The Forgotten Pharaoh

by David Adkins

  I replied in kind. “Greetings, Coreb, and you are right. You see that wicker basket over there. I have kept it as a souvenir.”

  He looked at it curiously. “A basket?” he inquired.

  “It was left under my bed with a sleeping cobra within. The cobra emerged from the basket while I slept. It struck but missed my foot by this much.” I held up my thumb and forefinger to show how close I had come to an agonising death.

  He gasped. “You must come with me back to the army camp where you will be safe.”

  “I belong at the palace,” I contradicted him with a bravado that I did not feel.

  “The murderer of Thutmose obviously believes that you are also a threat,” he argued.

  “My place is here,” I said firmly.

  “How did the perpetrator get the cobra into your room?”

  “I have wondered this. Obviously it is someone in the palace who moves about freely.”

  “Probably a member of your family. Have you questioned the servants to see if they saw anything?”

  I nodded. “I have but with no success.”

  He paced up and down, his anger welling up. “They dare to try to murder you in the palace and they attempt to undermine my authority in the army and all this after assassinating my friend and your brother, the rightful heir to the throne, Thutmose.”

  “Who do you think they are?” I asked.

  “I imagine Akhenamun and whoever is working for him,” he offered.

  “We have to prove it,” I suggested.

  “And then what?” he asked.

  “Take the evidence to my mother who, while my father is close to death, rules Egypt in his name. If she can be made to believe that Akhenamun murdered Thutmose she will act against him with our help.”

  He seemed doubtful. “Does she have the power, and will the palace guard follow her or Akhenamun?” he pondered.

  “They should follow her for she is the ruler and she could have Akhenamun arrested.”

  He was not convinced. “It is a course of action, but the army must be our safeguard, and how do we get this proof?”

  “The night before last I followed Akhenamun and Metos into the old town of Thebes on the east bank. They went to an upmarket whorehouse in the Magisa district. It was quite distinctive with wide black and white stripes painted on the front of the building. They go there apparently on the same day each week. They have an arrangement whereby the establishment bring in girls that are suitable for the entertainment they require.”

  Coreb looked perplexed.

  “They are violent and they pay well,” I explained.

  “You took an enormous risk following them to such a place,” he rebuked.

  “I took my faithful servant, Murat, with me.”

  “Even so, that part of the city is very dangerous at night. I take it you were both wearing suitable disguises for it is not a good idea to display wealth in such a place.”

  “We did and we stayed safe. We were not seen by Akhenamun and Metos. I did what I had to do if we are to capture Metos and make him talk.” I did not tell him I was attacked by a drunken robber.

  Coreb nodded. “You did well, your majesty, but I hate to think of you putting yourself in danger. So in five days time we can expect them to once again visit this whorehouse. My men will be waiting for them.”

  “What will you do? Akhenamun must come to no harm. He is my brother and we are not yet absolutely sure that he is responsible for the death of Thutmose. He did deny it.”

  “You asked him?” He was incredulous.

  “No, but he heard that I had been asking my sisters questions and he came to see me.”

  “Did he threaten you?”

  “He sort of threatened me,” I replied.

  “And then the snake ended up in your room,” he mused.

  I could see his logic. “We still do not know for certain.”

  “We will not harm Akhenamun. We will somehow part them and take Metos prisoner. I will find a way of doing that you can be sure, Smenkhkare. If Metos put that snake in your room he will pay for it.”

  “I want to go with you,” I said.

  “It is better that you do not go. It is dangerous in the city and we do not want you to be seen. Even I will remain in the background for I do not wish to be seen either. I have good men who will carry out the task but it is a precaution we need to take if, in the unlikely event that anything goes wrong, we do not want to be implicated. Akhenamun is the heir to the throne and therefore powerful.”

  I nodded agreement. “Then when you question Metos I wish to be there.”

  “As you wish,” he replied. “Keep a very low profile over the next five days until we have achieved our objective. Say nothing to anyone about Thutmose or his murder and they will think you have accepted that it was an accident. When I have Metos prisoner I will get word to you and you can visit your friend at the army camp for more training if anyone asks.”

  “I will be 15 tomorrow and so I can talk to people about my birthday and my crossing into manhood.”

  “Congratulation, Smenkhkare – but you are already a man,” he smiled.

  As he opened the door to leave Vizier Ay appeared to be waiting outside. I joined Coreb as he seemed to be confronted by Ay. “The pharaoh was not expecting the pleasure of his esteemed general visiting the royal palace,” he said coldly.

  “I was visiting my friend, Smenkhkare, informally and not the pharaoh and so there was no need to inform the pharaoh of my visit,” retorted Coreb.

  “When the general of the army visits Malkata there is always a need to inform the pharaoh in advance,” Ay replied.

  “The pharaoh has a bad illness,” I reminded Ay.

  “Then Akhenamun or myself as head of affairs at the palace should be informed.”

  “My mother is ruler and not Akhenamun or you, Ay.”

  “I must politely remind you, Smenkhkare, that I am in charge of palace affairs,” stated Ay firmly.

  Coreb gave me a look that said ‘take this no further’ and I remembered that I was supposed to be keeping a low profile. The arrogance of the Vizier was, however, difficult to take.

