The Life and Times of Akhnaton, Pharaoh of Egypt [Hardcover]

Arthur Edward Pearse Brome Weigall (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1970 | ISBN-10: 0804611025 | ISBN-13: 978-0804611022

Based on firsthand archaeological discoveries, this revealing biography examines the life of Akhnaton, who reigned as king of ancient Egypt from 1379 to 1362 B.C. Changing his name from Amenhotep IV to Akhnaton ("Aton is satisfied"), as a reflection of his religious conversion, he abandoned polytheism to embrace monotheism. His religion centered around the sun (Aton) and was brutally absolute in its zealous efforts to eradicate the worship of other gods. His choice of monotheism was not only motivated by spiritual devotion, but by an attempt to increase the power of the pharaoh. As most of his reforms were introduced with force, and disturbed the balance of power and influence, they were met with strong resistance. During his reign, Akhnaton moved the capital from Thebes to Amarna and neglected foreign policy. By the end of his rule, much of the Egyptian empire, including Nubia and Syria, had been lost, and he and his wife, Queen Nefertiti, were despised. Following his death, Akhnaton was branded as a heretic. The monotheistic Aton cult died swiftly and Egypt reverted back to its old familiar gods, but Akhnaton's reign remains uniquely fascinating as what is arguably the first incarnation of monotheism, predating Judaism by centuries.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A writer of considerable vivacity. (Thomas Hoving ) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Arthur Weigall (1880-1934) was a distinguished Egyptologist and author of biographies of Cleopatra, Marc Anthony, Alexander the Great, Nero, and Sappho. He studied hieroglyphics at Oxford: by age 24, he was appointed Inspector General of Antiquities for Upper Egypt and supervised excavations in the Valley of the Kings. During his career, Weigall made several important discoveries, mostly about the reign, life and death of Akhnaton. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 255 pages
• Publisher: Associated Faculty Pr Inc (June 1970)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0804611025
• ISBN-13: 978-0804611022
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,772,161 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must-have classical work !, October 22, 2000

By 

Jan Bleys, M.D., psychiatrist (Antwerpen, Belgium) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Life and Times of Akhnaton (Paperback)

Published first in 1910, this book' s price had jumped 5 times when it was republished in 1922. It was the necessary inspiration for Sigmund Freud's classic "Moses and monotheism". This is its first reedition in the 21 century. The author was at the time of writing Inspector-General of the Antiquities of Upper Egypt for the British Government, and was first-hand witness to the discoveries of the tombs of Pharao Akhnaton, of his grandparents, parents end children. The American Theodore Davis paid for the actual excavations in Tell El-Amarna et al., and published as their nominal director annual volumes about the finds. (It would be interesting to see these also reappear.) Most of the finds where brought to the Cairo Museum, except for the statue of his nice wife Nefertiti that was in Berlin in 1922. Written in a systematic, chronological but breath-taking style we follow Akhnaton's grandparents and parents, his birth and youth, his mysticism as Son of the rising-and-setting Sun, his foundation of Tell El-Amarna, his next 7 years, his death and the restauration of the old religious order under Tutankhamon, and his grave desecrated to rob his remains of his name. Special attention is given to his formulation as the chosen "High Priest of Aton" of the first universal, monotheistic and pure religion - "teaching" in Akhnaton's words - in the West, where the sun's warm caressing hands witness of God's love for his creation. His God asks only for sacrifices of vegetables - fruit and flowers, not of animals or humans. All is open, nothing occult. No ascetism, no mortification of the flesh, but enjoyment of all the goods of creation, in simplicity. We all can take an example of his family life as husband and father of 7 daughters, his love for beauty, for health and for plenty, for freedom of artistic expression. His beautiful and very poetic hymn to Aton was inspiration for Psalm 104. Under his rule the most beautiful and perfect art of Egypt was produced, close to human "truth", in daily life also condition for human happiness. In strong contrast Akhnaton had build his grave in a very gruesome place, but he was not laid to rest there. Akhnaton is today an example for peace-loving rulers, who refuse to rule a world empire with the sword. He was condemned as "criminal" by the later Pharao's for losing Syria as part of the Empire, but the love of his people lasted long after his death. He was one of the most loved rulers of history, ant thanks to this book he lives on as a beautiful and lovely man.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars AKHENATON'S DEFINITIVE BIOGRAPHY, August 8, 2001

By 

Paulo Schmidt (S. Paulo, Brazil) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Life and Times of Akhnaton (Paperback)

This is one of the first books dedicated to this extraordinary historical character, and I believe it to be the definitive one. All the others issued afterwards either dispute it or confirm it. None of them brings out Amarna's Prophet in such a lively, verisimilar and poetic way; none has inspired so many great works in literature, in movies and even in music. Freud's most polemical book, "Moses and Monotheism", in which he recognizes Akhenaton as the true founder of the Israelite religion, came after the reading of Weigall's work. So did "The Egyptian", by Mika Waltari, and the movie based on it, and Philip Glass' opera, and so on.

In a simple, straight and hearty style, Weigall gives us a coherent portrait of the young and revolutionary pharaoh, not in the least prejudiced against his biographee like Cyril Aldred's ludicrous set of incest theories or Donald Redford's distempered rubbish. Besides, Weigall's conclusion that Akhenaton's new art canons were a kind of renaissance - a return to the classical period of archaic days - is brilliant and elucidative.

It must be said that after this book was written, some excavations at Amarna brought to light many minor facts unknown to Weigall, such as the existence of an older brother, dead before Akhenaton's ascension to the throne, a possible co-regency with his father Amenophis III, a secondary wife named Kiya, things like that. And there is, of course, the issue of the mummy fervently acknowledged as Akhenaton's by Weigall, although not by most Egyptologists nowadays. But what of it? These are mere details about Akhenaton's life; Weigall captured his soul, and that, unlike evidences infered from ancient stone fragments and crumbling papyrus scraps, is going to last forever.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Victorian Archaeology, August 18, 2002

By 

R. Colwell (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Life and Times of Akhnaton (Paperback)

A fascinating account, if only to give us a flavor of how far the science of archaeology has come since the 1920's. Weigall makes fantastic leaps of logic better suited to fiction, and discards anything like the objectivity that would be required today before discussing an ancient historical figure. The author takes for granted that Christianity is the preferred religion of the ages and superior to all others, uses outdated notions of racial types that would get you a lawsuit today, and makes statements based on the now discredited "science" of phrenology. Things that we simply cannot ever know, such as the king's personality, mental health, motivation, and many other interior states of mind, are stated baldly as fact. Much that Weigall writes is now simply wrong, thanks to years of study since this book was written. For example, we know that Akhenaton was married to at least one lesser wife, and therefore does not qualify as monogamous. However, this is an interesting book and should be read as an influential piece of Victoriana. Don't make it your only reference on the subject of Akhenaton, however.