Chapter 1: Amenhotep

Amenhotep struggled up the steep rocky ridge, grabbing boulders and the stems of scrubs, which themselves gripped the gravely soil tenuously with their roots. The sky above glowed with the approaching dawn. Below him, the battle raged on in the shadows as it had throughout the long dark night. At the top, he could see the eastern horizon draped with the golden pink glow that heralded the sun disk. The land on the eastern side of the ridge was fertile cropland with farmers beginning their morning chores and merchants on their way to the market, oblivious to the looming battle. On the western side, enemy soldiers climbed a path that led to a temple on the ridge. Amenhotep knew that if the soldiers crested the ridge, they would destroy the peace of the eastern valley. He ran to the temple to stop them. At the edge of the temple, overlooking the path stood a colossal statue of Amen-Ra. He knew that the only way to stop the soldiers would be to topple the statue on them. He began pushing against the statue. Some of his own soldiers arrived to assist after they had slain the advanced guard of the enemy soldiers. His father and mother appeared, then his beloved Nefertiti. Together they had almost succeeded in toppling the statue just as the sun broke over the horizon when a sandstorm suddenly arose and blotted out the sun. Amenhotep screamed into the biting wind as it tore at his flesh and filled his mouth with sand- 

"Amenhotep, wake up!" shouted Nebetah as she shook her brother. "You're having that dream again." 

Amenhotep sat up with his eyes wide and terrified, breathing heavily. Cold sweat dripped from his brow. Nebetah wiped it with a linen cloth. 

"Promise me that you will ask Zaphenath-paneah to interpret your dream. He did so for father's bad dream and it not only went away but, in the process, he saved Egypt from famine. Perhaps your dream has a similar dire prophecy." 

"All right, little Sister, I promise," said Amenhotep. "Now, will you leave me in peace? I need more sleep." 

"But you can't go back to sleep. This morning, we are going to the river to welcome Si-Atum when he returns from Mitanni with Princess Tadukhepa." 

Amenhotep groaned and held his large head in his hands. "Curse it! I forgot. I should not have stayed up so late last night. I will get up; now leave me, unless you want to gaze upon my grotesque naked body." 

Nebetah giggled and ran from the room. 

Amenhotep, youngest son of Pharaoh Amenhotep III, was different. People could see it plainly in his long narrow face, large deformed head, and slender girlish body. But he was different in other ways. Unlike his brothers Thutmose and Si-Atum, he showed no interest in the pleasures of palace life, but spent his time studying art, music, and philosophy. And he loved to walk and talk with his betrothed Nefertiti in the gardens surrounding the palace. However, since he was the youngest, his peculiarities were not considered important. As long as Thutmose and Si-Atum were normal, that's all that mattered. When Amenhotep was eight, his brother Thutmose, the first-born, died from a fever, leaving Si-Atum heir to the throne. Si-Atum had taken a wife Mutami when he came of age. When he became pharaoh, he would have his choice of several women in the harem to become his Great Wife. 

And even if Si-Atum turned out to be a mediocre pharaoh, it didn't matter much. Egypt was at the height of her glory. She had experienced decades of relative peace, thanks to the wars fought by Amenhotep III's predecessors, who secured Egypt's border, established alliances with neighboring kingdoms, and brought much wealth into Egypt through trade, tribute, and mining enterprises. Besides, the pharaoh was no longer considered the sole intercessor with the gods for the people. The powerful priests of Amen-Ra confirmed the right of pharaoh to rule, helped fulfill people's wishes and solve problems with the use of magic amulets, and, when people were close to death, the priests ensured a happy afterlife for them. No longer was a happy afterlife the exclusive domain of the pharaoh.