The Amarna period was one of the most fascinating periods in human history. Pharaoh Akhenaten truly did move the court to the middle of Egypt and build a new capital on fresh soil. Scholars believe he chose the site because the nearby cliffs mimicked the hieroglyphic symbol for the horizon, which looks like a sun disk rising over two hills. His iconography is unlike anything else in the country’s long history. And perhaps most importantly, he elevated the worship of the sun disc, displacing Egypt’s traditional gods and goddesses. In fact, Akhenaten is sometimes referred to as history’s first monotheist (although he was actually a henotheist: he didn’t deny the existence of other gods, he simply claimed the Aten was superior). His advancement of the Aten, a god known but not terribly popular prior to the Amarna period, upended generations of tradition, sending reverberations through all aspects of life including art, architecture, the economy, the military, family life, government, and more.
Many of the characters in the book are based on real people. Akhenaten and his queen, Nefertiti, had six daughters, although I only included five in this story. Meretaten was the oldest, and is well attested, surviving in images scattered throughout museums from London to New York to Cairo. Meretaten’s fate is fuzzy, but her younger sister, the second princess, Meketaten, does seem to have died around this time. She appears to have been memorialized in a chamber of the Royal Tomb of Akhenaten. Two younger princesses may have died around this time as well, possibly from a plague. The third princess, Ankhesenpaaten, survived to marry Tutankhamun, known more widely today as King Tut and famous for his tomb, discovered by Howard Carter in 1922. Smenkare and Tutankhamun are most likely Akhenaten’s sons, although Nefertiti was not their mother. The noblewoman, Mutbenret, is similarly attested and sometimes depicted with two companions, Hemetniswernehe and Mutef-Pre (Hemet and Mutef). She’s also sometimes shown with Meretaten and Meketaten and may have been Queen Nefertiti’s sister. Jagger and Aria are loosely based on my own two, beautiful, biracial children. I’m proud to share my creative, loving little people with the world. I hope they bring my readers a dash of the joy they fill my days with.
I’ve also included a plethora of historically-attested artifacts, places, and beliefs; indeed, the magic used in this story is inspired by spells and practices that have survived in the archeological record. This series was, in part, inspired by an ancient blessing: ankh, wedja, seneb, which means (may you have) life, prosperity, and health. In JAGGER JONES AND THE MUMMY’S ANKH, I’ve tried to contrast how we think about life, ankh, with ancient Egyptian notions of life; thus, the emphasis on the afterworld, a very real, concrete concern for many ancient Egyptians, some of whom, it’s worth noting, spent more time and money on the tombs designed to house them for eternity than the homes they spent their lives in. Ancient Egyptians firmly believed that death is forever, while life is fleeting.
But while I used the knowledge I gained earning my Ph.D. in History of the Ancient Near East from the University of Chicago to craft a tale loaded with the spirit of ancient Egypt, I also empowered the storyteller in me to override the historian, which is a complicated way to admit I took liberties with the history currently known to us.
I hope you’ve enjoyed the history and inspiration behind the adventure as much as I do.