The Bull and the Aten

It is decided.

It hit me as I was listening to an article about Skara Brae (a neolithic site in Orkney). There's apparently a nice virtual reconstruction available (as well as physical reconstructions of at least one building). Which led to the thought of the virtual reconstruction of Troy...one of the layers, at least. And Assassin's Creed Origins, which offers virtual tours of almost every city in Egypt. Unfortunately set at the end of the Ptolemiac Era, or about 900 years after Setne (both the real Prince Khaemweset and my own hybrid character), but the nice thing about Egypt is how incredibly stable it is.

Anyhow. In that moment it became completely clear that the depth of immersion in the research I needed was incompatible with doing it all at once. I need to divide the chore. And even more than divide scenes or places from each other, I need to be able to concentrate on one aspect of the late Bronze Age in the Near East and finish that off before moving on.

So it's going to be three books, and the first book is going to be Kes's story and will set primarily on Mycenaean Crete. Kes, a young weaver raised in a remote mountain shrine, come to the big city to make her living until she is caught up in politics of class warfare, religion and identity. And, yes...at some point she's going to have to jump over a bull.

Starting with a young person whose first struggle is with poverty is maybe not the most exciting place to start a tale that is eventually going to cover half the Bronze Age near east and witness the fall of empires. But it is Mycenae I've been studying most over the last few months and I'm best focused to continue research there. It also forms a decent approach towards the questions of the Late Bronze Age Collapse; starting at the capitol of Knossos at the height of power (and corruption and social stratification) of the Palatial society.

In Book Two I'll move to Egypt and widen the scope; the Bronze Age trade networks, the Great Powers, and some of the history, from the perspective of Setne; scholar, priest, amateur archaeologist and half-brother to the king. Who has his own solo adventure in Akhaten, and a run-in with the Notorious Paneb.

Book Three is the Sea Peoples....and Troy. And may still finish up in Scythia. I have an outline, now. It's the outline I've been trying to hammer out since September. But I didn't say it is very detailed.

But I've divided the problem. Now I just need to worry about Kes. I'm throwing her into the politics of rebellion and a bit of underground cults because I need at least 40,000 words out of her. More, if I keep Setne and the Mycenaean mercenary who still doesn't have a name are kept off-stage. On the other hand...I'd happily drop 10,000 on Ugarit or Hattusa so maybe not that big a problem...