M7 Mike Costa Lives: 2014

Characters:

Moses/Neferkheperura – A shipwrecked Extra-terrestrial

Dr. Michael Beshter/King Tut – The Golden Pharaoh

Vivian Carter/Ankhesenamon – Dr. Beshter’s love interest

Akh-Dar – Chief Weapons Specialist for New Akhetaton in the Libyan Desert

Mosei/Caliph Ibrahim – Spiritual Leader of the Blue Raven terrorist group

Clive Lovington – CEO of MAAT

Sarah Parkson – Media Consultant for ENN

Shai – High Seer of New Akhetaton

CHAPTER 2:

House of Nebmaatra

Thebes, Kemt (Egypt)

Two months passed by. The fields of wheat dried up from prolonged daylight because the flash floods subsided. Pharaoh had petitioned Tefnut against the floods, so the result was dryness for several more months. Then something else happened. A pestilence entered Egypt from the East, followed by boils on cattle, and swarms of locusts. The Prince Amonhotep would remember this for many years. A new God had arrived in Egypt from the East. But no one knew its name.

A tribe of Shepherds entered Pharaoh’s Court, claiming to be relatives of Yuya. Pharaoh Nebmaatra entertained them for a week. He showed them the marvelous works of the Kingdom – the pleasure Palace in Western Thebes with its custom lake and sacred yacht, the marble-clad Pyramids, and the glorious Karnak Temples of AmonRa with its 60 foot granite pillars and star décor ceiling.

          “Your Majesty, must we continue to entertain these guests? The Peasants are worried. The Prophecy worries them,” Aperel said.

          “They wish to speak with Yuya. Why?” Pharaoh Nebmaatra asked.

          “Great. All we need are more wily shepherds and their goats,” General Horemhab remarked to his Guards. “Why not send us some Cretans?”

          Prince Amonhotep greeted the Shepherds, offering to escort them to the Temple Library. The Temple Seer was interested in offering them advice on visions. One Shepherd noticed a statue of Yuya, pointed to it and said something in broken Canaanite. The Shepherds gathered around it, and then one danced a jig to some music of a lute, drums, and ivory clappers.

          “This is getting out of hand. Why don’t we just tell them Yuya died a month ago from this foreign pestilence?” remarked Vizier Ptahmose. Suddenly the music and dancing stopped and all eyes were on him. Apparently the Shepherds understood Egyptian.



          “Is this true? Is the Divine One Yu-Seph dead?” asked one Shepherd to Pharaoh, his mouth quivering.

          “The gods took him last month just before you arrived,” Pharaoh replied. “He is still being embalmed in the House of Death in the Mortuary Temple. That statue is from it. The Pestilence came like a shadow.”

          “Then the Prophecy was correct. We must convene to our tents. You may excuse us momentarily…” the Shepherd Leader replied.

          “What now? Are they leaving?” Horemhab wondered. “Finally?” he gasped. Pharaoh was seated on his throne, with his fan bearer waving an ostrich-feather fan slowly to comfort Pharaoh in the midday heat. A servant brought in some Pomegranate Juice and fresh Ale with a platter of large dates, figs and grapes.   The throne was situated below a kiosk of gilded wood containing rows of sun-crowned cobras, carved hieroglyphs, with a footstool of Ebony wood showing figures of the Nine Bows (the traditional enemies of Kemt). The floor allowed a running carpet of red mosaic to greet the people entering the Court, leading up to the throne. The adjacent Mortuary Temple contained some six hundred statues of Sakhmet, the goddess of epidemics, to contain the foreign Pestilence. Of course, statues by themselves are not a cure – only the goddess, if rightfully petitioned, can do so.

          The Shepherd Leader returned after one hour. “Mighty Pharaoh,” he started. “We are the Children of Israel and seek your benevolence and accept our apologies for this pestilence. Our God does not always know whom to trust. We will gratefully accept your son as our student, so that he may learn of Yuya’s family and of our God.”

          “Your God is welcome if he can end this pestilence,” Pharaoh replied.

          “Yuya’s Prophecy said it would last seven years. Has it been seven years?” asked one Shepherd.

          “No. This is the first,” Pharaoh said.

