The Audio File: Long Night in Egypt

I’ve finished most of my outstanding obligations for reviews, at least for the moment. Well, that’s going to not be the case for too long, but I do have a brief respite. As such, I am able to talk about one particular audio drama. Now, I admit I was prepared to be disappointed, but this one surprised me in the best way possible. It utilized Egyptian Mythology while remaining incredibly faithful to the original myths. So, what is this audio drama? Why, we’re taking a look at Long Night in Egypt. 

Long Night in Egypt follows four college students named Mo, Kayla, Jorden, and Pia. They are on vacation in Egypt to visit Mo’s aunt and uncle; a pair of renowned Egyptologists. It’s sure to be a trip filled with relaxation, visits to archeological sites, and maybe even a bit of partying. Then, Mo’s cousin Samira comes up with the idea to visit the Pyramid of Unas at night. Mo’s aunt and uncle are very firm that the Pyramid of Unas must never be entered at night. However, the students sneak into the pyramid anyway. They will soon discover that the myths and legends of Ancient Egypt might just be true after all. They will have to navigate their way thought the Egyptian underworld, and face numerous challenges, if they wish to survive their long in Egypt.

I had known about Long Night in Egypt for a while. It had the word Egypt in the title, and a pyramid on the title card. What can I say? I was sold. However, other obligations kept me from listening. Then, I got a chance to listen, and I was blown away by what I heard.

I’m a lover of mythology, but I have trouble deciding which particular mythology is my favorite. I’m reminded of what Neil Gaiman wrote in the introduction to his novel Norse Mythology. He said that picking a favorite mythology is a bit like picking a favorite cuisine. Variety is the spice of life, and your favorite often depends on what mood you’re in at the moment. However, there’s always those dishes and stories that you always come back to. Given the title of the book, it should come as no surprise that Norse Mythology is that for Neil Gaiman. But what about me? 

I always find myself returning to the gods and stories of Egyptian Mythology. I love the weird and wonderful animal-headed gods. I love reading about all of the spells and incantations Egyptian magicians created. I love the way that real Ancient Egyptian historical figures sometimes factor into the stories. I love Egyptian Mythology. The stories of Egyptian Mythology took me on magical adventures away from my mundane world.

We have had several audio dramas adapt or reinterpret Greek Mythology, but not really any takes on Egyptian Mythology. In fact, Long Night in Egypt is, thus far, the only audio drama I’ve encountered that utilizes Egyptian Mythology in a major way. Now, this was certainly an exciting discovery, but I had my apprehensions. I’ve had to endure far too many movies and television shows that played way too fast and loose with real mythology. Hey, I’m just saying. If the source material you’re incorporating is a hindrance to the story you want to tell, then perhaps you should write a different story. That, or find a mythology more agreeable to the story you want to make.

Sorry, I got a little distracted there. Getting back on track, I was cautiously optimistic, but I was fully prepared to be disappointed. I was combing through every episode with a fine-toothed comb. I was prepared to pounce at the slightest slip-up. I was particularly worried that Anubis and/or Set would be portrayed as Ancient Egyptian Satan. However, much to my pleasant surprise, I couldn’t find a single mythological misappropriation. In fact, I even learned a few things as a result of listening to Long Night in Egypt.

So, let’s talk about all the great mythological stuff in this podcast. The main inspirations for this audio drama are The Pyramid Texts and The Egyptian Book of the Dead. The Pyramid Texts is one of the oldest surviving religious texts in the world. It is inscribed into the walls of the pyramids and burial chambers of Saqqara. And yes, that includes the Pyramid of Unas. The texts are a series of spells, incantations, hymns, and utterances that help the pharaoh to navigate the afterlife and ascend to godhood. The Egyptian Book of the Dead is much the same, but with different spells and writings. Also, the Book of the Dead was written on papyrus, not carved into stone. 

The Pyramid Texts were completed in the Old Kingdom era, while The Book of the Dead wasn’t completed until the New Kingdom era. The characters do discover inscriptions from The Book on the Dead on the walls of the Pyramid of Unas. However, they do acknowledge this discrepancy, and wave it off as The Book of the Dead being older than previously believed. The Book of the Dead does drawn heavily upon The Pyramid Texts, so, this isn’t all that implausible.

We frequently hear characters, both mortal and divine, quoting passages from both The Pyramid Texts and The Book of the Dead. Oh, and that part where Unas consumes some of the gods to increase his power? Believe it or not, that is directly from The Pyramid Texts. That particular section is even called The Cannibal Hymn. See, this is why I’m such a big advocate for being accurate to the mythological sources. Oftentimes, the actual sources are way wilder than anything a modern writer might come up with.

