Flight From Egypt – Adventures Along the Nile
This fictional adventure around the Israelites’ Exodus from Egypt is in three parts:
BOOK I “Waset” (Thebes) – Malik is an Egyptian boy of seventeen, son of the Chief Tomb Architect, Hatep; Malik’s best friend of the same age is Nathan, an Israelite and son of Hatep’s Chief Steward, Kenaz; Sarina is Malik’s sister, almost nineteen. Their adventures begin when Malik and Nathan are instrumental in spotting evidence of a Nubian attack on the Great Place Valley of the Kings and then help the commander of the Leopard Charioteers to repel the attack by giving him intelligence from a hot-air balloon called the Horus Eye over the battlefield. After being rewarded by Pharaoh for their part in stopping the attack, they stumble upon a ring of robbers who clean out the treasures in the tomb of Queen Hatshepsut, the Pharaoh’s mother. Sarina cleverly decrypts a royal message sent over the heliographic signaling network which implicates someone in the palace who calls himself the Black Falcon. When they try to find the identity of the mastermind they become entangled in a mystery that leads into the Great House of the Pharaoh. During this time, the God of the Hebrews sends plague after plague to discredit the gods of the Egyptians and humble their stubborn leader.
BOOK II “Meneffert” (Memphis) – Pharaoh moves his royal court down the Nile to the city of Memphis to avoid further plagues, but this is to no avail. By this time, a disgraced former inspector of the medjay (police) named Hezbak is close to identifying the Black Falcon. His investigation draws attention to Malik, Nathan, and Sarina who continue to intercept and read secret heliographic signals to and from the palace. The plagues grow in severity and Nathan persuades heliographic operators to use the nationwide network to inform Israelites about the conflict between the LORD and Pharaoh. The Black Falcon is finally exposed and pursues Malik and Nathan in a terrifying chariot chase among the pyramids and mastabas of the Giza Plateau. Architect Hatep and his wife Thent Hep are finally convinced that their ancient gods are worthless and seek true peace through the LORD of the Hebrews. Malik and Sarina also listen to Nathan as he urges them to look to the true Redeemer of Israel for salvation. Their friend Herihor from the army’s Leopard Charioteers is now General of the Egyptian Army’s 10,000-man Amun Corps in nearby Saqqara and avoids an order from Pharaoh to massacre Israelites before a supposed rebellion. The nation is on the verge of war when the last plague from the LORD is announced.
Book III Exodus – Fourteen days before the Death Angel passes through Egypt to kill all the firstborn, messages of warning are broadcast over the network from Goshen to Thebes and south to the First Cataract with instructions on how to avoid death. All Israelites who have not already begun to gather in Memphis are urged to travel there. Hebrews and faithful Egyptians, of whom there are a few, observe the first Passover and dramatically witness God’s faithfulness to His word. A mixed multitude numbering over a million people follow Moses into the desert toward a Promised Land that none of them has ever seen. They are trusting the God of Abraham to fulfill His covenant promise. In the chaos of the gathering caravans, animals, and cargo, Nathan and Malik are captured by the Black Falcon and imprisoned in the Pharaoh’s pyramid under construction. Inventor Imhotep’s powerful Breath of Osiris seals their captor’s destruction and lights the night sky. When the two young men emerge from the pyramid, they find the city empty except for the Amun Corps, decimated by the Angel of Death and now led by the Great One himself, maneuvering for an attack on the Israelites who are trapped against the Red Sea. A new Horus Eye flies the two over the marching army to the edge of the Red Sea where they crash and race across the dry seabed to the opposite shore before the mountains of water collapse. Among all the book’s characters, who will they find on the other side?