Qa'a
The Backstory
Qa’a, the final book of The First Dynasty trilogy was a no-brainer as far as I was concerned. If I had started the series with the first King of the First Dynasty, I felt I had to end it with the last King.
Yet, the more I researched the history of that period, the more engaged I became and wanted to weave a yarn that incorporated what we actually know along with the drama and intrigue that could have easily been part of Qa’a’s life story.
My Research: The Name Says It All
The name Qa’a is translated as “his arm is raised.” Wow!, I thought, that’s pretty powerful. So, without giving away any of the story, I felt the name alone could be descriptive of the man, his strengths and weaknesses.
Although I have been to Egypt many times and have visited all the principal sites where the action over all three novels takes place, I was constrained from traveling to Egypt while researching Qa’a by political events there. So I had to rely on notes from previous visits, my own extensive library on Ancient Egypt, my interviews with Egyptologists and reasonably accurate web-based sources.
There were also tantalizing clues along the way that allowed me to create plot elements. For example, there was obviously a major transition from First to Second Dynasties, so something significant must have occurred related to Qa’a’s offspring, assuming he had any. Also, while little is known about Qa’a- after all we are speaking of the period around 3,000 B.C.E.- we do know more about the first King of the Second Dynasty, Hotepsekhemwy (now THAT’S a mouthful!). All in all it was a pleasure pulling the threads together into one coherent yarn. I do hope you enjoy Qa’a. I look forward to your comments.
