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Egypt's Golden Couple: When Akhenaten and…
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Egypt's Golden Couple: When Akhenaten and Nefertiti Were Gods on Earth (edició 2022)

de John Darnell (Autor), Colleen Darnell (Autor)

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815328,939 (4.17)1
"Two celebrated Egyptologists bring to vivid life the intriguing and controversial reign of King Tut's parents Akhenaten has been the subject of radically different, even contradictory, biographies. The king has achieved fame as the world's first individual and the first monotheist, but others have seen him as an incestuous tyrant who nearly ruined the kingdom he ruled. The gold funerary mask of his son Tutankhamun and the painted bust of his wife Nefertiti are the most recognizable artifacts from all of ancient Egypt. But who are Akhenaten and Nefertiti? And what can we actually say about rulers who lived more than three thousand years ago? November 2022 marks the centennial of the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun and although "King Tut" is a household name, his nine-year rule pales in comparison to the revolutionary reign of his parents. Akhenaten and Nefertiti became gods on earth by transforming Egyptian solar worship, innovating in art and urban design, and merging religion and politics in ways never attempted before. Combining fascinating scholarship, detective suspense, and adventurous thrills, Egypt's Golden Couple is a journey through excavations, museums, hieroglyphic texts, and stunning artifacts. From clue to clue, renowned Egyptologists, John and Colleen Darnell, reconstruct an otherwise untold story of the magnificent reign of Akhenaten and Nefertiti"--… (més)
Membre:Imhotep
Títol:Egypt's Golden Couple: When Akhenaten and Nefertiti Were Gods on Earth
Autors:John Darnell (Autor)
Altres autors:Colleen Darnell (Autor)
Informació:The History Press (2022), 384 pages
Col·leccions:La teva biblioteca
Valoració:
Etiquetes:Egyptology, Akhenaten, Nefertiti

Informació de l'obra

Egypt's Golden Couple: How Akhenaten and Nefertiti Became Gods on Earth de John Darnell

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Egypt’s Golden Couple takes on the story of the Pharaoh Akhenaten and his Queen, Nefertiti. Besides their son, Tutankhamun, they are likely the most well known figures of ancient Egypt. That’s pretty amazing, as their son, and the next Pharaohs after him wrote the “golden couple” out of the official history of kingly succession after their deaths, and they were all but forgotten until the rediscovery of Akhenaten’s capital city Akhetaten (today known as Amarna) in the early 1700s. A tomb purported to contain the mummy of Akhenaten was found in 1907.

The Pharaoh Amunhotep IV took the name Akhenaten after ascending the throne. He is known for his singular devotion to the Egyptian sun god Aten, also known by many other names (‘Re’ being probably the best known). What set Akhenaten apart was that he ignored the other gods and goddesses of Egyptian cosmology publicly and officially, proclaiming Aten the only god worthy of worship.

The capital city he founded was placed where he claimed Aten told him to put it, and had temples only to Aten. Furthermore, Akhenaten positioned himself as the living embodiment of Aten, with his wife Nefertiti as the female embodiment of the god. In essence, he elevated his family to the status of gods.

The book makes the case that this was the outgrowth of a growing worship of the sun god, and an association of the sun god with the Pharaoh. But it’s not known how well followed or how well received Akhenaten’s singular sun god worship was outside of his capital city. We do know that after his death, having been Pharaoh for 17 years, his religious direction fell out of favor and he and his family had their tombs purposely defaced and their bodies moved from their original tombs and into hidden locations.

All of that is the background information the book draws on.

The authors state, in a YouTube video promoting the book, that they want to show how we know what we know about Akhenaten and Nefertiti - for what can we actually know about people who lived 3000 years ago? A number of theories have been posited about the golden couple, and the authors feel that many of them lack a real basis in the evidence available to us. So, this is their attempt to write a “biography” of the golden couple based on only the facts that can be established by the extant information from archeological digs and recovered writings and artifacts.

The result is dry and a bit of a jumble, but I will say that it improves as you move through it.

The book is divided into five sections, and the first three rely more heavily on “reconstructions” of events from the lives of the couple, their family and their predecessors to the throne. Interspersed between these reconstructions are chapters that try to convey more context around the reconstructed scenes.

Because they are sticking to only what can actually be known, these reconstructions are set in known places, depict known buildings and architecture, and are based on known writings. There are not enough knowns to write about the entire lives of the couple, and that explains the jumble, as the book jumps from one scene to another.

