Call number
FIC MAH
Collection
Genres
Publication
Anchor (2000), Edition: third, 176 pages
Description
From the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature and author of the Cairo Trilogy, comes Akhenaten, a fascinating work of fiction about the most infamous pharaoh of ancient Egypt. In this beguiling novel, originally published in Arabic in 1985, Mahfouz tells with extraordinary insight the story of the "heretic pharaoh," or "sun king,"--the first known monotheistic ruler--whose iconoclastic and controversial reign during the 18th Dynasty (1540-1307 B.C.) has uncanny resonance with modern sensibilities. Narrating the novel is a young man with a passion for the truth, who questions the pharaoh's contemporaries after his horrible death--including Akhenaten's closest friends, his most bitter enemies, and finally his enigmatic wife, Nefertiti--in an effort to discover what really happened in those strange, dark days at Akhenaten's court. As our narrator and each of the subjects he interviews contribute their version of Akhenaten, "the truth" becomes increasingly evanescent. Akhenaten encompasses all of the contradictions his subjects see in him: at once cruel and empathic, feminine and barbaric, mad and divinely inspired, his character, as Mahfouz imagines him, is eerily modern, and fascinatingly ethereal. An ambitious and exceptionally lucid and accessible book, Akhenaten is a work only Mahfouz could render so elegantly, so irresistibly.… (more)
Subjects
Media reviews
Nagib Machfus ist ein Erzähler in einem sehr ursprünglichen Sinne dieses Wortes: Er schreibt Geschichten, die sich Menschen gegenseitig erzählen, die sich wie ein pluralistisches Puzzle zur Wirklichkeit zusammenfügen und am Ende geschichtete Wahrheit bilden. Machfus, 1988 Arabiens erster
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Literatur-Nobelpreisträger, ist nicht nur Schriftsteller, sondern auch einer der bedeutendsten Kulturkritiker seines Landes. Und so ist Echnaton nicht nur ein historischer Roman. Thomas Mann hat schon in den 40er Jahren Echnatons Glaubensrevolution im Roman "Joseph und seine Brüder" zu einem Akt der Aufklärung stilisiert. Mit Joseph an seiner Seite wurde Echnaton zu einer Symbolfigur des Humanismus, die Mann im Exils der Herrschaft der Nationalsozialisten entgegenstellen wollte. Machfus schreibt mit der Geschichte des wahrheitsliebenden Pharao auch eine Parabel über das moderne Ägypten mit seinem religiösen Fanatismus und der Machtgier seiner Führungseliten. Damit ist dieser Roman, der im Original schon 1985 erschien, heute aktueller denn je. Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member kashicat
I liked and didn't like this book. Maybe something got lost in translation, but I don't think that's the only reason I found it a bit flat.
I like the format: interview all the main players, and some minor ones, who surrounded the "heretic" Pharaoh Akhenaten during his rule and downfall. Each tells
This "tailoring" of the story is most clear in the stories of the political players -- characters like the High Priest of Amun, or Horemhab, or Ay. If the reader knows that both Ay and Horemhab (or Horemheb) became Pharaohs in their turn after Tutankhamun died, the eyebrows are raised pretty high at these men's protestation of devotion to Akhenaten, and their claims that they only abandoned him to save his life and save the kingdom.
Meanwhile, the ones who don't seem to tailor their story are the fervent believers. Toto, a priest of Amun who infiltrated Akhenaten's court, couldn't care less how he comes across; he's just so sure of his own righteousness that he barrels along, spewing hatred with every breath. Meri-Ra, who had been high priest of Akhenaten's god, still believes in that god. This is potentially dangerous, so one suspects that he, too, is being honest. The reader feels that these two, at least, might give some clue to the "real" story, if only their accounts can be reconciled.
The blurb on the book claims that "Akhenaten emerges as a charismatic enigma," but in fact it is Nefertiti whose role is most intriguing. Every narrator has an opinion about her, positive or negative, and opinions about her faith or lack of it, her fidelity or lack of it, and so on. Every narrator acknowledges that she was very politically astute, but everything else is left open. More and more, the reader looks forward to the final interview, with Nefertiti herself.
