posted
Which is your favorite novel set in Ancient Egypt?
As for me I have no real favorite, as of a novel that moved me in all sorts of ways. My favorites are mostly novels set in other time periods and cultures. But at least I found a book like Christian Jacqs "The Black Pharaoh" rather entertaining even if it was not so profound or deep. The book is about Piye and his campaign in Egypt in the 700s BC.
I´m curious of Naguib Mahfouz novel "Akhenaten: Dweller in Truth". It could be interesting to read a novel about Ancient Egypt written by an Egyptian among all books written by westerners.
-------------------- Once an archaeologist, always an archaeologist Posts: 2684 | From: Sweden | Registered: Mar 2020
| IP: Logged |
posted
Once I got Norman Mailers Ancient Evenings as a birthday gift. At that time I had no patience to read it, since I deemed it a bit slow. But now I am older so I will find it in my boxes and give it a go. It seems he put in a lot of work in the book, since it took him 12 years to finish it.
posted
It's not really set in Egypt geographically, but last year I got a novel (Priestess of the Lost Colony) with ancient Egyptian characters published. It is inspired by certain ancient Greek narratives of Egyptians settling on their shores (e.g. the oracles of Dodona and the daughters of Danaus). I think of it as a blend between alternate history and magical realism.
As far as other authors' works are concerned, have you looked at those of Paul Doherty? He's written a bunch of mystery novels set in Egypt during the reign of Hatshepsut, as well as another series that take place later during the Amarna period.
posted
There is a series of comic books set in ancient Egypt written and drawn by Danish artist Sussi Bech.
These comics center around the Minoan princess Nofret and her sister Kiya who comes to the court of Pharaoh Akhenaton in Egypt. Nofret experiences a lot of adventures in Egypt and also in neighboring countries.
posted
In the OP I mentioned Christian Jacqs novel "The Black Pharaoh", about Piye (Piankhy) the ruler from Kush who invaded Egypt in the 700s BC. The book was inspired by Piyes Conquest Stele which was found in Sudan in 1862. Today the stele resides in Cairo.
In 1962 another novel, inspired by Pies stele was published, E Harper Johnson´s "Piankhy the Great". It had beautiful illustrations by the author.
E Harper Johnson was an African American author and artist.
quote: E. Harper Johnson was born in Birmingham, Alabama, in the 1920s. He was a painter, muralist, cartoonist, and illustrator who lived and worked in New York, Africa, and the Arabian Peninsula. His art training came at the American Academy, the National Academy, and the Art Institute of Chicago. Mr. Johnson's illustrations and cartoons appeared in newspapers, magazines, and more than 100 books. Harper Johnson was married to Mildred Anita Johnson and to Salma Tahira Malik (1928-1979). He died on March 24, 2016.
quote:Originally posted by Archeopteryx: [QB] In the OP I mentioned Christian Jacqs novel "The Black Pharaoh", about Piye (Piankhy) the ruler from Kush who invaded Egypt in the 700s BC. The book was inspired by Piyes Conquest Stele which was found in Sudan in 1862. Today the stele resides in Cairo.
In 1962 another novel, inspired by Pies stele was published, E Harper Johnson´s "Piankhy the Great". It had beautiful illustrations by the author.
E Harper Johnson was an African American author and artist.
quote: E. Harper Johnson was born in Birmingham, Alabama, in the 1920s. He was a painter, muralist, cartoonist, and illustrator who lived and worked in New York, Africa, and the Arabian Peninsula. His art training came at the American Academy, the National Academy, and the Art Institute of Chicago. Mr. Johnson's illustrations and cartoons appeared in newspapers, magazines, and more than 100 books. Harper Johnson was married to Mildred Anita Johnson and to Salma Tahira Malik (1928-1979). He died on March 24, 2016.
posted
French novelist Christian Jacq has written several novels set in ancient Egypt. Among them is a series about Ramses II and the already mentioned The Black Pharaoh.
In addition he has also written non fictional books about Ancient Egypt.
posted
I see what you're doing. It's unlikely that you read this book "The Black Pharaoh" You just like the concept that Piankhi ( also known as Piye) is called in the title the "Black Pharaoh" of Egypt because it implies all the other Pharoahs were not black. That's why you like this book, because of it's racial implications, for the title of it alone
Posts: 42919 | From: , | Registered: Jan 2010
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by the lioness,: I see what you're doing. It's unlikely that you read this book "The Black Pharaoh" but it's highly unlikely you've read the book. But regardless you like the concept that Piankhi also known as Piye is the "Black Pharaoh" of Egypt because it implies all the other Pharoahs were not black. That's why you like this book, because of it's racial implications, for the title of it alone
Actually I have read it and I have it in my bookshelf. I am also about to read "Piankhy the Great".
These books are novels, not historical text books, so please leave the politics out of it.
