In the Shadow of Pharaoh

Henry Neville

Description

Thirty-five centuries ago, a desperate young Egyptian queen sent a pleading letter to a Hittite king, Shubbiluliuma, an enemy of Egypt:'My husband has died. I have no sons. There is no heir to the throne of Egypt. Never shall I pick a servant of mine to make him my husband. Thou have many sons, they say. If thou send me one of thy sons, he shall become my husband and King of Egypt. I am afraid.'Shubbiluliuma was sceptical and suspicious. Egypt and the Hittites were enemies. Was this an Egyptian ploy? He then sent an emissary to investigate, and satisfied that the story was true, he persuaded his son Zannanza to go to Egypt and marry the queen. But Zannanza never reached Egypt. His entire party was ambushed and massacred. This is the tale leading up to that fateful event. Follow the lives and love of two people, an artist, Menefer; and a Royal Guard, Rakhmet, who, about to be wed, are torn apart, reunited, but only to be torn apart again. Their tale is set during the most turbulent eras in Egyptian history, the reign of the most controversial Pharaoh, Akhnaten.

Sujets

• Historical fiction

Informations

• Publié par: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Date de parution: 31 mai 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781528956222
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

n the Shadow of Pharaoh
Henry Neville
Austin Macauley Publishers
2019-05-31
n the Shadow of Pharaoh About the Author About the Book Dedication Copyright Information Foreword Chapter One Massacre Chapter Two Pageant of Empire Nineteen Years Earlier Chapter Three The Banquet Chapter Four Banishment Chapter Five Royal Appointment Chapter Six The Quarrel Chapter Seven The Spy Chapter Eight The Belly of Stone Chapter Nine Attack Chapter Ten Istar Chapter Eleven The Scribe Chapter Twelve The Visitor Chapter Thirteen Tiye Commands! Chapter Fourteen Letters Chapter Fifteen The Hunt Chapter Sixteen A Traitor’s Fate Chapter Seventeen That Woman! Chapter Eighteen Rakhmet Returns Chapter Nineteen Smenkhare Chapter Twenty Royal Wedding Chapter Twenty-One Wrath of Aten Chapter Twenty-Two A New Life Chapter Twenty-Three Child of the Wind Chapter Twenty-Four A King Is Crowned Chapter Twenty-Five Farewell to a Friend Chapter Twenty-Six Return of the King Chapter Twenty-Seven A Royal Funeral Chapter Twenty-Eight Plague Chapter Twenty-Nine Tiye Chapter Thirty More Funerals Chapter Thirty-One The Boy King Chapter Thirty-Two Poison Chapter Thirty-Three Aten Returns Chapter Thirty-Four Menefer Flees Chapter Thirty-Five Death of a Queen Chapter Thirty-Six Return to No-Amun Chapter Thirty-Seven Menefer’s Sacrifice Chapter Thirty-Eight War Chapter Thirty-Nine Enemy Territory Chapter Forty The Battle Chapter Forty-One Together Again Chapter Forty-Two Desperation Chapter Forty-Three Anguish Chapter Forty-Four Back from the Dead Chapter Forty-Five Retribution Chapter Forty-Six Hail Pharaoh! Epilogue Ancient Egypt Akhet Aten Akhet Aten City Egypt and Eastern Mediterranean Historical Characters Fictional Characters Meanings Of Ancient Egyptian Words Magical Charms Placed On A Mummy Place Names – Ancient Egyptian / Modern REFERENCES BIBLIOGRAPHY INTERNET
About the Author
Henry was born and grew up in South Africa. He had two passions, the love of animation and writing, but he also had a fascination for Ancient Egypt. After a number of career changes, he found employment at the Durban Natural History Museum as staff artist/technical assistant. While working on the mummy exhibit, his interest in Ancient Egypt led him to do some more research. The plot for a historical fictional novel slowly developed.
After another career change, and while commuting to and from work, he started to write the novel. The final manuscript was completed in 2017.
About the Book
Dedication
To my wife, who had shown great patience with my writing and researching the material.
Copyright Information
Copyright © Henry Neville (2019)
The right of Henry Neville to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.
Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.
ISBN 9781788788366 (Paperback)
ISBN 9781528956222 (ePub e-book)
www.austinmacauley.com
First Published (2019)
Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd
25 Canada Square
Canary Wharf
London
E14 5LQ
Foreword
Few other royal families had generated so much controversy and debate as the five kings and queens of the latter part of the Eighteenth Dynasty. This period is fraught with mystery and intrigue and is still subject to much debate among scholars of Ancient Egypt.
Was the Dowager Queen Tiye involved in the separation of Akhenaten and Nefertiti and the subsequent disgrace of the latter queen? Nefertiti disappeared off records soon after Queen Tiye’s arrival.
The theory that Nefertiti had died in year thirteen of Akhenaten’s reign, does not ring true. A Pharaoh who had loved his wife as much as Akhenaten did, would not have desecrated her memory if she had died, but would rather have honoured her. Objects have been found in the Northern palace bearing Nefertiti and Tutankhamun’s names, after the obliteration of her name and images, proving she must still have been alive at that time.
Did Akhenaten and his brother and co-ruler, Smenkhare, have more than a family relationship?
The intimate relationship between Akhenaten and Smenkhare had never been proved, but many scholars believe there was a homosexual connection between them. The love poem I have included in the tale is creative writing and based roughly on a poem by Meritaten.
’Before his reign was over, Akhenaten was keeping Smenkhare—a youth in his teens—close to himself for a year or so…there is also preserved a sculpture of Akhenaten embracing and kissing Smenkhare, a young boy sitting on his lap ’ (Oedipus and Akhenaten—Velikovsky).
An inscription on the gold foil covering the mummy of Smenkhare reads ‘ Beloved of Neferkheprure Waenre ’. Neferkheprure Waenre was the throne name of Akhenaten.
Was there a plot to overthrow Akhenaten?
My account of the trial and execution of Tutu is pure fiction but historians are convinced he had been involved in subversive activities. The discovery of the “Amarna letters”, found in the remains of a reed basket in the ruins of Akhet Aten’s record storehouses, seemed to indicate that he had contact with the enemy king Aziro.
Was foul play involved in the deaths of Akhenaten, Smenkhare and Queen Meritaten who died within a year of one another?
Some scholars believe all three: Akhenaten, Smenkhare and Meritaten were murdered, but about that period, plague swept through Egypt, during which two of the younger princesses also died. They could also have succumbed from disease.
Were Tutankhamun’s mother, Khiya, and the young king himself, murdered and was Nefertiti’s father, the High priest and Vizier, Ay, involved in any of these deeds?
At one time, it was believed Tutankhamun had died from a blow to the back of his head, but more recent tests seem to prove the young king succumbed from blood poisoning or gangrene after infection from a thighbone fracture. A recent documentary on the mummy of Khiya, King Tutankhamun’s mother, suggested the fracture on the back of her head had been caused by a severe blow and that she was most probably murdered.
Did Tutankhamun go to war?
Historical records do not mention a war during the reign of the young king, but a chest, found in his tomb, depicts Tutankhamun in a war chariot and shooting an arrow at a foe. His armour also shows wear-and tear, which would not have been caused, had the young king worn them during ceremonial occasions. There is also an inscription in the tomb of Horemheb, where he promises to “Guide His Majesty’s footsteps” during battle. As the Egyptians did not mention any of their defeats, one can only assume the conflict had been lost, or as in my novel, ended in a stalemate.
Why did Tutankhamun’s young widow approach the Hittite King Shubbiluliuma, Egypt’s enemy, to beg for one of his sons in marriage? Who was involved in the ambush and slaying of the king’s son, Zannanza?
Sixty five years old Ay was not of royal blood, and in order for him to claim the throne, it was necessary for him to marry into the Royal Family. Tutankhamun’s young widow was about twenty eight, and, naturally was not looking forward to marrying her own grandfather. The accounts of her desperate attempts to secure one of the sons of Shubbiluliuma as a husband, is documented in the writings of his son, Mursil, the older brother of Zannanza. The young prince and his party were waylaid and killed en route to Egypt. Tablets, found more than a century ago, from a Queen Dakamun begging the king for one of his sons, was most probably from Ankhsenamun.
This novel is my attempt to explain and unravel the puzzling events at the court of that time.
Some liberties have been taken with factual events and historic characters to fit the pieces of the puzzle together in a coherent form.
Henry Neville
Chapter One

