… including Seti and the priests Hatshepsut worked so hard to alienate.

~oOo~

There is a lot of period-appropriate nudity in this manga. Just a warning for people who want to avoid that sort of thing.

Hatshepsut shows signs of something that annoys me in historical works, which is that her attitudes resemble those of a well-meaning modern person more than they do those of an 18^th Dynasty royal.

It’s also odd that she is from time to time astonished to discover certain facts of life in Pharaonic Egypt. I will grant that there’s no reason for royalty to know much about workers’ lives. Also, that royal men prefer their women to act as possessions, not people, and would see no reason to educate women outside of their designated roles. Still…

It’s even more astonishing that Hatshepsut is so unaware of palace intrigue. Someone who grew up in a vipers’ nest would know all about vipers.

Now Seti, his corrupt priests, and Sothis are far more appropriate to their times. Indeed, this is how Sothis escapes punishment for murdering rivals. Not only is she having a very secret affair with the chief priest, but Seti thinks her homicidal ways show admirable pluck. He wants a great heir. What better mother for such an heir than a woman willing to kill anyone who looks like a threat?

This manga was not quite my thing. I won’t be returning to the series, so it is just as well that Blue Eye of Horus does not appear to have an authorized English edition.

1: Still, Egypt had women pharaohs, even if not many, whereas whenever the US has a chance for a woman president, they pick Donald Trump instead. USA delenda est.

Canada, of course, had a woman head of state for 104 of its 158 years to date. Just as well, as when they were in charge, the boys managed to cram in a Great Depression and two World Wars.

Currently, our head of state is a man…