The Amarnan Kings, Book 3: Scarab - Tutankhamen Read online

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  The Amarnan Kings, Book 3: Scarab-Tutankhamen

  By Max Overton

  Writers Exchange E-Publishing

  http://www.writers-exchange.com

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  The Amarnan Kings, Book 3: Scarab-Tutankhamen

  Copyright 2011, 2016 Max Overton

  Writers Exchange E-Publishing

  PO Box 372

  ATHERTON QLD 4883

  AUSTRALIA

  Cover design by: Julie Napier

  Published by Writers Exchange E-Publishing

  http://www.writers-exchange.com

  ISBN 978-1-921636-60-8

  The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 (five) years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

  Names, characters and incidents depicted in this book are products of the author's imagination and are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of the author.

  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the publisher.

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  Contents

  Who's Who and What's What in Scarab - Tutankhamen

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Epilogue

  The Main Characters & Places in Scarab-Tutankhamen

  Gods of the Scarab Books

  About The Author

  Books By This Author

  Other Historical Books By This Publisher

  Back Cover

  Return to Contents

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  Who's Who and What's What in Scarab - Tutankhamen

  In any novel about ancient cultures and races, some of the hardest things to get used to are the names of people and places. Often these names are unfamiliar in spelling and pronunciation. It does not help that for reasons dealt with below, the spelling, and hence the pronunciation is sometimes arbitrary. To help readers keep track of the characters in this book I have included some notes on names in the ancient Egyptian language. I hope they will be useful.

  In Ancient Egypt a person's name was much more than just an identifying label. A name meant something, it was descriptive, and a part of a person's being. For instance, Amenhotep means 'Amen is at peace', and Nefertiti means 'the beautiful one has come'. Knowledge of the true name of something gave one power over it, and in primitive societies a person's real name is not revealed to any save the chief or immediate family. A myth tells of the creator god Atum speaking the name of a thing and it would spring fully formed into existence. Another myth says the god Re had a secret name and went to extraordinary lengths to keep it secret.

  The Egyptian language, like written Arabic and Hebrew, was without vowels. This produces some confusion when ancient Egyptian words are transliterated. The god of Thebes in Egyptian reads mn , but in English this can be represented as Amen, Amon, Ammon or Amun. The form one chooses for proper names is largely arbitrary, but I have tried to keep to accepted forms where possible. King Akhenaten's birth name was Amenhotep, though this name can have various spellings depending on the author's choice. It is also sometimes seen as Amenhotpe, Amenophis, Amunhotep and Amonhotep. I have used the first of these spellings (Amenhotep) in the Scarab books, and every name that includes that of the same god is spelled Amen- or -amen. The god himself I have chosen to call Amun, largely because the word Amen can have an alternate meaning in Western religious thought. The god of the sun's disk I have called Aten, though Aton is an alternative spelling. The City of Aten I have called Akhet-Aten (the Horizon of the Aten), rather than Akhetaten as it is normally written, to distinguish it easily for readers from the similar name of its king, Akhenaten.

  The names of the kings themselves have been simplified. Egyptian pharaohs had five names, known as the Heru (or Horus) name, the Nebti name, the Golden Falcon name, the Prenomen and the Nomen. Only the Nomen was given at birth, the other names being coronation names. The Heru name dates from pre-dynastic times and was given to a king upon his coronation. All kings had a Heru name, but by the eighteenth dynasty it was seldom used. The Nebti name dates from the time of the unification of Egypt and shows the special relationship the king had to the vulture-goddess Nekhbet of Upper Egypt and the cobra-goddess Wadjet of Lower Egypt. The Golden Falcon name conveys the idea of eternity, as gold neither rusts nor tarnishes, and dates from the Old Kingdom. It perhaps symbolises the reconciliation of Heru and Seth, rather than the victory of Heru over Seth as the titles are usually non-aggressive in nature.

  By the time of the eighteenth dynasty, the prenomen had become the most important coronation name, replacing the Heru name in many inscriptions. Since the eleventh dynasty, the prenomen has always contained the name of Re.

  The nomen was the birth name, and this is the name by which the kings in this book are commonly known. The birth names most common in the eighteenth dynasty were Tuthmosis and Amenhotep. Successive kings with the same birth name did not use the method we use to distinguish between them--namely numbers (Amenhotep III and Amenhotep IV). In fact, the birth name ceased to be used once they became king and the coronation prenomen distinguished them. Amenhotep (III) became Nebmaetre, and Amenhotep (IV) became Waenre. I have tried to keep both nomen and prenomen to the fore in my books. Generally, in formal occasions, the prenomen is used, sometimes with the nomen; in casual talk or narrative, the more familiar nomen predominates.

