Papyrus

Egypt, 18th Dynasty. Queen Tiye, the mother of Tutankhamun, prepares to die. She speaks to her brother:  “When my time is come, you will bury me in a bath of restorative oils. It will be done while the breath of life is still in me.”

Cairo Museum, 1983. Rika Teferi, formerly an Eritrean freedom fighter and now a student, discovers hidden characters in a papyrus written by Tiye. Aching to know what the full text says, she lets visiting geologist David Chamberlain smuggle the papyrus out to scan with specialized instruments on his company’s jet. The results are stunning. They re-write Egypt’s history and reveal the bizarre circumstances of Tiye’s last days.

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