Fate

The narrator in Sinuhe the Egyptian decries his fate to be alone and to cause suffering and death to those around him. He can only assume that this is the case because he does not know the day and hour of his birth, which are the data needed for astrologers to divine the stars, the livers of sacrificial animals, or the patterns of oil cast on water. In Babylon, where these arts are the most refined, the priests of Marduk sense that Sinuhe has a destiny other than as a simple physician. Only late in life, he pieces together that he is found floating in a reed boat on the Nile at precisely the time a newborn prince is cast onto the waters to keep him from gaining precedent over a different pregnant princess' child. Sinuhe sees that in times of trouble he should be Pharaoh.

Horemheb, Son...