While that could be forgiven, the scenes themselves are simple stage pieces, and the players on the stage are wooden and lacking in personality. That’s because we have no idea what their personalities actually were - there are no records or known facts to convey how the golden couple really felt or acted. The authors, Egyptologists by profession, try not to stray too far into historical fiction. That decision robs these scenes of any meaningful depth, making for a hard slog for the reader. Which I’m sure is quite the opposite of what the authors intended.

In the last two sections of the book these “day in the life” scenes become further and further apart, and the archaeology and interpretation of ancient writings and artifacts takes center stage. Here the authors seem much more in their element and the writing improves as a result. While I slogged through the start of the book, and had to put it down for a while to take a break from it, I sped through the last two sections, and enjoyed them much more.

If you are interested in picking this book up, I’d recommend the physical book or ebook over the audiobook version. The illustrations in those versions help to get you through the slog, and so far as I can tell there is no available online set of illustrations to accompany the audiobook.

RATING: I’d give the first part Two Stars and the second part is close to a Four, so an overall rating of Three Stars ⭐⭐⭐

NOTE: I received an advanced copy of this book from St Martin’s Press and NetGalley, and am voluntarily providing this review. The book went on sale November 1, 2022. ( )
  stevesbookstuff | Nov 9, 2022 |
Egypt's Golden Couple: When Akhenaten and Nefertiti Were Gods on Earth
by John Coleman Darnell Colleen Manassa Darnell

I have always been interested in this time period of Egyptian history and have read plenty of articles and books about this duo but this book was by far the easiest to understand and enjoy. Since this November celebrates the 100 year anniversary of finding King Tut's tomb and this book will be published. I want to thank the publisher and NetGalley for letting me read this informative and amazing book!

The book begins with their parents and then later how our young couple probably met or matched. How extremely beautiful Nefertiti was and a good description of Akhenaten too, not so beautiful. For many of the ceremonies, instead of just telling the reader what would happen, the authors made it more fictional. Describing it as if the couple was getting united/married, or a Holy ceremony, and etc. It made the scenes more realistic and helped it stick in my mind.

There was a lot of accomplishments back then. Fascinating life style. Intriguing religious beliefs. Even everyday life was very interesting. Lots of details and all richly satisfying!
I lingered reading this book. I really didn't want it to end. I usually zip through a book but I want to savor living in the Egyptian past for just a bit longer. ( )
  MontzaleeW | Nov 6, 2022 |
This was a really interesting book. Everybody knows about King Tut, but the rest of the names kind of get jumbled up, based on what we might remember from school and what we see in movies and read on social media. It all seems larger than life, almost unbelievable. But the authors, celebrated Egyptologists John Darnell and Colleen Darnell, take what could have been either too fantastic with an action movie vibe or a dry, confusing, stultifying recitation of historical facts and instead turn it into a readable, fascinating, can’t-put-down story. It’s still larger than life, because what about Ancient Egypt isn’t, but Akhenaten and Nefertiti become more than just a footnote and King Tut’s parents. We see their ambition, cunning, and ruthlessness as well as their fear, affection and desire to be remembered in a positive light. They transformed Egypt in ways never seen before. The authors take us through their lives, describing possible feelings, motives and relationships, and document their spectacular successes and monumental failures.

Egypt's Golden Couple: When Akhenaten and Nefertiti Were Gods on Earth is skillfully written and holds your attention from beginning to end. It stops short of being dry and textbook like but contains enough detail and depth to feel like more than a sensationalized book of highlights. The lives of Akhenaten and Nefertiti have always been controversial. Egypt’s Golden Couple presents what they tried to accomplish, what aided them and what stood in their way, and how they were ultimately remembered. They are not always presented in a positive light but they are always spellbinding.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press for providing an advance copy of Egypt's Golden Couple: When Akhenaten and Nefertiti Were Gods on Earth via NetGalley for my reading pleasure and honest review. I admit the book seemed a little daunting at first, but the authors established an easy rhythm, transitioning smoothly from facts to anecdotes to supposition and back around to keep you engaged throughout. I highly recommend this book. All opinions are my own. ( )
  GrandmaCootie | Oct 21, 2022 |
Lucky me to get an advanced reader copy of Egypt’s Golden Couple!

