Pharaoh's Son (1999) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit see section history

show spoilers

Characters/People edit see section history

• Ramesses: Pharaoh of Egypt
• Khaemwaset: Vizier of Northern Egypt, High Priest of Ptah at Memphis, Hori's ja;f brother.
• Khay: Nickname for Khaemwaset
• Amunhorkhepechef: Eldest son of Ramesses; crown prince of Egypt and commander of Egyptian armies. Khaemwaset's half brother
• Hori: 'Amunhorkhepechef' - Crown Prince of Egypt, eldest son of Ramesses II.
• Rahotep: Younger son of Ramesses by a junior wife
• Meriamun: Son of Ramesses; Khaemwaset's full brother
• Sarenput: Second ranking priest of Ptah at Memphis
• Prince Rahotep: Younger son of Ramesses by a junior wife
• Perineb: Retired senior priest of Ptah
• Merikare: Royal Physician
• Achtoy: Commander of the Temple Guard at the temple of Ptah
• Khunanpu: Peasant near Giza
• Mutallish: Hittite slave belonging to Hori
• Wensu: Soldier in the temple guard
• Anpu: Hori's charioteer
• Akhnaton: Long-dead Pharaoh of Egypt; sometimes called 'the Heretic'
• Thutiynakht: Hori's second in command
• Ashayet: Khaemwaset's senior wife
• Idefa: Junior priest at the temple of Ptah, Memphis
• Neferrenpet: Steward of Ptah at Memphis
• Shepseskaf: Third ranking priest of Ptah at Memphis
• Tia: Elder sister of Ramesses
• Prince Thutmose: Deceased High Priest of Ptah; brother of Akhnaton.

Quotes edit see section history

• “snatches of terrified prayer as the face of the pylon seemed to ripple like a gauze hanging before a high wind. The roar of the wind was suddenly the roar of stone being torn asunder.The pylon seemed to tower up and up, building cubit upon cubit, ready to break and crash over them like a great wave of stone, almost translucent in the brassy midday sun. The roar built to a shriek as the massive gateway shuddered and broke into a crash and spray of splintering stone.Khay's dazzled eyes were riveted to the brightly painted carvings that disintegrated as he gazed. The vulture goddess, offering the feather of triumph to Seti, wheeled and screamed. Armies raised their hands with cries of dismay, besieged cities tumbled, weapons clashed and broke, chariots splintered. Khay seemed to see his grandfather throw up his arms to shield his face as the southeast pylon gateway of the great temple of Ptah at Memphis subsided against the ground in a wave of rubble.”

• “The ship was approaching quickly now, the oars raising upright and holding. Ropes snaked out to the dock, the ship glided in and was made fast. The gangplank boomed to the quay as the armed guards positioned themselves along the sides of the gangplank. The attendants looped back the gauze hangings.The bystanders jostled and stared; the man merited a long look, for he was strong and handsome with a clean-cut, arrogant face. He was royally garbed and richly jeweled, but pendant from the golden diadem that bore the fiery eyed cobra of royalty was a stylized jeweled sidelock that shifted and swayed in the wind. Pharaoh had sent his Crown Prince in his place.A mingled sigh and wail of disappointment went up from the crowd.The smile that had begun to curve along the Crown Prince's well cut mouth vanished as though it had been cut off. His brows rose as his eyes blazed sudden understanding. He swept a single glittering glance over the crowd and then fixed his gaze on his brother.”

• “Khay sat back, arranged his arms along the arms of his throne, and said with the touch of a detached smile, "Has it occurred to the Crown Prince that he would be better loved if he learned to put a bridle on his tongue?"The smile vanished completely from Hori's lips. "Really?" he drawled. "But no doubt the Vizier feels that his wisdom and ingenuity are equal to instructing me. But you may not find it easy. Your Highness must be aware that I am one who says what he thinks without beating around the bush.""Then it is unfortunate for those who are forced to deal with The Crown Prince of Egypt that he does not encourage his thoughts to run along more pleasant lines," Khay said sweetly. "And even more unfortunate that Your Royal Highness seems to take pride in such a handicap."Hori's eyes blazed. "You impertinent bastard!" he thundered. "You dare " And then he stopped as his words seemed to echo in the room.”