We also get a few fun facts about modern Egypt sprinkled in. For example, Mo has a book that was written by Ahmed Kamal. He was the first Egyptologist to actually be from Egypt. There’s also a scene where the characters are at a club, and it is offhandedly mentioned that the drinking age in Egypt is twenty-one. I looked it up, and it is indeed twenty-one, just like in America. Also, you can apparently buy alcohol in Egypt.

Long Night in Egypt is a horror audio drama, and I like the approach it took to that. Unas isn’t portrayed as some monster who is bent on world domination. The main characters were warned not to go into the Pyramid of Unas at night, and they paid the price. Granted, they probably wouldn’t have believed the real reason they were to stay away. Still, their troubles are self-inflicted because they ran foul of ancient traditions, and disrespected the pyramid. Even without the undead pharaoh and the magic, it probably wasn’t the smartest idea to go into a pyramid at night. It is bound to be dark, and you can get easily hurt if you don’t know what you’re doing.

The past is a foreign country, they do things differently there. I was particularly thinking about that during the scene in the Halls of Judgement. Ancient Egypt was a foreign culture with a foreign value system. You might consider yourself a good person by modern standards, but how well would you stack up to Ancient Egyptian standards? Though, thankfully, an important part of the Weighing of the Heart is remembering the correct incantations from The Book of the Dead. Of course, even the things the Ancient Egyptians viewed as a great reward/honor for the afterlife could be potentially unpleasant by modern standards. What do I mean by that? Oh, that would be spoilers, but let’s just say you’ll see.

On a related note, I loved how the horror comes from the characters finding themself in a story straight out of mythology. I’m a big fan of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, as well the wider Riordanverse. Yes, that includes The Kane Chronicles. Naturally, I love mythology, and I do tend to fantasize about going on urban fantasy mythology adventures. On the other hand, perhaps I should be careful about what I wish for. Such things might be fun to read about, but it might not be so fun to actually live though. Especially if you don’t have magical powers.

But hey, maybe I’d get some moments of awe between my terror. Terrifying or not, it would be kind of cool to discover that Egyptian Mythology is real. That’s why Kayla was my favorite character. She constantly geeks out over archeology and mythology. This does cause some friction with Mo during the journey through the underworld. However, all the other characters would have been seriously screwed without Kayla’s encyclopedic knowledge of The Book of the Dead. Granted, Mo is certainly no slouch either, but he does need occasional prompting and reminders. I really loved the part where Kayla geeks out over all the obscure gods in the Hall of Judgement.

And speaking of the characters, we need to talk about the voice acting. I find it endlessly amusing that Mo is voiced by Amr Kotb, but Mo’s cousin Amr is voiced by Amro Mahmoud. I was excited when I heard that Roshan Singh would be voicing Jordan. He is the creator of the audio drama Temujin, and we’ve interacted a bit on Twitter. He didn’t really have a lot to do. Jordan is kind of…I believe himbo is the term the kids say these days. Still, he did the most with what he had to work with. Alice Pollack does an amazing job capturing Kayla’s endearingly nerdy personality. Asil Moussa is clearly having a lot of fun playing Samira. 

Karim Kronfli has a brief cameo as a BBC newscaster. Always great hearing him, and amusingly, this isn’t the only Ancient Egyptian themed project he’s part of. He was also part of the voice cast for the video game Total War: Pharaoh. The music and sound effects are also really great. This is a show that’s being distributed by Realm Media. So, of course it’s going to be a cinematic audio drama. And I wouldn’t have Long Night in Egypt any other way.

Hmm, do I have critiques? Well, the image on the title card is not the Pyramid of Unas. It is the Great Pyramid of Giza, but I get why the production team did that. The Pyramid of Unas isn’t very photogenic. In fact, it kind of looks like a giant dirt mound. The Pyramids of Giza scream Ancient Egypt a lot better, and get the point across. And hey, it is a very nice looking title card regardless.

Switching gears, I’m not sure how I feel about the way Anubis was voiced. I know the voice actress. She’s the announcer from We Fix Space Junk. It would have been nice if there was an easily accessible cast list for Long Night in Egypt. Anyway, I know she tried to give Anubis an otherworldly voice, but it came across as a bit too feminine. Not what I would have gone for if I’d been casting. I got used to it, but it was a bit of a sour note in an otherwise great voice cast. The other gods had excellent voice casting

Those are really the only critiques I can think of. Long Night in Egypt was an absolutely fantastic podcast. I won’t give away the ending, but suffice it to say, there’s no way we’re getting a season two out of this. I’d be genuinely surprised if we do. On the other hand, there are a lot of other mythologies out there. There’s plenty of other myths that could be given the Long Night in Egypt treatment. Hint, hint, Violet Hour and Realm.

