Incident in Tahrir Square

Middle Kingdom,11th Dynasty.Reign of Mentuhotep II 2011 BC
Sweat coursed down the forehead of Hotep-Si, collecting on his cheekbones then running down his face. They would return only once more, he knew. Hotep-Si would not see the morning, yet his heart was light, he knew this too. He prepared for the afterlife, with his special request for knowledge. “O great one, come to Busiris”…..

Cairo,Egypt. 2011 AD
Warrant Officer Sayed Khalil wondered for perhaps the tenth time just what was he doing there. He’d been ordered into Tahrir square early that morning, told to keep the peace and then left to his own devices. Protesters had begun arriving that night, at first eying the troops warily before adopting a casual indifference. As the morning passed some protesters waved at his men, who glanced back at him for signs of disapproval before smiling and waving back.

It was Sgt Hamid who first noticed.

“Sir! Mukhbarat!”

Two armored personnel carriers and several jeeps approached the square, stopping less than one hundred yards from the crowds which filled it. Black uniformed security police dismounted,forming loose phalanxes next to each vehicle. A large man with a bullhorn exited a jeep, preened past the police formation and addressed the crowd, allowing them one hour to disperse before they would be arrested.

Sayed observed what had been a celebratory crowd mood become a mixture of rage and fear. He wondered again why he was here, cursing his bad luck. He had no love for the security police, but he had a job to do. What had he been told? To keep the peace. What exactly did that mean?

As he thought, he noticed a hawk circling overhead, alighting on a tree limb in the middle of the square.
Odd.

Forty five minutes passed. Sayed knew very well what was about to happen. What was his duty? To keep the peace. He noticed the hawk again, circling, alighting on another tree limb, this time closer.

Sweat coursed down the warrant officer’s forehead, collecting on his cheekbones before running down his face. He knew what he had to do. One day he would stand before his Maker, and his heart would be light as a feather.

He turned to Sgt Hamid and issued his orders. The Sgt held Sayed’s gaze a moment, then nodded his head and turned to carry them out. “Inshallah“, he whispered. God’s Will.

Twenty soldiers deployed to urge the crowd back, gesturing with hand signals rather than with weapons. The four Abrams tanks rumbled to life, advanced slowly then stopped, turrets swiveling as they selected their targets.

The crowd watched as warrant officer Sayed Khalil strode up to the large man. The police commander gesticulated angrily with his free arm, shouting words made unintelligible by the distance, finally flinging his bullhorn to the ground.

Some claim Sayed threatened to blow the police commander’s men into the Nile, but these are words of bravado uttered by young men caught up in the moment. Whatever Sayed Khalil said is between him and the police commander and eternity.

Returning to his tank, Sayed saw a hawk regarding him from its perch atop the hatch. The crowd exulted, returning to mix with his men, shyly reaching out to first touch them, then envelop them with its love. What is keeping the peace, but protecting one’s people?

Sayed looked again. The hawk was gone.

…..”Do not drive me back there. I am in praise for your sake, lord of eternity”.

Hotep-Si would know. From the afterlife, he would know.

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