These elite troops did not reboard the ship, for they were issued new orders to disarm the local police force and take control of the city. Carefully, the huge vessel was maneuvered to the deep middle of the river, where its sails and imperial blue banners were proudly unfurled. O n their voyage to Thebes for the coronation, Ankhes and Tutankhaten no doubt saw an Egypt they never imagined existed beyond the confines of their childhood city. Its natural and manmade beauties formed a brilliant visual kaleidoscope all along the banks of the mighty river of life. They also saw the dismal culmination of the seventeen years of their father's rule.
Fields lay fallow and uncultivated.
Cities that were once beautiful centers of culture now displayed signs of neglect and deterioration. Temples were in a state of shambles, overgrown with weeds and clothed in angry public graffiti. No doubt the Chancellor Ay pointed these things out to them and explained the present situation in blunt terms. The country was in a state of chaos. Their father had allowed the military to deteriorate to such a low point that many of their former vassal states were now under the thumb of the hated Khatti.