Long Night in Egypt was an amazing audio drama from start to finish. It really shows the great things that can be accomplished when you make the effort to be accurate to mythology. This is the Egyptian Mythology audio drama I was hoping we might have someday, and it did not disappoint in the slightest. Do yourself a favor and listen to it today. Especially if you love Egyptian Mythology or all things Ancient Egypt.

Well, I think that should do it from me for now. I will see you guys next time.

The Audio File: Mija

I always found tales of immigrants to be fascinating. They offer a window into a world that I can only imagine. I often find myself pondering several questions. What would it be like to leave behind the land of my birth? What would it be like to try to assimilate into a totally different culture? What, if any, aspects of my own culture would I preserve and pass on. The audio drama we’re reviewing today deals with these questions, and a lot more. It is the tale of immigrants; their trials and tribulations, their triumphs and tragedies. We’re taking a look at Mija from Studio Ochenta. 

Mija is a story about families of immigrants. Those alive, those long gone, and those still dreaming. Each season is a self-contained story that follows a different family of immigrants. Season one follows a Colombian family in New York, season two follows a Chinese-Vietnamese family in Paris, and season three follows an Egyptian family in London. The story of each family is told by its own Mija, which means “my daughter” in Spanish.

As I said in the intro, stories of immigration have always fascinated me. The Italian part of my dad’s half of the family came to America via Ellis Island, and eventually found their way to New Orleans. We don’t know too much about the German and Irish parts. Meanwhile, my mom’s side of the family has been here since before the American Revolution. In fact, I had a few ancestors who were part of Jamestown. As is often repeated, all Americans, except for Indigenous people, have ancestors who came here from other lands. It was an interesting experience listening to Mija when I did. Immigration has become a hot-button issue as of late.

So, a bit of terminology before we got forwards. The narrators of season one and two are both called Mija. For the sake of convenience, we shall differentiate them as New York Mija and Paris Mija. Technically, the narrator of season three is also a Mija, but she’s more often referred to as Binty, which means roughly the same thing in Arabic. So, we shall call her Binty.

Season one is, in my opinion, the best of the three main Mija seasons. Season one is a very personal story for Studio Ochenta founder Lory Martinez. She drew upon her own experiences and the stories of her family, with some embellishments, to craft season one of Mija. Unsurprisingly, Lory also provides the voice of New York Mija. It was also from season one that I learned where Studio Ochenta got its name from. New York Mija grew up on Ochenta Street in Queens. I wasn’t familiar with that street. So, I looked it up, and realized that I actually did know it, because Ochenta means Eighty in Spanish. It was in that moment that I knew I had brought shame upon all of my Spanish teachers. And to my mom, who lived in the Panama Canal Zone for a few years during her childhood.

Getting back on topic, I could tell from the first episode that this was a very personal story for Lory Martinez. There was love and affection in every aspect of season one. The way she describes New York and Bogota paints such a vivid picture. I felt like I was there along with the characters. The story of season one is not only a tale about immigration, but also a tale about heritage and culture. We get the story of New York Mija’s parents, and how they made a new life in a new land. But we also get the story of her family members back in Colombia. In fact, even that ties into the theme of immigration. Several of Mija’s family members had to move from the Colombian countryside to Bogota as a result of violence from insurgency groups. It was scary, and hard at times, and certainly wasn’t what they planned for. And yet, they built new lives in a new home.

I often saw shades of my own family in New York Mija’s story. The scene where she reveals that she is part of a group text with several members of her extended family was super relatable. My aunt, uncle, and cousins all live in Temecula, which is a suburb of San Diego. So, naturally, we don’t get to see each other often. But we stay connected with the group text and phone calls. My parents are both from South Louisiana, but had to move to North Louisiana to find work as lawyers. For reference, North Louisiana and South Louisiana are basically two different states. My mom has talk about how hard it was for her to be away from her support network when I was first born. And yet, thirty years later, here we all still are. I also learned what a pollo chico is. It’s a chick that sticks very close to its mother hen. So, a mama’s boy, basically. Mija mentions that her dad and brother are both major pollo chicos. I guess I’m also a pollo chico.

Season one of Mija is a story of surviving and thriving, but there is also a strong undercurrent of melancholy throughout it all. For example, Mija’s maternal grandparents weren’t able to attend her parents’ wedding because the U.S. embassy rejected their visa applications. Then there’s also the reasons why the episodes tend to be ten minutes long. Mija’s father worked as a taxi driver, and often long hours at that. Oftentimes, Mija only had ten minutes each morning to really spend time with him. In the final episode, Mija talks about how her extended family doesn’t often get to be together because of how spread out everyone is, and how difficult travel can be. She also reiterates that many immigrant families face this problem as well.

