Cruickshank goes on the trail of a pharaoh's wife who committed a crime so terrible they tried to wipe her name from history.
The last of the great pharaohs Ramesses III died in mysterious circumstances surrounded by enemies and civil disobedience. In the first year of his reign he ordered the construction of Medinet-Habu filled with great depictions of his huge wealth and military victories and unprecedented depictions of his prowess with women. Ancient papyri bought on Cairo's black market in the 19th century however tell of an indecisive man unable even to choose between Tiye and Isis as his great queen.
Tiye and Isis compete to have their son named as heir of Ramesses III and the Pharaoh eventually chooses Isis. Tiye plots to murder the Pharaoh and seize the country in a military coup. Tiye uses spells stolen from the Pharaoh's own library against him and recruits many important generals and courtiers into her conspiracy (including the food-taster). Ramesses's failing health and poor political decisions lead to civil disobedience and revolt across the country. Ti seizes the opportunity and within the month Ramesses III is dead presumably from poisoning.
The subsequent coup however fails and Isis's son Pharaoh Ramesses IV round up the conspirators and puts them on trial. The harem women's final plot to seduce the judges is discovered and all the conspirators are executed. Isis and her son Pentawere are chiselled from history and only the papyri survive to tell their story.
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