Justin Fernando 11/7/13 2nd hour Hello, my name is Pdilos the XXV. I am an artist.

I am employed by the government to make paintings and murals. I am currently working on a sculpture to go in Khufus future tomb. I am also very successful. One time I made a painting that was hung in every single temple in Egypt. Khufu, our pharaoh, is very nice. Most people view him as a cruel leader but many of the scribes and artists such as me who work for him are well paid and are respected by him. If it wasnt for him I would still be on the streets of Egypt, begging for money. Ah, what a great life. Not all days are great though, especially this one in particular. I was out in my brand new horse-drawn chariot riding in the streets of Egypt when, all of a sudden, bandits attacked me! They took my money, destroyed my chariot, and even killed my horse. Before I could notify any soldiers or other officials, somebody saw me and thought that I had done this. They notified the soldiers, and I was dragged off to court. At my trial I was convicted of stealing and vandalism. Luckily, my amazing lawyer pulled me out of being put to death, but I was sentenced to life in slavery. This meant that I would have to resign from my job as an artist and work for no pay in slavery. I had a feeling this couldnt be good. The next day instead of heading down the brick path to my design studio I headed left into the building site of the giant pyramid of Khufu. My job was to pile the huge limestone blocks onto the pyramid base. At first I thought it was going to be easy. I was wrong.

Justin Fernando 11/7/13 2nd hour My knees ached and arms became sore. I wasnt used to work like this. I had to drag the limestone up onto the pyramid over and over again. I couldnt slow down. If I slowed down, the overseers would yell at me. My vision of Khufu also changed. Oh Khufu. How I used to love you. But now, you are crueler to us lower-class slaves. In turn, I despise you even more. If ever were to see you, I would kill you. I went home that die feeling as tired as ever. I went to sleep, depressed and exhausted. I woke up the next morning with a sense of dread. I didnt want to go back to the building site, but I had to. I walked over to the building site and started my work. For once, I was allowed to have a short five-minute break. Most people talked with their friends but I didnt have any friends so I sat by myself. I found a rock laying on the sand. Suddenly I had an idea. I picked up the rock and drew in the sand. I drew about my family, my friends, my hobbies, and the time when I had my previous occupation. Some people started noticing me. Some even stopped their work to see what I was doing. I just ignored them and kept on drawing. Soon enough, I had a large crowd of people gathered around me. Many of the overseers were also in that group. But I was still drawing. I finished my last stroke and added a small hieroglyphic caption underneath. Then I looked up. There were hundreds of people staring at me. I knew I had a crowd around me but I didnt know that I had a huge one. Then the main overseer and director of the building project stepped out of the crowd and looked at the picture. Then he smiled. This following conversation has been translated to English from Egyptian. Pdilos, my boy! he exclaimed, Where did you learn this skill?

Justin Fernando 11/7/13 2nd hour I used to be an artist, I said. He looked confused for a second. No, not your drawing, your hieroglyphics! I looked at it. It was pretty good knowing that I hadnt taken lessons. After that, most of the crowd dispatched. Everyone got back to their work and the day continued on as normal. At the end of the day I went home and took a good nights sleep. But without my knowledge, the main overseer had told his boss about it who told his who told his boss and so forth. Eventually, it got up to Khufu. Why, a man with that talent shouldnt be working as a slave! he said. And so he made arrangements for me to be a scribe. When I got to the building site, I was immediately turned around and directed to the pharaohs palace. When I reached it, Khufu was already waiting for me. This conversation has also been translated into English. Ah, Pdilos, Ive been waiting for you, he said in a welcoming tone. H-hi s-sir, I stuttered. No need to be afraid Pdilos, he said, Anyway, no time for chit-chat. Lets get to work! He showed me around the palace. Then he showed me my office. It was a small room. It had a small desk and a huge stack of papyrus scrolls.

Justin Fernando 11/7/13 2nd hour Your first task is to catalogue these scrolls into alphabetical order by number, he said, Ill leave you to your work now. And he left the room. I sighed, sat down, and started my work. From then on, I realized that Khufu wasnt a cruel leader, he just treated people fairly in reward for being successful in life. If they werent successful, then they had no right to be treated fairly. And now, I loved my pharaoh once more. I now that I was rich as an artist, but I was even richer as scribe. I could afford a nicer home, better clothes, and a new chariot to replace my broken one (though I did not ride it as much after this incident). I was well respected once again but most of all I was happy. AndI lived happily ever after. THE END