BOOK NEWS & REVIEWS

From Fiction to Festschrift

Nefertitiby Michelle Moran(New York: Crown, 2007).480 pp., 1 map, 1 family tree,cloth, $24.95,ISBN 978-0-307-38146-0.

REVIEWED BY JENNIFER HOUSER wEGNER, Research

Scientist in the Museum's Egyptian Section and Co-Curator ofAmarna: Ancient Egypt's Place in the Sun.

The city of Philadelphia has recently played host to twoexhibits focusing on Egypt's Amarna Period and its aftermath(ca. 1353-1322 BCE). Penn Museum's exhibit, Amarna:Ancient Egypt's Place in the Sun, explores the period of time inwhich the Pharaoh Akhenaten, the husband of Nefertiti, dra-matically altered the religion of Egypt, while The FranklinInstitute's Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohshighlighted treasures from the tomb of the boy-kingTutankhamun who was responsible for restoring Egypt's tradi-tional religion after the death of his father, Akhenaten—Nefertiti was probably his stepmother.

The Amarna period is undeniably fascinating, and the char-acters that populate this era of Egyptian history—AmenhotepIII, Queen Tiye, Akhenaten, Nefertiti, and Tutankhamun—aresome of ancient Egypt's most recognizable individuals. It isthus not surprising to find that Michelle Moran has penned anew historical novel based on the life and times of tbe leg-endary Nefertiti. Wbile Tutankhamun and Akbenaten are per-baps better known historically tban Nefertiti, the queen—thesubject of tbe iconic and dazzlingly beautiful sculpted portraitdiscovered in 1912 at tbe site of Amarna—continues to inspiregenerations of authors, writers, and historians.

Who was tbis woman? Wbere did she come from? What wasit like to be tbe wife of the iconoclast, Akhenaten? Did she trulybelieve in bis religious revolution? How did sbe come to wieldpower almost on a par with her royal busband? Part of whatmakes the Amarna Period so interesting, and yet so frustrating.

to scholars and lay persons alike, is that tbere are no answers tomost of tbese questions. We have dozens, if not hundreds, ofimages of the queen but very little insigbt into ber origins, hermotivations, or even wbat ultimately happened to ber,prompting Andre Malraux to observe, "Nefertiti is a face witb-out a kingdom."

Moran gives us Nefertiti's story from tbe perspective ofNefertiti's younger sister, Mutnodjmet—a real-life figure.Depictions of the royal couple in botb fiction and historicalstudies tend to present Akhenaten (and to a lesser extent,Nefertiti) in two diametrically opposed ways—either as a truebeliever or a heretic. Akbenaten can be hailed as a divinelyinspired philosopher who introduced the concept of monothe-ism to tbe world, a poet, or a dreamer. Alternatively, he is seenas a dictatorial egomaniac who wielded tremendous politicaland religious power to his own advantage wbile seriously risk-ing Egypt's position on the world stage by disregarding interna-tional affairs and focusing only on bis sole god, tbe Aten.

Moran clearly does not view Akbenaten in a positive ligbt.Neither Akhenaten nor Nefertiti come across as sympatheticcharacters in this novel, wbere their religious revolution is drivenby a self-serving desire to wrest control of tbe nation's wealthaway from tbe priesthood of Amun, the country's preeminentdeity prior to the reign of Akbenaten. In tbis novel Akbenaten'sEgypt is one that is ruled by a tyrant accompanied by bis equallyambitious queen. The royal couple is self-absorbed and violent,and tbeir actions stand in contrast to those of the long-sufiferingand dutiful Mutnodjmet. Moran bas incorporated some interest-ing recent theories as to wbat may have brougbt about the ulti-mate collapse of Akhenaten's "experiment," and readers may feela certain sense of dread as events unfold.

As an Egyptologist and a self-confessed Egyptophile, I tbor-oughly enjoyed this book and had trouble putting it down. Thehistory presented in this work does not necessarily representthe current consensus among Egyptologists, but it makes for agood story and is clearly well-researched. Nefertiti should cer-tainly appeal to fans of historical novels set in ancient Egyptsucb as tbose by Allen Drury, Margaret George, and tbe manyexcellent works by Pauline Gedge.

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