Akhenaten: Dweller in Truth A Novel (Paperback)

by Naguib Mahfouz (Author), Tagreid Abu-Hassabo (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Nobel-winning Egyptian novelist Mahfouz (The Cairo Trilogy) appropriates, to wonderful effect, the craft of the biographer in these 14 elegant fictional testimonies on the brief but dazzling reign of the "heretic" pharaoh Akhenaten and his enigmatic queen, Nefertiti. First published in Arabic in 1985, newly translated into English, the narrative comprises many subjective versions of the early religious zealot Akhenaten's rule. Twenty years after the end of his reign, witnesses, royalty and relatives recount their stories to a young nobleman's son, Meriamun, who professes a passion for unearthing the truth. The particulars of Akhenaten's reign are unquestioned: the son of the great pharaoh Amenhotep III and Queen Tiye, Akhenaten is a sickly, irreverent and spiritually inclined young man who ascends the throne when his brother dies. Inspired by religious visions, Akhenaten scorns Egypt's traditional pantheism and declares his devotion to the One and Only God. When his fervor leads him to decree that his religion shall be Egypt's creed, the pharaoh offends the all-powerful priests and invites civil dissension and foreign invasion. Eventually, he dies alone in his deserted city. Some of the narrators remain sympathetic to Akhenaten, including the heartbroken former royal sculptor Bek, who designed the shining new city of Aketaten. The High Priest of Amun, on the other hand, bitterly rues the era of the "mad king," while Ay, father of Nefertiti and former counselor to Akhenaten, diplomatically vacillates. The record culminates with Nefertiti's impassioned confession, though intentionally readers are left wondering: Which point of view are we supposed to believe? The making of history, like fiction, dwells in its infinite ramifications, and Mahfouz, ever the masterly stylist, accomplishes his lesson flawlessly. (Mar.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
In a novel set during the eleventh century B.C., Mahfouz details the story of a young boy, Meriamum, who seeks to uncover the "truth" about the titular character, the recently deceased pharaoh. Akhenaten, Egypt's first monotheistic ruler, endured a controversial reign, during which he struggled to impart his divine vision to an unwilling nation. Armed with a letter of introduction, Meriamum is granted interviews with those closest to the pharaoh: a diverse array of characters that include the high priest, childhood friends, soldiers, a harem member, and finally Nefertiti, Akhenaten's wife. As Meriamum pieces together the disparate accounts, both he and the reader are given a fascinating glimpse of Akhenaten, a man compelled to follow his faith no matter how disastrous the consequences. Mahfouz populates his engrossing novel with characters that are believably human and flawed; their conflicts with religion and politics have a timeless quality to which readers will respond. Although some might complain that the content of the interviews often becomes repetitive, readers interested in ancient Egypt will find this book immensely appealing. Brendan Dowling

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Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Anchor (April 4, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385499094
• ISBN-13: 978-0385499095
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #49,212 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating and entertaining!, April 4, 2000

By	TiGr (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

Not being much of a history-seeker, I borrowed this after having it recommended by a friend who read it, and was startled by its immediacy and was easily pulled in to the story of Akhenaten. The framework of having the story proceed as the narrator, Meriamum, piece together the history through interviews, brought everything into believability, and somehow contemporary at the same time.

Even if you have only a passing interest in Egyptology (and I can hardly claim that... only a few minutes of halting channel-surfing on the Discovery Channel), you will be drawn in to this well-written and engrossing book!

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Akhenaten merits more than this..., January 9, 2003

By	Esther Nebenzahl (Cascais Portugal) - See all my reviews

This book belongs to the first stage of Naguib Mahfuz literary production, a series of 40 novels dedicated to the history of Pharaohnic Egypt. Later on, he was deflected into a new type of novel, one that addressed social/political issues, the raw reality of his native country, and it is within this phase that we have him at his best ("Cairo Trilogy", "Children of the Alley", "Miramar", amongst others). Readers who are familiar with Mahfuz's outstanding novels might be disappointed with this one.
Akhenaten (formerly Amenhotep IV) was one of the most enigmatic pharaohs, one over which there is much historical, archeological, and mystical debate. Details about his life were purposely erased from Egyptian history as he was usually referred to as "heretic" or "rebel." Little can be said and affirm about him, and a good deal of supposition is what accounts for his life, deeds, and character. Was he in fact a victim of Marfan's Syndrome, which accounted for his peculiar physique? Was he a product of miscegenation and therefore had Negroid features? Was "Tut" his brother, son, or son-in-law? Over some aspects, historians seem to have reached an agreement: he was a visionary who implemented a monotheistic religion, had a new city built as the main center of his empire (Amarna), changed the traditional structure of the Egyptian society, and reversed Egyptian's foreign policy. In this revolutionary undertaking his main victim was the priesthood upon which power and tradition was based. The result was a general disruption of traditional patterns of religion, resistance from those representing the previous status quo, and the inevitable failure and death of the new system (including the Pharaoh himself).
The main character in the book, young Meriamum sets to understand the truth about Akhenaten by means of several interviews with a number of the Pharaoh's contemporaries (friends, his wife Nefertiti, the high priest, soldiers, etc). He is a passive listener, makes no attempt to ellaborate on the information given, and what is being told turns out to be extremely contradictory and quite repetitive.
By dealing with a historical character over which there is little factual evidence, Naguib Mahfouz could indulge in the realm of fiction, but by doing so he is further undermining whatever truth might be said about Akhenaten. There is no reference to the social/political/religious reality of Ancient Egypt. As a work of fiction it needs more structure, as a historical fiction it swims in shallow waters.
Leaving the fictional element aside, a much broader, academic and meaningful account of Akhenaten and his time is to be found in "Akhenaten: King of Egypt" by Cyril Aldred.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beguiling, November 12, 2000

By	M. H. Bayliss "book queen" - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Okay, I confess: I plagiarized the adjective beguiling from the back cover, but it was the best one word phrase I could come up with to describe this quirky book. In some senses, it reminds me of a detective narrative, a kind of Egyptian Oedipus who is searching for the "truth." The story in this case revolves around this monotheistic pharaoh and his peculiar religious leadership and reign. I'm not an expert at the history of the period -- my above reviewer points out several inaccuracies which if true would be disappointing to me. After reading 15 or so different interviews of those close to Akhenaten, some of the mysteries are resolved. It's a short read and quite a unique narrative that will transplant you to ancient Egypt. It's amazing at times how modern the narrative feels. How much really separates sexual escapades of someone like Clinton from those of the ancients? Not much as we see from our study of history. A bit offbeat, but a good read on an intriguing subject.