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The Life and Times of Akhnaton, Pharaoh of Egypt

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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.

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.

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.

This is a great book amongst an exhaustive search of many literary works on Akhenaton.It is said he was a "fanatic or the heretic king".I strongly disagree. To challenge a powerful nation which was stagnant to get back to its spiritual roots is inspiring. This book though limited, give you a glimpse of a man whose consciousness rose to a level that made him feared.His influence is still felt amongst the biggest organized religons of today, though the adherents are oblivious.

The book reflects it's times - the comparatively early days of egyptology, when so many exciting new discoveries were being made, with the world crying out for enlightenment after the last decade of war and horror. And enlightenment was found, in the soaring hymns and artworks of Akhnaton's Court, which are beautifully described in this book. The downside - the author has drawn many conclusions from the then recent findings and some of those conclusions have since been discredited, including through the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922, the same year as production of this edition of the book. The author also has an annoying habit of moving from suppositions in early chapters, to treating the same points as facts in later chapters. But it is still a wonderful and well-written book, which conveys the author's joy in interpreting the elysian world of Akhetaton and the theological and philosophical innovations of Akhnaton. Arthur Weigall provides one end to the spectrum of views of Akhnaton (the rose coloured end), with Nicholas Reeves' more recent, more jaundiced view in "Akhenaten - Egypt's False Prophet" representing an opposing stance. As with so many things in life, the truth probably lies somewhere between. Both views can be respected - more power to those able to cast light on Akhnaton, an extraordinary individual.
A note for kindle users - the kindle version does not include the photos or plates that are referred to in the book, but it's still outstanding value for the price.

This book is quite interesting. This young Pharaoh and his mom-maybe 4 or 5 hundred years prior to the Exodus- took on the established and corrupted religiosity of his forebears(The Amon cult) to lead out in a monotheistic viewpoint in ancient Egypt. Did his beliefs, and original concepts lead to the theology of the Hebrews of Joseph and Moses? Perhaps. No one really knows, except possibly the God of Creation. The author espouses much of his own pieced together and most likely partial factual research, and creates a book which shares information and reaches some interesting and possibly groundbreaking conclusions. This is not the first book to come to these conclusions, but nevertheless, it is a tasty piece of perhaps eternal wisdom. "Aton" almighty!