Nefertiti et Akhenaton
Introduction
The book that was chose for me to read was Nefertiti et Akhenaton by Christian Jaques. This book is written in French and was published in 2005. This paper will demonstrate the biography of the author, the summary of the book, how the book relates to Mediterranean culture, identify themes that correlate within the Mediterranean culture.
Biography of author
Christian Jacq was born in 1947 and he is French and also an Egyptologist who wrote about ancient Egypt, and he was particularly fascinated by Ramses II whom he wrote five books about. He came from Paris and Egyptology got him interested during his early teenage years.
Picture: Christian Jacq
He was inspired by other people who were pioneers in the field of Egyptology. “History of Ancient Egyptian Civilization” by Jacques Pirenne. This inspired him to write his first novel. By the time he was eighteen, he had written eight books”. Champollion the Egyptian was his first book which achieved success in 1987, but in 2004 he wrote more than 50 books and some of them were not fiction. However, all of these books were related to Egyptology because it was his inspiration from an early age. Jacq earned a PhD while attending Sorbonne in the field of Egyptian Studies and when he got married: “He and his wife later founded the Ramses Institute, which is dedicated to creating a photographic description of Egypt for the preservation of endangered archaeological sites“. This family was very passionate about Egyptology and his most fertile period was from 1995 to 1997 when he wrote and got 5 books about Ramses published. This has been translated into more than 25 languages and published in the corresponding countries. One aspect of the life of Ramses is depicted in each of the books about him and there is also a story about the most important things in life which are related to love and deceit.
The series which Jacq wrote depict pharaoh life and his brother Shanaar and sister Dolora who were decadent and corrupted. When he got married, his mistress is Iset and his only love is Nefertari while he is married to Metanephrine when old. Jacq depicts Ramesses having “only three biological children: Khaemwaset, Meritamen (she being the only child of Nefertari, the two others being from Iset) and Merneptah. The other "children" are only young officials trained for government and who are nicknamed "sons of the pharaoh". There is both historical evidence as well as imagination involved in Jacq’s work which makes his writing interesting and important.
Upon earning a PhD in Egyptology, Jacq published many other works and he was recognized by the Academy in France. He also wrote works of fiction and he depicted romance in these novels in order to keep his readers interested and his books were very popular because of this. Jacq had great awe for ancient Egypt and he wanted his reader to comprehend this which is why he shared his life-long impression in the books. Jacq did reach wider audiences with his books about ancient Egypt and fans would wait in line to get a copy of each book which would be published. He also made Egypt a popular travel destination in the ‘90s of the 20th century because of the fact that his books were popular worldwide.
Jacq was dedicated to the promotion of the splendors of Egypt both by his books and by the work of his Institute which he established with his wife. Some of the books he wrote were not fiction and he the Instituted was dedicated to photographically preserving Egypt’s rich culture.
Summary: Nefertiti et Akhenaton
This novel depicts a story of a legendary royal couple at the origin of extraordinary historical and spiritual adventure in Egypt in the 14th century BC. Nefertiti and Akhenaton were talked about in terms of their beauty and their political influence and people might believe in this well-established scientific dossier although the reality is very different. Using religious Egyptian texts both administrative and diplomatic as well as forgotten works of art, without masking the many questions that remains to be elucidated, Christian Jacq invites the readers to discover the couple dedicated to the Sun God: their daily and family life, building the emblematic capital impacted by the wars they have undertaken. This is a great adventure set in the ancient Egypt and the Mediterranean culture.
Tié was a strong woman connected to the state and the reign of Egypt and Akhenaton reigned with his father Amenhotep III for 12 years. It is said that Nefertiti was most likely from Egypt but it's not possible to be certain and her name means "the beauty has arrived". She was very important and had an active role in the country affairs. Akhenaton was supposed to marry another woman and ended up marrying her so it is said that maybe they really loved each other, since there is proof that they were a very happy couple. El Amarna was called Akhetaton - The city which worshipped the cult of Aton. The rumor that the clergy was against Akhenaton is not true because the Egyptian religion did not recognize any dogmas, so a cult of any Egyptian God would be acceptable. The fact that the modern society regards the Egyptian clergy as priests is a wrong term for what these specialists of the sacred were. They constituted a big part of the state and not some group of believers obliged to defend a dogma of any kind.
First there was the cult of Ra, Horus, Chu all in Aton and then of Aton, Ra and Chu and finally only of Ra in Aton. There was no more oration from the Book of the Dead in the mummification rites but a prayer to Aton. Osiris was not considered because Aton was only joyful, light and represented the day. Being religious was not the same as believing in something since it was more oriented towards experiencing and comprehending. Monotheism was a simple way of explaining the cult because Aton represented all Gods and all Gods were in him. At the same time Aton's cult was the main religious cult in Akhetaton but people were allowed to be devoted to other Gods. Statues or Isis and Ptah were found in Akhetaton and they give the example of Tutmes III that conquered other countries and never suppressed their religion. They accepted even foreign religions in Egypt because being missionaries and converting other people to their cults was something unknown for the Egyptians.
