Customer Reviews

Pharaoh's Daughter: A Novel of Ancient Egypt

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(26)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

As I was searching some Listmania lists for young adult fiction (looking a novel to assign my class), I happened to come across this one. The premise sounded great: telling a familiar Bible story through the eyes of a minor character. However, I was disappointed in some aspects of the book after actually reading it.

Julius Lester does some very good things in this novel: he stays true to the Bible AND somes as close as he can to presenting the actual historical period. When reading the author's notes at the end of the book, he explains some of the things he included (or avoided including) to make the book as historically accurate as possible. I also very much like the "God is orchestrating things; He has a plan" theme that runs through the book. It believe it would lead to some very good theological discussions. The rivalry (and reasons behind it) are revealed so that the Biblical story of Moses is put in an easily imaginable historical context. Finally, Lester's characters are highly developed and quite interesting.

Although this book is excellent for may reasons, I have decided against assigning to my students (5th) in the Lutheran school I teach in. One reason is that one of the main characters (a twelve-year-old) talks about her breasts too much for the boys I teach to feel comfortalbe with. Futhermore, being a male teacher, I don't think either the girls or I would feel comfortable reading such passages aloud in class. I know that as girls become women, the size of their breasts are important to them, but it seems as if the majority of the young adult novels I read need to have the main character harp on her breast size and her menstrul cycle. I'm sure Judy Blume is happy to see that so many current young adult novel authors have been influenced by her, but in following in Judy Blume's footsteps, authors tend to create a lot of books that teacher and his class can't read. I digress, however. Lester puts the breast-talk in a historical context; Almah discusses her breasts in such a way as to illustrate her maturity, her love for the sun, and her beauty. She is also naked (sometimes dancing naked) at some points in the book. If there were some passing references to her sexuality (or replace sexuality with beauty), the book would have been fine, but as it is, I would not assign it to my junior high students.

The Bible does not name the sister of Moses who watched him while he hid in a basket on the Nile, but the Hebrew word used describes a woman of marriageable age. Could Moses have had another sister? Julius Lester uses the viewpoint of this imagined--but very possible--sister to tell the story of the Habiru (Hebrew) and Khemetian (Egyptian) peoples during the time of Mosis' (Moses') upbringing in the court of Ramesses II.

The author uses ancient Egyptian and Hebrew words and names whenever possible to remove images of The Ten Commandments and Prince of Egypt from readers' minds. He asks us to consider that the story we've been told was from the view-point of the Hebrews, embittered by years of slavery; he asks us to consider the Egyptians anew.

The author attempts to give an historically accurate view of the New Kingdom of Egypt. In order to keep the story as authentic as possible, he has Mosis speak in an unusual way, attempting to create his "heavy of mouth and heavy of tongue" description from the Old Testament.

Stories are even more subtle than non-fiction and evoke even more emotion and can therefore be even more persuasive, especially to young minds that have not moved into the final stages of development, so this book should only be read by children who have entered the third and final stage of mental development (as discussed in _The Well-Trained Mind_.)

To Christian parents, this is a Biblical story told from a non-Biblical perspective. The point-of-view for most of the book is Mosis' sister, Almah, who embraces the gods and goddesses of Egypt, even becoming a priestess of Hathor. There is nudity in religious circumstances and lust is discussed briefly. Many characters argue in favor of many gods and the strongest believer in Ya (the Biblical God) is portrayed in a negative light.

Despite all the possible drawbacks, this book shines fresh light on the struggles Moses and his family must have gone through in his early life. It is also a great discussion starter. Have your mature thirteen or fourteen year old child read this along with a study on ancient Egypt, then discuss family relationships, different viewpoints (is one always right and one always wrong), can a god meet a woman's needs (or does she need a goddess to understand her), etc.

The author includes an author's note and a glossary in the back of the book. Read the glossary BEFORE you read the book; save the author's note for afterwards. In the author's note, Lester explains his purpose, some of the efforts he went through to be accurate historically, and the textual reasons he made some of the decisions he made. Very informative.

Summary: Mosis' part in the dialog may make this book seem poorly developed or for a younger age group at first--until you realize that Mosis is supposed to speak poorly and it is intentional. Instead, this is a great story told in an engaging way from a refreshing viewpoint which I recommend, but only for mature thirteen year olds and older. A sort of _The Red Tent_ for teenagers, without all the sexuality. This book touched me and I became misty-eyed towards the end.

When I first started to read this book I thought it would be more historical. It did give you some information but it also had a story plot to it which made the story so much more interesting to me. Almah, the main person, was a well developed person who loves adventure. Almah has a baby brother who eventually is called Mosis. Much of the ook was deciding wheter or not he wanted to stay with the Haribu, his people, or the people in the palace his adapative family. In the end Mosis makes his decision. I think that the book was well written and very informative. I think that most kids, teachers, and parents would like this book. I liked a lot on a scale 1-10 10 being the highest a would give it a 9.5. Pharaoh's Daughter was extemerly interesting I think everyone should read.