-------------------- Once an archaeologist, always an archaeologist Posts: 2684 | From: Sweden | Registered: Mar 2020
| IP: Logged |
posted
Someone who read the novel The Egyptian by Finnish author Mika Waltari?
I have not read it yet but it sounds interesting.
quote: The protagonist of the novel is the fictional character Sinuhe, the royal physician, who tells the story in exile after Akhenaten's fall and death. Apart from incidents in Egypt, the novel charts Sinuhe's travels in then Egyptian-dominated Syria (Levant), in Mitanni, Babylon, Minoan Crete, and among the Hittites.
The main character of the novel is named after a character in an ancient Egyptian text commonly known as the Story of Sinuhe. The original story dates to a time long before that of Akhenaten: texts are known from as early as the 12th dynasty.
Supporting historical characters include the old Pharaoh Amenhotep III and his conniving favorite wife, Tiy; the wife of Akhenaten, Nefertiti; the listless young Tutankhamun (King Tut), who succeeded as Pharaoh after Akhenaten's downfall; and the two common-born successors who were, according to this author, integral parts of the rise and fall of the Amarna heresy of Akhenaten: the priest and later Pharaoh Ay and the warrior-general and then finally Pharaoh, Horemheb. Though never appearing onstage, throughout the book the Hittite King Suppiluliuma I appears as a brooding threatening figure of a completely ruthless conqueror and tyrannical ruler.
Other historical figures with whom the protagonist has direct dealings are: Aziru (ruler of Amurru kingdom), Thutmose (sculptor), Burna-Buriash II (Babylonian king), and, under a different name, Zannanza, son of Suppiluliuma I. Zannanza's bride is a collage of at least three historical figures: herself, first wife of Horemheb and, by him, mother of Ramesses I. Historical Horemheb died childless.
posted
Another book that sounds interesting: The Scorpion God, by William Golding.
Golding is maybe most known for books like Lord of the Flies and The Inheritors.
quote: The Scorpion God is a collection of three novellas by William Golding published in 1971. They are all set in the distant past: "The Scorpion God" in Ancient Egypt, "Clonk Clonk" in pre-historic Africa, and "Envoy Extraordinary" in Ancient Rome.
posted
A very popular figure in both books and films is Cleopatra. Here are just a couple of novels about her
The Memoirs of Cleopatra by Margaret George
quote: Bestselling novelist Margaret George brings to life the glittering kingdom of Cleopatra, Queen of the Nile, in this lush, sweeping, and richly detailed saga.
The October Horse by Colleen McCullough
quote: Grand in scope and vivid in detail, McCullough’s gripping narrative thrusts readers headlong into the complex and fascinating world of Rome in the tumultuous last days of the Republic. At the height of his power, Gaius Julius Caesar becomes embroiled in a civil war in Egypt, where he finds himself enraptured by Cleopatra, the nation's golden-eyed queen. To do his duty as a Roman, however, he must forsake his love and return to the capital to rule.
She must be the most well known and romanticized of all Egyptian Queens.
For those who love Cleopatra: Here is a list of 57 more books (both fiction and non fiction) about her. And I bet there are even more out there.
posted
The reanimated Mummy is a popular figure in modern popular culture. The idea became popular already in the 19th century, partly through Jane Webb´s (later Jane C. Loudon) three part novel The Mummy!: Or a Tale of the Twenty-Second Century from 1827.
The novel
quote: concerns the Egyptian mummy of Cheops, who is brought back to life in the year 2126. The novel describes a future filled with advanced technology, and was the first English-language story to feature a reanimated mummy.
posted
Even the famous author of detective stories Agatha Christie has written a novel set in Ancient Egypt
quote: Death Comes as the End is a historical mystery novel by Agatha Christie, first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in October 1944. ------ It is the only one of Christie's novels not to be set in the 20th century, and - unusually for her - also features no European characters. Instead, the novel is set in Thebes in 2000 BC, a setting for which Christie gained an appreciation whilst working with her archaeologist husband, Sir Max Mallowan, in the Middle East. The novel is notable for its very high number of deaths and is comparable to And Then There Were None from this standpoint. It is also the first full-length novel combining historical fiction and the whodunit/detective story, a genre which would later come to be called the historical whodunit ---- The novel is based on real letters translated by egyptologist Battiscombe Gunn, from the Egyptian Middle Kingdom period, written by a man called Heqanakhte to his family, complaining about their behaviour and treatment of his concubine.
posted
In the 1950s and 1960s a whole series of comics, based on classic books were published. One of them was based on a story by Henry Rider Haggard and had Cleopatra as protagonist. It has an interesting cover where the Egyptians in the background are depicted with a rather dark skin tone.
-------------------- Once an archaeologist, always an archaeologist Posts: 2684 | From: Sweden | Registered: Mar 2020
| IP: Logged |
UBBFriend: Email this page to someone!
Printer-friendly view of this topic