Akhenaten: The Rebel Pharaoh

6 hrs. 47 min.

Language Russian

Author Arthur Weigall

Narrator Nadezhda Vinokurova

Description

Arthur Weigall, who took part in excavations in Egypt, avoiding biased judgments and unverified opinions, offers an engaging and most complete biography of the Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaten, who entered history as a religious reformer. Having established the cult of the one god Aten, he adopted the name Akhenaten—“pleasing to Aten.”

More details

The reign of Akhenaten, which lasted seventeen years (from 1375 to 1358 BC), is considered one of the most interesting periods in Egypt’s long history. Our view reveals a chain of shadowy pharaohs, each briefly illuminated by a pale light of knowledge, but their fates hardly find resonance in our souls. They passed into nothingness so long ago that across many thousands of years they have almost lost their individuality.

Name a king, and in reply a vague figure appears—polite, extending its hands—then disappears again into the darkness of centuries. Sometimes, from afar, a muffled sound of battle can be heard.

At the very beginning of the 20th century, a series of extremely important discoveries were made in the Valley of the Kings in Thebes. In 1903, the tomb of Tuthmosis IV, Akhenaten’s grandfather on his father’s side, was discovered. In 1905, the tomb of Yuya and Tuya—the ancestors of Akhenaten on his mother’s side—was found. In 1907, Akhenaten’s mummy was discovered in the tomb of his mother, Queen Tiy. And finally, in 1908, the tomb of Pharaoh Horemheb—one of Akhenaten’s successors—was opened.

The author of these lines was present at all these discoveries, and that is what led him to write this book. It should also be understood that it was written in his free time, in the shadow of rocks near the Nile, sometimes at railway stations or on the train, among the ruins of ancient temples or in the offices of state institutions during the hottest time of the year.

Of course, my abilities cannot compare with those of, for example, an English researcher who always has any reference works at hand. However, let’s note that all facts are presented accurately, though the fastidious reader may challenge my conclusions, because people often see the same things differently.

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