Book 3, Thebes Fever Summary

A throng keeps vigil as Ptahor and Sinuhe arrive. Naked, Pharaoh looks like any other dying man. Queen Taia holds his head during the bloody operation while the heir, Amenhotep, and his sister Baketamon, look on. Predicting death by dawn, Ptahor bandages Pharaoh and commends him to Aton. At a sumptuous meal, Ptahor's tongue is loosed by wine. After putting him to bed, Sinuhe is led by the Prince into the desert, where the Prince suffers convulsions. Horemheb, a young falcon keeper who wants to enter Pharaoh's service approaches. Waking up, the prince talks of eternal life and recoils at the idea of shedding blood, making Horemheb wonder about the Prince's sanity. He is by this time Pharaoh. As custom requires, the failed physicians suffer mock execution, and Sinuhe is obliged to add to his name "He Who Is...