June 1155 B.C.
A trial is underway in Egypt’s capital of Thebes. The accused are Queen Tiye, King Rameses III concubine, Prince Pentawar, the 18-year old son to both Queen Tiye and Rameses, and thirty royal staff, servants, and royal magicians. They are all accused of conspiring to murder Egypt’s God, Pharoah Rameses III, in April in order to replace him with his youngest son, Prince Pentawar.
12 judges are hearing testimony from more than thirty people who were participants in the crime against the Pharaoh. Among them are Queen Tiye, one of the lower-ranking queens of Rameses III, her son Pentawar, and a highly regarded household servant named Pebekkamen.
The first of the women accused steps forward in front of the assembly of judges. She is another one of Rameses III’s long list of wives. Sobbng and gulping down whatever feelings she had at the time she stated, “I was forced to partake in the murder plot against Pharaoh. Queen Tiye threatened that if I didn’t follow her exact orders I’d be the next victim.” One of the judges nods, and she proceeds to sit back down.
As the procession of defendants continued both women and men took turns describing the events leading up to the assassination, their roles in the plot, and how influential Queen Tiye was to them in forcing them to comply with her commands. The judges were informed that multiple sorcerers were involved to assist in areas like paralyzing the security guards who protected Rameses while the crime took place and spell-binding some of the household servants into compliance.
The trial ended with 27 men and 6 women charged with high treason, a capital offence which results in the convicted being forced to choose between public execution or privately committing suicide. 5 other men were charged with the lesser crime of corruption which carried with it the punishment of lowering each of the convicts’ social status down to the role of an agricultural slave.
