Myths, Legends, Books & Coffee Pots: The History behind A Taste of Evil (A Hani's Daughter Mystery) by N. L. Holmes

A Taste of Evil

A Hani's Daughter Mystery

By N. L. Holmes

Publication Date: October 30th, 2025

Publisher: WayBack Press

Pages: 247

Genre: Historical Cosy Mystery

In Tutankhamen's Egypt, the vizier's head cook dies suspiciously, and it looks like murder to Neferet and Bener-ib. Only, who would want to kill a cook, a man admired by all?

Perhaps he has professional rivals or a jealous wife. But she is the longtime cook of Neferet's family, a dear retainer above reproach. Was her husband the good man he seemed to be, or did he have the shady past our two sleuths begin to suspect?

They'd better find out soon before the waters of foreign conspiracy rise around Neferet and her diplomat father. If they can't find the killer, it could mean war with Egypt's enemy, Kheta -- and someone else could die.

Maybe one of our nosy sleuths...

***

The History behind A Taste of Evil (A Hani's Daughter Mystery) by N. L. Holmes

Although Neferet’s murder mystery is fictional, it is set in a real historical situation within the kingdom of Mitanni (“United Kingdom”)—or, as the Egyptians would have called it, Naharin (“Land of the Two Rivers”, namely, the Tigris and Euphrates).

Located in what is now “Kurdistan”—the juncture of inland Syria, southeastern Turkey, and northern Iraq— Naharin was one of the great powers of its day up until the early 14th century BCE. But by the middle of that century, when our story takes place, they had been essentially dismembered between the Hittite Empire and the rising kingdom of Assyria. Only a rump state still existed independently, ruled by a young king named Tushratta. Other members of the royal family were agitating to submit to the patronage of one or the other great power in the hopes of preserving themselves.

Egypt was the farthest away, but they ruled over a farflung empire and could be trusted to protect Naharin from its aggressive neighbors to the north and east. As an Egyptian vassal state, Naharin would have maintained at least the illusion of independence. But who were these folks who ruled a powerful empire so little known to us today?

The people of Mitanni were, from the fourth millennium at least, called Hurri, and Hurrian was their language. But their rulers in the imperial period took Indo-Aryan throne names, resembling those of northern India. They seem to be part of the dispersal of Indo-Europeans into the area around Persia and further east. Gods such as Indra and Varuna occur alongside the native Hurrian ones and the Semitic gods of their neighbors. A united kingdom indeed!

Unfortunately little is known about the Hurrians compared to their neighbors, simply by the accident of preservation. The only Hurrian texts we have were found elsewhere—in the Hittite capital, for instance—and deal with specialized topics like horse-training or music. (If either of those subjects interests you, check out my Empire at Twilight series which features a little of both, along with Hurrian characters.)

The Hurrian culture had a huge impact on the countries around it, including names, which were adopted by the Hittite royal family, for example. Their gods and myths were popular all over the Near East, and indirectly influenced Greek myths. Likewise, it was Mitanni that gave the region the horse and chariot, which revolutionized warfare everywhere in the ancient world. Horses became the luxury item par excellence, and chariot drivers formed the cream of elite society.

In Mitanni, this ruling class was known as the maryannu. Eighteenth-dynasty pharaohs took three Hurrian brides, two of whom went to Amenhotep III. King Tushratta was eventually assassinated, and after his death, the kingdom sank into a state of vassalage to Assyria. But in its heyday (16th-13th c. BCE), it was a great and feared power, which even mighty Egypt needed to treat with respect.

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N. L. Holmes

N.L. Holmes is the pen name of a professional archaeologist. She has excavated in Greece and in Israel and taught ancient history and humanities at the university level for many years. She has always had a passion for books, and in childhood, she and her cousin used to write stories for fun.

These days she lives in France with her husband, two cats, geese, and chickens, where she gardens, weaves, dances, and plays the violin.