          “I see. Well wishes, then…” the Shepherd turned to leave. Amonhotep the Prince followed after them with earnest to learn more about their God.

          “So they’re leaving? Because I have locusts in my sandals,” Ptahmose replied. Horemhab grinned slightly.

          A month passed by almost like the rain during Flood Season. Prince Amonhotep eagerly studied the knowledge of these Shepherds, though they lacked books.

          “So, your God has no form? How do you recognize him?” the Prince asked one of the Shepherds.

          “Our God is God. He is alone and invisible – like the same being said of your Amon-Ra. No one has seen his face. We hear his voice, the voice of wisdom. We feel his presence in the winds, and his love in the sunshine. We see his handiwork on Earth – the insects, the birds, the mice, the cats and the watery creatures below. Have you wondered why insects, mice, cats and birds all have the same kind of reproductive organ as people?” asked the Shepherd Leader.

          “No, I hadn’t noticed,” Amonhotep replied. “What about the Sun, the Aton?”

          “Your father is the Aton’s bodily form, as Aton-Ra. When you become Pharaoh you will be Aton incarnate. Then you may decide whom you wish to alliance with, your God or God himself,” the Shepherd Leader said.

          “Then your God is a spirit? Like our Ancestors in Duat?” the Prince interjected.

          “All Gods are of the Spirit, but God alone is greater than all the lesser Gods combined,” he said. “In time you will see that he alone controls the elements, and not simply calling a name, for his name is sacred and cannot be known.”

          “What is his name?” the Prince asked.

          “We… We carved the name of Yuya in our language once. Then we adopted Egyptian language to spell it in the way you do… the result was a composite word ‘Y-H-W-H” or Yuya the Eternal, using Y and W for his name and the two H’s for Eternity,” the Shepherd said.

          “So it’s not Yahweh?” the Prince asked.

          “That would be Phonetic, or based on sounds. Move the W around and you will see the expression, Yu-Wa HeH, or Yuya the Eternal,” he replied.

          “You mean Yuya, Living Forever?” Amonhotep asked.

          “Yes, that is true. We wrote it on his Mortuary Temple inscription. His name among our people was Jo-Seb or Yu-Seph,” he said.

          “Why did you use Yuya as your God’s name?” the Prince inquired.

          “God has no name because to utter a name will cause something. When Egyptians worship the name Tefnut, does it rain? When Amun is called does the wind blow? When Ra is spoken does the Sun shine? And when Apophis is mentioned is there Darkness? And with Seth, is there war and Chaos? Names are powerful. As God is almighty and all-powerful, to say his name would cause the most powerful disaster ever. So we just call him ‘God’ in replacement. He acknowledges us from this trade word,” the Shepherd Leader said. “You can do the same with Aton-Ra, if you like.”

          “I will. I will ask Nebmaatra about this,” Amonhotep remarked. “Does the God have a family?”

          “We are all his family, young Prince. The Universe is his Body, and we are his blood. We live according to his Will…” the Shepherd trailed.

          “I mean, the Children of Israel – who are they?” Amonhotep inquired.

          “The word El means God, and only those of our people have El in our names. Ra is your God. We hope to unite Egypt with our people, for our people were Chosen by God for greatness not yet realized. We are Shepherds from Canaan waiting for our Liberator to guide us to the Promised Land. We will know him by three qualities: he will be of our lineage, he will be a King and a God, and be anointed with sacred oils. Our people were chosen by God to become his Kingdom,” he said to the Prince.

          “How do you talk to your God?” the Prince asked.

          “We… We meditate and inhale a fiery brew made of this hemp plant’s leaves and flowers once burnt. Egyptians use it for bindings in ships or in Carpentry,” the Shepherd replied slyly. “God then shows us all we need to know.”

CHAPTER 3:

House of Nebmaatra and Neferkheperura,

The Co-Regency Begins

Nebmaatra was aging in his years and wanted to share his government with his only surviving heir, Amonhotep Neferkheperura. Also because he feared his son would not be able to rule on his own, due to certain recent behavioral conditions.

