Amarna is a historically accurate, fictional interpretation of the true events that took place in Ancient Egypt and Hattusa (Turkey) both before and after Pharaoh Tutankhamun’s death. It is centered around the strange but true events surrounding the subsequent battle for the throne of Egypt and the interconnected events that took place in the Hittite empire.
[Abstract]
The book takes place in ancient Egypt and peaked a lot of curiosity amongst our group on learning more about this time period. Some of the information we came across, as it relates to the historical period of the book, includes the following:
Amarna is the term for Akhetaten, an ancient Egyptian capital city built by Pharaoh Akhenaten around 1346 B.C. and it is also the term used by historians for the culture and time period.
Pharaoh Akhenaten transitioned the society under his regime to worship one god, Aten.
“Artists changed traditional styles. They drew the royal family in more natural, intimate, and flowing poses as opposed to previous art styles that showed the royal family as more Godlike, or Warriors, or Statuesque.” For example, there is art depicting the pharaoh kissing his queen.
“Akhenaten was likely in his late teens or early twenties when he became pharaoh. Originally, he was crowned as Amenhotep IV but changed his name to Akhenaten in his fifth year on the throne. His queen was Nefertiti.”
There is information about research being done about this period on this website, as well as information about excavations and good synopsis of the life of Pharaoh Akhenaten: https://www.amarnaproject.com/about-amarna/
Summary:
Some members noted that they would not recommend this book; they mentioned that they were not able to connect with the style of writing and the author’s choice in how to represent the time period and the plot and the character development.
Some members did not enjoy the book but do appreciate that it made them curious to learn more about the facts of that time period.
Some members were intrigued by the plot and want to continue with the series to see how it ends.
The group watched and enjoyed discussing this video about “Tips for researching and writing historical fiction” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-llA85zXHyo.