During the Golden Age of the Middle Kingdom, under the long and prosperous reign of Pharaoh Amenemhat I, the land of Egypt thrived. The royal capital of Itj-tawy, located near the modern site of Lisht, was the center of the world's power and culture. Sinuhe was a loyal and distinguished official of the court, a man who served the royal harem and the hereditary princess Neferu with absolute devotion. He was well-integrated into the fabric of the Egyptian state, a man of status and comfort who understood the rhythms of the Nile and the intricate bureaucracy of the palace. However, his life was destined to be upended by a single night of terror and a decision made in the grip of blind panic.
The crisis began while Sinuhe was accompanying the king's son and heir, Senusret I, on a military expedition against the Tjehenu in Libya. The campaign had been successful, and the army was returning with many captives and great wealth in cattle. As the army neared the borders of Egypt, messengers arrived from the palace in the middle of the night. They did not come for the prince, but for the royal officials. Sinuhe happened to be in a position where he overheard the secret message: Pharaoh Amenemhat I had been assassinated in his bedchamber by his own guards. The 'Falcon' had flown to the horizon; the King of Upper and Lower Egypt had united with the sun disk and his divine body was merged with him who made him.
Upon hearing this news, a sudden and inexplicable dread seized Sinuhe's heart. He was not a conspirator, nor had he any reason to fear the transition of power, yet he was overcome by a 'panic of the heart' that defied logic. He felt as though he were no longer himself, as though a divine hand had pushed him away from his home. Fearing that civil war would erupt or that he might be swept up in the purges that often followed a royal assassination, Sinuhe did not wait to see what Senusret would do. He did not report to the prince. Instead, he slipped away from the camp under the cover of darkness. He fled southward, avoiding the main roads and the military outposts. He crossed the Nile in a makeshift boat without a rudder, guided only by the winds, and found himself on the edge of the eastern desert.
His flight was arduous and fraught with peril. Sinuhe moved like a shadow, hiding in the bushes by day and traveling by night. He reached the 'Wall of the Ruler,' a series of fortifications built to keep the Bedouin out of Egypt. He crouched in the tall grass, watching the sentries on the ramparts, and only crossed when he was certain he would not be seen. As he pushed deeper into the Sinai Peninsula, the harsh reality of the desert began to take its toll. Thirst burned his throat like fire. He collapsed in the sand, his tongue parched and his breath coming in ragged gasps. 'This is the taste of death,' he thought. But just as he was about to surrender to the sands, he heard the lowing of cattle and the voices of people. A group of Bedouins found him, and their chief, recognizing Sinuhe's noble bearing despite his bedraggled state, gave him water and boiled milk. This act of kindness saved his life.
Sinuhe traveled from land to land, eventually reaching the region of Upper Retjenu in the Levant. There, he was brought before Prince Amunenshi, a powerful local ruler. Amunenshi had heard of Sinuhe's reputation and asked him why he had fled the court of Egypt. Sinuhe, still unable to fully explain his own actions, told the prince that his heart had led him astray and that he had been moved by a power beyond his control. He spoke eloquently of the new Pharaoh, Senusret I, describing him as a god on earth, a conqueror without equal, and a man of great mercy. Impressed by Sinuhe's wisdom and his loyalty to the Egyptian crown despite his exile, Amunenshi welcomed him into his household. He gave Sinuhe his eldest daughter in marriage and granted him a beautiful tract of land called Yaa.