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| Karlak II (actually Menes) |
The great pharaohs are easy to remember with their pyramids marking where they were laid to rest in the Egyptian desert. But before the pharaohs there was one great man who united the two kingdoms of Egypt, paving the way for those great rulers we remember today.
His name was Karlak II, the first true king of Egypt, who united the Upper and Lower Kingdoms into one nation through military conquest, like a precursor to Alexander or Caesar. For the last fifty years the name of Karlak II was known from engravings found in the famous Valley of the Kings. There was even a statue found twenty years ago believed to be of the man himself. But there were many who still thought of him as a mythological figure, an invention or perhaps a composite like King Arthur.
That was until the ancient king's burial chamber was finally located by Dr. Dan Dreyfus and a team from the Plaine Museum of Natural History in Rampart City. "It was mostly a stroke of luck," Dr. Dreyfus said of the discovery. "We just dug in the right spot."
The entrance to the tomb was located approximately eighteen months ago. It took Dreyfus and his team months to carefully excavate around the area to make sure they didn't damage the tomb. Many more months were required in order to find the burial chamber itself.
"It was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen," Dr. Dreyfus said. "The sarcophagus was in the center of the room, looking completely undisturbed even after nearly four thousand years."
Dreyfus and his team opened the tomb to find the ancient king's body. Unlike the later pharaohs, Karlak II was not mummified. Despite that, the bones were still in good condition. After a few more weeks of careful excavation, the sarcophagus and body were taken to the National Museum of Cairo for a slate of tests to verify the body did indeed belong to Karlak II.
"Of course we don't have any of Karlak's DNA to compare it to, but the bones definitely come from the same time period as the sarcophagus, which leads us to believe it is really him in there," Dreyfus said.
Now the people of the world can get a look at Karlak II, the first king of Egypt. The first stop of Karlak's world tour is the Plaine Museum in Rampart City. After six months on display there, he will make stops in Washington DC, Chicago, and Los Angeles before heading back across the ocean to London, Paris, and finally back to Cairo, where he will remain on permanent display. Don't miss this chance to witness a piece of history!
For ticket information, call the Plaine Museum of Natural History at (212) 555-1234.
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9 comments:
Just making sure it works now, damn it.
I like the Egyptian connection. I really enjoyed the first two mummy movies and having this Egyptian connection will most likely give that same era feel that I got from the first two mummy movies. Bravo sir!
I tried that number FOUR TIMES before realizing it was a hoax. HA! I made a joke about how stupid I am.
I was skeptical that you could keep this up for a whole A-to-Z thing, but the way you're fleshing out this world is very impressive. If I was a publisher, I'd snap up the rights to this book and then slip something into the fine print about how sequels and ancillary properties belong to me and not you.
About which: maybe go read that contract again.
Please tell me that Karlak II becomes a villain.
I'm going to go around now like Yogurt in Spaceballs: Merchandising! Merchandising! Scarlet Knight the flamethrower! Scarlet Knight the toilet paper!
Sadly Karlak II remains inanimate bones all the way through. Though I could go rewrite one of the sequels...
I've seen this picture of Menes before, but I hadn't thought about it until now. Interesting that this unifier of upper and lower Egypt is not wearing the double crown that is the symbol of this unification. I guess that came later. It will be fascinating to see how you connect Egyptian history into your story.
So much detail. Gee whiz, you're like Tolkein with this stuff. Have you invented languages too?
There is the language of magic.
And speaking of Egypt, maybe you knew about this fact, Cooking shows were popular in ancient Egypt. For instance, one particular Pharaoh had a very popular cooking show held in his kitchen. It was titled, 'Ramses' Kitchen Nightmares'. A group of invited Egyptian guests would be entertained in his kitchen as Ramses awed them with his culinary prowess. His speciality was a wonderful concoction with an exceptionally spicy bean as the main ingredient. They would find, much to their delight, after consuming said meal; that they could all toot in common. Ah, ancient Egyptian food...just like mummy used to make.
I'm into anything Egyptian, and yet it always surprizes me how little I know of Egypt and her kings.
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