The Curse of Senmut

By Loretta Jackson and Vickie Britton

Archaeologist Ardis Cole travels to Egypt to help excavate a minor tomb of ancient origin recently discovered by her mentor, Jane Darvin.

When Jane is murdered, Ardis must assume responsibility for the project. With the help of mysterious Blake Lydon, she must unravel the tomb’s mystery--an ancient secret concerning two miniature obelisks of gold hidden by Queen Hatshepsut’s lover, Senmut, over 2,000 years ago.

As Ardis uncovers the ancient mystery she finds herself personally involved in a modern action tale of hatred, murder and revenge.

Click to enlarge

About the Authors

Loretta Jackson and Vickie Britton are a sister co-authoring team who has published over thirty novels. The sisters have traveled to Russia, Egypt, China, and other exotic places in search of authentic settings for their tales of mystery and suspense. Among their titles are Path of the Jaguar and Nightmare in Morocco, and Arctic Legacy.

Excerpt

Once more convincing herself that no one was spying on her, Ardis walked around the wall and gazed straight up, almost l00 feet, to the tip of Queen Hatshepsut's obelisk. "Granite," Jane had stated with wonderment. "Three hundred tons of it. Can you imagine these heavy stones floating on rafts from Aswan?"

In the stillness surrounding her, Ardis could visualize slaves dragging the obelisk to the temple on ropes, pulling the shaft upright while others dug away the sand from the base. What a superhuman feat Queen Hatshepsut's architect, Senmut, had accomplished. What a demonstration of limitless power.

Ardis tried to picture what the temple had looked like when Queen Hatshepsut had first dreamed of golden obelisks, obelisks entirely sheathed with gold, an extravagance beyond any pharaoh's wildest dreams. Queen Hatshepsut had written that she couldn't sleep, so dear to her heart was the Temple of Karnak.

Probably because of the threat of Thutmose III, the queen had been forced to compromise her dream of golden obelisks by gilding only the tips with an electrum mixture of silver and gold, for which she inscribed at the base of one of the obelisks, an apology to "my father Amon." She had written, "It was my wish to have them cast in electrum." But had Queen Hatshepsut ever lost sight of obelisks actually covered with gold, her greatest dream?

Ardis stepped closer. The hieroglyphic writings remained as clear and sharply cut as they had ever been. The inscriptions were etched in 32 horizontal lines, eight to a side. She could make out the fact that they paid tribute to four kings, Thutmose I, Thutmose II, Thutmose III, and "King" Hatshepsut. She knew that they were telling of the earthly and divine events surrounding the erection of the obelisks, and the loyalty of the queen to her beloved god, Amon Re.

"How like her it is!" These words, so deeply inscribed in rock, united the queen and the obelisk. In another place Ardis interpreted the reference to Queen Hatshepsut as "more beautiful than anything."

But nowhere did she see any mention of Senmut, no signature of the queen's lover and architect.