Akhenaten: Dweller in Truth A Novel

Even if you have only a passing interest in Egyptology (and I can hardly claim that... only a few minutes of halting channel-surfing on the Discovery Channel), you will be drawn in to this well-written and engrossing book!


Akhenaten merits more than this...   January 9, 2003
Esther Nebenzahl (Cascais Portugal)
16 out of 17 found this review helpful

This book belongs to the first stage of Naguib Mahfuz literary production, a series of 40 novels dedicated to the history of Pharaohnic Egypt. Later on, he was deflected into a new type of novel, one that addressed social/political issues, the raw reality of his native country, and it is within this phase that we have him at his best ("Cairo Trilogy", "Children of the Alley", "Miramar", amongst others). Readers who are familiar with Mahfuz's outstanding novels might be disappointed with this one.
Akhenaten (formerly Amenhotep IV) was one of the most enigmatic pharaohs, one over which there is much historical, archeological, and mystical debate. Details about his life were purposely erased from Egyptian history as he was usually referred to as "heretic" or "rebel." Little can be said and affirm about him, and a good deal of supposition is what accounts for his life, deeds, and character. Was he in fact a victim of Marfan's Syndrome, which accounted for his peculiar physique? Was he a product of miscegenation and therefore had Negroid features? Was "Tut" his brother, son, or son-in-law? Over some aspects, historians seem to have reached an agreement: he was a visionary who implemented a monotheistic religion, had a new city built as the main center of his empire (Amarna), changed the traditional structure of the Egyptian society, and reversed Egyptian's foreign policy. In this revolutionary undertaking his main victim was the priesthood upon which power and tradition was based. The result was a general disruption of traditional patterns of religion, resistance from those representing the previous status quo, and the inevitable failure and death of the new system (including the Pharaoh himself).
The main character in the book, young Meriamum sets to understand the truth about Akhenaten by means of several interviews with a number of the Pharaoh's contemporaries (friends, his wife Nefertiti, the high priest, soldiers, etc). He is a passive listener, makes no attempt to ellaborate on the information given, and what is being told turns out to be extremely contradictory and quite repetitive.
By dealing with a historical character over which there is little factual evidence, Naguib Mahfouz could indulge in the realm of fiction, but by doing so he is further undermining whatever truth might be said about Akhenaten. There is no reference to the social/political/religious reality of Ancient Egypt. As a work of fiction it needs more structure, as a historical fiction it swims in shallow waters.
Leaving the fictional element aside, a much broader, academic and meaningful account of Akhenaten and his time is to be found in "Akhenaten: King of Egypt" by Cyril Aldred.


A fresh view of an old story.   March 17, 2001
Mary Whipple (New England)
10 out of 10 found this review helpful

In naming his novel Akhenaten: Dweller in Truth, Nobel Prize-winning author Naguib Mahfouz signals his belief that Akhenaten's views of religion, the same views that led Akhenaten to be called the "heretic pharoah," show him to be more a man of our times than a man of his own times. Akhenaten, formerly Amenhotep IV, changed his name to reflect his belief that Aten, the sun god, was more powerful than Amen (Amun), the traditional god of the Egyptians, the god served by a huge and powerful class of priests and recognized as the Most High by the large Egyptian population. Following a mystical revelation, however, he also came to believe that there was a god even higher than Aten--One God, the Sole Creator, who was a god of love, forgiveness, and peace. In this respect, Akhenaten became a pharoah whose beliefs made him seem almost "like one of us."

When Akhenaten eventually prohibited the worship of any god other than the One God, he showed himself to be a zealot more interested in promoting his religious views than in ruling his large and diverse country, more a priest than a pharoah. Whether he was right or not became less important historically than the chaos his views created--the people became fragmented, the priests became infuriated at their sudden loss of political and social power, the enemies of the country saw their opportunity to attack, and the foundation of law and order crumbled in the ensuing cataclysm.

Mahfouz examines Akhenaten's life from the points of view of more than a dozen of his contemporaries, including the High Priest of the new religion, the High Priest of the old religion, Akhenaten's wife Nefertiti, his teacher and counselor, his chief of security, and his doctor, among others. Each gives a fresh view of who Akhenaten was, what he believed, and what his legacy might have been. Mahfouz offers a fascinating, cautionary story of what happens when the ruler of a large and diverse country uses his position of power to impose new religious thought on a highly developed and traditional culture. Mary Whipple


Beguiling   November 12, 2000
M. H. Bayliss
9 out of 9 found this review helpful

Okay, I confess: I plagiarized the adjective beguiling from the back cover, but it was the best one word phrase I could come up with to describe this quirky book. In some senses, it reminds me of a detective narrative, a kind of Egyptian Oedipus who is searching for the "truth." The story in this case revolves around this monotheistic pharaoh and his peculiar religious leadership and reign. I'm not an expert at the history of the period -- my above reviewer points out several inaccuracies which if true would be disappointing to me. After reading 15 or so different interviews of those close to Akhenaten, some of the mysteries are resolved. It's a short read and quite a unique narrative that will transplant you to ancient Egypt. It's amazing at times how modern the narrative feels. How much really separates sexual escapades of someone like Clinton from those of the ancients? Not much as we see from our study of history. A bit offbeat, but a good read on an intriguing subject.


Utterly Fanciful   December 13, 2007
Gordon Eldridge (Southport, Australia)
8 out of 8 found this review helpful

It is difficult to determine what this novel is trying to be. As a piece of historical fiction it is utterly fanciful. Writers of historical novels must always choose from the evidence available to support their literary interpretation of history. In this case, however, Mahfouz (an otherwise talented writer) blatantly ignores the weight of historical evidence. Among other things, Akhenaten did not invent a new god. He decided that the worship of the Aten (a manifestation of the sun god Re) should prevail over Egypt's other gods. The city of Akhetaten was not abandoned before Akhenaten's death (at least it is extremely unlikely that this was the case). Evidence suggests that Tutankhamun initially reigned from Akhetaten. As these events are pivotal to the narrative rewriting the evidence is perhaps forgivable, but a historical novel must at least attempt to be true to the ideas of the period. What we have in this novel is the imposition of modern ideas such as freedom of worship, personal faith in God etc. onto the ancient world. These concepts had no place in the religion of ancient Egypt. Even if we allow that Akhenaten had experienced an epiphany which allowed him to create these ideas, the story hinges on them being part of the fabric of ancient Egyptian thinking.

It is possible that the novel is not really trying to be a piece of historical fiction. Assuming Akhenaten did hold deep religious convictions that differed from the mainstream of his time, the conception of the novel, as a set of interviews with both enemies and friends, is a potentially interesting way to explore the trials of someone in his situation. On this level the novel holds some interest, but the viewpoints expressed are somewhat simplistic. The idea has potential, but it just doesn't quite work.