King of Egypt. Tutankhamen - The Gold in the Grave

Illustrated by Helen Flook

A&C Black London

Reprinted 2009

First published 2004 by

A & C Black Publishers Ltd

36 Soho Square, London W1D 3QY

www.acblack.com

Text copyright 2004 Terry Deary

Illustrations copyright 2004 Helen Flook

The rights of Terry Deary and Helen Flook to be identified as the author and illustrator of this work respectively have been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyrights, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

eISBN: 978-1-40811-607-4

A CIP catalogue for this book is available from the British Library.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any meansgraphic, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or information storage and retrieval systemswithout the prior permission in writing of the publishers.

This book is produced using paper made from wood grown in managed, sustainable forests. It is natural, renewable and recyclable. The logging and manufacturing processes conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin.

Printed and bound in Great Britain

by CPI Cox & Wyman, Reading RG1 8EX.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1
The Perfect Plot

The water clock dripped. It was the second hour of the afternoon and time to go. Time to carry out the greatest robbery in the history of the world.

There were four of us in the room. Four grave robbers. And we had the perfect plot.

They had been burying kings in Egypt for thousands of years. Burying them with gold and jewels to spend in the Afterlife.

And people had been robbing those kings for thousands of years, to spend the fortunes in this life. Kings were buried in pyramids to guard their gold.

It didnt work.

No one used pyramids any more. They were too easy to rob. Now the kings were buried in tombs. Deep in the rocky cliffs near Thebes. There was only one way inand that was guarded.

Dalifa was the temple jeweller who made ornaments for King Tutankhamens tomb.

Antef was the master thief, the greatest tomb robber in the world.

I have saved a lot of money, he said. Now I am going to risk it all to win the biggest prize of all. And you are going to help me. He chuckled and showed his black and yellow stumps of teeth.

At least that was the idea. If we could rob the tomb of King Tutankhamen then we would be rich as kings. If we failed then our punishment would be horribleso horrible it gave me nightmares.

Big Kerpes would be one of the coffin carriers at the sunset funeral of Tutankhamen.

Tutankhamen had been dead for seventy days. Days spent in turning his holy body into a mummy. From the first day of the Kings death, Antef had been plotting the perfect plot.

Kerpes told me, If they catch you theyll cut off your nose. He rubbed his own flat broken, nose. If you are lucky.

And if I am unlucky? I asked.

Then the new King Ay will have you crucifiednailed to the walls of Thebes city. He will show the world what happens to grave robbers.

I dont want to be nailed to the wall, Kerpes, I whispered.

Then dont get caught, he grunted.

Me? I am Paneb. In those days I was the poor son of a tavern owner. I wasnt very clever and I wasnt very brave. But I was very, very skinny. And thats why they wanted me.

Antef had come to me in my fathers tavern where I was gathering pots. He knew I was a thief. I would steal anythingfrom washing on the riverbank where it was stretched out to dry, to food in the temple laid out for the gods.

The plan is simple but brilliant, he told me. The Kings tomb is waiting for him in an underground cave across the river. He will be buried there with his fortune in seventy days time.

And guarded, I said. We cant get in.

He gave his gap-toothed grin again. We dont have to. We just have to get out!

Uh?

The King will be placed in the tomb then the door will be sealed. But you will already be in there. On the inside. Hiding, he said. Well slip you in before the funeral.

I shuddered. Ill be trapped in the tombin the darkwith the dead King and all the spirits? The door is a huge slab of stone. I wont be able to break out. Ill die.

He shook his head. I have friends in the stone quarry. They have made the door. One corner has been cracked and put back with weak mortar. You cant see the fault unless you know it is there. You smash open the corner and pass out the Kings fortune.

It was a clever plan. How do I get in?

You go to the scribe school by the temple. The scribe master is a friend of mine. He will train you as a scribe, and you will be sent into the tomb to paint the prayers on the walls. The guards will get used to seeing you, he promised.

So, after the funeral, I have to pass the treasure out through the corner of the door. Youll be waiting in the passage? I asked.