  Coreb replied: “I will keep that in mind, Ay, but as I am instructing Smenkhkare in the ways of the military as his brother, Thutmose, had started to do I thought that our meeting, for such a purpose, was of no interest to others.”

  “I think it is better if you do not visit the palace again without permission. I would not wish to have you arrested.” The audacity of the man took my breath away.

  “I hear you visited the army camp without my permission,” Coreb replied. “Do not do so again without authority or I might have you arrested.”

  They stared at one another for a few moments. “I am the Head Vizier,” Ay responded and walked away.

  “He has always been insufferable,” I commented.

  “Until five days time,” Coreb said quietly and left.

  ****

  The next day I was 15 years of age and Amenhotep III, pharaoh of Upper and Lower Egypt died in his bed. I did not have to keep a low profile for the coming days because I was completely forgotten as Egypt, Thebes and Malkata were all in mourning. Akhenamun was now just weeks away, and even possibly just days away, from being declared the new pharaoh. I did not visit Taduheppa the next day as accusing her of plotting to leave me for Akhenamun was not keeping a low profile.

  We all took our turns to pay our respects to the deceased pharaoh. My mother Tiye now officially ruled Egypt until the new pharaoh was declared. I knew that Akhenamun would waste little time in bringing this about. Two days after his death, my father’s body was taken to his tomb at the valley of the dead to be prepared for the journey to the afterlife. Four days after his death we once again assembled in my mother’s apartment for a family meeting. I had kept to myself during that time and apart from brief visits by Nebetah and Tiye I had seen no-one.

  Tiye looked at us all sadly. “These are very sorrowful times. First I lose my firs
t son and now my husband. You have lost a brother and now a father. Thutmose will soon be ready for his final journey to join Osiris, and my husband, Amenhotep, is just beginning the same process. We have a funeral to attend in seven days’ time and another to attend in 70 days’ time. It is difficult for all of us, but life in Egypt must go on and life in Malkata must go on. We urgently need a new pharaoh and we have already agreed that Akhenamun should renounce the priesthood and become the new pharaoh that we need. I will hold the reins of power for two short weeks and then in a ceremony at Malkata Akhenamun will be declared our new pharaoh. There will be rejoicing in our great city of Thebes and throughout all of Upper and Lower Egypt.”

  “I will make the arrangements,” said Ay.

  “And I will do my best to be a good successor to my father,” stated Akhenamun.

  This time there were no questions asked and we all filed out of my mother’s chamber in silence. I could not help noticing how angry my wife, Taduheppa, looked but I had other things on my mind and for once I was not concerned with her grievances. I continued to avoid contact with members of my family and they probably put it down to my sorrow at recent events. I had lost a much-loved brother and also a father.

  ****

  The day had come when Akhenamun and Metos were due to visit the Magisa district in Thebes and I wondered if, under the circumstances, they would still go. I instructed Murat to keep an eye on them and let me know if they left the palace.

  He returned to my chamber close to midnight. “They have left,” he informed me.

  Chapter 8

  I waited all morning but I received no word from Coreb. I discreetly inquired if Akhenamun had returned to the palace but found he had not. My patience was wearing thin and so I sent for Murat.

  He came into my presence and bowed. He could see the concern on my face. He obviously knew that something was afoot but was not clear what it was. “Is everything all right, your majesty?” he asked.

  “I need you to go back to the army camp now and ask Coreb if all is well, and request that he contacts me immediately. He knows I am waiting for word on an important matter.”

  “I will leave right away,” he said for he understood the urgency of my request.

  “Good, then go and try to be back as soon as possible.”

  I walked on to my balcony and waited for a few minutes and then I saw Murat hurrying off towards the palace gate as he set off on his mission. The height of the sun in the clear Egyptian sky signalled that it was midday. If all went well then Murat would be back with news before midnight.

  I dwelt on the balcony a little longer and I saw a dishevelled Akhenamun returning to the palace after his furtive night adventures. He was alone and there was no sign of his henchman, Metos. I could not help smiling, for Akhenamun normally looked so grand in his flowing, black tunic and robes; he had obviously had a bad night. I wondered if I would hear from him but as the hours passed I did not. I decided that now was, perhaps, the time to confront Taduheppa. I now felt a growing coldness towards my wife that I had never felt before, but talking to her and confronting her would pass the time until Murat returned.

  I knocked at her door and Rana, her Mitanni servant girl, ushered me into her quarters. “My mistress is taking a bath,” she informed me.

  “I will go through,” I said, and barged my way past her as she tried to block my entrance to the inner chamber of my wife’s apartment.

  I sat down on a chair close to Taduheppa’s bath and studied her. She was, of course, beautiful but I could not suppress my hostility towards her. She did not object to my presence but lowered herself under the milky fluid of her bath. I stared intently at her red eyes and realised that she had been crying.

  “Why have you been crying?” I asked.

  “I am trying to wash away the shame,” she replied. Her small, pert breasts appeared above the mixture of milk and warm water. They were small but perfect. I felt the warmth of the coals that had heated her bath and it seemed to heat my loins though perhaps that was more the effect of my wife. Her breasts once again disappeared under the liquid.