  Another simplification has occurred with place names and titles. In the fourteenth century B.C., Egypt as a name for the country did not exist. The land around the Nile Valley and Delta was called Kemet or The Black Land by its inhabitants. Much later, Greeks called it Aigyptos from which we get Egypt. Other common terms for the country were The Two Lands or Ta Mehu and Ta Shemau (Lower and Upper Egypt), and the Land of Nine Bows (the nine traditional enemies).

  Similarly, the king of Kemet or Egypt was later known as Pharaoh, but this term derives from the phrase Per-Aa which originally meant the Great House or royal palace. Over the years the meaning changed to encompass the idea of the central government, and later the person of the king himself. The Greeks changed Per-Aa to Pharaoh. I have kept with the generic term 'King'.

  During the eighte
enth dynasty, the kings ruled from a city known variously as Apet, No-Amun or Waset in the Fourth province or sepat of Upper Egypt, which itself was also called Waset. This capital city the Greeks called Thebes. The worship of Amun was centreed here and the city was sometimes referred to as the City of Amun. I have used the name Waset.

  I have endeavored to be accurate as far as possible, and have retained the original Egyptian names for people and places. The gods of Egypt are largely known to modern readers by their Greek names; for instance, Osiris, Thoth and Horus. I have decided to keep the names as they were originally known to the inhabitants of Kemet--Asar, Djehuti and Heru. The Greek names for some unfamiliar gods can be found in the section Gods of the Scarab books .

  Return to Contents

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  Prologue

  Syria, 1960

  Under-Minister Ahmed Bashir of the Syrian Ministry of National History pushed aside the flap of his tent and stepped out into the pre-dawn darkness. A guard, huddled against the chill of the night, forced himself to a semblance of alertness and sketched a clumsy salute. Bashir waved the man away impatiently and looked up at the vague outline of the sandstone cliffs dimly visible against the night sky. He took out a silver cigarette case from an inside pocket of his jacket and extracted a cheroot, tapping it on the case before putting it between his thin lips and lighting it. Drawing deeply, Bashir held the smoke in his lungs, the first prickle of nicotine intoxication clearing away the cobwebs of the night. He exhaled, the smoke warmed by his breath white in the chill dawn air.

  "Possibilities, Ahmed, possibilities," Bashir murmured. He started walking along the rutted and muddy road toward the track leading to the archaeological dig. After the bright glow of the lights around and in his tent, the darkness felt soothing and he scanned the night sky with its sprinkling of stars. The first faint flush of daylight stained the eastern horizon, heralding the start of a new day and the time for prayers. The minister flicked the half-finished cheroot into the darkness, hearing the faint hiss as the glow was extinguished in a puddle, and turned back toward his tent. Prayers first , he thought, then a cup of coffee and we'll see how willing the foreigners are to cooperate .

  The yellow sandstone of the cliffs shone golden in the morning light when Bashir stepped out of his tent again. He called one of his guards over and gave him his instructions before returning to his tent for a leisurely cup of coffee. That pleasant task finished, he sauntered over to the expedition's main tent and allowed one of the armed guards to lift the flap for him. Inside the large marquee-style tent sat eight men and women around a long wooden trestle table. The remnants of a hurried breakfast and cooling cups of tea and coffee littered the table top. Murmurs of conversation died away and heads turned as Bashir entered. He nodded pleasantly at the group and greeted his secretary Nazim, who sat a few feet away making notes in a large ring binder.

  "Good morning, Dr Hanser," Bashir said. "I trust you slept well and have thoroughly considered my proposal?"

  Dr Danielle Hanser, a tall slim woman in her thirties, stood and rested her hands on the table, her auburn shoulder-length hair swinging forward as she stared back at the Under-Minister. "I slept as well as could be expected with armed guards outside my tent, Minister Bashir. As for your proposal--do we have a choice?"

  Bashir smiled with his lips only. "My dear Dr Hanser, of course you have a choice. I am not such a barbarian as to force you to do something you do not wish to do."

  "No, just the threat should be enough, eh boyo?" A dark haired individual at the other end of the table lit up a rolled cigarette and flicked the match onto the ground. "Of course, if the threats don't work, you will no doubt get around to a bit of gentle persuasion."

  "Dr Rhys-Williams." All trace of pleasantness disappeared from Bashir's voice as he turned to look at the Welshman. "I do not need your cooperation. I can bring my own experts in within days and you can enjoy a stay in a Damascus prison for a few years. I cannot guarantee the accommodation or the cuisine, I'm afraid, but, well...the choice is yours."

  "Just what the fuck is going on here? Are we under arrest, or what? And what's this proposal thing you're talking about?"

