The Murder of King Tut - James William Patterson [37]
Tut watched in dismay as the Egyptian infantry refused to attack, preferring to hold their lines.
It was Horemheb who told him why.
“They’re waiting for you, Pharaoh.”
Tut swallowed hard. How long had he been taking chariot lessons? Six years? Seven? He believed he could ride as well as any man, but he couldn’t be sure. “Be with me, Mother,” he whispered. Then the young pharaoh stepped back into his chariot.
“Sound the call, General.”
Horemheb signaled to the herald. The battle horn blared.
Meanwhile, the Canaanites continued to sprint forward, shouting and waving their long swords, hoping to terrify the Egyptians, and especially the young pharaoh.
Tut slipped his bow back over his shoulders. He pulled his sword from its scabbard. The time had come to christen it with the enemy’s blood. He slapped his reins down hard on his team’s flanks and raced straight toward the Canaanites.
As one, the Egyptian army roared forward behind him. High above them, another volley of arrows arced, then fell into the Canaanites’ battle lines.
Horemheb and the other Egyptian charioteers galloped up beside Tut. Within seconds they were trampling the bodies of Canaanite warriors, who writhed in pain. Tut could hear the whoosh of swords meant for him.
Holding the reins in one hand, Tut swung out with his sword. He was stunned to see the blade sever a man’s head. Tut had killed him, his first victim.
The Canaanites retreated, dropping their shields and sometimes even their swords, running for their lives.
But Tut could see that the great wooden city gates were shut tight. They could not escape.
The women of Canaan had chosen to doom their husbands and sons rather than submit to the Egyptians. It was left to Tut’s men to finish the slaughter. Canaanite bodies soon littered the desert, most butchered beyond recognition. Many of the dead were twisted into impossible positions. Some seemed to have died with an arm or leg reared up toward the sky.
Tut had finally tasted battle and become a man—and a true king.
Chapter 48
Thebes
1912
THE BOOK THAT DOCUMENTED everything, every large and small success by Carter, was known as Five Years’ Exploration at Thebes: A Record of Work Done, 1907–1911. Despite the lack of a valley concession, the partnership between Carter and Carnarvon had certainly been prolific.
Carter had refined his excavation techniques, bringing greater precision and professionalism to the task. He used photography as a means of documenting discoveries and continued to sketch elaborate drawings. With local work crews sometimes numbering close to three hundred, he and Carnarvon discovered tombs of nobles and other high-ranking functionaries.
But as well received as Five Years’ Exploration proved to be, raising eyebrows in London and Cairo for the depth of the Carter/Carnarvon discoveries, the American Theodore Davis continued to overshadow them, and that galled Howard Carter.
Now a story about Davis making the rounds suggested that Davis had found not just a new tomb in the valley but the last tomb.
Theodore Davis believed he had found the elusive Tut.
Chapter 49
Thebes
1912
IT ALL BEGAN when Davis and Edward Ayrton discovered a hidden doorway made of mud bricks and stamped with the image of a jackal watching over nine captives. This seal for the necropolis guard signified that a mummy was inside.
Next to that was stamped another symbol, this one representing Tutankhamen.
They immediately kicked down the door and tore away the bricks with their bare hands, then entered a narrow hall.
A sloping corridor led to the burial chamber. Rocks littered the floor. A piece of wood decorated with gold leaf showed the image of Queen Tiye, known to be the mother of the “heretic king” Akhenaten.
At the end of a hallway was the main chamber. It was heavily damaged by water, but the seals of Tutankhamen could be seen everywhere on the walls.
A casket lay on the floor.
Once it had rested atop a wooden platform, but time had rotted that away, and the coffin