Akhenaten
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One of the most compelling and controversial figures in history, Akhenaten has captured the imagination like no other Egyptian pharaoh. Known today as a heretic, Akhenaten sought to impose upon Egypt and its people the worship of a single god – the sun – and in so doing changed the country in every way.
In this immensely readable re-evaluation, Nicholas Reeves takes issue with the existing view of Akhenaten, presenting a new perspective on the turbulent events of his seventeen-year reign. Reeves argues that, far from being the idealistic founder of a new faith, Akhenaten cynically used religion for purely political ends in a calculated attempt to reassert the authority of the king. Backed up by abundant archaeological and documentary evidence, Reeves’s closely written narrative also provides many insights into questions that have baffled scholars for generations – the puzzle of the body in Tomb 55 in the Valley of the Kings; the fate of Nefertiti, Akhenaten’s beautiful wife, and the identity of the mysterious successor, Smenkhkare; and the theory that Tutankhamun, Akhenaten’s son and true heir, was murdered.
In this immensely readable re-evaluation, Nicholas Reeves takes issue with the existing view of Akhenaten, presenting a new perspective on the turbulent events of his seventeen-year reign. Reeves argues that, far from being the idealistic founder of a new faith, Akhenaten cynically used religion for purely political ends in a calculated attempt to reassert the authority of the king. Backed up by abundant archaeological and documentary evidence, Reeves’s closely written narrative also provides many insights into questions that have baffled scholars for generations – the puzzle of the body in Tomb 55 in the Valley of the Kings; the fate of Nefertiti, Akhenaten’s beautiful wife, and the identity of the mysterious successor, Smenkhkare; and the theory that Tutankhamun, Akhenaten’s son and true heir, was murdered.
Edition type: New Format
Extent: 224 pp
Format: paperback
Illustrations: 80
Publication date: 2019-01-24
Size: 19.8 x 12.9 cm
ISBN: 9780500294697
Extent: 224 pp
Format: paperback
Illustrations: 80
Publication date: 2019-01-24
Size: 19.8 x 12.9 cm
ISBN: 9780500294697
Prologue • 1. Discovery • 2. Priestly Ambitions • 3. Solar Kings • 4. Revolution • 5. The Move to El-Amarna • 6. Utopia • 7. Religion, Art – Terror • 8. Royal Women • 9. Restoration and Oblivion • Epilogue
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About the Author
A renowned Egyptologist and one of the world's leading experts on the period, Nicholas Reeves was for several years a Curator in the Department of Egyptian Antiquities at the British Museum.