Amenhotep IV changed changed his name to Akhenaten and abandoned the worship of Amun and elevated Aten the solar disk as central to state religion. He became both solar priest and Aten’s son on Earth. He built a city in the desert, Aket-Aten, to be Egypt’s religious center, with a thousand offering tables. His wife Nefertiti is considered as one of the world’s most beautiful woman.

Akhenaten was literally erased from history by his successors. His son King Tutankhamun restored the other gods to their place and left the city in the desert his father had built for Aten. Aket-Aten’s buildings were dismantled and the talatat stones, sized to be carried by one man, were reused for other monuments. Images of Akhenaten and his wife Nefertiti were chiseled away and his name was even left off lists of pharaonic rulers.

There are many interpretations of Akhenaten that paint him as the first monotheist or as a ruthless ruler. The Darnells present the facts according to their research and evidence, challenging some of the theories. The facts alone are so amazing and interesting, and the Darnells are able to present such a vivid picture of the pharaoh and his times, who needs conjectured stories?

Renaming himself after Aten, Akhenaten daily reenacted Aten’s journey across the sky, from horizon to horizon, by traveling across Akhet-Aten in a chariot. He and his wife ‘became the gods’, the Darnells write.

Akhenaten’s statues portray a strange physic, with wide hips and bulging tummy and prominent breasts. Scholars have puzzled over this: did the pharaoh have a disease? Or, as the Darnells suggest, did he want to show characteristics of male and female. After all, Aten created all life through his male organ and ‘female’ hand. This representation was one more way that the pharaoh reinforced that he was Aten on Earth.

I especially enjoyed the breaking down of hieroglyphs to explain their meaning, and the translations of documents and engraved images and writing. Akhenaten’s Hymn to Aten is included in full in the Appendix. Aten “makes the fetus develop in women,” and “nurtures all plants.” The hymn ends by describing Akhenaten as Aten’s son, and asking that his beloved wife Nefertiti live and be youthful forever and ever.

The book is filled with drawings and photographs. I learned how to interpret the iconography of the art, how the solar disk Aten’s rays extend to touch the royal family with hands, holding the ankh symbol of breath and life to their noses.

Those who, like me, have a fascination for Ancient Egypt will appreciate this book. Included in each chapter are stories representing the pharaoh’s life and activities discussed in the chapter.

I received an ARC from the publisher. My review is fair and unbiased. ( )
  nancyadair | Sep 14, 2022 |
Part historical imagination, part travelogue, and part historical analysis, considering Akhenaten, Nefertiti, the prelude, and the consequences.

The authors begin with Amenhotep III's conception, well beyond what might be imagined. Much is made of Amenhotep III and the development of many of the features of the kingship and Aten cult which would become more prominent under Akhenaten. Akhenaten's youth, growth, adulthood, religious ideology, development and move to Akhetaten, and behavior are detailed. And then...the postlude, with speculation about Nefertiti as Neferneferuaten, Meritaten as Smenkhkare, and a bit about Tutankhamun.

The authors still believe Nefertiti is the mother of Tutankhamun; whether they think she is the Younger Lady who has been confirmed as Tut's mother by DNA is not stated. The authors are conversant with recent scholarship on Akhenaten and Nefertiti and their politico-religious ideology.

A good read for those interested.

*--galley received as part of early review program ( )
  deusvitae | Jun 15, 2022 |
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"Two celebrated Egyptologists bring to vivid life the intriguing and controversial reign of King Tut's parents Akhenaten has been the subject of radically different, even contradictory, biographies. The king has achieved fame as the world's first individual and the first monotheist, but others have seen him as an incestuous tyrant who nearly ruined the kingdom he ruled. The gold funerary mask of his son Tutankhamun and the painted bust of his wife Nefertiti are the most recognizable artifacts from all of ancient Egypt. But who are Akhenaten and Nefertiti? And what can we actually say about rulers who lived more than three thousand years ago? November 2022 marks the centennial of the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun and although "King Tut" is a household name, his nine-year rule pales in comparison to the revolutionary reign of his parents. Akhenaten and Nefertiti became gods on earth by transforming Egyptian solar worship, innovating in art and urban design, and merging religion and politics in ways never attempted before. Combining fascinating scholarship, detective suspense, and adventurous thrills, Egypt's Golden Couple is a journey through excavations, museums, hieroglyphic texts, and stunning artifacts. From clue to clue, renowned Egyptologists, John and Colleen Darnell, reconstruct an otherwise untold story of the magnificent reign of Akhenaten and Nefertiti"--

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