Chapter 16: Bast City

It was in the middle of the day when they entered the city of Bast. They saw a procession of people going to the river. Some women brought cymbals and tambourines and played them while they walked toward the River Nile. Meanwhile, the men played some kind of pipes, and those without instruments clapped and danced. The five also saw some ancient crafts floating on the water. A wooden carved head of a cat was on them. “It is the Feast of Bast,” Mazoi explained to them quietly. “Her gifts...