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_________

Oh my gosh, it's here, I've done it, I can celebrate-- The plot of TCotC begins! We've got a random guard (a baboon, which was specifically requested by followers in the TCotC Discord server shameless plug, I know, but shh) and the first appearance of Pharaoh Asethotep herself!... Except... Right now, she's Princess Asethotep. We're about to see how she manages to claw her way into the seat of power. I don't know if I'll go this crazy with shading/lighting on future pages, but I really wanted to SLAM with this first page!

Our story starts around 1300 BCE in Memphis; I put "~1300" on the page and say "around" 1300 BCE because of two reasons:

1) The traditional dating system the ancient Egyptians used is chronologically precise (that is, we have almost a perfect record of the line of succession from one pharaoh to another and one dynasty to another throughout history), but when we try to match it with our own conventional calendar system, the dates tend to shift around ±10 years or so; for ancient sources, of course, this is incredibly precise, so much so that the Egyptian dating system is often cross-referenced when trying to date artifacts/records from other cultures around the Mediterranean. For historians and archaeologists, this is great! On the flipside, it's still not exact, so when you and I consider the subject, we still have to keep in mind that one event could have taken place anywhere from five to twenty years within a specific date range.

2) As I hinted in the introduction, the course of history is a little different than history in our world -- as a result, I won't be giving any exact dates in TCotC, only rough eras. Obviously, Asethotep is a fictional character, yet she (along with our main boy, Pamu) is slated to take the throne. I had to take several things into account: What dynasty was Asethotep's father from? When would Pamu take power? What would happen in the power vacuum left behind when Pamu loses his crown? I knew I wanted this story to take place during the New Kingdom, and -- with all my previous concerns in mind -- I picked a particularly rocky time in Egyptian history to have our story take place in.

This is around thirty-to-forty years (give or take a decade, of course) after the Amarna Period, when pharaoh Akhenaten turned the Egyptian religion (and government) on its head. Akhenaten, originally known as Amenhotep IV, believed that the solar disk -- the Aten -- was the one true god of Egypt, and tried to start a very radical and sudden cultural shift towards Atenism; he didn't necessarily force people to stop worshipping the other gods, but he was also the pharaoh, so... There was still "pressure" on the people to convert to Atenism. Of course, Atenism really only hung on for one or two rulers after Akhenaten's death, and it still gradually declined during that time. Considering the fact that Akhenaten was a pretty ruthless guy (he may have used child labor to construct his holy city of Amarna/Akhetaten, which the Amarna Period is named for), and he was so hated by the people and later rulers that he was outright referred to as "the criminal" or "the heretic," it's safe to say that even by the time Asethotep is around, the Aten cult would have fallen out of favor completely. This is why I drew the wall art the way I did -- I tried to sandwich Asethotep and Pamu in between the rule of Horemheb (the last pharaoh of the 18th dynasty, which Akhenaten was a part of) but before the rule of Ramesses I (founder of the 19th dynasty, the ever-famous Ramesside period); the pharaohood has been recently relocated to Memphis instead of Amarna or Thebes, and signs of the Amarna period are being covered up or painted over. You might be able to make out the form of the Aten sun disk on the wall, but it's been purposefully painted over to emphasize the Theban triad of gods (Amun, Mut, and Khonsu) instead!

Asethotep's father is pharaoh, too, of course, which begs the question -- what happened in between the rules of Horemheb and Ramesses I that led this family to take power for a short time? Asethotep's father will go unnamed for the very short time he is alive (you won't even get to see his face, actually, he'll just be mentioned), but he was likely one of the viziers or advisors to Horemheb. This is actually how Ramesses I is supposed to have come into power -- Horemheb gave the crown to a trusted vizier, as he supposedly had no surviving sons of his own to give it to. Horemheb is responsible for "restabilizing" Egypt after the end of the 18th dynasty, while Ramesses I actually had a very brief reign before his son, Seti I, took the throne.

From that name alone, I hope you see where this is going. Seti I's name means "of Set," indicating that he was consecrated to the god Set... Set is a huge player in our story, and he will soon get tangled up with Asethotep's quest for power. Asethotep's father will have a short time as ruler, Asethotep herself will have a moderately-long reign, and Pamu... Well, we'll see what happens to him. My point is, Egyptian history will continue as normal after Pamu loses his crown.

_________

Interested in receiving updates about TCotC and/or getting involved with the community? Consider joining our Discord Server!