The Pharaoh Nebmaatra commissioned a temple courtyard to contain the co-regency names and titles of both sovereigns. Nebmaatra also created a series of Scarabs to advertise this, as souvenirs of Egypt for the foreign Heads of State that regularly visited, trading Egyptian gold for chariot horses, copper for tools, and precious stones from the East. His traders to Nubia returned with a supply of Incense trees, to be planted in the courtyard of Nebmaatra’s Mortuary Temple. Some were also planted in Hatshepsut’s Temple for effect. Nubia supplied Egypt with mined gold, Ebony wood, Incense, livestock, Ivory and furs. Nubians mostly wanted education, fine wines, grain, and Egyptian watermelons in exchange. For those wanting an education, a contingent of Nubian exchange-students or “Children of the Kap” were introduced to the Temples. An education in Egypt was the best in the known world outside of Greece. Nubian artwork was of the highest esteem produced in the region. Nebmaatra received the trade secret of glass-blowing from Cyprus and Crete, via ship traders.

In Thebes, the highway was a system of waterways or canals connected to the Nile River. Small Papyrus rafts or skiffs floated in the canals, connecting to the Palace, Temples, Administration buildings, and stopped at a hub for the apartment complexes near Hatshepsut’s Valley Temple. The apartments had blue faience tiles on the exterior. Interiors allowed a set of painted columns to support the ceiling; multiple levels were possible. Though some residents preferred to sleep on top under the stars, air catchers on the rooftops acted as air conditioning during the breezy afternoon Northern Winds. Some merchants sold their wares on the canals, holding up traffic. Most trade was done in the markets every week. Pharaoh would occasionally walk the avenues of Sphinxes and inspected the markets for trinkets, an occasional papyrus book, or cheap amulets.

Pharaoh visited a pool within his Palace gardens one day. His son was studying the effects of Sunlight evaporating water. “Amonhotep! How fares you today?”

“Great Falcon! Why does the water move like clouds on the surface?” Neferkheperura asked his father.

“Aton must be thirsty. Here, offer him this goblet of Ale. Go and place it on the ground in the sunlight,” Nebmaatra ordered.

Sure enough the Ale started to vaporize.

“It’s… Magic!” the Prince remarked excitedly. “How does this work?”

“Aton is like fire, in the sky. When you are wet and cold you sit before the fire and become dry. Apply this principal to Aton. Or you can say Aton is thirsty, and drinks his fill,” Pharaoh joked. Neferkheperura was serious.

“Ah… Maybe I should consult Yuya?” the Prince said as he withdrew a patch of Hemp and waved it before a lit torch until smoke emanated from it, from which he inhaled deeply. “Ahh, better than Lotus oil…”

“Amonhotep?” asked Nebmaatra.

“All right, do you see the Boat of Aton in the sky? It’s right above the top of our palace! Right there!” he said pointing up.

“Amonhotep, have you been drinking?” Nebmaatra inquired again.

“No, I am well. This boat binding reed is fabulous, I think I’ll need my own garden of it,” Neferkheperura said.

“Give me that! What is this burnt fiber, and why does it smell like Rhino Fart?” Pharaoh asked about the pungent scent.

“Oh… The Shepherds, the Children of Israel, they gave me some. It’s how they communicate with their God,” Neferkheperura explained.

“It’s hemp. We use it for boat construction. I never burnt it before, but then I never set fire to my own chariot house either. Son, we have our own Gods to attend to…” Pharaoh replied.

“We have too many Gods, father. We should only have one, it’s easier to remember,” the Prince said.

“When you are Pharaoh do so as you choose, for I will leave Egypt for the Fields of Peace one day… But remember the Wise Ones and the teachings of Amonhotep the son of Hapu, or even Ptah-hotep. A man does not live on bread and wine alone. Nor does a country,” Pharaoh said.

“Ah… Bread, Wine and Hemp!” the Prince said. “When will I be married? As co-regent, doesn’t that entitle me to a Queen?”

“Interesting. I will ask Vizier Aye. Perhaps his daughter is available?” Pharaoh inquired.

“His daughter? He has a daughter?” asked the Prince while intoxicated.

“She’s a good girl, decent, likes dancing, very influential in cosmetics and clothing selection. She also studies politics, and was useful in a few dispatches to the Mitanni two Seasons ago,” Pharaoh said.

“So she’s smart. Is she ugly as well?” the Prince asked.

