Customer Reviews

Thebes at War

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I too looked forward to reading a book ABOUT ancient Egypt written not only by an Egyptian but by a Nobel prize winner for Literature. I guess then I too must blame the translater for the stodgy dialogue and descriptions. Style also seemed old fashioned which may or may not have to do w/ it being written in the '40's. I have read non fiction reports of this era and this war because my interest was piqued by one of my very favorite Egyptian historical novels the series: The Lords of the Two Lands by Pauline Gedge which I do very much recommend to anyone for comparison with this book.
Historically, no one can say if Ahmose had an affair with the king's daughter just as there are some fictional elements in Gedge's book.
Historians are also not sure if Ahmose was Sequenenra's son or grandson, apparently the records are just not clear. Gedge's books ( a trilogy) DO get into the roles of the Tao women (family name of the Theban kings) Aahotep, widow of Sequenenra apparently was for a time regent and was given the Golden Flies by King Ahmose, a seldom given award for MILITARY bravery. They were buried with her and are now in a museum. The mother of Sequenenra, Tetisheri, was also apparently involved in military stategy as well as in holding the family estates while the men were at war, for her as well as Aahotep King Ahmose later erected stalae stating their valuable contributions.
These facts, as well as photgraphs of Sequenenra's mummy with its 5 or more wounds to the face and head, any one of which would have been fatal, can be seen in several Egyptian history books, including Nicholas Reeves' book about Akhenaten when Reeves is laying the historical framework for the Akhenaten period.
One problem I had w/ the Mahfouz' book was his emphasis on the evil Hyksos being white skinned. Actually they were Asiatics, the point of course, was he was writing during WWII and this prejudicial and biased writing was probably aimed at British and other European colonists in many non European nations at that time. Nevertheless, just as other biased racial statements made 50-60 years ago are not "forgiveable" now just because "they came from that time period" these should not be either. He over and over again emphasizes the evil of the white skinned people and the purity of the brown skinned.
Ms Gedge manages to tell the same story without mentioning the minutae of skin color differences which were, as far as we know of THAT era, unimportant to them.
Other than that problem, which I do understand due to the history of his country and its' situation at the time, I enjoyed reading the book from his point of view, and wish I could read it in the original to find out if the prose would be better than it seems to be.

This book reads like a Young Adult novel, which might be one the reasons it is part of the curriculum for students in Egypt (per the introduction). The style was basic and the descriptions of battles was repetitive. I felt like I was reading a novelized version of an Ancient Egyptian palette. However that does not mean the book was horrible. It has its exciting moments. It is my first foray into a novel about Ancient Egypt and it helped as a springboard into understanding some history of the dynasties and periods of Egyptian history. You might find it a good introduction to Egyptian history that is not a stuffy academic text. However, as much as it is based in fact, it is not completely factual. One reason is that the whole history has not been uncovered and the other is that the book is in fact a novel.

I recommend this book but, before you read it, realize that the style is not what you would expect from a winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature.

The Hyksos people, from the Asian continent, were the first foreign rulers of Egyptian land. The story of the book begins at the time when the Hyksos, lead by their King Apophis, were occupying the northern part of Egypt and when Pharaoh Seqenenra was in rule of the southern part. The capital of Apophis was Memphis while that of Seqenenra Thebes.

Seqenenra is lured into war and gets murdered. The book chronicles the war from that point on till Seqenenra's grandson and Pharaoh Ahmose finally defeats Apophis, reclaims the entirety of Egyptian territory, and starts the New Kingdom. All wars were fought along the Nile, from the southern Nubian city Napata to the final stand off at the northern city of Avaris located in the Nile delta.

I picked up the book for two reasons. I wanted to get acquainted with ancient Egypt history before I embarked on a trip there. I also wanted to read Mafouz, the only Arabic-language writer to win the Nobel prize in literature to this date. The book turned out to be a bit of a disappointment. For one the story was told monotonically, as a sequence of descriptions of the cities and battles thereat on Ahmose's campaign to Avaris. The story of Ahmose's love interest with Apophis' daughter provided perhaps the only refreshing interludes. However even this affair wasn't delivered as convincingly as it could have been. Intentionally or not, the story telling sounded old.

I had learned from somewhere that Mafouz' prose is famous for its fluidity. If such is the case the translator of this particular book may be at fault. I plan to read Mafouz' Cairo Trilogy to find out.

