By Naguib Mahfouz, Tagreid Abu-Hassabo
From the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature and writer of the Cairo Trilogy, comes Akhenaten, a desirable paintings of fiction concerning the so much notorious pharaoh of old Egypt.
In this beguiling novel, initially released in Arabic in 1985, Mahfouz tells with impressive perception the tale of the "heretic pharaoh," or "sun king,"--the first recognized monotheistic ruler--whose iconoclastic and arguable reign through the 18th Dynasty (1540-1307 B.C.) has uncanny resonance with glossy sensibilities. Narrating the unconventional is a tender guy with a fondness for the reality, who questions the pharaoh's contemporaries after his terrible death--including Akhenaten's closest buddies, his so much sour enemies, and eventually his enigmatic spouse, Nefertiti--in an attempt to find what quite occurred in these unusual, darkish days at Akhenaten's court. As our narrator and every of the themes he interviews give a contribution their model of Akhenaten, "the fact" turns into more and more evanescent. Akhenaten encompasses the entire contradictions his matters see in him: instantly merciless and empathic, female and barbaric, mad and divinely encouraged, his personality, as Mahfouz imagines him, is eerily glossy, and fascinatingly ethereal. An bold and enormously lucid and obtainable e-book, Akhenaten is a piece in basic terms Mahfouz may render so elegantly, so irresistibly.
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Additional info for Akhenaten: Dweller in Truth
Example text
The death of his brother shook Amenhotep and he wept for a long time. One day he said to me, “Master, my brother was pious, he frequented the temple of Amun, received his charms and fetishes, but still he was left to die. ” “Son,” I replied, “one's soul is immortal. ” That was the beginning of our many discussions on life and death. I was sincerely pleased with his insight and understanding in spiritual matters. The boy was clearly ahead of his years. I often found myself thinking that Akhenaten was born with some otherworldly wisdom.
One day one of my men asked to see me. “Even the sun is no longer a god,” he said. ” The news stunned me. The fate of the older brother who died was more merciful than the madness that had descended upon the crown prince. The tragedy had reached its climax. ” “No sun? No star? ” “Quiet,” I said. ” Toto asked angrily. “Let us not be hasty. We will wait until the truth is clear, then we will discuss the matter with the king,” I continued, my heart heavy with gloom. ” When the crown prince married Nefertiti, the eldest daughter of the sage Ay, I held by the last of all hopes— that in marriage, the prince would return to his senses.
Tey and Mutnedjmet accused the prince of heresy. Nefertiti, on the other hand, had no qualms about supporting him. Indeed she liked his ideas. “He speaks the truth, Father,” she whispered. Nefertiti was about the same age as Akhenaten and, like the prince, had matured beyond her years. Both girls had completed their basic education and home-making training. Mutnedjmet was good at writing and recitation, algebra, embroidery, sewing, cooking, painting, and ritual dance. Nefertiti excelled in the same subjects, but was not content with them.