But there is also hope. Throughout season one we are introduced to the concept of el cacumen. It’s kind of like good luck, but there’s more to it than just that. It's kind of like saying that things might be bad, but we’ll make it through somehow. Clearly, everyone who was part of season one of Mija had el cacumen on their side. The central question throughout Mija is, well, what is home? And where is home, for that matter? The answer that Mija goes with is that, where you have family and friends who love you, then that is your home.

I’m not the only person who thinks that season one of Mija is absolutely fantastic. Lory Martinez was interviewed on NPR’s All Things Considered. She discussed the origins of Mija, and various behind the scenes details. There is a slight irony that Lory Martinez has become an immigrant herself. She moved to Paris in 2015, and it is where Studio Ochenta is based. Apparently, her family didn’t take it well at first, but they came to terms with it once they got to listen to season one of Mija.

Mija is not just devoted to its global scope purely in terms of story. Mija is available in multiple languages. Currently, English and Spanish are the only languages that all four seasons are available in. Seasons one and two are available in French, season two is also available in Mandarin, and season three is available in Arabic. However, Studio Ochenta is working to translate all four seasons of Mija.

With the success of season one, there was the obvious question of what to do as a follow up. There could still be more stories from New York Mija, but that didn’t seem right. Though, Studio Ochenta did eventually release a series of short vignettes set in the life of New York Mija and her family. But no, everyone decided that the story of Mija wasn’t just limited to a Colombian family in New York. There are plenty of Mijas all over the world. The question, then, was where to go next?

Studio Ochenta teamed up with Melanie Hong to tell the story of a Chinese-Vietnamese family living in Paris. Season two had some good ideas, and it certainly meant well. However, it was also plagued by some serious growing pains. It was pretty clear that the Mija team were still trying to figure out exactly what the podcast would be going forward. One theme they wanted to emphasize was the common connections between the stories of immigrants. This is all well and good, but the execution left something to be desired. Several bits of Paris Mija’s dialog are copied almost word-for-word from New York Mjia. This is most apparent in the episode that focuses on Paris Mija herself, and in the final episode, especially the twist at the end. We also get an episode where Paris Mija takes us on a tour of Paris; much as New York Mija showed us around Queens. Good idea, but again, undercut by the self-plagiarized dialogue.

I also feel that season two bit off more than it could chew. In season one, there is certainly a feeling that there’s more to the story of New York Mija’s family than we see. However, with season two, it feels like the Mija team tried to squeeze too many ideas into only eight episodes. Paris Mija is unique in that she has a multiethnic background. However, given the limited scope of the season, I felt we didn’t get to explore the two sides of her heritage as much as we could have. Also, her parents are divorced and she has a stepfather, but this doesn’t factor into the plot as much as you might think. Now, as far as narration, Melanie Hong tried, she really did. Unfortunately, she just couldn’t compete with Lory Martinez’s performance in season one. Part of that was down to the lackluster script, but part of it was due to English not being Melanie‘s first language. There were a few times it was kind of hard to understand her, and I had to rewind the podcast a few times.

Now, I want to be clear here. I did not hate season two. It had it’s flaws, to be sure, but it also had plenty of moments where it shined, especially in the later episodes. That all being said, there was still a lot of room for improvement, and I consider it to be the weakest season of Mija.

It would seem that the Mija team were well aware of the need to iron our the kinks. I’m happy to report that season three saw a notable improvement in quality, and a welcome return to form. I’d also like to take a moment to say how grateful I am that the protagonist of season three had a name other than Mija. It makes writing this review that much easier. Season three is structurally inverted compared to its predecessors. The previous seasons start with Mija, then her brother, her parents, a cousin, her grandparents, and then a family reunion. In season three, we go in reverse order. Occasionally, I had trouble keeping track of who was who, but it didn’t take me long to get the hang of things. In other inversions, instead of a force of good fortune, like el cacumen in season one, we get the evil eye, the bringer of woe and misfortune. Binty’s family always tries to remain humble, and avoid boasting, for fear that they may attract the gaze of the evil eye.

The narration also saw a notable step-up compared to last season. Rana Abdelhamid overall does an excellent job with the narration. My only issues is that Binty has lived most of her life in London, but doesn’t have even the slightest trace of a British accent. It just seems a bit odd. Binty also differs in how her story came to be. Unlike the previous season, there’s not a single writer. Rana Abdelhamid and Mona Elboghdadi are the head writers, while Sadia Azmats and Alya Mooro acted as cultural consultants about the Arab/Egyptian-Londoner experience. So, I would assume that Binty contains elements of all four women, making her something of a Franken-Mija.

