The Egyptian Babylon, Minoan Crete, and among the Hittites. The main character of the novel is named after a character in an ancient Egyptian text commonly known as the "Story of Sinuhe". The original story dates to a time long before that of Akhenaten: texts are known from as early as the 12th dynasty. Supporting historical characters include the old Pharaoh Amenhotep III and his conniving favorite wife, Tiy; the wife of Akhenaten, Nefertiti; the listless young Tutankhamun (King Tut), who succeeded as Pharaoh after Akhenaten's downfall; and the two common-born successors who were, according to this author, integral parts of the
Egyptian chronology the conventional chronology by up to 400 years at the beginning of Dynasty I. Forming the backbone of Egyptian chronology are the regnal years as recorded in Ancient Egyptian king lists. Surviving king lists are either comprehensive but have significant gaps in their text (for example, the "Turin King List"), or are textually complete but fail to provide a complete list of rulers (for example, the "Abydos King List"), even for a short period of Egyptian history. The situation is further complicated by occasional conflicting information on the same regnal period from different versions of the same text; thus, the