Description
Previous || START READING HERE || Next

_________

Oh my gosh, it's here, I've done it, I can celebrate-- The plot of TCotC begins! We've got a random guard (a baboon, which was specifically requested by followers in the TCotC Discord server shameless plug, I know, but shh) and the first appearance of Pharaoh Asethotep herself!... Except... Right now, she's Princess Asethotep. We're about to see how she manages to claw her way into the seat of power. I don't know if I'll go this crazy with shading/lighting on future pages, but I really wanted to SLAM with this first page!

Our story starts around 1300 BCE in Memphis; I put "~1300" on the page and say "around" 1300 BCE because of two reasons:

1) The traditional dating system the ancient Egyptians used is chronologically precise (that is, we have almost a perfect record of the line of succession from one pharaoh to another and one dynasty to another throughout history), but when we try to match it with our own conventional calendar system, the dates tend to shift around ±10 years or so; for ancient sources, of course, this is incredibly precise, so much so that the Egyptian dating system is often cross-referenced when trying to date artifacts/records from other cultures around the Mediterranean. For historians and archaeologists, this is great! On the flipside, it's still not exact, so when you and I consider the subject, we still have to keep in mind that one event could have taken place anywhere from five to twenty years within a specific date range.

2) As I hinted in the introduction, the course of history is a little different than history in our world -- as a result, I won't be giving any exact dates in TCotC, only rough eras. Obviously, Asethotep is a fictional character, yet she (along with our main boy, Pamu) is slated to take the throne. I had to take several things into account: What dynasty was Asethotep's father from? When would Pamu take power? What would happen in the power vacuum left behind when Pamu loses his crown? I knew I wanted this story to take place during the New Kingdom, and -- with all my previous concerns in mind -- I picked a particularly rocky time in Egyptian history to have our story take place in.

This is around thirty-to-forty years (give or take a decade, of course) after the Amarna Period, when pharaoh Akhenaten turned the Egyptian religion (and government) on its head. Akhenaten, originally known as Amenhotep IV, believed that the solar disk -- the Aten -- was the one true god of Egypt, and tried to start a very radical and sudden cultural shift towards Atenism; he didn't necessarily force people to stop worshipping the other gods, but he was also the pharaoh, so... There was still "pressure" on the people to convert to Atenism. Of course, Atenism really only hung on for one or two rulers after Akhenaten's death, and it still gradually declined during that time. Considering the fact that Akhenaten was a pretty ruthless guy (he may have used child labor to construct his holy city of Amarna/Akhetaten, which the Amarna Period is named for), and he was so hated by the people and later rulers that he was outright referred to as "the criminal" or "the heretic," it's safe to say that even by the time Asethotep is around, the Aten cult would have fallen out of favor completely. This is why I drew the wall art the way I did -- I tried to sandwich Asethotep and Pamu in between the rule of Horemheb (the last pharaoh of the 18th dynasty, which Akhenaten was a part of) but before the rule of Ramesses I (founder of the 19th dynasty, the ever-famous Ramesside period); the pharaohood has been recently relocated to Memphis instead of Amarna or Thebes, and signs of the Amarna period are being covered up or painted over. You might be able to make out the form of the Aten sun disk on the wall, but it's been purposefully painted over to emphasize the Theban triad of gods (Amun, Mut, and Khonsu) instead!

Asethotep's father is pharaoh, too, of course, which begs the question -- what happened in between the rules of Horemheb and Ramesses I that led this family to take power for a short time? Asethotep's father will go unnamed for the very short time he is alive (you won't even get to see his face, actually, he'll just be mentioned), but he was likely one of the viziers or advisors to Horemheb. This is actually how Ramesses I is supposed to have come into power -- Horemheb gave the crown to a trusted vizier, as he supposedly had no surviving sons of his own to give it to. Horemheb is responsible for "restabilizing" Egypt after the end of the 18th dynasty, while Ramesses I actually had a very brief reign before his son, Seti I, took the throne.

From that name alone, I hope you see where this is going. Seti I's name means "of Set," indicating that he was consecrated to the god Set... Set is a huge player in our story, and he will soon get tangled up with Asethotep's quest for power. Asethotep's father will have a short time as ruler, Asethotep herself will have a moderately-long reign, and Pamu... Well, we'll see what happens to him. My point is, Egyptian history will continue as normal after Pamu loses his crown.

_________

Interested in receiving updates about TCotC and/or getting involved with the community? Consider joining our Discord Server!