Binty and her brother move to New York towards the end of the season. I was wondering if New York Mija was going to make an appearance, but no, this never happens. I suppose that was for the best. Season three is supposed to be Binty’s story; there’s no reason to tie it into the stories of the other Mijas. On that topic, season three did a much better job of showing the common connection among the experiences of Mijas and their families. I felt that it did so in a far more organic way than season two did. There’s no repeated dialog to be found. The episodes are also slightly longer than in the first two seasons. This gives season three a bit more breathing room to tell its story.

Another difference I noticed is that we don’t get an episode where Binty takes us around London. In fact, Binty, and to a lesser extent her family, seems to have something of a disdain for London. We get plenty of loving descriptions of life in Alexandria, but not really any of London. In previous seasons, the Mijas and their families took great pride in their new homelands. The previous Mijas also embraced themselves as the blending of multiple cultures. Binty, by contrast, considers herself to be Egyptian first, and everything else second. Binty mentions that, when she was younger, she tried really hard to assimilate. Then, later in life, she really threw herself into her Egyptian heritage. Though, the impression I got was that she simply swung from one extreme to the other. Compared to the other Mijas, Binty seems to still be struggling to come to terms with her identity, and isn’t totally comfortable in her own skin.

Season three puts more of an emphasis on the bigotry and prejudice that Binty and her family had to overcome. We do get hints of this with the other Mijas, but its more of a background detail. This does add to season three having a more distinct tone compared to its predecessors. That said, I felt that it got laid on a bit thick at times, and occasionally things got a tad preachy. I would argue that season one worked in part because it took a somewhat understated approach when it tackled serious issues. I also have to ding one scene in the episode about Binty’s mom. She grew up in Alexandria, but moved to London to work in the egyptology department at the British Museum. One of the things that strikes her when she moves to London is that she see Muslim women wearing hijab outside of mosque and prayers. Uh, do what now? I find it hard to believe that she wouldn’t have seen that plenty of times in Egypt.

Honestly, though, those two points are really my only critiques of season three. It was a noticeable step up from season two. Season three didn’t quite reach the same heights as season one, but it got very close, and proved to be a worthy successor.

There’s also a spin-off miniseries called Mija Música. It is something of an unofficial fourth season of Mija. It is a notable departure from the main series in terms of style. It follows a young man named Gavilán. He lives in New York, but he is originally from Monterey, Mexico. He has found himself back in Monterey due to his grandfather’s Lolo’s funeral. Lolo was a musician who had a passion for Colombian vallenato music. Gavilán is determined to investigate his grandfather’s music career. Along the way, he’ll explore the history of vallenato, and discover some secrets about his grandfather.

Like I said, it's different, but that’s not a bad thing. I wasn’t familiar with vallenato music, but I had fun learning about it. The episodes are a bit shorter than in the main Mija seasons. Speaking of music, I also wanted to take a moment to discuss the use of music in the main Mija seasons. Each season uses music from its respective immigrant culture to help set the mood. It was one of those little touches I appreciated, and it helped give each season its own feeling. And that is most certainly true of Mija Música as well. You’ll be well acquainted with the many styles of vallenato by the time the miniseries is over.

We’ve had three seasons, and one miniseries, of Mija so far. I certainly hope that this is not the last we’ve heard from Mija. It tells the stories of families of immigrants. Those who leave the land of the birth to seek a better life, those who stay behind, and those with feet in both worlds. It is a celebration of community, culture, and the places we call home. It is absolutely fantastic, and I can’t recommend it enough. Give it a listen today.

Well, I think that should do it from me for now. I will see you guys next time.

Flag of the Egyptian Empire

It's that time again at long last: time for another alternate history flag I created!

This is the flag of the Egyptian Empire.  It comes from a world where Ancient Egypt continued its trading expeditions and continued to expand its territory.  As a result, even the gold mines in Egypt began to dry up, the empire continued to remain strong.  In time the Egyptian Empire would stretch from the Nile Delta to the Cape of Good Hope.  Egypt would also go on to establish colonies in South America and Australia.  Egypt continued to practice its traditional religion of many gods.  It went through a brief bout of missionary fever, but for the most part Egyptians aren't too pushy about religion and have a live and let live attitude.  

Egypt has maintained good relations with the kingdoms of Tartessos and Albion; as well as the empires of the Hellenes and Etruscans.  Nevertheless, many of these European kingdoms have expressed interest in forming a political union in order to curb Egypt's power.  Historically, China has been Egypt's primary international rival.  In more recent times, however, Japan had begun to give both China and Egypt and run for their money.  Egypt and Japan are currently competing to see who can construct the first space elevator.