And here's where I had the problem. Meri-Ra, Akhenaten's hight priest, tells the interviewer, "You did not start this journey for no reason." I expected that not only would there be some climax of informtion during the interview with Nefertiti, but that we would learn something pertinent about the interviewer himself. I actually suspected we might find out that he was Moses (even though the timeline would have been somewhat off).
Yet nothing happened. Nefertiti, like all the others, told her story, made herself look good, and didn't resolve anything or bring up any intriguing twist to make the reader rethink anything. So the entire book was narration. stop. narration. stop. narration. stop. final stop. The exercise was interesting, to watch so many people describe the same events so differently. But in the end, it just dropped flat.
I like the format: interview all the main players, and some minor ones, who surrounded the "heretic" Pharaoh Akhenaten during his rule and downfall. Each tells
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the story from his or her viewpoint, and soon the reader realizes that almost every narrator is colouring the story to make him or herself look good. You begin to read subsequent narrations sceptically, and start trying to piece together the "real" story. This is Mahfouz's intention: to let the reader decide whose version is "right."This "tailoring" of the story is most clear in the stories of the political players -- characters like the High Priest of Amun, or Horemhab, or Ay. If the reader knows that both Ay and Horemhab (or Horemheb) became Pharaohs in their turn after Tutankhamun died, the eyebrows are raised pretty high at these men's protestation of devotion to Akhenaten, and their claims that they only abandoned him to save his life and save the kingdom.
Meanwhile, the ones who don't seem to tailor their story are the fervent believers. Toto, a priest of Amun who infiltrated Akhenaten's court, couldn't care less how he comes across; he's just so sure of his own righteousness that he barrels along, spewing hatred with every breath. Meri-Ra, who had been high priest of Akhenaten's god, still believes in that god. This is potentially dangerous, so one suspects that he, too, is being honest. The reader feels that these two, at least, might give some clue to the "real" story, if only their accounts can be reconciled.
The blurb on the book claims that "Akhenaten emerges as a charismatic enigma," but in fact it is Nefertiti whose role is most intriguing. Every narrator has an opinion about her, positive or negative, and opinions about her faith or lack of it, her fidelity or lack of it, and so on. Every narrator acknowledges that she was very politically astute, but everything else is left open. More and more, the reader looks forward to the final interview, with Nefertiti herself.
And here's where I had the problem. Meri-Ra, Akhenaten's hight priest, tells the interviewer, "You did not start this journey for no reason." I expected that not only would there be some climax of informtion during the interview with Nefertiti, but that we would learn something pertinent about the interviewer himself. I actually suspected we might find out that he was Moses (even though the timeline would have been somewhat off).
Yet nothing happened. Nefertiti, like all the others, told her story, made herself look good, and didn't resolve anything or bring up any intriguing twist to make the reader rethink anything. So the entire book was narration. stop. narration. stop. narration. stop. final stop. The exercise was interesting, to watch so many people describe the same events so differently. But in the end, it just dropped flat.
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LibraryThing member tgsalter
The story of this heretic's life, told through the voices of those who knew him -- given the fact that so little is known, the author has structured an interesting portrait.
LibraryThing member Cynara
I started this book a little reluctantly; I've never been one of those who are fascinated by the heretic pharaoh, and The Egyptian turned me off silly imagined reconstructions of the period.
I was very pleasantly surprised to be instantly involved in the story of the young scribe who seeks out &
There was only one, forgivable error - the Egyptians went to great lengths to erase the memory of Akhenaton - deserting his city, removing him (and the following two kings) from the lists of Egypt's kings, defacing his tomb, and removing his name wherever they could find it engraved. It isn't credible that a proper Egyptian father would encourage his son to dig the story up and record it for posterity. Still, without that, there would be no story, and that would have been a terrible shame. I'm sure I'll return to this book several times.
I was very pleasantly surprised to be instantly involved in the story of the young scribe who seeks out &
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interviews the main players of the Amarna age. Mahfouz obviously researched the period intensely, and his ancient Egyptians are very believable. The contrasting voices of his characters make this a delightful read. There was only one, forgivable error - the Egyptians went to great lengths to erase the memory of Akhenaton - deserting his city, removing him (and the following two kings) from the lists of Egypt's kings, defacing his tomb, and removing his name wherever they could find it engraved. It isn't credible that a proper Egyptian father would encourage his son to dig the story up and record it for posterity. Still, without that, there would be no story, and that would have been a terrible shame. I'm sure I'll return to this book several times.
