The Golden Queen

Two

Two

OVER the next week and a half, Clair and her team of archaeologists set out to find the tomb of the lost pharaoh. They began digging at the location where Father first discovered Ahmose's tablet, near the tomb of Thutmosis III. The hours were long in the sweltering heat, and there was much to be done. I wanted to help somehow; Clair put me in charge of the mysterious tablet. I wanted to be at the dig site, but this was my first time in Egypt, and my body had not yet adjusted to the significant change in the climate. Clair would come for me later this evening when it had cooled down, and together we would go to Luxor.

I sat at an old wooden table in a secluded corner of the library in the back of the museum. I had books about the eighteenth dynasty of Egypt stacked around me. If I couldn't find Ahmose, I was determined to learn something about his ancestors. I had one of Father's journals open in front of me, examining the notes scrawled all over the pages. He had deciphered most of the tablet.

Father theorized Ahmose's reign began around 1440 BC, close to the time of Thutmosis III. Ahmose, if he even existed, would have reigned for only a very brief period before Thutmosis' reign began around the same year. I noticed a marked page in Father's journal, and when I opened it, I found a passage written in bold blue ink. The passage contained the category number of one of the library's textbooks as well as a page number.

The textbook was in the stack that sat at my table, and I opened it to the page number Father had indicated. The pages were brittle and yellowed with age, but the beautiful image on the page was as bright and vivid as the day it was printed. The photo was of a relief painted somewhere in an ancient temple. The book was printed in Arabic, so I could not read the summary below. But Father had made notes, and so I continued reading the passage in his journal:

"June 21, 2011: A forgotten relief hidden in a secluded chamber in the great temple of Hatshepsut, the painting shows the great queen standing with an unknown man. The inscriptions have worn away over time, but I must go and see this relief for myself. I have a profound hunch this could be an image of Ahmose."

The entry in the journal was dated a few days after the discovery of the tablet. I wondered if Father had gotten the chance to see this relief. Maybe Clair and I could go instead. I wanted to see it for myself, to enter the chamber where Ahmose himself may have stood during his life.

Hatshepsut was the great queen of Egypt who became a king in the public's eyes. Ancient Egypt was unlike the twenty-first century, and women had fewer rights. The fact that a woman had ruled an empire during that time was an incredible accomplishment. I idolized her for her strength and determination. I marveled her beautiful illustrations, and wondered what kind of man her son must have been.

Ahmose. I shifted my gaze to the tablet behind me. The museum had permitted its removal from its glass enclosure while I studied it. The corners were jagged and chipped, but at one time it had been a perfect square shape. The inscriptions that covered it were faded, and the rest were worn away entirely. I flipped through Father's journal and came to the page where he had translated the partial inscriptions.

"I, King Ahmose II, son of Thutmosis II and Hatshepsut..." I read aloud. That was all it said. Father's notes continued:

"The opening statement sets the tone for a speech or a proclamation of some sort. Without the remaining inscriptions, it is impossible to determine the tablet's true purpose. The hieroglyph for son used on the tablet literally means "youngest son" in English. This clearly indicates the existence of a second son of Thutmosis II. Ahmose must have been in his early twenties around the time of Hatshepsut's death being the younger brother of Thutmosis III, who would have been in his mid twenties around the time of her death. Or perhaps Ahmose could have been even younger than that, though it is unlikely they would have crowned a child king over Thutmosis, who was more than eligible to rule Egypt."

The reason for Ahmose's disappearance intrigued me more than anything.

"But what would cause a vibrant young man to simply vanish? Illness? Egypt was often plagued by malaria, and influenza wasn't uncommon among ancient people. Warfare? Egypt was constantly at war with the eastern empires of Canaan and Syria. A young pharaoh could have made for a naïve leader, ultimately causing his demise. Or perhaps there was a far more sinister cause for his disappearance. Ahmose's absence from Karnak and every other record of Egyptian history leads me to believe he was murdered, and quite possibly by someone he had been close to."

"Kara," a soft voice whispered. I nearly dropped the journal. My heart pounded. It was so faint, I couldn't be sure I had even heard it. I closed Father's journal and listened for the voice. Again, it whispered my name. It was a male voice, though it didn't seem like one I had heard before, it sounded so familiar.

"Dr. Malek?" I called, wondering if he needed something. There was silence, and then I heard the voice again. I turned back to the tablet, and a soft light began to emit from it. I should have been afraid of such a phenomenon, but the warmth that came from it filled my heart with a sense of longing and urgency. I needed to touch it, to place my fingers against the smooth granite. Slowly, I reached out and brushed my fingers across Ahmose's cartouche, and the soft light became blinding as it engulfed me.

I closed my eyes as I felt the room around me spin, and then my mind began to spin along with it, like planets in orbit. I didn't understand what was happening to me, and I suddenly became very afraid. The light was so bright I could see it behind my closed eyelids.

After several seconds, the room ceased to spin, and when I opened my eyes, the tablet was gone and I was no longer in the museum.