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Egyptian Hardcover – June 1, 1991

by Mika Waltari (Author), Naomi Walford (Author)

4.5 1,100 ratings

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First published in the United States in 1949 and widely condemned as obscene, The Egyptian outsold every other novel published that year, and remains a classic; readers worldwide have testified to its life-changing power. It is a full-bodied re-creation of a largely forgotten era in the world s history: the Egypt of the 14th century B.C.E., when pharaohs and gods contended with the near-collapse of history s greatest empire. This epic tale encompasses the whole of the then-known world, from Babylon to Crete, from Thebes to Jerusalem, while centering around one unforgettable figure: Sinuhe, a man of mysterious origins who rises from the depths of degradation to become personal physician to Pharaoh Akhnaton.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Waltari successfully combine[s] research, imagination, and the cunning of a good tale-teller in bringing the generation of Akhnaton to life. New York Herald Tribune

"A grand immersion into an epic tale." --Philadelphia Inquirer

About the Author

Mika Waltari (1908 1979) is best known for his historical novels, which include The Etruscan and The Roman. He is widely considered the greatest Finnish writer of the 20th century.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Buccaneer Books (June 1, 1991)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 503 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0899668631
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0899668635
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.7 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.75 x 1.25 x 8.75 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #4,201,271 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #49,411 in Contemporary Literature & Fiction
- #189,353 in Historical Fiction (Books)

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Mika Waltari
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Kindle Customer

Master literary opus . Magnificent historical novel , full of deep knowledge by Waltari of quite hi

Reviewed in the United States on March 5, 2024

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Master literary opus . Magnificent historical novel , full of deep knowledge by Waltari of quite hiMaster literary opus . Magnificent historical novel , full of deep knowledge by Waltari of quite hi

One person found this helpful

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Paul McGrath

Grand Entertainment

Reviewed in the United States on January 6, 2003

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About 1300 years before the birth of Christ, in what was then the greatest civilization in history, the new Pharaoh, Akhnaton, decreed that all gods were false, except for one, Aton. Aton was a god of peace, he said. He was a god who believed all men were created equal, even servants, and slaves, and people with black skin. He was a god who cherished even the lowly-born. Naturally, there was a great deal of resistance to Akhnaton's new decree, and the resulting chaos brought about his downfall, and almost spelled the doom of mighty Egypt.

That fascinating bit of ancient history is the centerpiece of this great novel by Mika Waltari, but the novel is also much, much, more than this, and in fact gives us a dazzling, up-close view of the entire ancient world as it existed thirty-three centuries ago.

The story is narrated by Sinuhe, a doctor, trained in the temple of Ammon, the predominant Egyptian god of his youth. His skill and luck bring him into contact with the most powerful men of Egypt, one of whom asks him to travel through the nations of the known world, in order to determine their strengths and weaknesses. With him we visit bizarre Syria, opulent and decadent Babylon, austere and fierce Hatti, the land of the Hittites, and finally artistic Crete, with its own share of barbaric, cruel customs. All of these places are fascinating, and the author gives us loads of detail.

It is then back to Egypt, where he shares with us the Akhnaton adventure, and the political intrigue that surrounded his reign. We get to meet Horemheb, the general who succeeded him, and also, surprisingly, King Tut, who was pharaoh for only a short period of time, and who died at the age of eighteen. Sinuhe plays an integral part in the proceedings.

But his own story is quite interesting as well. His first love leads to the ruination of his family. His greatest, life-long love was a Cretan girl whom he met in Babylon. (She was the victim of a shipwreck.) And then there is the beautiful, mature saloon-owner whom he comes to love in his later life. All come to a tragic end.

The author really brings ancient Egypt to life, more so than any other novel I've read. There is the taste of the beer and wine, his description of the "black earth" of the river valley, the grandiose monuments, horrific desert chariot battles, gods and goddesses, barbarism, unusual sexual customs, Akhnaton's new city, and the House of the Dead. It is marvelously rich.

It is also very wise. Akhnaton, for example, when told that the Hittites are massing at Egypt's northern border, suggests that Egypt disarm to show the Hittites that the they are a peace-loving people! What a fool! And how interesting that the author predicted Jimmy Carter thirty years before he came to office! (Of course, there have always been and there always will be political naifs.) Here is Sinuhe, sadly reflecting on Akhnaton's altruistic desire for equality and brotherhood among men: "Even were the time to come when there would be neither poor nor rich, yet there will always be wise and stupid, sly and simple, for so there have ever been and ever will be." Inevitably, the peace Akhnaton seeks to achieve leads to war, and the brotherhood he seeks to impose leads to civil strife.

This is a terrific, fast-moving, wise and well-written novel, loaded with interesting historical tidbits. It very much reminds me of another great novel having to do with a vanished civilization: Aztec, by Gary Jennings, which was quite popular a few years ago. Both are great, and deserve wide audiences.

