The Mummy: The Tomb Robbers' Secret

The Screaming Mummy

"I've got it, Pentaweret, it's been staring me in the face all along! Pentaweret of course!" Roma called out and began to laugh and laugh like a crazy woman.

Evelyn opened the door to her bedroom to see what the fuss was about. Roma had been confined to bed until the headache and fever that had plagued her went away, and out of boredom, she had been consulting the pile of books on her bed that grew by the day. She had poured through them, searching for something that eluded her and must have found it at last.

"What have you found?" she asked, thinking, by the look of enthusiasm on Roma's face, it must be something of significance. Roma's illness had hampered her the first few days of her confinement, but now that she was better her days had been spent reading from the vast library the Wilkes-Emberlys kept in their home.

"I know who it is," she said, the excitement plain in her voice, "I mean, who the tomb belonged to," she explained, "It's Pentaweret, the son of Ramesses III—the one who murdered him. It's his tomb, it has to be."

This piqued Evelyn's interest, a papyrus had been discovered, that talked about the legendary Harem Conspiracy to murder Ramesses III by his secondary queen Tiye to put her son Pentaweret on the throne. The murder plot had been successful, but the court had not rallied around Pentaweret as his mother had anticipated. Ramesses IV, the designated heir, had succeeded his father.

"I wonder why they even bothered," Evelyn said, "Ramesses had been on the throne for thirty-two years, he wouldn't have lived that much longer, they could have tried to stage a coup then."

"He'd been a good pharaoh, or good enough," added Roma thoughtfully, "He was the last great warrior pharaoh of Egypt, the last to hold the country together. Ramesses IV didn't live long, neither did Ramesses V, Ramesses VI built a tomb in the Valley but he was the last one to do so."

"Well," asked Evelyn, what happened to cause him to be murdered?"

"Well, he was a successful warrior. He conquered Libya, Syria, and Mittani, re-establishing the old borders, restoring some of Rameses the Great's empire. But his wars were costly and emptied Egypt's coffers. Then there was a drought and people were starving."

"There's always been conspiring among wives in the harem. Rameses IV was the heir but he was weak. A lot of the nobles were unhappy with the state of the country and talk of replacing Rameses III on the throne was becoming more than just talk.

"Pentaweret was popular, a strong, capable young man, certainly preferable to the young Rameses. The problem was that he was the son of a secondary wife and not the rightful heir. He began to garner support, though, his mother was ambitious and she was gathering all the support from the nobles, promising much needed changes."

"There were at least sixty nobles who supported him, and it was decided that on the day of The Beautiful Feast of the Valley that they would put their plan into action."

"And so they assassinated Rameses III," said Evelyn, "And since we've both read the Turin Papyrus we know what happened. After the trial they left the temple and Pentaweret was allowed to commit suicide instead of being burned alive. How sad."

"I'm surprised they didn't burn his body, but they mummified it only they didn't remove his organs, or use unguents and oils. They wrapped him in a sheepskin which would have been considered unclean. They also didn't tie his mouth shut, so he screams for eternity at what he had to endure."

"They may have found his mummy, the one they call the "Screaming Mummy", in the cache in Amenhotep II's tomb. He may have a tomb in the Valley of the Nobles, I can't see him being buried in the Valle of the Kings or Queens."

"But if the tomb was the carved the way you said it was, it must have been prepared beforehand, before the conspiracy was even planned or carried out," said Evelyn.