Reading List

Medjay in Novels


Drake, Nick: "Nefertiti". London 2006.
Rahotep is the joungest chief dedective of the Medjai in Thebes. He is also named "seeker of mysteries" and is therefore called in front of his pharaoh Akhenaten who resides in his new capital "Akhetaten", because the queen Nefertiti is vanished and she must be returned for the great festival of the city. Rahotep is ordered to find her or to die. Nick Drake shows us a depressive capital city, where all is artifical and very "chilly". He let appear historcial figures like Mahu, chief of the Medjai in Akhetaten, Meryra, the high priest, Parennefer, the architect if the Amarna style, the general Horemhep and Ay, who is "God's father" and very influential. Nefertiti wants to be found by Rahotep and the two of them soon trusts each other. She wants to re-appear at the great festival as reborn queen, but then there occurs a catasthophy which changes the life of the royal family. - Drake depicts an interesting view on the life of the artifical city of Amarna, the political instability of Echnaton's rule and a charismatic Nefertiti. Rahotep is a very good figure to accompany in his adventure in Akhetaten. Enjoy reading it!

Drake, Nick: "Tutankhamun". London 2009.
Like in "Nefertiti" the Medjai Rahotep is the leading character of this novel. He has to solve another mystery, this time in his home city Thebes where he lives. Several murders take place here, each one very horrible. Also this time Rahotep is ordered into the royal palace - into the presence of Tutankhamun's wife Ankhsenamun who is struggeling against Ay who is over influential and the true power in the land after the fall of Echnaton. She - daughter of Nefertiti and Echnaton - wants power restored to the royal family. So this is a novel also on royal and state affairs of Old Egypt. Rahotep tells the story himself, let us view in the normal life of Egypt as well as the power struggles of the royals. I liked to read it. Rahotep is a very positive figure.

Haney, Lauren: "The Right Hand of Amon". New York 1997.
A Mystery of Ancient Egypt. Haney has written 7 novels on the Medjay Bak. In this novel he lives in the military outpost Buhen. He finds a prominent dead person in the river and is ordered to investigate in the murder. Therefore, he has to travel to the place, where the officer lived, that is another outpost named Iken. Here are several fellow officers of the dead one, all have a special dislike on the murdered one, but Bak finally suceeds in finding the guilty one and also in preventing another murder by the same person on the King of Nubia. - Bak is the commanding officer of the Medjai force in Buhen and he is always proud on this elite-force. There are no other special information on the Medjay, but one gets a good picture of the life in the very south area of Egypt, the border to Nubia.

Haney, Lauren: "A Place of Darkness". New York 2001.
Medjai Bak in action again! He has to do with smugglers - first in Buhen, than in Luxor West where queen Hatschepsut is building her big temple. Here murders happen and Bak should inverstigate in these cases, because the temple building should go on undisturbed. Soon he finds out that there is a connection between the smuggling on boats and the murders. His fellow Medjai and his father who lives and works as a doctor in Thebes help him to solve the case, and often Bak is in very, very dangerous situations. - In this book there is also a list of the persons involved and two drawings of the temple of Hatschepsut, just for better orientation.

Haney, Lauren: "A Cruel Deceit". New York 2002.
Bak and his Medjai are in Luxor for a short time, trying to enjoy themselves in the festival of Opet, a ten day festival with processions between the two mayor temples of Luxor. Of course, Bak gets a lot to do: There are three murders just at this time: one stranger was murdered on a ship, two priests in a temple. Amonked, the Storekeeper of Amon, important person, a relative of the queen and friend to Bak, orders him to solve these murders. It will be not easy for Bak to find a connection between these murders. Has it to do with Hittite politics? Or has it to do with family affairs of the Governor of Tjeny? Or was it mere greed, steeling precious things out of the temple? - In this book there is a list of the people involved as well as a drawing of the procession way between Karnak and Luxor Temple.

Haney has written four other Bak-novels: "A Face Turned Backward", "A Vile Justice", "Flesh of the Gods" and "A Path of Shadows".

Geagley, Brad: "Year of the Hyenas". 2005.
The hero of this "Ancient Egypt Mystery Thriller" is Semerket who lives a somewhat chaotical life in old Thebes, he drinks to much alcohol because of his love problems - but he is ordered to investigate in a murder on the priestess. Soon he learns that some people in the palace didn't want this case solved. He is helped by the Medjay who try to protect the Valley of the Kings, especially the Medjay Qar is friendly, honest and helpful. Geagley gives a lot of information on the Medjay. - Geagley has written a second novel on Semerket who now should solve another case in Babylon ("Day of the False King").