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he had recalculated the accepted dates of the Egyptian dynasties and kingly reigns, pinpointing with greater accuracy than any acknowledged scholar the gaps in modern Egyptological understanding. Admired by his peers, remarked upon by his elders, he went early up to Balliol, Oxford, where he was widely viewed as Egyptology’s greatest hope, along with his dear friend, Hugo St. John Marlowe. At Oxford, the two students worked under the guidance of the late Professor Clement Wexler, participating in his efforts to prove or disprove definitively the existence of the then-apocryphal XIIIth-Dynasty king and erotic poet Atum-hadu. His master’s work complete, Trilipush’s doctoral studies were cut short by the Great War, during which both he and Marlowe were stationed in Egypt as officers in counterintelligence. There, under enemy fire, the two explorers managed to unearth Fragment C of Atum-hadu’s Admonitions from a cliff-side path near Deir el Bahari, taking a giant’s step towards proving that king’s existence and identity as the poet of the previously translated Fragments A and B. Shortly after this discovery, Trilipush was sent along to advise Australian forces invading Gallipoli, in which combat he was wounded and for some time missing and believed dead. Entirely alone, he trekked back to Egypt, arriving after the Armistice, only to learn that his great friend Marlowe had been killed while on expedition in an unsecured part of the Egyptian desert. After demobilisation, Trilipush secured Fragment C, bringing it to the United States of America, where he launched a brilliant academic career. He produced the definitive, if controversial, translation and analysis of all three Atum-haduan fragments, published under the title Desire and Deceit in Ancient Egypt (Collins Amorous Literature, 1920). The extraordinary sales of this short masterwork confirmed Trilipush’s unique position as both an impeccable scholar and a popular interpreter of Egyptian studies.

His full professorship and subsequent quick ascension to Chair of the Egyptology Department at Harvard University followed his discovery on his thirtieth birthday, 24 November, 1922, of the tomb of Atum-hadu himself, and the publication of the gripping but academically flawless work you now hold in your perspiring hands. The discovery of Atum-hadu’s tomb was quickly hailed as unprecedented, the most financially and scientifically rewarding discovery in the history of Egyptian excavation.

Professor Trilipush was knighted in 1923 and has been honoured by governments and universities throughout the civilised world.

He is married to the former Margaret Finneran of Boston, Massachusetts, USA, the fantastically wealthy department store heiress.

Wednesday, 11 October, 1922

Journal: Rise late. Luncheon in town. Refresh my warm memories of splendid Cairo. Explore markets. Purchase maps of Cairo, Luxor, Theban Valley. Purchase extra dominoes. Incredible fruit stands, the round fruit stacked in perfect multi-coloured rows like a giant’s abacus. Fresh yellow dates. Nearly black plums whose skins resemble maps of the night sky, vague clouds and twinkling stars. Discover a shop selling gramophone styluses which the bizarre bazaar-man claimed would fit my Victrola 50 suitcase model, but which, in fact, upon my return to the hotel, did nothing but ruin the first few seconds of “You’re a Dream (and If I Wake I’ll Cry).” Return to my writing; continue preparing documentation and plans, edit yesterday’s work.

A Letter to the Reader: The book you now hold is unlike any in the history of Egyptology, for in order to provide a context for the discovery our team has made, this volume offers both an historical introduction to the reign of King Atum-hadu as well as the actual journal I kept throughout the expedition, daily—almost hourly—from my arrival in Cairo until we had cleared, cleaned, and catalogued each breath-stealing treasure from Atum-hadu’s tomb.

Reader, as I sit today, at the humming conclusion of this adventure, with my dear friend and colleague, the explorer Howard Carter, both of us