Historically Incorrect to an Absurdity. Makes one of the greatest pharaohs look shallow and pathetic. While writing about a war, the greatest battles of antiquity were completely skipped! I wonder how an Egyptian author could write something like this. (Especially a Noble Prize winner!)

The author made pharaoh Ahmose to be a witless politician, bad husband, and a shallow patriot of his country.
For example, Ahmose's lands were conquered, his family forced in exile. 10 years later he returns with a large army to re-conquer what he thinks is rightfully his. He takes possession of Egypt with fire and sward, only to allow his enemy's royal family peacefully depart outside of Egypt's borders escorted by half of their army with all of their military equipment. After that he proclaims the war is over and calmly returns home. This would truly prove him a dull politician that does not deserve any respect.
Another nonsense: Pharaoh Ahmose is supposed to be a true patriot of Egyptian country and its people who cherishes deep hatred for barbaric hyksos that conquered his land and enslaved his people. However he gives all his affection and all his thoughts to a barbaric hyksos princess while having no bond, affection or any kind of relationship at all with his own wife, young and beautiful Nefertary, royal blood native Egyptian princess.
He orders his soldiers to slaughter innocent Egyptian women and children (including a noble lady, the mother of his best friend and best commander) that are used by hyksos as alive shields. However, when that very day Egyptians captured a hyksos woman he publicly ordered to spare her and even give her all kind of comforts... simply because he secretly desires the hyksos beauty. A man who cannot sacrifice his own lust in such a moment would never deserve any respect in the eyes of his subjects.
Such outstanding historical figures as Queen Warrior Ahotep and powerful Ahmose-Nefertary are barely mentioned in the book. The author skipped their achievements and significance completely. This is also true about the greatest battles of the antiquity: The famous battle of Avaris and the siege-battle of Sharuhem. Skipping the most important figures and events does not make a good historical book. In fact it is very disappointing.
The ending of the book is really dumb. There is no joy or pride or any excitement after the liberation of Egypt was achieved.
The first part of the book is so dry and boring that I completely understand why some readers gave up and did not finish the book. None of the characters were developed until much later in the book. None made you feel touched or affected in any way.
As for historical errors they are numerous! The author did not bother to do any research at all. I will mention just a few:
-Thebes were never conquered by hyksos
-Royal family could NOT flee to Nubia because Nubia is an eternal enemy of Egypt that especially aggressively attacked them at that time.
-"iron helmets" did not exist at that time. Iron was unknown to Egyptians for at least the few centuries afterwards.
-the pharaoh of Egypt in 1550 A.D. could not ask about the fate of the city named Ptolemais. Ptolemy was a Greek general who came to Egypt in 305 B.C. which is about 1800 years after the events we discuss.
And so on and so forth...
Honestly for a Noble Prize winner and also an Egyptian who claims to write "with love for Egypt and his people" this book is a disgrace.

This was a step-down from 'Rhadopis,' but, like the first translation in the series ('Khufu's Wisdom'), still a fair translation. Luckily, the thematic presence of this book is enough to distract the reader from the so-so rhetorical style. Mahfouz is working harder than every to use ancient Egypt as a center of political allegory. This work is very much a commentary on Mahfouz' Egypt. It was also interesting to see Mahfouz (or perhaps the translator) have the fallen dynasty describe themselves as 'slaves,' and paint this reprisal as an uprising for freedom. The parallels there will the Biblical account of the Hebrews are incredibly interesting.

I read this because I wanted to see what kind of writing "the winner of the Nobel prize in literature" was doing with ancient Egypt. You must read the introduction probably before and after reading Thebes at War. If you've wondered how the Hyksos were expelled from Egypt, this brings that history to life. The problem with it is that its very stilted in language and I'm not sure if that's how Mahfouz thought they spoke during this time or it simply reflects the very static art and artifacts from the period. It's an exciting tale once one forgets the ponderous dialogue and the hokey love story between Ahmose and the daughter of the Hyksos King. I also was taken back by the descriptions of color of the different peoples -- the white skinned, hook-nosed Hyksos - i.e. the middle eastern Mediterranean people who had crushed Egypt 200 years before. The honey brown Egyptians (Good guys) and the black pygmies. This is probably a reflection of the time Mahfouz wrote this in 1944 when the British really ruled Egypt. If you can forgive the previous, its an imaginative tale of how the Egyptians got rid of the Hyksos.