Egypt's government is a constitutional monarchy.  The Pharaoh is technically still the head of state, but has largely become a symbolic/religious position, and the Pharaoh is no long believed to be a living god.  The real power is in the hands of the House of Life and the House of Peoples.  The House of Life is composed of experts in various fields that have been hand-picked by Pharaoh; while the House of Peoples contains representatives that have elected by the people.  The leader of the House of Peoples is the Chief Lecter, a prime minister of sorts. 

The blue and black represent the ancient view of Egypt as a slab of clay afloat on the sea.  This view has obviously been disproven, but the symbolism is still often used to represent Egypt.  The gold eye is of course the Eye of Horus.  A symbol since ancient times, it's represents the gods watching over Egypt and her peoples. 

Flag of Coptic Egypt

This is the flag of Coptic Egypt.  It comes from a world where Islam was never founded.  One of the many consequences of this was that the Byzantine Empire continued to prosper for a number of years.  Eventually, however, tensions began to grow within the empire.  Egypt began to feel that Constantinople was giving them the short end of the stick a bit too often.  Egypt's main grievances were increased taxes and increased tensions between the Coptic and Orthodox churches.  

After a brief war, Egypt was granted its independence.  Despite this, Egypt retains good relations with Byzantium.  It also maintains good relations with fellow Oriental Orthodox nations Ethiopia and Armenia.  Egypt has traditionally been a hub of trade, and following its independence work began on a canal in the Sinai Peninsula.  Egypt established traditions ports in India and China.  It also established colonies in Australia, which is known as New Egypt, as well as a few minor colonies in South America.  

The wealth from its trade and colonies has made Egypt a very rich nation.  People and goods from throughout the world can be found across Egypt's cities.  Currently there is something of an architectural fad based around reinterpretations of Ancient Egyptian architecture.  Egypt also has a reputation for having some of the best universities and centers of learning in the world.  It is a nation which honors its past while keeping a eye towards the future. 

The flag contains a Coptic Cross to represent Egypt's Coptic faith.  The background represents the sands of Egypt, while the blue bands stands for the waters of the Nile River.  The writing is in the Coptic Script and reads "Jesus Christ, Son of God".   

Flag of Atenist Egypt

This is the flag of an Egypt where worship of the Aten managed to survive.  This is because Akhenaten, in our world known as the Heretic Pharaoh, went about his reforms in a bit more subtle way.  Instead of one god replacing many gods, Akhenaten created a belief system not unlike Zoroastrianism, Hinduism or Platonic Philosophy.  It is believed that above all is Aten, but he is complex and difficult to known in his highest form.  Therefore, to make himself known, Aten has sent out emanations of himself that were thought of as the gods of Egyptian Mythology.  The pharaoh is said to be able to commune directly with Aten and hold a special place in the new religion. 

The desire to spread the word of Aten to all corners of the globe lead Egypt to focus on expansion.  Even in the present day, thought their empire had since shrunken, they remain a major player of the world stage.  Their closest ally is Greece, whose religion is based around the veneration of the Agathon and is largely based around the writings of Plato and Aristotle.  In the past Egypt went through bouts of religious fanaticism, but today it is largely a secular society, those Atenism is still followed by most of the population.  The survival of Atenism meant that the Abrahamic Faiths never happened, so the geopolitical and cultural situation is quite different from out world.  

The black stands for the black fertile soil of the Nile River.  Black has been considered a symbol of good fortune ever since ancient times in Egypt.  The gold sun in the center of the flag is of course Aten itself. 

Cleopatra Caesar: A Twilight Histories Map

A new map of mine based on The Twilight Histories episode Cleopatra Caesar. Among other things in this world:


Julius Caesar was not assassinated. Caesar went on to establish an empire stretching from the British Isles to India, and in time he would be known as Caesar the Great. Caesar married Cleopatra and they had a son named Ptolemy; Caesar lived to a ripe old age and died a very happy man. However, the good times were not to last. A group of senators, lead by Marcus Brutus, assassinated Ptolemy and all of the senators from the eastern provinces. Not long after this a slave rebellion broke out, lead by a slave named Draco the Greek, and soon Brutus was assassinated.