  "Cool it, Al," a heavily bearded young man growled. "All the same, I think we'd like to know what is going on."

  Bashir inclined his head in agreement. "An excellent idea. Dr Hanser, perhaps you would like to introduce me to your team first, and then I can inform everyone as to the part I expect them to play over the next days and weeks."

  "This is Under-Minister Ahmed Bashir, the signatory to our permit to dig here." Dani walked down the length of the table, gesturing at the seated people as she spoke. "Dr Rhys-Williams you already know. Next to him is Allan Bryce, a PhD student, across from him is Doris Smith and Angela Devereux, both Honours students..."

  "Ah, Miss Devereux," Bashir murmured, eyeing the tall, buxom blonde with interest. "I hope you have not been too upset by this business."

  "...Along from them is Will Morrison, Bob Burrows, and here on this side," Dani's hand lingered a moment on the shoulder of the bearded young man, "Dr Marc Andrews."

  "Thank you, Dr Hanser." Bashir nodded his thanks. "Now, as to why you are here..."

  "Who's the little creep over there?" Al snarled, pointing at Nazim.

  Bashir frowned, his eyes glacial. "That is my secretary, Nazim. He will be taking down what is said today. Now, as to why you are here--you can appreciate that the Minister and I have oversight of a great many projects within Syria. This particular dig falls under my aegis, though it had only a low interest rating as it dealt with a speculative exploration of a possible Neanderthal migration route. Imagine my surprise when I received a letter a week ago addressed to a Robert Burrows at the 'Egyptian Dig', care of the Ministry. Naturally, I had to open it to find out where it was supposed to go, and I was first astounded, then angered by the news. A foreign expedition, under the auspices of the Ministry of National History, was concealing a major find from the proper authorities."

  Bashir stopped and looked carefully at each face at the table, seeing varied expressions of shock, anger and fear. "This is a very serious matter as thieves of National Treasures are liable for large fines and lengthy terms in prison. I came up here to see for myself and I find that essentially it is true. You have found an Egyptian tomb and concealed its existence from the Ministry."

  "We were going to report it," Bob said, his face stricken with anguish. "We just wanted to see what was here first."

  "Yes, unfortunately, pleas of good intentions are never quite believable after you have been found out."

  "Get on with it," Al growled. "What do you intend doing?"

  "He has a proposal for us," Daffyd said quietly. "I suggest you listen carefully to what he says."

  "Thank you, Dr Rhys-Williams," Bashir said. "What I propose is quite simple. I will keep quiet about your criminal actions and monitor your investigations myself. You will be allowed to continue essentially as before."

  "Bullshit," Al muttered.

  "Very generous, Minister," Marc cut in. "But why would you do such a thing?"

  "Yeah, what's in it for you?" Angela added.

  "Call it intellectual curiosity, if you will. I read through the notes on your finds last night and I am quite amazed at the revelations. I would consider it a privilege to be present for the rest of the investigation."

  Marc leaned forward, staring at Bashir. "And you would not bring in other experts? You'd allow us to do the work?"

  Bashir nodded. "Indeed. It seems hardly fair to deprive you now."

  "What about publication?" Daffyd asked, blowing a cloud of smoke down the table. "You'd allow us to publish our findings?"

  "Ah, the prime concern of the scientist." Bashir smiled thinly. "We can discuss that later. For now, though, do you accept my offer? Dr Hanser?"

  Dani frowned and played with a pencil, tapping it on the table. "This is pretty much what we discussed last night, Under-Minister, but you did not clarify the con
ditions, or what happens to us after the dig is finished. Perhaps you would do that now."

  "The conditions are very simple, Dr Hanser. No more than six people will be in the chamber at once. You and Dr Rhys-Williams, I and Nazim, and you may choose two others in rotation. The others will remain in camp, under guard, as a surety for your good behavior. That is all."

  "And at the end? When we have found everything?"

  Bashir smiled again. "Do not concern yourself with that. If I have full cooperation from all your team, you will not see the inside of our prisons."

  "Shot more like it," Al snapped. "Why are we even listening to this prat?"

  "Come, Mr Bryce, we are not savages. Play fair with me and I'll play fair with you." Bashir shrugged. "If my terms are unacceptable, say so, and I will have you back in Damascus today."

  "Your terms are acceptable, Under-Minister," Dani replied. "But the investigation is likely to go slowly if you keep going back to the Ministry. Perhaps we could continue in your absences?"

  "No need. I have a month's leave so we shall see what we can reveal in that time."

  "You mean the Ministry does not know you are here?"

  "They know I am here, but think I am indulging my hobby. I love history, Dr Hanser. What better way to spend my holidays?"