“No, she’s pretty. After we fix her attire you will know,” Pharaoh said.

Three weeks later, Amonhotep Neferkheperura was married to Aye’s daughter, Nefertiti, on the royal barge that floats in the Sacred Lake of Queen Tiye in Nebmaatra’s pleasure Palace grounds. Nefertiti was initially covered in yellow bands of cloth, slowly unwound until her face and semi-nude body was made visible. Then a flat crown with a golden uraeus cobra diadem was placed on her shaven head. Her beige skin was identical to the portrait bust made by her sculptor Thutmose. Her name meant “the beautiful woman has arrived,” though Neferkheperura was too drugged to notice much. His addictions contributed to his actions. She appeared to be so beautiful that Neferkheperura dropped to the ground to kiss her ankles, legs, and then neck before introducing himself to her.

“Hmm… An Interesting scent. Is it Nubian cologne?” Nefertiti asked her husband.

“May I?” asked the Prince as he escorted her to the dancing stage. He instructed the musicians to play something exciting. The Hittite Sonnet seemed appropriate. Drums, clappers, and a harp set the tone. This was followed by rattles, sistra, and a lute. The couple danced for an hour.

Over the following months, Nefertiti and her husband Neferkheperura Amonhotep celebrated in the Palace of his father. The Amon-Ra Priesthood was a growing concern to the royal house of Pharaoh, because the Temple Economy was becoming stronger than the King’s landholdings. This was a form of Feudalism – Land was Power. The Military was reduced to guard duty over the past seven years of peace and prosperity. Temples had guards now, gobbling up the military positions held by General Horemhab’s Army. Rumors circulated that the Pharaoh was dying from the foreign Pestilence. He hasn’t been seen in public for six months, and his wife, the Great Royal Wife Tiye, only recently visited her son with Nefertiti at a State Dinner in the Theban Palace.

To make matters worse, Amonhotep Neferkheperura took over some gold offerings from other Temples and appropriated the funds to build a new city dedicated to Aton-Ra away from Thebes. This new city was similar to his father’s pleasure Palace, but was built on virgin land. He conscripted workers from the other Temples to construct Akhet-Aton, or the “Horizon of Aton.” This was hard, back-breaking work and consumed as many laborers not known since the days of Pyramid building.

The new Palace and tomb sites covered an area far from the influence of the Amon-Ra priests. The land was not owned by the Temples, for it was purchased from local farmers. It was flat mostly, and canals had connected to the Nile River for transportation of building materials.

The new city was unknown to Nebmaatra. Pharaoh was almost bedridden by the Pestilence. As Fluoride was unknown in Egypt, teeth were subject to cavities and gum disease. Pharaoh had both ailments. Because of his health conditions, he did not exercise much. The Statues of Sakhmet did not heal him, nor did the Mitanni gift of Ishtar. As he was nearing his ultimate end, he saw the Court of his son, Neferkheperura with all the young harem women (mostly from his own harem’s daughters). He wished to be young again. This yearning was his last act as Pharaoh before he succumbed to a coma, never awakening to see the City of the Sun.

“In peace, in peace… The Great god has passed into the ether like Horus into the sky,” chanted a priest performing Nebmaatra’s Last Rites.

Nefertiti was crying. Her daughters cried, too.

The new Pharaoh Amonhotep Neferkheperura ruled independently now for about five years, until the coregency with his wife, Queen Nefertiti and his other bodily son, Smenkhkara. In that time, there were changes.

Amonhotep decided he didn’t like the Amon-Ra Priesthood telling him what he can or cannot do with the State coffers. So he separated the State from the Priesthood, first by changing his name to Akhenaton, and second by closing the Amon-Ra Temple in Karnak. He drew the Army closer to secure his position. Orders came from his Palace, rather than from the Viziers or the Temples. He wasn’t done yet.