Cleopatra was able to escape to Alexandria along with a group of loyal servants. With Rome occupied with the salve rebellions, Cleopatra set out to reform Egyptian society along Roman lines. Eventually, Rome was able to quell the salve uprisings, but also enacted reforms to prevent future uprisings and paved the way towards greater rights for slaves. Rome, somewhat begrudgingly, granted Egypt its independence due to the overtaxing of the empire's troops and money on the slave uprisings. Before long Egypt began to expand south in search of gold and other resources. Rome had begun work on a canal connecting the Mediterranean and Red seas, but it would be Egypt that would finish the canal.

China never experienced the An Shi Rebellion and remained the primary power in Eastern Asia. Rome has maintained trade relations with China since the days of Caesar, and Egypt has also established trade relations with China. China was the first nation to experience an industrial revolution, but other nations, such as Rome and Egypt, were soon to follow. Despite China's dominance Japan managed to establish itself as a regional power, and has carved out a small empire of its own.

Roman expeditions across the Atlantic lead to the discovery of the New World, or Terra Nova as it was soon known. Before long several nations were scrambling to establish colonies on new continents. The Mande Empire established a series of colonies in Brazil, but it wasn't long before Rome took control of the colonies. Meanwhile, Egypt and Japan competed with each other for control of Australia. Australia had first been discovered by Srivijayan fishing boats, but it had gone largely ignored until this golden age of exploration.

Egypt and Japan also competed with each other in South America. Eventually, it was decided that Japan would have Australia while Egypt would take the southern half of the Incan Empire. Despite the loss of nearly half their empire the Inca managed to maintain their sovereignty.

Rome's colony in Brazil was a unique blend of Roman, Mande, Egyptian, Japanese and native culture. This unique heritage lead the colony, known as Tupia, to develop as sense of identity as something other than a province of Rome. After a few centuries Tupia declared its independence from Rome. Around the same time the Roman province of Mexica, also very much the product of unique ethnic blending, declared its independence as well. After a lengthy war both colonies were granted their independence. Rome's primary North American colony, Occidenta, remain loyal to the empire despite the Tupia and Mexica uprisings.

Mexica established a constitutional monarchy much like Rome and many other nations, but Tupia defended itself as a republic like in the early days of Rome. The Mayans had been able to resist colonization for the most part, and the Mexica quickly formed a defensive alliance with them. Meanwhile, Tupia established good relations with the Incan Empire.

Traditional polytheistic religions are still very much alive and well, but there have been several popular cults over the years such as Mithras, Isis, the three daughters of Allah, but by far the most popular have been Buddhism and Christianity. However, it should be noted that Christianity has had significant Hindu and Buddhist influences to the point of looking almost unrecognizable. For example, Jesus is believed to be an avatar of Vishnu and his teaching emphasized breaking free of the cycle of reincarnation. Due to Christianity and Buddhism emphasizing compassion for all living things vegetarianism is more widespread than in our world.

Despite not having large empires, several nations have become economic and trading tigers in recent years. Such nations include Siam, Mande, Kongo, Lunda and Srivijaya. Japan has also been doing quite well, and is currently in negotiations to possibly purchase some of China's possessions.

Things in general have been looking up for this world. Over the years Rome, Egypt and Mexica have become republics. Rome, Egypt, Tupia and China have all launched missions to orbit; Rome has event sent missions to the Moon. Even nations that are monarchies generally have some from of representative government. Old tensions are dying down and a spirit of international cooperation is spreading throughout the world.  

The Saracen and the Cross

I figured it was about time for another of my maps.  It's got it's flaws, yes, but overall I'm reasonably happy with it.  I'm also happy to report that this map received a gorgeous cover by another map maker.  I will be posting that map, along some bits of art I've had commissioned, in a future blog post; though the map wasn't commissioned, but it still deserves to be featured.  Anyway, let's talk about the original.  It's set in the early 19th century and among other things:

Things first deviated from our world when the Egyptian general Saladin converted to Christianity in the middle of the Crusades. Exactly why this happened has never been confirmed, but sources say that Saladin claimed to have received a vision from God telling him to fight in the name of Christianity. Of course, many of the symptoms he experienced while in the middle of these visions bore a notable resemblance to epilepsy, so who can say?

Regardless of the source of this revelation, Saladin and his forces helped to reclaim the Holy Land for Christendom. At the same time, the Kingdom of Abyssinia supplied troops to aid the war effort as well.

Saladin and the Abyssinians later went on to usurp control of Egypt from the Fatimids and established a new ruling dynasty. In time Saladin would be canonized as a saint by the Orthodox Churches of Egypt, Abyssinia and Greece.

The Islamic world remained fractured and disjointed as result of Saladin's conversion to Christianity. Though Persia would remain something of a regional power there would never be another great Islamic power in the history of this world.

