Book Blurb:
An outbreak of war is imminent between Ancient Egypt and the Hittite kingdom
Nefertari, the queen of Ramses II, receives a surprising message from the Hittites. She gets involved in the intrigues of power politics and faces severe resistance to achieving peace between the two powers. Rising to the challenge with her talent for diplomacy, she decides to fight against the belligerent enemy and her court. A Hittite and a shaman assist her in the tortuous way towards her goal.
Here is the untold story behind the first accord, which ensured permanent peace between the two major powers of ancient times. The version of the treaty is at the UN office in New York, the Berlin State Museum in Germany, and the Museum of the Ancient World in Ankara, Turkey.
The present war in Europe lends this story a timely relevance.
Book Buy Links:
Amazon Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/Hittite-Shaman-Nefertaris-Secret-Service-ebook/dp/B09WVCK1JX
Editorial Review:
“She was well acquainted with the ways and means of different people with different motives vying for attention and sole acceptance. After all, that was, in essence, also true of palace life, with its gossip, scandals, intrigues, and vanity, cultivated and fostered by bored ladies with idle brains, who languished in luxurious quarters granted by uxorious monarchs.”
Naveen Sridhar's novel “A Hittite and a Shaman” revolves around the first peace accord and a treaty signed between Egypt and the Hittite kingdom, and the possible involvement of Ramses II's wife, Queen Nefertari, the Crown Prince Hatupu, and the Queen's wise shaman counselor, as well as the Queen of the Hittites.
“Every story has two sides. So, too, the river.”
For a little background about the actual history enumerated in the novel, the peace treaty, the Eternal Treaty, Silver Treaty, or Treaty of Qadash, is the earliest known surviving peace treaty following the Battle of Qadash some 16 years previous. Even though the actual treaty did not bring about peace, with enmity between the two nations existing for years, the treaty was signed and ratified by the two kings, which brought about a peaceful existence for the region. The cuneiform tablets, along with hieroglyphics on the Karnak temple during Ramses' reign, verify this treaty and are now on display in Instanbul Turkey, the Berlin State Museum in Germany, and a copy is on the wall at the United Nations building in New York City.
This story takes the reader back to this ancient rift and time period, two nations hovering on the brink of war, and into the presence of the powerful and beautiful Queen Nefertari. When she receives a mysterious message on clay tablets, whom she assumes is from her friend Queen Pudahepa of the Hittite kingdom, written in a language she does not understand, she immediately seeks a scribe who can interpret the letter for her. The beginning of the book sets the stage for conflict, as well as gives the reader a bit of insight into the normal day-to-day activities of those in service to the Queen, her “lady's maid”, and the maid's daughter, Anut. Anut, a young girl on the cusp of womanhood, is minding her own business when a young man breaches the family's idyllic garden setting and leaves behind a beautifully inscribed ring with Hittite symbols.
Strange land, strange customs, all right, but what appalled him most was how these people spent so much time, energy, and resources on building places like tombs, temples, and palaces on the one hand and, on the other, struggled in their own misery. They were content to be left to fend for themselves, to live within their meager means, in need of health and safety, even in squalor, and seemed to look up to the pharaoh only in times of inundation. If they were otherwise content, one could argue it was not the duty of the pharaoh to make them feel miserable for not having the amenities with which he was blessed. Should a monarch take recourse to cause misery among his subjects and provoke a rebellion?
Later, Anut and the young man, Hartapu, form a friendship and fall in love, and she discovers he is a scribe. When her mother introduces him to the Queen, Hartapu translates the tablets and it is revealed that he is the Crown Prince of the Hittite, hiding in Egypt along with his King-father, Mursili III, who escaped after Mursili's brother, Hattusili III usurped the throne. The King and his son escape to Egypt and remain in hiding, fearing death and hopeful to request asylum from the pharaoh of Egypt. The dangers come to fruition as Hittite agents are sent to Egypt in search of the fugitives and the narrative follows Hartapu as he carves out a life for himself while managing to stay alive. In the meantime, Queen Nefertari uses her skill as a diplomat to ensure the ultimate peace treaty between the two nations.
Values like honor, commitment, duty, and love could not be traded nor compromised, and of course, neither could the blossoming friendship with a person he had met only two days ago and with whom he had shared, in that short period, not just an event. It was a short story of love, peril, and rebirth. Met had called it a masquerade.
Naveen Sridhar uses deep and evident research throughout the narrative, and his background in Sumerian and Mesopotamian civilizations and history shines throughout, which gives the reader a delightful exposé into a history that many know little about. Building an ancient world and fleshing out ancient people is a rare skill-set many authors don't dare attempt, but Sridhar does it in a very satisfying way. While entertaining, this novel is very educational and is another one that is very relevant to a modern-day reader who recognizes how history repeats itself throughout time and connects people facing the same problems today that they faced back then. On a side note, the reviewer noted a plethora of typos from misspelled names to missing punctuation throughout the narrative, which with the smallest amount of additional proofreading will add to the quality of this novel.
*****
“The Hittite and the Shaman” by Naveen Sridhar receives four stars from The Historical Fiction Company
Author Bio:
India-born German author Naveen Sridhar earned his PhD in chemistry and has worked as an industrial research scientist. He also has a diploma in Sumerian and Mesopotamian Civilizations, the entry for this, his third novel. Naveen is a member of the Historical Novel Society and is multilingual. His novels to date - CANDLELIGHT IN A STORM, STARLIGHT IN THE DAWN, and now A HITTITE AND A SHAMAN. Of note, Naveen is also a performing ventriloquist, and has published A COMPLETE GUIDE TO VENTRILOQUISM!
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