The people wondered why the great Karnak Temple of AmonRa was abandoned; its hinged gates sealed and locked in clay impressed by the Royal Seal. Students were turned away from the temples. Offerings were diverted to the one Temple of Aton in Akhetaton. Akhenaton created new powers of the King via legislation on stone tablets. No Temples were allowed to print “gods” only “God.” Statues and all images of the divine were smashed and buried. Priests who did not share Akhenaton’s totalitarian beliefs were fired. Akhenaton ordered the Military to go about and desecrate the other temples, hacking out the plural of Deities until they read only one Deity. They attacked the noses of all statues of past Pharaohs, to prevent breathing or animation. This included the Great Sphinx at Giza, which Akhenaton’s grandfather helped to excavate from the encroaching sands. If people did not recognize Akhenaton as God’s form on Earth, they were arrested and mutilated. Akhenaton confiscated the farms, produce, gold and gems from all other Temples in Egypt and sent them to his Temple, wherein he was its only Priest.

Akhenaton looked about himself. Every child of his was female, except for the one son by a minor wife named Kiya, who bore him Smenkhkara. His eldest daughter was Meritaton. The second daughter Maketaton died from the Pestilence or from a loose crocodile in the Nile while washing clothing. Akhenaton resulted to incest, though for mysterious reasons he had both female and male reproductive organs, a gift from his God. So he modeled Aton has having these qualities as justification. Akhenaton was both male and female, so on some artwork he was depicted realistically as female, while on others as male. No sons were ever shown on these portraits.

Nefertiti stopped giving birth because she only bore daughters. Pharaoh needed a son as heir. He mated some harem ladies, but nothing.

Who would carry on the new religion? Akhenaton mated Meritaton, his first born daughter. She gave birth to a girl. Akhenaton mated Ankhesenpaaton; another girl was born. Nefertiti found this out and they had an argument that lasted several days. Nefertiti threatened to divorce Akhenaton.

In his own little world of sex, deceit and drug addiction, Akhenaton became worse as a person. He lavished affections onto Smenkhkara in one painted scene – perhaps this was an artist’s opinion or fact, we will never know. Smenkhkare was now in his twenties, Akhenaton was in his forties. Akhenaton mated his mother Tiye, and had another daughter named Baketaton. Daughters! Akhenaton then, desperate, forced his son Smenkhkara and his own daughter, Meritaton, to reproduce. After a year of this, she gave him the prize he was waiting for – an heir, a boy! A Prince!

Akhenaton was a proud father now. He wrote on his Temple and Palace walls that “his” bodily son, Tut-ankhu-Aton, was his heir and Prince of Egypt, to carry on his religious reforms.

Meanwhile the Citizens rebelled. The cities were dark – oil lamps could not be lit due to oil shortages. The farms sent ½ of all proceeds to the Pharaoh. Union Strikes occurred daily. The Empire which relied heavily on gifts of Gold from Egypt collapsed with the Hittites invading the region from the North. Riots occurred in all Temple districts due to unrest and unemployment was at 70%. Tombs were robbed and violated. All this happened while Tutankhuaton was growing up.

Nefertiti and Smenkhkara conspired against Akhenaton.

“You will not be allowed to trash Egypt like it’s your personal playground, Akhenaton!” Smenkhkara shouted in anger. “Tiye would be ashamed of you, bless her Akh.”

“My God will destroy you, heathen! May a thousand cockroaches infest your beds!” Akhenaton threatened.

“Your God is a god of fantasy and that reed you smoke all day is the end of you,” Nefertiti said. “What would poor little Tutankhuaton think of this? He’s your son, have some respect!”

“The Canaanites showed me real power, not from some lifeless idol of stone!” Akhenaton yelled from across the room.

“Then why don’t you go live with them, and their smoked filth?” Smenkhkara suggested. “Leave Egypt to us, Akhenaton.”

“All right, I will! I, Akhenaton, Renounce My Throne! I shall live with the Canaanites and be their High King! Just as soon as I bring my Hemp with me, some horses, and my hunting bed…” Akhenaton said.

“Fine. Leave! Take your filth and go!” Nefertiti shouted back.

“Egypt will be safe with us, Akhenaton,” Smenkhkare replied.

CHAPTER 4:

In Exile, Somewhere, North of Egypt

Akhenaton arrived in a tribal region in the Sinai area, East of the Delta of Lower Kemt. His baggage consisted of a cedar chest for clothing, a horse, a robe, and a snake that he found in the desert. The snake was the type of Egyptian Cobra that becomes stiff as a defensive mechanism when pressed on his neck. So the snake became his walking stick. The chest contained some gold bars stamped with the Seal of Prince Akhenaton, some scrolls of Papyrus, Scribe equipment, a canteen of water, and some rare Green Stones (pilfered from an Egyptian tomb on the way over). All royal attire was absent. This includes jewelry and cosmetics.

