The History Of the Lost Desert (Or Lack Thereof)

But what about the history of the Lost Desert? Although Meridell always has a historian with an empty book around, the Lost Desert is extremely picky with writing down history.

So what do we know about the history of the Lost Desert? I asked myself that very same question while waiting at Coltzan's Shrine. I bolted off to Sahkmet Palace to find myself some information. After scouring the tourist pamphlets, I realized it wasn't enough. I managed to get myself an audience with Advisor Wessle, and here I lay down the secrets of the history of the Lost Desert. Or at least, what Wessle let me know.

ROYALTY

Let's start with the royalty of the Lost Desert. The most recent King of Sahkmet was King Coltzan III. Obviously, being King Coltzan the Third means there are two other Coltzans on the family tree, perhaps his own father. His daughter, Princess Vyssa, is either now or will soon became the reigning Queen. For clarity purposes, Princess Vyssa will be called Princess Vyssa for the remainder of the article.

There is another Princess at the court of Sahkmet, however! Princess Sankara. She hails from the land of the Fourth Khonsu Dynasty, Khamtef. We can assume Khamtef is located in the Upper Mentu region. She was forced to flee her homeland when King Heksas of the Lower Mentu region attacked. Her father was King Sobek the Wise- he and his Queen perished in the war against King Heksas.

Also, there is several mentions of the Baron Nehlaki and the Princess Lightfoot, but I have found no records of these two other than in legends of King Coltzan III.

King Coltzan III was a brave warrior king who tried to expand his knowledge as much as possible. His ghost still haunts his shrine. He's a popular figure in Sahkmetian folklore, like the tale wherein he defeats the Sand Hydra of Khaef. Khaef in the beast's title might be a spelling of Khamtef in a different dialect or language, or indeed a word of a different language. I'm guessing here.

Obviously, Coltzan must have had a Queen, as he does have a daughter. My personal guess is that she must have been an Usul of nobility. As there is nothing written about her, I'm assuming she must have died quite young.

The court includes the Advisors and Senators, but they are political nobility, as they are the Royal Council. Senators and advisors are elected to the Royal Council by the people.

Unfortunately, we know very little about the early history of royalty in the Lost Desert. What about the very first King that founded Sahkmet, the region most Neopians associate with the Lost Desert?

He was Chen-Ra, Son of the Sun. He spent years in the desert, and finally settled in what would be known as Sahkmet. Weirdly enough, there's only a Trading Card of the first King of Sahkmet. How strange. Wessle wouldn't comment.

REGIONS AND COUNTRIES

Right now, I bet you're a little confused. Upper and Lower Mentu region, Sahkmet, Khamtef- where did all they come from? Isn't the Lost Desert just one country?

Nope. The Lost Desert we are able to visit is what is known as Sahkmet, the area under Princess Vyssa's rule. Apparently, the empires in the Lost Desert are nowhere near each other. Also, there's lots of high winds and sandstorms. Sahkmet is the most easily accessible region of the Lost Desert.

Khamtef is the nearest empire. It takes two weeks (!) to get from Khamtef to Sahkmet. Given, this measurement is taken from Princess Sankara's account of her escape to Sahkmet. Khamtef is possibly older than Sahkmet. We have no idea how many kings are between Chen-Ra and King Coltzan III, while Khamtef is in its Fourth Dynasty.

Khamtef also appears to be constantly at war with the Lower Mentu region. This leads me to believe Khamtef is located in the Upper Mentu region. King Heksas' country is never named in the articles I've read. Wessle said it was a stupid question when I asked.

This means there's a total of three empires in the Lost Desert- Sahkmet, Khamtef, and the unnamed empire of King Heksas. We also don't know what happened to Khamtef! Did King Heksas and his army destroy it? Did it disappear? Is it Dr. Sloth's new vacation spot?!

Most likely not.

SPECULATION

All the following are just ideas and speculation of my own about several things we don't know about the Lost Desert.

First off: Sahkmet Government. We have a monarch and a Royal Council. Royal Council members are elected, and the Council consists of Senators and Advisors. We don't know how many, or the ratio of Senators to Advisors. How the Royal Council is organized, I can't hazard a guess. One theory suggests that Advisor Wessle is the speaker for the Royal Council.

Secondly, Princess Sankara. Now it is fairly common knowledge she is the one who poisoned and killed King Coltzan III. Why, I don’t know. She did not give a statement that I know of. Perhaps she wanted to take over Sahkmet’s throne, or speed up the saving of Khamtef. Coltzan III did not seem to allow her to borrow or amass an army to march in and save Khamtef, which is currently, according to Sankara’s own article in the Neopedia, in the hands of the most evil King Heksas’ hands. Sankara’s current fate is unknown- most likely she’s a prisoner in Sahkmet for her most heinous deed, and waiting for her trial. It's quite sad- the Khamtef Dynasty has ended with her.

CONCLUSION

The Lost Desert has dropped tiny tidbits of its history in the Neopedia, for reasons unknown. Are they picky? Do they want to keep up an air of mystique? I gathered all these bits and pieces and still there is so much unknown about the Lost Desert. Hopefully, we're going to learn about it. Soon. Real soon.