Ramadan Kareem to all Egyptian Chronicles readers.
Before we continue our tale and learn the fate of Princess Atrashan, it is time for our quick chitchat.
Unlike other tales, King al-Nu’man got names and places inspired by real names and places, especially in Pre-Islamic times.
Starting with King Kanaan, Atrashan’s father, it is a good introduction to speak about the land of Canaan.
Kanaan is the Arabic version of Canaan, and it is associated in Egypt with the Levantines as a name popularly till this day, and it is not a coincidence at all.
Starting with King Kanaan, Atrashan’s father, this serves as a good introduction to speaking about the land of Canaan.
Kanaan is the Arabic form of Canaan, and, in Egypt, the name has long been associated with Levantines — a connection that persists even today, and it is no coincidence.
The first known historical appearance of the name Canaan (or Kanaan) was in ancient Egyptian sources during the New Kingdom of Egypt, beginning in the 15th century BCE.
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The term — written in Egyptian hieroglyphs as something like kꜣ-n-ʿ-nꜣ — appears in inscriptions referring to a region in the Levant.
One of the earliest clear mentions comes from the reign of the Egyptian king Amenhotep II (c. 1427–1401 BCE). In these records, Canaan refers primarily to the southern Levantine corridor — including the coastal plains and inland city-states — and even mentions Canaanites among prisoners of war.
The name appears again during the reign of Seti I (c. 1290–1279 BCE), where “Canaan” clearly denotes a geographical territory in the southern Levant under Egyptian imperial influence.
Canaan is also mentioned in Mesopotamian (ancient Iraqi) sources, closely connected to Egypt’s diplomatic world. It appears in the famous cuneiform diplomatic tablets known as the Amarna Letters, dating to the reign of Akhenaten (c. 1353–1336 BCE).
Written in Akkadian, the letters include diplomatic exchanges between the Egyptian court and local rulers of Canaanite city-states, most of whom were under Egyptian authority and frequently wrote to the Pharaoh requesting military support or showing their loyalty.
Perhaps the most famous Egyptian inscription connected to the region is the Merneptah Stele, also known as the Victory Stele of Merneptah. This inscription was issued by Merneptah, who reigned from 1213 to 1203 BCE.
Discovered by Flinders Petrie at Thebes in 1896, it is now housed in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.
The stele primarily commemorates Merneptah’s victory over Libyan forces and their allies. However, its final lines describe a separate campaign in Canaan, then part of Egypt’s imperial sphere. It is often called the “Israel Stele” because many scholars interpret a specific set of hieroglyphs as referring to “Israel.”
Some Egyptologists, however, have debated aspects of this reading and how it has been framed historically.
What remains clear is that the inscription reflects Egyptian military activity in the Levant during the late 13th century BCE.
Some scholars argue that forms of the name Canaan may appear even earlier in the Mari texts (18th century BCE), though this remains debated.
In modern geographical terms, during the Late Bronze Age (c. 1550–1200 BCE), Canaan referred to a region encompassing most of present-day Palestine, Lebanon, western Jordan, and parts of southwestern Syria.
Centuries after the Amarna clay tablets, Canaan appears in the Hebrew Bible, whose major compilation phases date roughly between the 8th and 5th centuries BCE.
In the Book of Genesis, Canaan is introduced as the grandson of the prophet Noah.
He is described as being cursed for something he did not see and later appears in the “Table of Nations” as the ancestor of several tribes inhabiting the land known as Canaan. Later biblical books recount conflicts between these groups and the Israelites.
Historically, however, the reality was more complex.
Archaeological and scholarly research suggests that ancient Israelites and Canaanites shared cultural and linguistic similarities. Over centuries, populations intermingled. Some groups were absorbed into emerging Israelite society or viceversa; others migrated or evolved culturally and religiously, as happens with all people over long stretches of history.
Ancient tribal identities do not map neatly into modern national or religious categories.
In Egyptian popular culture, the name Kanaan is also associated with the late Iraqi-born Egyptian actor and opera singer Kanaan Wasfi. Born in 1932, Wasfi became widely known for his roles alongside Fouad Al-Mohandes in 1960s comedies.