His horse traveled across the Sinai Desert for 3 days until finding a Shepherd’s Fiefdom with a water well. Inside a tent was the Shepherd of Midian. Akhenaton drew some water and ate some fruit before falling asleep in the simple forest of Date Palm Trees.

He awoke at night to screams of women.

“Go away from our well, thief!” cried one woman dressed in Canaanite attire.

“This water is free, woman! All Water is Free!” said the rogue.

“This water belongs to the well of my father, the Sheik!” she said.

“I don’t see your name on it, villager!” another rogue replied.

“Will it be needing gold?” asked a stranger.

“What gold?” the rogue asked, startled.

“Gold?” asked the other two rogues in unison.

Akhenaton hurled two gold ingots to the thieves, knocking them on the head. One picked up an ingot and smiled, then glanced upwards to witness Akhenaton’s walking stick hit him across the head, knocking him unconscious.

The women gathered around the stranger.

“Where did this gold come from?” asked one girl.

“Akhenaton! That’s the name of the Heretic King of Egypt!” shouted a woman. “If I see him, I will tear his filthy eyes out!”

Akhenaton thought for a moment.

“Who are you, stranger?” asked a woman with clear blue eyes and rugged brown hair.

“My name? I am Akh--- I mean, (coughs) I am Ptah-Moses of North Egypt. But you can call me Moses for short,” Akhenaton lied.

“Moses! What do you do, Sir Moses?” the woman inquired.

“I’m… I’m a Carpenter and I was a Farmer, until the drought killed my crops and the trees all died from Pestilence. But… I am free now. I am a Free Man,” Moses (Akhenaton) replied.

“A Man!” said a village girl. “We need a Man!”

“Well, Sir Moses, I am called Zipporah, the eldest daughter of Jethro, a Priest of Midian. Welcome to his Sheikdom, the Land of Midian,” she smiled.

Moses lived in Midian for the duration of three or four Pharaohs following his voluntary exile out of Egypt. This lasted about 43 years.

Once Akhenaton was gone, the political structure in Egypt underwent minor cosmetic changes. For one, heirs to the Pharaoh could be either male or female. Smenkhkara and Nefertiti ruled together for a few years, until Nefertiti could find a solution to the problem. Smenkhkare ruled with his sister-mate Meritaton once Nefertiti resigned from politics, and so cared for the heir Tutankhuaton in Akhetaton.

The people demanded Smenkhkara reopen the Temples. In doing so, he was assassinated by a group of discontent Atonists armed with clubs and maces. Meritaton buried him in the Valley of Kings, and then ruled alone for four months. When she tried to appease the people by publicly appearing in the Window of Appearance, she was murdered. Her face was slashed, and she was stabbed multiple times. Nefertiti was alone.

To calm the people, Nefertiti showed the heir of the throne to the crowd in the Window of Appearance – the young boy Tutankhuaton, then only seven years old. She said she would be his co-regent until he matured, and that Egypt would have a new government. This seemed to work, for now.

Tutankhuaton was renamed Tut-ankh-Aton. He was crowned before his tenth birthday, while still nine years old. He was given his sister as consort, Ankhesenpaaton, according to the laws and customs of Akhetaton. Tut was tutored by the Grand Vizier Aye. General Horemhab served as his guidance counselor when Tut was angry. Horemhab’s Army was in Akhetaton to protect the royal family from the angry mobs outside the walls.

Tut remained in the city for two to three years. During that time, he worshiped Aton by making liquid offerings in the open-ceiling Temple so Aton could drink its offerings daily. The city was quiet for the most part. Soldiers guarded every doorway, archers marched in the halls, and chariots parked near the Pylon Gates, with Priests of Maat administering Justice.

The artwork of Akhenaton demonstrated realism – ugly people were shown in their faults: sagging bellies, robust arms, and feminine legs. Tut did not want to be seen for his faults, so he banned the practice on his twelfth birthday. It was then that he was told what had been happening to Egypt.

