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Akhenaten: Dweller in Truth A Novel
Download PDF Akhenaten: Dweller in Truth A Novel
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From Publishers Weekly
Nobel-winning Egyptian novelist Mahfouz (The Cairo Trilogy) appropriates, to wonderful effect, the craft of the biographer in these 14 elegant fictional testimonies on the brief but dazzling reign of the "heretic" pharaoh Akhenaten and his enigmatic queen, Nefertiti. First published in Arabic in 1985, newly translated into English, the narrative comprises many subjective versions of the early religious zealot Akhenaten's rule. Twenty years after the end of his reign, witnesses, royalty and relatives recount their stories to a young nobleman's son, Meriamun, who professes a passion for unearthing the truth. The particulars of Akhenaten's reign are unquestioned: the son of the great pharaoh Amenhotep III and Queen Tiye, Akhenaten is a sickly, irreverent and spiritually inclined young man who ascends the throne when his brother dies. Inspired by religious visions, Akhenaten scorns Egypt's traditional pantheism and declares his devotion to the One and Only God. When his fervor leads him to decree that his religion shall be Egypt's creed, the pharaoh offends the all-powerful priests and invites civil dissension and foreign invasion. Eventually, he dies alone in his deserted city. Some of the narrators remain sympathetic to Akhenaten, including the heartbroken former royal sculptor Bek, who designed the shining new city of Aketaten. The High Priest of Amun, on the other hand, bitterly rues the era of the "mad king," while Ay, father of Nefertiti and former counselor to Akhenaten, diplomatically vacillates. The record culminates with Nefertiti's impassioned confession, though intentionally readers are left wondering: Which point of view are we supposed to believe? The making of history, like fiction, dwells in its infinite ramifications, and Mahfouz, ever the masterly stylist, accomplishes his lesson flawlessly. (Mar.) Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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From Booklist
In a novel set during the eleventh century B.C., Mahfouz details the story of a young boy, Meriamum, who seeks to uncover the "truth" about the titular character, the recently deceased pharaoh. Akhenaten, Egypt's first monotheistic ruler, endured a controversial reign, during which he struggled to impart his divine vision to an unwilling nation. Armed with a letter of introduction, Meriamum is granted interviews with those closest to the pharaoh: a diverse array of characters that include the high priest, childhood friends, soldiers, a harem member, and finally Nefertiti, Akhenaten's wife. As Meriamum pieces together the disparate accounts, both he and the reader are given a fascinating glimpse of Akhenaten, a man compelled to follow his faith no matter how disastrous the consequences. Mahfouz populates his engrossing novel with characters that are believably human and flawed; their conflicts with religion and politics have a timeless quality to which readers will respond. Although some might complain that the content of the interviews often becomes repetitive, readers interested in ancient Egypt will find this book immensely appealing. Brendan Dowling
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Product details
Paperback: 176 pages
Publisher: Anchor; third edition (April 4, 2000)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0385499094
ISBN-13: 978-0385499095
Product Dimensions:
5.2 x 0.5 x 8 inches
Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review:
4.0 out of 5 stars
48 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
#353,544 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
First, the writing is spare and haunting: Mahfouz did win a Nobel Prize, after all. The different perspectives of each character's recollections lend a distinct Rashamon flavor to the story. However, there is another perspective, belonging to no character in the book, which I find illuminating.Many reviewers approach the book from a secular Western perspective, even though its author was an Egyptian muslim. As I understand it, Islamic tradition presents Muhammad as "the seal of the prophets", the final and complete revelation of God's message - but not the first or only. Thus, their tradition acknowledges several earlier, incomplete revelations of the message. In that tradition, Jesus is seen as a legitimate prophet, though neither complete nor final. One perspective on this novel is to view the character of Akhenaten in the light of this tradition: an early and incomplete prophet of God's message. He got the monotheism right, he got the importance of love and mercy right, but he let all his work be destroyed because he was pacifistic. He placed his trust in God and refused to defend either Egypt or his new religion. Ultimately, Egypt was invaded by opportunistic neighbors, the traditional polytheistic elites regained control (and legitimacy) by defending the country, and his (incomplete) revelation was largely obliterated from the record. It is interesting to note that there are various incomplete paraphrases of Muhammad's most famous phrases throughout the book, strongly suggesting that Akhenaten is supposed to be seen as one who got a partial glimpse of what Muhammed later saw completely.Of course, this is a novel, not a history book: do not expect a scholarly discussion of the real Akhenaten. For example, Nicholas Reeves' book claims that Akehnaten used monotheism as a tactic to seize power from the many priests serving many gods, and that the whole concept of "prophet" is just a secular propaganda trick to outflank other elites in competing for control of the malleable masses. However, I think it is clear that Mahfouz was not writing history but using Akhenaten's story as a vehicle to create beautiful prose and to tell a particular kind of story.I'm no expert, but I think that the more one understands the cultural context of the author, the more one can understand the unspoken overtones of phrases and anecdotes -- as well as the author's ability to rise above the narrow perspectives of his youth. As I understand it, the traditional Islamic view of ancient Egypt is one of unmitigated jahiliyya. Nevertheless, Mahfouz seems to be clearly implying that there was at least one leader of great wisdom and virtue then, even if he was ultimately crushed. When Sadat was killed, the first words of his assassin were "I have killed Pharoah", reflecting the widespread image of the pharoahs as deserving of death. Yet Mahfouz presents the pharaoh Akhenaten as receiving, understanding, and following God's guidance (incompletely). It is, to borrow a po-mo term, "transgressive" - if you compare it to Islamic traditional beliefs.At least for me, this interpretation added a new layer of complexity and nuance to both the details and overall arc of an already excellent novel.
This is a very well crafted and beautifully written book about the heretic king Amenhotep IV, better known by the name he gave himself in honor of his God, Akhenaten. The narrator of the story is a young man living decades after the death of the king. His father is a wise and respected man with a reputation for honoring Truth. The young man tells his father he wants to know the truth about Akhenaten, and his father tells him to go and find out the truth-- by talking with the people closest to him, who are still alive. The book is a set of recollections by these people, each with their own biases and fears and regrets about what happened. One would think this would make for dry and uninspiring reading but that isn't true at all. Through these individual stories, one gradually develops one's own vision of the life of Ankhenaten, his queen Nefertiti and the court in Akhentaten that rose up and fell into dust in less than 2 decades. The final recollection is the most powerful of all. The young man leaves with the imprint of the beauty and power and magnificence of the One God on his soul. And we as the witnesses to his journey to find the truth, become convinced of it too, as a reflection of what is best and finest in humankind. Egypt (and possibly the world) wasn't ready for the truth of Ankhenaten at the time but one might reflect that today much of Egypt follows the One God, whose name is Allah. Ankhenaten wins in the end.
I debated whether to give this three or four stars. It doesn't really deserve four, as (1) it's really little more than a novella and (2) it's by far not the best work of Naguib Mahfouz - and certainly not even close to the wondrous Cairo Trilogy. However, it deserves more than three, as (1) it's well written, as is typical of Mahfouz, and (2) it is an interesting way to convey history - or, rather, the lack of it, as Akhenaten remains a mystery. No one really knows whether Akhenaten was as crazy as an Egyptian bedbug or if he was a brilliant and sensitive proto-monotheist, and similar uncertainty applies with regard to his beautiful wife, Nefertiti. So Mahfouz adopts a Rashomon-like approach, describing each of them through the eyes of others, no two of whom agree on what they were all about.If I'm being charitable, Mahfouz deserves no less; he was an inspired and inspiring writer who has provided many hours of pleasure and thought-provoking literature of the highest order.
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