Akhenaten: Dweller in Truth A Novel

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.

AKHETATEN: DWELLER IN TRUTH is a deceptively simple novel that bears more than one reading. Its ancient Egyptian narrator, Meriamun, sets out to discover the truth of Akhenaten's rule soon after the heretical pharoah has died, but while many of his contemporaries are still alive. With a letter of introduction from his influential father, he interviews the High Priest of Amun, the god abolished by Akhenaten, and Haremhab, the chief of state security, both of whom had reason to oppose the new pharoah; also Meri-Ra, the high priest of the new religion; Ay the Sage, Akhenaten's councelor and father of Nefertiti; and several others, including a woman from the harem. Each interview forms a chapter, and each contemporary tells a different version of the same events. As we read from chapter to chapter, we see these events shifting and revolving around the enigmatic role of Nefertiti, Akhenaten's beautiful wife, whom the narrator saves for the last and longest interview.The whole thing might be merely a clever literary play, a variation on the device of Akutagawa's story "In a Grove" (a device made famous by the movie "Roshomon"), in which different eyewitness accounts of a murder are mutually contradictory and impossible to reconcile, leaving one to wonder about the truth of any event; save that in this story one event is historically certain. It is that Akhenaten promulgated a revolutionary doctrine of monotheism, abolished the other gods and caused the ruin of the state. Therefore the different viewpoints of his contemporaries reflect not just the difficulty of establishing fact from personal testimony, but the psychological reactions of individuals to a religious upheaval, reactions that in themselves undermine the project's chances for success. Akhenaten proclaimed the One and Only God, the Sole Creator, a god of love, non-violence and non-resistance, and these friends and foes, voicing attitudes that range from acceptance and adoration to outrage and murderous resentment, demonstrate that the policy of "all you need is love" is foredoomed.Mahfouz's writing is spare and elegant, and the translation is neat and clean, though littered with modern terms and concepts that are clearly anachronistic. Yet it appears that the author does not seek so much to recreate the particularity of ancient times as to engage in an Egyptian daydream as plain and unadorned as the pyramids and desert sands. However, those pyramids and sands are deceptive, and much can be found underneath. It would be interesting, for example, to explore how much Mahfouz drew from historical sources and how much he invented whole cloth. Also I wonder about the original Arabic, whether it has the word "Allah" standing in the places where we read "God." If so, it may be that this story of a prophet and his universal god makes a comment on Islam as well as on revelation, religious worship and brotherly love in general.

This book is really for Egyptologists. Loosely based on the history of Akhenaten’s reign it isn’t exactly verified history. Presents a version of the reality of Egypt’s monotheistic pharaoh.

Each chapter takes the form of an interview with a character who knew Ahkenaten and witnessed his reign and attempted religious revolution. While the bones of each character’s story is the same, they diverge wildly on their judgement of Ahkenaten’s character, motivations, and appeal. Some think he was a madman and heretic, others a genius and holy prophet. Furthermore, each character has a different view on the others, and of course we can’t judge whether they are truthful about themselves.Mahfouz chooses a few questionable interpretations of the history of Ahkenaten: that he was a pacifist and physically weak and androgenous. Some of these theories have been debunked, and it could be useful to have at least a acquaintance with the historical/ archeological record. But ultimately I think Mahfouz was writing about how any historical (or journalstic) account is biased not only by the writer but by the perspective of the eyewitnesses.A fun and quick read.

This is a very interesting little book. It central theme is Akenaten the Sun King who was infamous as a pharaoh both for his rejection of the ancient religons but also in popular fiction for his wife Nefertitti. Akenaten however is not someone who appears in this book nor is this a potted piece of fiction outlinning his life. It is something more profound and with many parallels for any moment in human history. The narrator of the novel lives at a time not long after the death of Akenaten and he seeks the 'truth' behind the pharaoh's religon. The novel follows our narrator as he interviews living witnesses to the kings life, each chapter is a different interview/perspective on the events that took place. The points of view expressed are all completely different, some hate him, some love him, some admire him, some loath him, some don't understanded him however at the end of the novel we have a much more complete picture of a character than if we had read a fictional biography. Naguib Mahfouz has a wonderful way of writing, its easy to read and very simple yet it is beautiful in conveying profound meaning. At the end of the novel the reader is left to make their own mind up and to reflect that the life of the pharaoh who was vilified for his beliefs is as relevant today as it was more than 3000 years ago.

fantastic read

Good read!

This is Rashomon on steroids.The fact that individual perceptions shape humainty's opinion is shown in a wonderful way. Definitely an ideal starting point for someone preparing for a Mahfouz binge.The fact that the author is extremely well read himself strikes out beautifully. The heretic pharaoh Akenaton or Akhenaten is an embodiment of man's reasoning abilities, along with a nice helping of compassion ; but how his family, peers and subjects perceive his rule and untimely death and how that shapes Meriamun's own interpretation, is surprisingly well sketched and enjoyable and also mildly shocking at times.Ideally one should not take more than a day or two to finish this, and an ideal next book would be Miramar, which follows the same Rashomon-esque rubric.A very enjoyable read.

A thoughtful book describing the same facts from different points of few. Complex and beautiful. A hunting story of a dream that turned to a nightmare.