The Egyptologist by Arthur Phillips Read Free Book Online Page A

passing generation, reluctantly yielding us the torch. Finally, this book must certainly be dedicated to that great king Atum-hadu, and to his patron-god, the first Creator, Atum. The existence of Atum-hadu's tomb (and of Atum-hadu himself) was long doubted by many, but Atum-hadu's genius, his reign, his poetry: all of these I honour as I greet him across more than 3500 years, I, who never doubted him. Majesty, the world gazes upon you now, in your golden tomb, amidst your vast treasures, in your cracking brown mummy wraps. The world marvels at
    your life, your words, your brilliance. The world in respectful awe gazes upon your noble organs in their canopic jars. This is the very immortal• ity you pursued and deserved, eternal glory and celebrity.
    About the Author: Professor Ralph M. Trilipush was born 24 November, 1892, the only child of the renowned soldier and explorer
    Ecgbert Trilipush, and was raised a well-adored, if not positively spoilt, only child in the green, idyllic comfort of Trilipush Hall in Kent, En• gland. Educated at home by tutors, he displayed at a precocious age a staggering aptitude for language and an uncanny absorption in ancient Egypt. By the age of ten, he had mastered the three written forms of ancient Egyptian, and had begun translating ancient documents into English. By twelve, he had recalculated the accepted dates of the Egyptian dynasties and kingly reigns, pinpointing with greater accu• racy than any acknowledged scholar the gaps in modern Egyptological understanding. Admired by his peers, remarked upon by his elders, he went early up to Balliol, Oxford, where he was widely viewed as Egyp• tology's greatest hope, along with his dear friend, Hugo St. John Mar• lowe. At Oxford, the two students worked under the guidance of the late Professor Clement Wexler, participating in his efforts to prove or disprove definitively the existence of the then-apocryphal XIIIth- Dynasty king and erotic poet Atum-hadu. His master's work complete, Trilipush's doctoral studies were cut short by the Great War, during which both he and Marlowe were stationed in Egypt as officers in counterintelligence. There, under enemy fire, the two explorers man• aged to unearth Fragment C of Atum-hadu's Admonitions from a cliff- side path near Deir el Bahari, taking a giant's step towards proving that king's existence and identity as the poet of the previously trans• lated Fragments A and B. Shortly after this discovery, Trilipush was sent along to advise Australian forces invading Gallipoli, in which combat he was wounded and for some time missing and believed dead. Entirely alone, he trekked back to Egypt, arriving after the Armistice, only to learn that his great friend Marlowe had been killed while on expedition in an unsecured part of the Egyptian desert. After demobil• isation, Trilipush secured Fragment C, bringing it to the United States of America, where he launched a brilliant academic career. He pro• duced the definitive, if controversial, translation and analysis of all three Atum-haduan fragments, published under the title Desire and De• ceit in Ancient Egypt (Collins Amorous Literature, 1920). The extraordi• nary sales of this short masterwork confirmed Trilipush's unique
    position as both an impeccable scholar and a popular interpreter of Egyptian studies.
    His full professorship and subsequent quick ascension to Chair of the Egyptology Department at Harvard University followed his dis• covery on his thirtieth birthday, 24 November, 1922, of the tomb of Atum-hadu himself, and the publication of the gripping but academi• cally flawless work you now hold in your perspiring hands. The discov• ery of Atum-hadu's tomb was quickly hailed as unprecedented, the most financially and scientifically rewarding discovery in the history of Egyptian excavation.
    Professor Trilipush was knighted in 1923 and has been honoured by governments and universities throughout the civilised world.
    He is