“Grand Vizier Aye? Why are the temples closed to the people?” Tut asked Aye.

“Your father closed them, much to the distrust of the Citizenry,” Aye replied. “I helped him do it.”

“And why do they all hate us? Have you seen the depictions of the royals in the tombs of the Valley? Nakht, my friend from the Temple, showed me one…” Tut said.

“Give them a reason to love us, or they will always despise us,” said Nakhtmin, the King’s Minister said from behind.

“What the Minister meant by that was--,” Aye started.

“I know what he meant, Aye,” Tut reflected. Tut took a few deep breathes and exhaled loudly. “All right. I am Pharaoh now.”

“Indeed. Please entertain our trust, Great One,” Nakhtmin said.

“Aye, I want you to reopen the Temples. Not just one – ALL of them! Nakhtmin, establish a code of legislation on my desk by tomorrow so I can start writing new laws. I will inspect the Temples of Karnak today. Servants! I need a carrying chair so I can travel to the Temple of AmonRa, now!” Tut ordered.

Guards briskly followed Tut’s orders. A Carrying-chair, or a chair held up by two long wooden poles, was carried by the guards like a primitive automobile minus the engine. Tut had difficulty walking from a birth defect.

He arrived by midday. The Temple of AmonRa was desolate, weeds had overgrown between the floor blocks, and animals used stones to urinate on. The libraries were empty, probably looted. All statues in it were defaced or broken. Hieroglyphs seemed smashed in places, with inked over words where the plurality of Deity occurred. Temple granaries appeared empty, except for rats.

Out of disgust, Tut kicked a pillar. Then he ordered the carriers to bring him to the Palace of Nebmaatra in Thebes, the former Capital.

Nefertiti greeted the young Pharaoh. Ankhesenpaaton accompanied her with the harem. Tut ordered that the House of Nebmaatra become his Palace, abandoning the City of Aton so the people won’t be upset. This statement was now Law. He returned to the other Palace to pack and to write new legislation the following morning.

Tutankhaton had a temper problem. He became angry easily. Maybe this started with his parents always arguing, or the affairs of State, or how foreign nations thought he was weak or incompetent. Once he engaged in battle against the Libyan raiders on the Border States. This was one month after he was crowned King of the Two Lands. He was riding on a chariot, and was knocked down to the ground. Then he wrestled a Libyan soldier, whom he made a slit up his stomach, and then the neck with a dagger.

On returning home, Vizier Aye bandaged Tut and applied medicine that caused his wounds to burn. Tut needed to find new ways to fight.

“My stupid foot keeps getting in the way! Aye, find me a new weapon. I don’t care if it’s bronze, copper, iron, or gold,” Tut complained.

“Here, I prepared these sandals for you, Pharaoh,” Aye gave Tut a specially made sandal for his left foot that was elevated inside. To make him want to wear it, he placed images of his enemies on the soles.

“What are these figures of? Nubians, Syrians, and Libyans?” Tut asked Aye.

“Motivation, young Pharaoh. You need to fight a different way. Not with sticks and stones, but with willpower and spells,” Aye said.

“Magic? Seriously?” Tut replied.

“Yes. You need to learn to do new things,” Aye said.

Over the next few years, Tut utilized his new skills of Magical tools given by Vizier Aye (whom was once a Kheri-Heb Priest, an expert on Magic). He wrote letters to foreign countries and their leaders, laced with Magical words and intentions. Many enemies died under mysterious circumstances. To make this activity cease, Tut told them to send him Tribute – precious stones, gold, ivory, ebony, wheat, incense trees, copper and horses. This Magical Blackmail worked without ever stepping one foot on foreign soil.

Tools included Tut as a Sphinx trampling on enemies (drawn on a battle shield), bows and arrows, walking sticks with Nubians or Syrians on the handle, footstools with enemies on it, sandals with enemies shown on the soles so they are cursed when he wears the footwear, and devices with magical Green Stones.

The Atonists were imprisoned once Akhenaton was in exile. They watched Tut as his new slaves, being forced to rebuild the Temples they damaged under Akhenaton. They noticed that Tut was always applied with Anointing Oils, every day. So they made a rumor that an Anointed One would one day save them from slavery and return them home.