For the first time there were depictions found with illustrations of intimacy: the Pharaoh with his wife and daughters or displays of affection between the members of the family. Supposedly Akhenaton was monogamous and there is no proof that he had secondary wives and when Nefertiti died there was no substitute, which normally happened because the Pharaoh would choose another one of his wives to replace the main one. Akhenaton picked poor men to be direct figures in his government but other Pharaohs also did it before. Regarding Art they experimented with Naturalism and the Pharaoh was represented simultaneously as a man and a woman like Aton (father and mother) so he is portrayed with big hips and prominent breast. Also, there are images where he doesn't have a sexual organ.
Mediterranean culture
When talking about the Mediterranean culture the whole region including its history and values which shaped it has to be taken into consideration. There are honor and integrity, as well as many ideals related to this geographical and historical location. There are also certain personal characteristics which the protagonists of the novels related to this culture have to possess. Family is very important in this world which can be seen in the book Nefertiti et Akhenaton.
The Mediterranean culture has many values which are shared among their members. “They may also establish a prima facie case for considering the Mediterranean a region in which honor and shame are – to a marked though not a unique extent – the dominant values of popular morality”. Families are supposed to behave in an honorable manner because it is a matter of prestige. There are also consequences of not following these rules which makes people respect them out of fear and not only to preserve prestige. They also strive for perfection which is unattainable, but desirable. Most of the families are equally worthy, while there are families which lost their honor and cannot be respected anymore and this is a great shame. Women have a certain position which makes them weak: “A penalty for rape exacted by the woman’s kinsmen should be death. Since women are seen as creatures of pure sensuality, weak in self-discipline, they may well also be caught in fornication or adultery”. The woman is now an object of shame for the whole family because the family is seen as a union and as a community. Her children will suffer from shame as well because it is transferable which is why she should be killed for her crime. “Her lover should be attacked by the men of the family only after that has been done”. Women in general are regarded as the weaker sex, which is why they are not trusted in any way.
Picture: Mediterranean part of the world
The treatment of women is different than the treatment of men because women are supposed to lack morality. “As far as women are concerned, they should generally dress modestly, which includes veiling the face. They should also – as should Sarakatsan women- conceal their natural needs and passions”. It seems as if men were the stronger sex which is morally dominant as well and only women need to keep their passion in control because men could take advantage of it and women could not resist. It is also suggested that women cannot control their nature which is why they should be restrained by the society. Their honor is controlled by the mature members of the family and they are never in charge of anything, not even their control which is why they do not have honor.
Sexuality is a threat to this established order of things and marriages are prearranged. It is best to marry a cousin in this society because it is supposed to prevent any kind of shame and dishonor from happening since the woman will remain in the same family protected by her uncles, brothers and her father. The whole family is responsible for the honor of the women because they are considered to be incapable of protecting it themselves because of their weak personal traits. Men are capable of achieving full moral and the family is regarded as a community. The members of the family respect one another and the male members are supposed to protect the female sexuality from becoming dominant. Women are weak and have to be covered in clothes which would hide their sexuality and their attractiveness. Men can achieve full honor unlike women because women are the sex that should be kept in private so that they do not embarrass the whole family.
It has to be established what Mediterranean is consisted of and it can be observed geographically, culturally and historically. There are many locations related to this region, like Sicily, Sardinia, Crete and Cyprus, Santorini, Elba, Greek, Turkey and a part of Croatia. “But the Mediterranean is also divided into a western and eastern section by the Sicilian Straits between Sicily itself and Tunisia, an area of water that contains the remarkable Maltese islands, home to a Christian society”. The Egyptians also belong to the Mediterranean culture and have shaped it as well.
The history in this part of the world is related to people who engaged in trade and had fleets and the ideas and religions were also exchanged among the region. Politics and trade are the most important aspects of the Mediterranean because these two areas are responsible for the sustainable development of a culture. It is important to look “at the internal affairs of Italy, Spain, Greece or Egypt. The Mediterranean is thus as a broadly defined region, one that has many distinctive features”. All of these countries influenced one another in all aspects and created a distinctive socio-economic and cultural region which is called the Mediterranean.
This region is very complex because of the different cultures and different races inhabiting it and all of them left trace. “Complexity means richness, diversity in a very positive sense, facilitating exchanges over short and long distances”. The cultural exchange means that there were different cultures interconnected in the Mediterranean. Egyptian rulers were influenced by those in Cicilia and Lebanon because each culture took what was best from another. The merchants were responsible for spreading the culture as well.
In Egypt, there was influence of the geography as well because of the river Nile. These cultures influenced one another because they were related by the geography and by trade of goods. There was a constant flow between the countries of the Mediterranean and it was reflecting on the culture as well.