The success of the Crusades meant that the Byzantines didn't have to be concerned about invaders from the east or the disaster of the Fourth Crusade. As a result the Byzantines were able to stabilize and expanded northwards into the Balkans. The Byzantines also became long term allies of the Egyptians and Abyssinians.

The got interesting in the Iberian Peninsula. On the one hand, the Reconquesta proved less than successful. On the other hand, much of North Africa had returned to Christianity thanks to the efforts of the Egyptians and Byzantines. Facing the possibility of potentially becoming an international pariah, the Moors made a token conversion to Orthodox Christianity (as they viewed the Orthodox nations as most likely to become the next great powers), but still retaining much of their culture as it was during Islamic times. This blending extends to the title of the rulers of Hispania being named both King and Emir.

England won the Hundred Years War due to a combo of better tactics and Joan of Arc getting kicked in the head by a very temperamental horse. After the war France was annexed and the two nation became known as the United Kingdom of England and France. Intermarriage between English and French nobles was encouraged to make the transition smoother. The United Kingdom would go on to conquer Ireland, and Scotland would join around the time it did in our world.

Russia was hit even harder with famines during the Time of Troubles. This, along with the Cossacks never rebelling against the Poles and the Romanovs failing to rise to power, lead to Poland-Lithuania annexing Russia and becoming the great power of Eastern Europe.

Like in our world many nations searched for a easier route to India during the Age of Exploration. Egypt and Abyssinia, due to their location, had the easiest time of this. Hispania attempted to take what they believed to be the long way, but instead discovered something even better: the Americas. Their first expeditions landed about where the Southeastern United States is in our world.

Byzantium attempted the reach India by sailing around Africa and they established a colony in Southern Africa. However, one of their expeditions blew off course and landed in Brazil. The Byzantines claimed the land, figuring they find some use for it eventually, and indeed they did after they entered the sugar trade.

The United Kingdom claimed what would have been Canada with their first permanent settlement being at Mount Royal (Montreal). Ironically, of all nations it would be they who should act as the arm of the Catholic Church, with the pope more than willing to grant request to the nation's rulers. Missionaries from the United Kingdom would even find their way to the Far East.

In China, the Manchu were only partially successful in their conquest, with much of Southern China being ruled by the Southern Ming dynasty. The Southern Ming instigated many forward thing reforms while the Manchu clung to outdated traditions.

In Japan, rulers proved much more receptive to Catholicism, albeit a form heavily influenced by Shinto. This would prompt Japan not to turn it's back on the world. Japan sent missionaries to Southern China and Korea, and they established an colonial empire in the name of spreading the gospel (or so they claimed anyway).

Unfortunately, peaceful relations with the Catholic Church weren't to last, as before long the Church decided that Japan was incorporating too many elements of Shinto and Buddhism and threatened the nation with excommunication. In response, Japan mailed a sword to the pope with instructions on how to commit Sepukku. China and Korea soon followed Japan's example and established their own state churches as well.

Though the Catholic Church still held saw over much of Europe, they still worried about the potential threat posed by the Orthodox powers and the churches of the Far East. Although the United Kingdom was a powerful ally they needed a backup plan. To that end the Chrurch put much effort into aiding the unification of the Holy Roman Empire. The balance of powers of the Holy Roman Empire were directly modeled off of those of the United Kingdom. However, Brandenburg didn't join the empire due to being part of the Polish-Lithuanian Empire.

Despite the best efforts of the Catholic Church, however, many nations, in the wake of an alternate Reformation of sorts, have established their own state churches or otherwise distanced themselves from Catholicism. Outside the United Kingdom and Holy Roman Empire the Catholic Church is considered something of a joke and no longer as powerful as in the past.

Denmark has established colonies in the new world as well. Nearly half of their colonists come from nations other than Denmark. This results in New Denmark having a very cosmopolitan feel to it.

The Dutch, owing to less religious conflicts, have remained united and have established colonies in the Gulf Coast and northern South America. Like New Denmark they receive many colonists from outside the Netherlands. Some of the colony's notable cities include New Amsterdam (New Orleans) and Albany (Shreveport).

Hispania has allowed Egypt to establish a joint colony in what would have been Virginia. Egypt agreed in order to get in on the trade New World goods such as tobacco and to be able to set their own prices on such goods.

Because of the role the Abyssinians played in the Crusades, many Europeans view Africans as their equals. This mutual respect has proved benefits to many African nations. The Wolof Empire has established a colony in what would have been French Guiana. The Swahili City-States have formed a loose confederation and are slowly becoming a minor trading power.

The Inca have managed to avoid conquest. Conflicts among early would-be colonizers gave them time to recover from the effects of disease. Though much of their empire would be lost they were able play the various powers off of one another to avoid being conquered.