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LibraryThing member LisaMaria_C
This is a slight, slim work, in more ways than one. Only 168 pages and very spare in style, I read this novella in little more than two hours, but I didn't feel it had much impact--it felt too lightweight to me. Akhenaten has been called the first monotheist--he's a terribly important historical
I think it's something in how he frames the tale, for all that it's not all that simple, and does draw you into the questions of what is the truth, it kept me at a distance. It's framed as the first person account of a young Egyptian, Meriamun, who, seeing the haunting ruins of the "city of the heretic" is moved to go among those who can still remember Akhenaten, and ask them to tell their stories. Although from time to time we get his impression of those he interviews, the novel is largely taken up with the different accounts of people as told to him years after the fact. That means I never felt truly immersed in what happens.
That doesn't mean that the approach doesn't have its fascinations. We get the views of those who hated the heretic pharaoh--the high priest of Amun, a neglected wife in his harem, his sister-in-law, and so obviously are they filled with malice, it's easy to dismiss their accounts of Akhenaten as "perverse," "mad" and "weak." It's also easy to accept much of what we're told by those who loved him, particularly since there is no benefit to them now to show any devotion to the dead heretic. They describe him as brilliant, "sweet" and a "noble soul."
Even so, there are aspects of this composite portrait that don't ring true to me, and make me wonder at Mahfouz's intentions. Mahfouz was himself a believing Muslim, one who spoke up for peace. So in painting this portrait of this man who believes in the "one and only God"--a god of "love, peace, and joy" I can imagine he sees in Akhenaten a forerunner of Muhammad.
But this I'm sure of--you can't ban religions other than your own, and have peace. And you can't be a ruler of an empire without force. You can't build an entire new city in a short space as Akhenaten did without forced labor and heavy taxes. I know of too many times in history where regimes have tried to force radical changes on the way of life of millions in the name of high ideals--whether it be Revolutionary France or Mao's "Great Leap Forward," they've all led to plenty of bloodshed. So the picture of this radical yet pacifistic pharaoh doesn't make sense to me. There's a great panoply of portraits of Akhenaten here--and I'm not sure I believe in any of them--something feels left out. Although maybe that's Mahfouz's intention.
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figure and Ancient Egypt is to me a fascinating culture. Naguib Mahfouz for his part is a celebrated author--a Nobel Prize Winner. So I'm surprised I only liked this rather than loved it.I think it's something in how he frames the tale, for all that it's not all that simple, and does draw you into the questions of what is the truth, it kept me at a distance. It's framed as the first person account of a young Egyptian, Meriamun, who, seeing the haunting ruins of the "city of the heretic" is moved to go among those who can still remember Akhenaten, and ask them to tell their stories. Although from time to time we get his impression of those he interviews, the novel is largely taken up with the different accounts of people as told to him years after the fact. That means I never felt truly immersed in what happens.
That doesn't mean that the approach doesn't have its fascinations. We get the views of those who hated the heretic pharaoh--the high priest of Amun, a neglected wife in his harem, his sister-in-law, and so obviously are they filled with malice, it's easy to dismiss their accounts of Akhenaten as "perverse," "mad" and "weak." It's also easy to accept much of what we're told by those who loved him, particularly since there is no benefit to them now to show any devotion to the dead heretic. They describe him as brilliant, "sweet" and a "noble soul."
Even so, there are aspects of this composite portrait that don't ring true to me, and make me wonder at Mahfouz's intentions. Mahfouz was himself a believing Muslim, one who spoke up for peace. So in painting this portrait of this man who believes in the "one and only God"--a god of "love, peace, and joy" I can imagine he sees in Akhenaten a forerunner of Muhammad.