The Mediterranean influenced the literature which was created in this area and it is related to the fluctuation of the ideas throughout the region. “Geography, climate, population determine communications, economy, political organization, but each can react upon the other; man is a social animal and is conditioned by the society in which he lives, as that society in turn is conditioned by its geographical and climatic matrix”. The Mediterranean culture involves Egypt as well which is why Nefertiti et Akhenaton refer to this area as well regarding the culture, religion and overall social establishment. In all of these societies, there was a dominant ruler who was celebrated and there were also the societal norms related to it.
When Breudel tried to deal with the Mediterranean culture he referred to in a new manner: “This required him to look at that sea, and at the lands which enclosed it, and at the human communities which lived in those lands, bound together, directly or indirectly, by that great unifying inland waterway, as a unity”. The themes related to the Mediterranean culture are the treatment of the family, of religion of men and of women in the society, the community and the significance of unity. There is the notion of love which is present in Nefertiti et Akhenaton which means that the married couples love each other and do not marry for other reasons. It is also important to be honorable as a family because the dignity of the whole family depends on each of the members. This is why women are encouraged to seek shelter and approval from the elder male members of the family.
The region of the Mediterranean “is unique geographically and has developed a characteristic way of living, in small, almost self-sufficient economic groups essentially engaged in the cultivation of corn, wine, and oil, to which flocks and herds are subsidiary”.Women are also involved in the family affairs and take care of everything as well as men although they are controlled by men. There is the sea and the lives of people depend on it as well. People who came to this region have been assimilated because the culture asks for it and because it is the only way to survive in this geographical area where the best possible system has been established.
The Mediterranean culture was the first to be created and then the European which is why the ancient cultures can be seen as the influential ones. “A stock coming from Africa was diffused in the quaternary epoch throughout the whole Mediterranean basin and over Europe, even to the northern part”. The culture of the people who mixed was mixed as well and their ideas were interconnected. “Braudel is of course correct to identify the unique geography and climate of the Mediterranean region that has shaped how people lived and flourished”(Clement 116). Braudel was talking about geography and the cultures of the people were in interaction as well as their ideas.
Nefertiti and Akhenaton lived in ancient Egypt and some of the story described in the book is related to real life events while some of it is fiction. Jacq tried to use the historical events and to create a notion of the love story which could have been possible under those ancient rules and in that kind of world which belongs to the Mediterranean culture which influenced the European culture afterwards. The cultures and ideas of the people involved in this region were interconnected and interrelated and this created a new culture which has had a great impact on Western civilization as well.
Christian Jacq explored Egyptology and its studies and he was a remarkable man who brought this exquisite Mediterranean culture to Europe in his books. He had means which he used to make it possible for the people worldwide to enjoy and be engaged in the books which he wrote, both fiction books and nonfiction. He was celebrated for all of his work as well as for the preservation of the Egyptian culture and the idea of the pharos. He writes in a romantic way which inspires people and many tourists began visiting Egypt encouraged by Jacq’s books. Everybody is fascinated by power, dominance, religion and the world order in ancient times which is the secret of Jacq’s success. He used his own popularity to spread the word of the Egyptian ideas.
People all over the world became acquainted with the idea of entering the lives of ancient Egyptians and their family and religious matters. The lives of common people were affected by the lives of the rulers which was the Pharaoh in this case. He was humanized because his love for Nefertiti was shown as a unique love. Moreover, it was allowed for people to cherish their own religions because the worshipping Egyptian cults and Gods was not a necessity. This means that this culture was advanced since trade was more important than religion although it was important for women to be modest in the Mediterranean culture.
It should be mentioned that love is the eternal topic which makes people interested in all other topics and it survives the test of time. Love is dominant in the story of a Pharaoh which is why it is so attractive. The fact that he was monogamous is also interesting because of the fact that he was the omnipotent ruler. However, his romantic side is dominant in Jacq’s description which makes the Mediterranean culture alluring.
Bibliography
"Biography." Christian Jacq Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 May 2016. <http://christianjacq.co.uk/biography/>.
Horden, Peregrine, and Nicholas Purcell. The Corrupting Sea: A Study of Mediterranean History. Malden: Wiley-Blackwell, 2000. Print.
Abufalia, David. The Mediterranean in History. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2011. Print.
Trevor-Roper, H R. "Fernand Braudel, the Annales, and the Mediterranean." The Journal of Modern History 44.4 (1972): 468-79. Print.
Myres, John L. "Mediterranean Culture." Man 43 (1943): 118. Print.
Sergi, G. "MEDITERRANEAN CULTURE AND ITS DIFFUSION IN EUROPE." The Monist 12.2 (1902): 161-80. Print.
Clement, Richard W. "The Mediterranean:: What, Why, and How." Mediterranean Studies 20.1 (2012): 114-20. Print.
