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rec.arts.books.hist-fiction Archive
Selected Reader Recommendations
(Part 2/2)
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Table of Contents
(part 2/2)
10. Pharaoh Akhenaton/Ikhnaton
11. Lancasterian or Yorkish View on Richard III
12. Judge Dee Mysteries
13. U.S. Revolutionary Wars
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10. Pharaoh Akhenaton/Ikhnaton
Carter Lupton:
There are so many. I have at least two dozen major fictional pieces on
Akhenaten at home, ranging from a Russian novel of the '20s to
Agatha Christie's play written in the '30s to Philip Glass's '80s
opera through a sci-fi/fantasy approach that appeared about two months
ago. All have different points of view, philosophically and historically.
Rather than try to identify the "best", I'll suggest some of the more
intriguing: Allen Drury's "A God Against the Gods" and its sequel "Return
to Thebes"; Agatha Christie's "Akhnaton"; Pauline Gedge's "The Twelfth
Transforming"
There was even a musical play called "Nefertiti" produced in Chicago in
the '70s, but I've never tracked down a program on it.
Additional titles of interest include Joseph in Egypt, part of Thomas
Mann's Joseph & His Brothers quartet, which sets the Biblical Joseph in
the reign of Akhenaten. Conversely the recent Moses and Nefertiti by
Frank Gentile puts the Biblical exodus in Akhenaten's time. The Lynda
Robinson mysteries (3 of them so far) all occur in the time of Tut but
deal with political and historical issues relating to Akhenaten. Besides
The Egyptian film based on Waltari's novel, there was a 1961 movie, Queen
of the Nile, made in Italy, with Jean Crain as Nefertiti and Vincent Price
as the villain and Edmund Purdom (Sinuhe the Egyptian!0 as the sculptor
Thutmose, secret lover of the queen.
It was out on video years ago as Nefertete, Queen of the Nile. A major
Egyptian filmmaker was working on an Akhenaten movie when he died in the
'80s. I can't list all the books here but another worth mentioninmg is
King of the Two Lands, written in the '60s by archaeologist Jacquetta
Hawkes.
Elizabeth Skeith:
I can recommend Lynda S. Robinson's series of mysteries. I think the
first one (Murder in the Place of Anubis) takes place in the reign of
Akhnaton, but the next one (Murder at the God's Gate) takes place in the
time of the young Tutankhamun (aged 14). The sense of place seems good to
me, but I'm no expert.
Mary Shafer on Robinson's series:
They're extremely good, particularly as mysteries, which is where a
lot of the so-called historical mysteries really fail. I rummaged
though some of my slides from a 1974 trip to Egypt and found photos of
a hippo hunt mural that corresponded very well with her account.
They're both about Tutankhamun, as is the third, by the way.
Katherine Rossner:
A young-adult one I liked was "The Lost Queen of Egypt" (about
Akhenaten's daughter/Tutankhamen's wife, but set mostly during
Akhenaten's reign). I think the author was Lucile Morison.