But this I'm sure of--you can't ban religions other than your own, and have peace. And you can't be a ruler of an empire without force. You can't build an entire new city in a short space as Akhenaten did without forced labor and heavy taxes. I know of too many times in history where regimes have tried to force radical changes on the way of life of millions in the name of high ideals--whether it be Revolutionary France or Mao's "Great Leap Forward," they've all led to plenty of bloodshed. So the picture of this radical yet pacifistic pharaoh doesn't make sense to me. There's a great panoply of portraits of Akhenaten here--and I'm not sure I believe in any of them--something feels left out. Although maybe that's Mahfouz's intention.
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LibraryThing member William345
On the Nile at full seasonal flood, the narrator, Meriamun, and his father drift past the abandoned city of Akhetaten, Pharoah Akhenaten's once beautiful capital, which he had created after abandoning Thebes. The son asks the father, who is connected at court, to write letters of reference for him
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so that he might interview those who were involved with the "heretic" king. Mahfouz is admirably swift in establishing the core conflict. Amun is the main God of Egypt, but after Akhenaten's beloved brother dies in the face of Amun's perceived indifference Akhenaten turns to Aten, the sun god. He becomes a zealous monotheist among politically connected polytheists. Not only that, but he prohibits religious pluralism and disperses the priesthoods and assets of the old gods. Now all of Amun's very powerful priests are out on their ears and they are not pleased. When Akhenaten's father dies he ascends to Pharoah and all his new ministers are more than happy to swear alliegiance to Aten. When reports arrive that enemies are attacking the borders, and corruption is overtaking his officials, the new king discounts the news by saying that his "love" has yet to have its effect. "Soon you will see the tree of love heavy with fruit," he says. There is an intimation of homosexuality, perhaps none more stark than that last phrase, but it's beside the point. Akhenaten is a kind of a second millenium BC prophet, in contact with his one god, while all around him the people high and low indulge their polytheistic beliefs. His message of victorious love seems like something from the Summer of Love. It's at such moments that one wonders how close Mahfouz hews to the archaeological record. Multiple first-person narrators tell the story of the "heretic" king. Some love him, some hate him, but all are in one way or another biased. It is the reader's job to sort out the real Akhenaten from all this passionate distortion. Show Less
LibraryThing member starbox
"Pass no judgment upon a matter until you have heard all testimonies"
By sally tarbox on 6 October 2017
Format: Kindle Edition
"Pass no judgment upon a matter until you have heard all testimonies"
By sally tarbox on 6 October 2017
Format: Paperback
An interesting novel narrated by a fictitious young man
In short chapters he interviews a succession of witnesses - various priests, officials and family members, culminating with his wife Nefertiti. The basic facts are reiterated repeatedly - Akhenaten became obsessed with religion in his youth, finally demanding that the Egyptians replace their pantheon of gods with the One and Only God - a deity who has much in common with the Christian image of a God of love.
Though the facts are similar, the interpretations of his conduct are very different. The priests of Amun accuse him of insanity and depravity; much is made of his feminine appearance. Some think it was all a sham to wrest power away from the Establishment.
For some, on the other hand, Akhenaten is a Christ-like figure as he attempts to introduce true worship without violence. Pure natured, a man who claims to have had a divine visitation...
An interesting look at history but also a reflection on the almost impossibility of finding out the truth.
By sally tarbox on 6 October 2017
Format: Kindle Edition
"Pass no judgment upon a matter until you have heard all testimonies"
By sally tarbox on 6 October 2017
Format: Paperback
An interesting novel narrated by a fictitious young man
Show More
in Ancient Egypt who is trying to find out the facts about the recently deposed 'heretic' pharaoh Akhenaten.In short chapters he interviews a succession of witnesses - various priests, officials and family members, culminating with his wife Nefertiti. The basic facts are reiterated repeatedly - Akhenaten became obsessed with religion in his youth, finally demanding that the Egyptians replace their pantheon of gods with the One and Only God - a deity who has much in common with the Christian image of a God of love.
Though the facts are similar, the interpretations of his conduct are very different. The priests of Amun accuse him of insanity and depravity; much is made of his feminine appearance. Some think it was all a sham to wrest power away from the Establishment.
For some, on the other hand, Akhenaten is a Christ-like figure as he attempts to introduce true worship without violence. Pure natured, a man who claims to have had a divine visitation...
