Crocodile on the Sandbank
Encyclopedia
Crocodile on the Sandbank is a novel
by Elizabeth Peters, first published in 1975. It is the first in the Amelia Peabody
series of novels and takes place in 1884-1885 .
Amelia, a determined and unorthodox English female, supports women's suffrage
and believes she will never marry. (She's convinced she is unattractive and will neither submit to a man nor rule one.) In Rome
she meets the destitute Evelyn Forbes, whose titled family have cast her off after she eloped with, then was abandoned by, an Italian art teacher. Amelia takes Evelyn under her wing and employs her as a companion. They travel together to Egypt
, where they encounter the Emerson brothers, Radcliffe and Walter, archaeologist and philologist respectively, and where Amelia falls in love with pyramids.
Amelia and Evelyn decide to travel up the Nile, stopping at various sites along the way. When they reach Amarna
, they discover the Emersons excavating the city which for a while was the capital of Egypt under the mysterious Akhenaten
.
Amelia and Radcliffe Emerson loathe one another on sight, but after he is taken ill and she helps to keep his excavation going, they grudgingly begin to respect one another. Evelyn is attracted to Walter, but is convinced she will never marry because of her soiled reputation.
Things get complicated when Evelyn's cousin Lucas shows up at the remote site with a story about her grandfather's death, his (Lucas') inheritance, and a proposal of marriage. Amidst the romantic entanglements and attempts to continue the excavation, Emerson and Amelia must also deal with the nocturnal visitations of a mummy
that walks moaning through the desert.
Once the mystery is solved, Amelia plans to stay in Egypt and conduct her own archaeological expeditions, with Emerson at her side...as her advisor and as her husband.
The tone of the novel (as well as the rest of the series) is humorous to the point of parody and pokes fun at many of the period's mores and stereotypes, as well as the sensationalist novels popular at the time.
lends authenticity to the settings and the history presented in the novel, particularly the method of travel by boat ("dahabeeyah") down the Nile
that was popular at the time, as well as the customs of the various cultures.
The love of my beloved is on yonder side
A width of water is between us
And a crocodile waiteth on the sandbank.
(Ancient Egyptian love poem, from the front matter of the paperback edition.)
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
by Elizabeth Peters, first published in 1975. It is the first in the Amelia Peabody
Amelia Peabody
Amelia Peabody Emerson is the protagonist of the Amelia Peabody series, a series of mystery novels, written by author Elizabeth Peters. Peabody is married to Egyptologist Radcliffe Emerson and has one biological child, Walter "Ramses" Peabody Emerson, who provides a parallel voice in many of the...
series of novels and takes place in 1884-1885 .
Plot summary
Amelia Peabody is left a wealthy orphan after the death of her studious father, who has left her everything in his will because she is the only one of his children who shared his interests, namely history and archaeology. The inheritance enables her to travel abroad in order to follow her enthusiasm for antiquities.Amelia, a determined and unorthodox English female, supports women's suffrage
Suffrage
Suffrage, political franchise, or simply the franchise, distinct from mere voting rights, is the civil right to vote gained through the democratic process...
and believes she will never marry. (She's convinced she is unattractive and will neither submit to a man nor rule one.) In Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
she meets the destitute Evelyn Forbes, whose titled family have cast her off after she eloped with, then was abandoned by, an Italian art teacher. Amelia takes Evelyn under her wing and employs her as a companion. They travel together to Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, where they encounter the Emerson brothers, Radcliffe and Walter, archaeologist and philologist respectively, and where Amelia falls in love with pyramids.
Amelia and Evelyn decide to travel up the Nile, stopping at various sites along the way. When they reach Amarna
Amarna
Amarna is an extensive Egyptian archaeological site that represents the remains of the capital city newly–established and built by the Pharaoh Akhenaten of the late Eighteenth Dynasty , and abandoned shortly afterwards...
, they discover the Emersons excavating the city which for a while was the capital of Egypt under the mysterious Akhenaten
Akhenaten
Akhenaten also spelled Echnaton,Ikhnaton,and Khuenaten;meaning "living spirit of Aten") known before the fifth year of his reign as Amenhotep IV , was a Pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt who ruled for 17 years and died perhaps in 1336 BC or 1334 BC...
.
Amelia and Radcliffe Emerson loathe one another on sight, but after he is taken ill and she helps to keep his excavation going, they grudgingly begin to respect one another. Evelyn is attracted to Walter, but is convinced she will never marry because of her soiled reputation.
Things get complicated when Evelyn's cousin Lucas shows up at the remote site with a story about her grandfather's death, his (Lucas') inheritance, and a proposal of marriage. Amidst the romantic entanglements and attempts to continue the excavation, Emerson and Amelia must also deal with the nocturnal visitations of a mummy
Mummy
A mummy is a body, human or animal, whose skin and organs have been preserved by either intentional or incidental exposure to chemicals, extreme coldness , very low humidity, or lack of air when bodies are submerged in bogs, so that the recovered body will not decay further if kept in cool and dry...
that walks moaning through the desert.
Once the mystery is solved, Amelia plans to stay in Egypt and conduct her own archaeological expeditions, with Emerson at her side...as her advisor and as her husband.
The tone of the novel (as well as the rest of the series) is humorous to the point of parody and pokes fun at many of the period's mores and stereotypes, as well as the sensationalist novels popular at the time.
Background
Elizabeth Peters' background in EgyptologyEgyptology
Egyptology is the study of ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end of its native religious practices in the AD 4th century. A practitioner of the discipline is an “Egyptologist”...
lends authenticity to the settings and the history presented in the novel, particularly the method of travel by boat ("dahabeeyah") down the Nile
Nile
The Nile is a major north-flowing river in North Africa, generally regarded as the longest river in the world. It is long. It runs through the ten countries of Sudan, South Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Egypt.The Nile has two major...
that was popular at the time, as well as the customs of the various cultures.
Title
The title of the book, like many of the Amelia Peabody novels, comes from an ancient Egyptian text:The love of my beloved is on yonder side
A width of water is between us
And a crocodile waiteth on the sandbank.
(Ancient Egyptian love poem, from the front matter of the paperback edition.)