  “I have done something stupid,” she added.

  “Where did you get the milk?” I asked.

  A slight smile pierced her agonised features. “I had my maid steal it from Nefertiti’s donkey stables.” She indicated, with a glance, a churn at the other side of the room.

  “Is that the stupid thing you have done?” I asked, returning her smile without thinking.

  “If only it were,” she said sadly.

  “Then what else have you done?” I inquired.

  “I have twice shared a bed with Akhenamun.”

  This cold admission bit through me like a knife into the pit of my stomach even though I had half expected it. Now it had been said I felt the pain even more. “You are my wife,” I reminded her.

  “You are a boy and Akhenamun is a man, and we had no marriage. Our marriage is a sham.” Her words were cruel but it was true that in reality we had no marriage.

  “Did you really have to seek comfort in my brother’s bed?”

  “I was a fool and believed his lies,” she admitted.

  “What lies did he spin you, Taduheppa?”

  “He told me that he was about to become pharaoh and that he would make me his chief royal wife. I was a fool and believed him. He had also promised the same to Nefertiti. ” Her matter-of-fact tone astonished me.

  “How do you know he does not intend to keep his promise to you?” I asked.

  “After I had twice been to his bed he told me that Nefertiti would be his chief wife and I should stay with his little brother.” Her words were spat out with great bitterness and her breasts appeared again above the liquid in her bath.

  “Perhaps he is right and you should stay with his brother,” I suggested.

  “He has used me. I am a princess of the Mitanni and cannot be treated this way. He has humiliated me and I want revenge.”

  “You are not in a position to exact revenge,” I reminded her. “Akhenamun is about to become pharaoh and to become the all-powerful leader of his nation. If he has chosen Nefertiti as chief wife then you must accept it. Is that why you argued with her?”

  She nodded. “He had already made the same promise to her and she thought I was usurping her position. Yesterday he made it clear to me that she is the chosen one.”

  “Who struck you and bruised your cheek?”

  “Akhenamun – I struck him and he hit me back,” she answered.

  “It seems you are stuck with me,” I said.

  “Are you willing to forgive my transgressions, Smenkhkare?”

  “What you have done has made me very sad, but I can understand your motivation. You are still my wife and who knows you might become my real wife in time.”

  She smiled and brushed away a tear. “Who knows, Smenkhkare? You are very forgiving. Now I need my towel and so leave me and send in Rana.”

  “I could fetch your towel,” I suggested.

  She smiled again. “Fetch it then.”

  I walked over to her towel which was draped across another chair and picked it up. It was soft to the touch as I was sure Taduheppa’s skin would be. I walked over to the bath and held it open for her. She quickly emerged from the mixture of donkey’s milk and warm water. I had never seen her naked before. Her beauty and perfection took my breath away. I delayed in wrapping the towel around her for I did not want to hide her nudity from my admiring eyes. “My towel please, Smenkhkare,” she reminded me, and I reluctantly wrapped it around her.

  “Please be my wife.” I was almost begging.

  A fleeting triumphant smile crossed her beautiful features. “When you are a man,” she responded and her promise was enticing though seemingly distant.

  “I am,” I pleaded.

  “No, you are not. Now leave me, Smenkhkare. We will talk later.”

  I obeyed her without thinking and walked out of her apartment in a daze. My mind had certainly been taken away fr
om the worry of whether Coreb had been successful. I did feel sad, as I had told Taduheppa, but I also felt anger. Akhenamun seemed to think he could do whatever he liked. I had seen Akhenamun return to the palace alone and I still wondered if I would hear from him but still I did not.

  ****

  The hour was late when Murat returned to Malkata and he immediately came to see me with his news. “I have spoken with Coreb and he told me to inform your majesty that he has his prisoner and that they have already begun to question him. He recommended that you come to the army camp in the morning and that I should accompany you to ensure your safety. He suggested we go early before the palace is awake so we are not seen.”

  I smiled with satisfaction. Akhenamun had lost his henchman, Metos, and may just be feeling a little vulnerable. “We will go early in the morning, Murat,” I agreed.

  That night I could not get the image of a naked Taduheppa from my head and my body responded to it.

  We took a very early boat across the great river just as the rays of the early morning sun were peeking over the horizon and glistening on the Nile like small droplets of gold. Once again Coreb sent a troop of guards to meet us and escort us to his camp. It was already hot and I wiped the sweat from my brow as we marched towards the encampment. I thought of Thutmose and the happy hours we had spent together here riding chariots. If Metos was part of the plot, as I strongly suspected, could he be persuaded to tell us who was responsible for the death of my dear brother.

  Coreb was waiting for me as I entered the military headquarters. “Greetings, your majesty.” He bowed his head in front of his troops in acknowledgement of my position in the royal family.

  “Greetings, Coreb,” I responded. “Where is the prisoner?”

  “He is in that hut yonder.” He pointed to a dwelling formed of sun dried mud about 20 cubits away. “I think we should talk in private.” I followed him into his headquarters. “We started to question him last night but so far he has not been forthcoming.”