An interesting look at history but also a reflection on the almost impossibility of finding out the truth.
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LibraryThing member jonfaith
It is a sky laden with clouds of contradictions.
This book dipped down and restored me when I felt empty. It floated past, a tacit invitation to climb aboard. The subject is both ancient and timeless. A pharaoh catches the bug of a new religion and insists everyone join him. Everyone from the
Rumor runs amok.
Incest.
Treason.
Heresy.
Eventually after all has went to hell, Akhenaten is dead and order restored, a young aristocrat wants to discover the truth. He goes to interview the survivors. Very Citizen Kane. Mahfouz is amazing here, broaching state religion in a context almost four thousand years old but with a deft touch. The novel is almost an oral transcription. There isn't detail. There's just a Rashomon of Richard III----or maybe an aside on life under Nasser.
This book dipped down and restored me when I felt empty. It floated past, a tacit invitation to climb aboard. The subject is both ancient and timeless. A pharaoh catches the bug of a new religion and insists everyone join him. Everyone from the
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generals and the priests on down bristle; most find that the man, the titular Akhenaten, has lost it. They also blame his queen Nefertiti. Rumor runs amok.
Incest.
Treason.
Heresy.
Eventually after all has went to hell, Akhenaten is dead and order restored, a young aristocrat wants to discover the truth. He goes to interview the survivors. Very Citizen Kane. Mahfouz is amazing here, broaching state religion in a context almost four thousand years old but with a deft touch. The novel is almost an oral transcription. There isn't detail. There's just a Rashomon of Richard III----or maybe an aside on life under Nasser.
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LibraryThing member janerawoof
A young man wishes to find out the truth about Akhenaten, the monotheistic pharaoh, whose new faith in the god Aten, did not outlast him or the beautiful city he had built in the god's honor. With a letter of introduction to various erstwhile members of the court, the narrator gets a more complete
Recommended. A smooth translation and a quick read.
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picture of Akhenaten. Each person whom he interviews and tells their impressions of the man, has a different opinion about the man and various facets of his life. Some, such as Ay, the counsellor, and the Aten high priest have nothing but good to say. Others, although they had given lip service to that religion, denigrated him after his death, calling him insane. Each has a different theory on why his wife, the beautiful Nefertiti, left him. Some felt he had died of natural causes and others, that he had been murdered. Sort of a Rashomon-type story set in ancient Egypt. Recommended. A smooth translation and a quick read.
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LibraryThing member TheTrueBookAddict
This is the story of the ancient Egyptian pharaoh, Akhenaten, related to a young man by each person who was close to, or who served, the pharaoh. I couldn't help but be reminded of the current state of American politics. Everyone tells a different story. Every single person had a differing opinion
I would really like to read other books by Mahfouz, as I'm thinking this probably isn't his best. I mean, it was interesting enough, but the many points of view relating the story made character development difficult...and I'm a big fan of character development. I'm not saying I disliked the book immensely, but I have read other historical novels about various ancient Egyptian royalty and found them much more interesting.
That being said, historical fiction always leaves me wishing I could travel back and find out the real story. A fly on the wall, so to speak. As Akhenaten's life is somewhat of a mystery compared to other pharaohs (due to his name, etc. being obliterated because he was judged a heretic), I especially wish I could learn the truth about him.
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on Akhenaten. So, who do you believe? The one consistent thread among all was that he had a strange appearance and that his faith in the One God was unwavering. I would really like to read other books by Mahfouz, as I'm thinking this probably isn't his best. I mean, it was interesting enough, but the many points of view relating the story made character development difficult...and I'm a big fan of character development. I'm not saying I disliked the book immensely, but I have read other historical novels about various ancient Egyptian royalty and found them much more interesting.
That being said, historical fiction always leaves me wishing I could travel back and find out the real story. A fly on the wall, so to speak. As Akhenaten's life is somewhat of a mystery compared to other pharaohs (due to his name, etc. being obliterated because he was judged a heretic), I especially wish I could learn the truth about him.
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LibraryThing member kslade
OK but hard to deal with. Several conflicting accounts.
Pages
176
ISBN
0385499094 / 9780385499095