Acknowledgments

I owe the translation of Ramses's Latin note to the kindness of Ms Tootie Godlove-Ridenour; if there are errors, they are due to my careless transcribing or (more probably) to the haste of Ramses himself.

A tip of the chapeau as well to Charlotte MacLeod for coming up with a particularly loathsome method of rendering an enemy hors de combat, and a tip of the pith helmet to Dr Lyn Green, who supplied me with copies of hard-to-find Egyptological research materials.

My greatest debt will of course be obvious to the intelligent Reader. Like Amelia (and, although he refuses to admit it, Emerson) I am an admirer of the romances of Sir Henry Rider Haggard. He was a master of a form of fiction that is, alas, seldom produced in these degenerate days; having run out of books to read, I decided to write one myself. It is meant as an affectionate, admiring, and nostalgic tribute.