• “Meriamun stared. The men and chariots behind him were elite troops of the Royal Guard. And standing in the chariot closest to him was He leapt from the chariot and knelt before him. "Sire!" he gasped. "I I didn't expect ""Not expect?" Ramesses said with a lift of his eyebrows. "When we hear that the priests of Ptah are being slaughtered like cattle in the temple sanctuary, that our eldest son, having escaped assassination by the narrowest margin, has taken to flinging his wealth about as though the jewels and gold were grains of chaff before the wind? It would appear that thought is not a plentiful commodity in Memphis! What did you expect? And when we arrive in Memphis expecting answers, the confusion only grows worse," Ramesses said grimly. "We encountered difficulties as our ship docked. We were placed under arrest. A most interesting experience. Mutallish tells us that my eldest son has placed the army in a state of alert. Is that correct?"”

• “Hard sided masses crashed and rattled, dust billowed upward, clogging his mouth and throat. A blow between the shoulders sent him stumbling to his knees, his arms thrown up to protect his face. He was seized and hauled backward and pushed to the floor as the din and clangor seemed to rock the pyramid from foundation to capstone.He closed his eyes. When all was silent, he drew a long, shaking breath and tried to move. It was difficult; a large, flat object held him against the ground, and he felt a hand against his throat and a face hovering close to his.Idefa?He opened his eyes to lamplight, and looked up into the face of death itself, glaring out of withered sockets, shriveled lips parted over blackened teeth in a dreadful parody of a smile. The hand against his throat he looked down, choking knobbed, yellow bones held together by shreds of brittle wrappings A scream of horror tore from his throat as he was submerged in a black wave of oblivion.”

• “A NOTE ON THE REVISED EDITIONThe temptation that most authors face when they are considering publishing a book in a new format after the passage of time is to go in and fix any problems that were overlooked with the initial edition. In the case of Pharaoh's Son, the opportunity to repair the errors in typesetting, which the author should have caught when she read the galley proofs of the original edition, was too welcome to ignore. The underlining in the first edition has been corrected. And in the process of locating and correcting the typesetting problems, the author seized the opportunity to 'tighten' the story itself.Make no mistake: this is not the same book as the first edition. It tells the same story, but errors have been fixed, emotions and observations have been heightened and the story itself has been deepened.”

  The Author

• “The pylon seemed to tower up and up, building cubit upon cubit, ready to break and crash over them like a great wave of stone, almost translucent in the brassy midday sun. The roar built to a shriek as the massive gateway shuddered and broke into a crash and spray of splintering stone.Khay's dazzled eyes were riveted to the brightly painted carvings that disintegrated as he gazed. The vulture goddess, offering the feather of triumph to Seti, wheeled and screamed. Armies raised their hands with cries of dismay, besieged cities tumbled, weapons clashed and broke, chariots splintered. Khay seemed to see his grandfather throw up his arms to shield his face as the southeast pylon gateway of the great temple of Ptah at Memphis subsided against the ground in a wave of rubble.”

  Narrator

• “The attendants looped back the gauze hangings, revealing the man upon the throne to the crowd for the first time.The bystanders jostled and stared; the man merited a long look, for he was strong and handsome with a clean-cut, arrogant face. He was royally garbed and richly jeweled, but pendant from the golden diadem that bore the fiery eyed cobra of royalty was a stylized jeweled sidelock that shifted and swayed in the wind. Pharaoh had sent his Crown Prince in his place.A mingled sigh and wail of disappointment went up from the crowd.The smile that had begun to curve along the Crown Prince's well cut mouth vanished as though it had been cut off, and he seemed to go rigid for the time it took to draw a deep breath. His brows rose as his eyes blazed sudden understanding. He swept a single glittering glance over the crowd and then fixed his gaze on Khay.Meriamun had raised his head at the sound of the crowd. He stared at his eldest brother with horrified eyes. "Oh no!" he gasped”

Setting & Locations edit see section history

• Memphis: Capital city of northern Egypt
• Lower Egypt: The southern half of Egypt
• Karnak: The temple of Amun at Thebes
• Per-ramesse: The Capitol city of Ramesses II
• Nekheb: A provincial capital to the south of Egypt.
• Giza: Plain north of Egypt that has the pyramids of Cheops and Khefren.
• Thebes: Capital of Lower Egypt
• Gaza: Territory and Fortress north of Egypt; headquarters of the Crown Prince and the Egyptian armies.

First Sentence edit see section history

Themes & Symbolism edit see section history

• treasure: something valuable in various ways
• Hidden Objects: Describe this theme.
• Repentance
• renewal
• Redemption & Forgiveness
• courage

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Diana Wilder (Author) - Thought up the story and wrote the book.

First Edition edit see section history

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: Add the Library of Congress Classification.
• Dewey: 813

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Literature & Fiction › Genre Fiction › Historical
• Books › Mystery & Thrillers › Mystery
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Contemporary

Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

• Diana Wilder: Author's blog

More Books Like This edit see section history