41 people found this helpful

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J. A. Hunsinger

The Egyptian

Reviewed in the United States on July 20, 2008

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Axe of Iron: The Settlers
The Egyptian is a sweeping saga of ancient Egypt, set during the 18th dynasty during the reigns of the Pharaohs Amunhoptep, Akhenaton, and Horemheb. The story revolves around the life of Sinuhe, a man of common birth without family-an orphan-who subsequently overcomes all obstacles to become a physician. Later he will become the friend and personal physician of Pharaoh Akhenaten, but not before a lifetime of intrigue, near death experiences, heartache, and the glory and status of close association with the Pharaoh.
This book has all the elements one would expect of such a saga: sex, terror, periods of extreme danger, friendship, intrigue, and a meticulously researched storyline.
The only downside is, rather than carry the story with dialogue; Waltari went into pages of descriptive text to set-up the story of a society that was to become, at the behest of Pharaoh Akhenaten, monotheistic, complete with a new god, unfamiliar and unloved by the masses. His attempt to shove this god down the throats of his subjects led the country inevitably into chaos, with all that state of affairs would suggest.
Sinuhe does all he can during this time, pleading and cajoling with his friend and monarch to the best of his ability. His efforts did not end well for either of them for the outcome was inevitable and foreordained.
If you stick with it through the parts that drag you will have read a classic historical fiction tale.

2 people found this helpful

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B. Eibisch

A picture of Ancient Egypt in turmoil

Reviewed in the United States on March 6, 2013

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"The Egyptian" a novel by Mika Waltari
This book has over 100 reviews on Amazon, of various lengths and detail. Most Reviewers give 5 stars and so shall I. Perhaps it is a good idea to read some of these reviews before you commit your dollars and time.
I first came across this story as a film on TV many years ago. I believe that the film was made in about 1954 and is created as an epic; not as big, but along the lines of say, Ben Hur. I thoroughly loved the story and the amazing film sets and determined that one day I would read the book because IMHO Hollywood has a good track record of mangling good stories into little insignificant boy/girl romances. Hollywood didn't do too bad this time but the book is better.
The book is just over 500 pages long but is segmented into 15 "books" with their respective chapters. This device gives, "The Egyptian" the feel of reading, say, the Old Testament which is a book comprised of many books with each book having internal chapters. My copy of, "The Egyptian" is a paper back from Chicago Review Press translated by Naomi Walford and would seem to be a 2002 reprint of a book copyright in the late 1940s. It is a pure text book with one map at the front to give people a political map of the world of the near east about the years 1386-1293 B.C. The print is in a seraph font of about 10, so reasonably dense pages of type but on bleached white paper so the contrast is good. I'm pretty careful with my books but even so, one of the pages "fell out", so I don't think that the binding is very good.
This book is a best seller and there is a reason for that. You will not waste your time by reading this fiction story. Apparently it is the first of many full length Egyptian history novels and so attempts to transport you back in time to another world and another age. The author has given attention to transporting you into a different culture by using different colloquialisms and idiom and this is constant throughout the story. There are also vivid descriptions of Thebes and the Nile and the the desert (Palestine/Syria). Perhaps before reading this book it would be a good idea to look at a picture book of Egypt as the fertile valley and desert are extremes in close proximity. The geography of Egypt itself is symbolic of tenuous life running through an ocean of death.
A quote from the New York Herald Tribune on the back of the books says, "The Egyptian contains the ingredients Americans relish: war, women, intrigue, romance, wassail, horror and lavish scenes of violence, indulgence, suffering and death. Waltari has successfully combined research, imagination, and the cunning of a good tale-teller in bringing the generation of Akhnaton to life."
Another quote, this time from the book itself, "For I Sinuhe, am a human being. I have lived in everyone who existed before me and shall live in all who come after me. I shall live in human tears and laughter, in human sorrow and fear, in human goodness and wickedness, in justice and injustice, in weakness and strength. As a human being I shall live eternally in mankind."
The full drama of life is played out and there are some terrific characterisations in this story of the human condition and sets this book apart from the vast bulk of mainstream, somewhat meaningless fiction.
For me, this is a much favoured, masterly crafted, story that I shall read again and lend to my friends.

30 people found this helpful

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DPaula

simplesmente ótimo

Reviewed in Brazil on October 27, 2022

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O inglês não é fácil, mas foi o primeiro livro que li inteiramente em inglês, tô muito feliz com minha conquista

3 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

my fav book ever

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 20, 2024

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my boyhood fav book ever, based on an ancient Egyptian legend, a gripping story that contains a round trip of the Ancient world, Mycenae, Syria, Babylon all come to play before return to Egypt for the grand finale

Client Amazon

Fascinant !

Reviewed in France on March 25, 2022

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Plutôt attirée par les romans historiques sur le Moyen Âge, j'ai été agréablement surprise par cette histoire qui raconte l'Égypte ancienne, ses codes, ses travers, ses cruautés. Et Kaptah m'a fait rire plus d'une fois.
Je ne lis pas le finnois mais la traduction anglaise est très agréable à lire, malgré les nombreuses fautes de frappe dans le fichier Kindle. Dommage que la version papier ne soit pas disponible en anglais, ce livre aurait été une excellente idée cadeau.

One person found this helpful

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Gail Merritt

A powerful story, crafted to embrace the facts known at the time of writing.

Reviewed in Australia on March 10, 2023

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A worthwhile read for anyone with a love of ancient Egypt, the author places his hero in the centre of the tumultuous years of the heretic pharaoh, his successor, Tutankhamen and the last pharaoh of the period, Horemheb. With imaginative insights into the state of Egypt’s neighbours including the declining Minoan culture, the powerful narrative draws the reader into a dangerous but often exotic world. The unspoken truths, confessions and explanations received too late all contribute to the inevitable end.