Chronicle of a Pharaoh: The Intimate Life of Amenhotep III
Joann Fletcher (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000) 184 pp., $24.95
In this lavishly illustrated and lucidly written volume, Egyptologist Joann Fletcher credits Pharaoh Amenhotep III (1390–1352 B.C.)—rather than his son Amenhotep IV (Akhenaten)—with launching the monotheistic cult of the sun-disk Aten. Each brief chapter chronicles a year of the long reign of Amenhotep III, who erected great temples at Luxor and Heliopolis (as well as constructing a lake for the pleasure of his first wife, Queen Tiy).
Akhenaten: Egypt’s False Prophet
Nicholas Reeves (London: Thames & Hudson, 2001) 208 pp., $29.95
Nicholas Reeves, director of the Amarna Royal Tombs Project, argues that the monotheism of Pharaoh Akhenaten (1352–1336 B.C.) was prompted more by politics than by spirituality. In mandating exclusive worship of the sun-disk Aten, Akhenaten sought to pry loose traditional centers of power, particularly in the temples. He then built the new capital of Akhetaten (modern Tell el-Amarna) to consolidate power away from the traditional capital of Thebes, and he filled positions in the civil and temple bureaucracies with his own men. This “cultural revolution” turned upon itself, however, when Akhenaten died: The names of Akhenaten and his wife, Nefertiti, were obliterated from inscriptions, their statues were toppled and Akhetaten was abandoned.
The Mysterious Death of Tutankhamun
Paul Doherty (New York: Carroll & Graf , 2002) 272 pp., $26
How and why did Akhenaten’s son Tutankhamun (1336–1327 B.C.) die at the tender age of 18? According to Paul Doherty, Tutankhamun, like his father, suffered from Marfan’s syndrome, which involves cardiovascular and musculoskeletal defects. Weakened by deteriorating health (X-rays of Tut’s mummy have shown symptoms of the syndrome), the pharaoh may have been assassinated by Egypt’s ambitious prime minister, Ay, perhaps aided by Tut’s wife Ankhesenamun, who was Ay’s great-granddaughter. Was Tutankhamun hastily buried in a virtually unmarked grave to conceal fatal blows to his head?
Chronicle of a Pharaoh: The Intimate Life of Amenhotep III
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