Nicholas Reeves (1)

Pharaoh Akhenaten and his wife Nefertiti, the Amarna period (14th century BCE), the "exclusive" worship of the solar disk Aten, and especially the Mannerist iconography, are things that continue to intrigue experts on ancient Egyptian history. These topics are extremely interesting and controversial at the same time. So much so that scientists are still not sure how to place and interpret them. The classical view, inspired by biblical study, that Akhenaten single-handedly invented monotheism show more and that it passed directly from him to the Hebrews has long since been superseded, as more than 700 years elapsed between the Egyptian and the Hebrew model, and probably even more.
In recent decades, historians have placed more and more emphasis on continuity within the history of the Egyptian New Kingdom: long before Akhenaten there were attempts at a more exclusive religious worship, in particular of the solar disc 'Aten'. Egyptologist Nicholas Reeves agrees with this view. He points to the pharaohs who preceded Akhenaten, who had clearly already entered into battle with the mighty temple of the god Amun at Thebes. A political battle, therefore, in which the pharaoh tried to temper the power of the priests through all kinds of manoeuvres, and reverted to the old tradition of divinisation of the king. Akhenaten then seems no more than a continuation of that policy.
So continuity, also at Reeves. Only, with this author Akhnaton nevertheless is portrayed as an aberration, someone who continued the line to the point of the absurd and also focused on himself and his immediate environment (especially Nefertiti and his children) in other domains. Reeves writes absolutely interesting about all this, but certainly in the last third of this book he becomes downright tendentious, and that is actually incomprehensible. More about that in my History account on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5446708000 show less

Egyptologist Nicholas Reeves came into the public eye recently for the theory that a feature in the tomb of Tutankhamun (KV62) was a sealed doorway to a passage and/or chamber beyond, possibly even the tomb of Nefertiti; radar surveys demonstrated that this probably isn’t the case, but it was an interesting and testable idea. In Akhenaten: Egypt’s False Prophet he discusses the famous “heretic king”. One of the ironies of ancient history is new information turns up much more commonly show more than it does with recent history; so it is with Akhenaten and the Amarna period. Reeves gives his own version of Akhenaten’s reign and it’s scholarly yet an easy read; the only problem I see is Reeves doesn’t mention the alternative theories that continuously turn up. Thus for Reeves the mummy in KV55 is Akhenaten, without a mention of the alternative theory that it’s Smenkhkare; and Smenkhkare is actually queen Nefertiti as a ruling pharaoh under the name Ankhkheprure Smenkhkare, again without much mention of various theories as to who’s who at the end of the Amarna period.

For all that, the discussion of the reigns of Amarna period, the Aten religion, and the city of Akhetaten is very well done and informative. The image of Akhenaten has changed over the years, from a idealistic but impractical reformer to a brutal religious fanatic; Reeves is more of the later opinion and recent excavations at the Akhetaten site - which show the life of the commoner inhabitants as nasty, brutish, and short – seem to bear him out. I recommended this book for those interested in Egyptology in general and the Amarna period in particular, with the caveat that you shouldn’t take it as the last word – ancient history is always changing. show less

I have mixed feelings about this book. While I thought it was well written for regular people who love to read about Ancient Egypt, it felt a little pushy to me. There were times when I had the feeling that the author wrote the book to push his ideas out into the general public rather than tell the facts as were. Occasionally I felt as if the history that was being revealed was more like setting a plot for storytelling, where some things seemed completely irrelevant to the subject matter, show more until you realized the events were the supposed reason someone behaved the way they did later on in Egypt's history.

There are many photos within these pages and I enjoyed every one of them. Most are in black and white, but they are clear enough that you don't feel as if you have been ripped off in some way by not having the color to accompany them and give you the full experience of the artifact.

I got this book because I love to read new theories about Akhenaten and Aketaten, however I felt as if this more pushed an agenda than told the history in a neutral sort of way. There were times when I wondered at the theory behind some of the "revolutionary" ideas, but there were a few times when I realized that something actually made sense. I wouldn't say that this was a book of fact as much as a book of opinion about facts. It was a quick read and I enjoyed it, but I wouldn't suggest it for research. show less

A very good and interesting book on the pharoah Akhenaten, the father of the famous boy-king Tutankhamen; who ruled from 1353 to 1335 BC(E), instituted monotheistic worship of a sun god and very nearly destroyed Egypt.