Yet the son of Nineveh’s artistic career extended far beyond comic roles.
Wasfi’s name also appears among the long list of narrators who contributed to Egypt’s classic radio storytelling era, although he did not participate directly in our particular tale.
For decades, he was one of the most recognisable supporting actors across theatre, television, and cinema — from Egypt to the Levant, Iraq, and the Gulf.
Ironically, many Egyptians assumed that Kanaan Wasfi was a Lebanese Maronite Christian, when in fact he was a Muslim Iraqi. It was only after his passing in 2000 that some realised this.
I’ve spoken enough again.
So without further delay, here is the second episode of our story: The Tale of King al-Nu’man, the 92nd night of One Thousand and One Nights, as broadcast on Egyptian State Radio.
Ep. 2 The Daughter of Kanaan
The Ninety-Third Night
And when it was the Three and Ninety Night, King Shahryar took his seat as on the evening before. Shahrazad came at the appointed hour, greeted him with the most graceful of salutations, and resumed her tale.
Shahrazad said:
It has reached me, O fortunate King, that King al-Nu'man, to whom the Princess Atrashan had been sent, was a ruler of towering might. He humbled emperors, broke kings beneath his heel, and when anger seized him, men said flame issued from his very breath.
He had but one son — Prince Sharkan — a youth fierce in battle, whose delight was in the clash of steel and the racing of steeds. By day he rode among warriors; by night he sat among companions of valor.
And King al-Nu'man possessed three hundred and sixty concubines — according to the days of the year — and twelve palaces according to the months, and in each palace thirty chambers according to the days therein. In each chamber a maiden, and with each maiden he passed but one night in the turning of the year.
When ‘Atrashan was brought to him, he favored her above them all. He set her apart in a chamber of silken ease, and rejoiced in her beauty.
Yet though she smiled before him, sorrow shadowed her face.
Only her nurse Jullufdan knew the depth of her grief.
When alone, the princess wept.
Days passed.
And it came to be that Atrashan discovered she carried within her a child.
Fear seized her heart — for if her true lineage were known — that she was daughter of King Kanaan — her captivity would become a prison without hope of escape.
But concealment could not endure forever.
At last she went before the king.
He perceived her trembling and said:
“Speak.”
And she answered with downcast eyes:
“The tree you watered, my lord… has borne fruit.”
Joy seized the king.
He ordered physicians and midwives, commanded vigilance, and proclaimed glad tidings.
But when Prince Sharkan heard that his father — long barren of further offspring — would now have another child, his heart darkened.
“If a son is born,” he said to his confidant, “he shall divide my inheritance.”
His companion answered:
“If it be a son… he need not remain long in this world.”
Thus envy whispered where honor should have spoken.
He ordered his man to watch the chamber of Atrashan, and to bring him word the instant the child was born.
The night of delivery came.
First the midwife emerged and declared:
“A daughter.”
The court murmured.
Prince Sharkan breathed easier.
But scarcely had the rejoicing faded when cries rose again from within.
The midwife returned.
“A son.”
A twin birth — girl and boy.
The king laughed with astonished delight.
But there was one who did not laugh.
Meanwhile, messengers arrived from King Kanaan — father of Atrashan — though al-Nu'man knew it not.
For King Kanaan was locked in war against the King of Caesarea over a treasure discovered in ancient ruins — a treasure said to date from the days of Alexander — within it three mysterious beads engraved in Syriac script, endowed with hidden properties.
These beads had been seized, and war followed.
Kanaan now sought alliance.
The vizier Dandan counseled al-Nu'man:
“If we aid him, the victory shall be ours in glory.”
The king agreed.
And he appointed Prince Sharkan commander of twenty thousand horse, placing Dandan at his side as guide and counselor.
Trumpets sounded.
Standards were raised.
And Sharkan rode forth into the desert — while behind him, in the palace, fate prepared its weaving.
And here the dawn overtook Shahrazad, and she fell silent.
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