Pharaoh's Daughter is "a story of ancient Egypt". Actually, it retells the story of Moses. More so, it focuses on his sister, Almah. Unlike most Habiru (Hebrews), she speaks Khemetian (the language of Egyptians). She doesn't really fit into her family and her God-worshipping society, having been bored by her mother's stories.

Almah meets the Egyptian princess, Meryetamun, one day by the Nile river, just after Pharaoh Ramses II issues for newborn Habiru boys to be killed. Meryetamun faints when she sees a crocodile strike at one of the baby baskets, and Almah takes her to her home and Meryetamun finds out about Almah's own litte brother. Later she visits again and saves Almah's brother before the guards can get rid of him. She names him Mosis and passes him off as the gift of the goddess Eset (Isis). Almah and her mother enter the palace as well, and there, Almah finds her true happiness. She admires the Khemetian ways, though scorned by her mother. When Meryetamun's mother, the queen Nefertari dies, she is drawn to Almah's mother and the Habiru God, while Almah learns to love the Egyptian pantheon and the heartaching Pharaoh.

The second part of this story is narrated by adolescent Mosis, in which he observes the differences in his wide family and is pressured to choose which religion he prefers. Then the Pharaoh, his "Grandfather", issues a proclamation for all Habirus to work as slaves on his new temple, and suspicions are drawn to Almah, Mosis, and Meryetamun. Mosis is forced to act.

This novel provides a great insight to the world of ancient Egypt while enlightening us on the biblical story. The author's hard work and thoughtfulness are revealed in the writing as well as in the introduction and Author's Note.

The Pharaoh's Daughter is a book about a Hibru girl, Almah, who goes to live with her brother, Moses, in the house of the Kemetan pharaoh. It is about her life and Moses' and their feelings about living with the pharaoh. The first half of this book is told by Almah, and the second half is told by her brother Moses, so it is a bit confusing, but don't let that stop you from reading this book. The Pharaoh's Daughter is a fun and exciting way to learn biblical history. If you liked the Pharaoh's Daughter, then you will also like a book called The Royal Diaries: Cleopatra.

Excellent book with engrossing characters, but I would not choose to describe it as part of the Jewish tradition. The oppression of the Hebrews by the Egyptians is depicted as quite a benign form of oppression. More significantly the author's point of view is sympathetic to the Egyptian religious culture, which is certainly at odds with Jewish tradition. However, I do highly recommend this book as a work of historical fiction, especially valuable to readers with an interest in ancient cultures.

I loved the historical details of the time when Ramses was Pharaoh of Egypt. Julius Lester does a wonderful job of giving both sides of the story of the baby Moses who was hidden in a basket, found by the Princess, and raised at court as her son. The struggle Moses has to resolve between Jewish beliefs and those of the court have to be solved by Moses, his real mother and sister, and the Princess.

The story is familiar to us all, but the way with which Mr. Lester builds his characters reveals more than just the political facts. The result is a well developed novel with realistic, complex characters.

The Glossary helped reacquaint me with the correct Hebrew and Egyptian names. Mr. Lester's Author Note should not be missed for the insightes on how he developes the story from idea to completion.

This book is a wonderful gateway into ancient Egypt and the lives of the Ancient Hebrews and Egyptains. It is the only telling of the Moses story that that I have read, that does not make the Egyptians the "bad guys" and allows us to understand what may have been some of the socio-political realities of the time. I particulary recommend this book to young people and their teachers who are trying to make the bible more intersting and certainly to all students of Ancient Judaism and Egypt. It is also very nicely written and makes you think!

I got to read the book by reading its cover and I thought it was interesting so I bought the book and after I read it, I was amazed about the other part of Moses's family that no one else shared to the world.
The Pharaoh's Daughter was about Moses's sister, Almah, and she had always wished to be royal, without worrying about chores and babysitting her little brothers and sister. Then, the Egyptian soldiers planned on taking away all of the Hebrew baby boys and planned on feeding it to the alligators. Almah's family's only baby son, Yekutiel, wasn't planned on getting fed by alligators, so when the Egyptian soldiers started to evade the houses, Almah's family ran to hide Yekutiel in the safe bushes. Almah ran to look for a good hiding place and that was when her life changed. She had ran into an Egyptian princess and had dragged her into her Hebrew home and the princess's gratitude changed her Hebrew life. Princess Meryetamun decided to keep Yekutiel and named it after a god,Thutmosis, to protect Moses from the evil Queen Asetnefret. That was when, ALmah was addicted to royal and palace life. She met the king and was welcomed as a second daughter in the palace. Then, Almah actually became the daughter of King Ramesses and Princess Meryetamun became the daughter of Abba and Ima, Almah's parents.
I liked the book because it had another part of Moses's story that no one knew about and when I read it, I was so involved in the story that I read it more than 3 times! It was a brave and challenging story and that was what made me so inspired to read it more, I couldn't stop because I was too addicted pause at least one second!

I thought The Pharaoh's Daughter was an excellent book. I enjoyed it very much. The author did a very good job. I recomend this book to everyone who enjoys learning about how the people of Egypt live and what they go through. In conclusion, I thought it was very entertaining, and I recomend it to everyone.