Massacre
Slowly, as the darkness left him, he became aware of a throbbing headache. He was lying face down in the sand, his head against a boulder. He tried to lift his head to see what was tugging at his tunic, but a severe pain shot through his shoulder blade and down his back. He cried out in agony. At the sound, the vulture hopped back a few paces, then stopped, watching him.
He reached over his left shoulder and could just feel the shaft of an arrow. With an effort he rolled over on his side and more pain seared down his lower back. A second arrow was lodged in the small of his back. His futile attempts to remove either, proved too painful.
Struggling into a half-sitting position, he squinted against the glare of the early morning sun, already bright and hot. He touched his head. There was a gash on his temple, and blood from it had clotted. A smear of dried blood on the rock suggested he must have hit his head against the rock when he fell. A vulture was watching him from a safe distance, its cold, red eyes unblinking.
He waved at the bird with his good arm but the action only brought on more stabs of agony and dizziness. ‘Be gone, stinking, evil Eater of the Dead!’ With raucous, guttering sounds and heavy flapping, it hopped away a little further. He kneaded his painful shoulder and glared at the vultures. ‘I am not ready for you…yet!’
He raised his hand to his head. Semi-congealed blood, with sand stuck to it, caked his hair. It felt sticky and gritty. His tunic, soaked in blood, clung to his skin.
With an agonising effort and gritting his teeth, he got onto his knees. Some distance away, other vultures were gorging themselves on bodies of dead soldier, tugging, ripping on the corpses. One stopped feeding and watched him warily.
Stabs of pain made him wince a