As a little girl, I
loved watching The Ten Commandments. In the early 70’s—the
days before blu-ray and Netflix—its annual Easter broadcast was a
big deal. The whole family would sit around the TV with bowls full of
popcorn and watch Charlton Heston shout, “Let my people go!”
Imagine my
excitement when I heard about another movie, Exodus: Gods and
Kings, coming to theatres in 2014. A new face, Christian Bale,
would light up the big screen with the story of Moses—or so I
hoped.
I found the Exodus
movie entertaining—though not biblical—and for me, at least,
it will never replace the classic story told by Cecil B. DeMille in
1956. However, I nearly stood up and cheered when Exodus: Gods and
Kings portrayed Moses as the grandson of Horemheb! That tidbit of
fiction is unique to the movie and my book, The
Pharaoh’s Daughter, and sprouts
from a little bit of fact. Stay with me as we traverse the bulrushes
to find fact amid the fiction…
The candidates for
which Pharaoh’s Daughter drew Moses from the bulrushes is
the subject of much debate—almost as widely speculated as the date
of the Exodus itself. Once I chose which expert to believe on the
Exodus date (1250 BCE), Scripture determined which Pharaoh was king:
“Moses was
eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three when they spoke to
Pharaoh.” ~ Exodus 7:7 (emphasis added)
By adding eighty
years to 1250 BCE, sources pinpointed to King Tutankhamen as the king
in 1330 BCE, the “pharaoh of the edict” in Exodus 1:15-16:
“The king of Egypt
said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah,
‘When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the
delivery stool, if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him; but if
it is a girl, let her live.’”
I was both excited
and dejected when research suggested King Tut. Excited, because I’m
fascinated by the boy king. Dejected, because he was truly a boy
king—not old enough to have a daughter capable of bearing or
mothering a child.
Because I know the
Bible is unshakeable truth, and I’m unwilling to bend historical
research, I tried to think outside the box. More research uncovered
King Tut’s biological sister—a girl who would have been deemed,
Pharaoh’s daughter, the daughter of Tut’s father, King
Akhenaten.
To understand the
life of Akhenaten’s daughter, we should first picture the life of
her father.
King Akhenaten had
many wives. Fact.
One he loved;
another he feared. Fiction.
Nefertiti, the one
he feared (fiction), produced six daughters—no sons. Fact.
Kiya, the Beloved
Wife (fact), gave him a son—Tutankhamun (Tut)—and two daughters.
Fact.
Nefertiti coerced
King Akhenaten to name Kiya’s daughters “decoy names”—names
similar to Nefertiti’s daughters—so if the underworld gods sought
to steal (kill) Nefertiti’s daughters, perhaps they’d be fooled
by the names and take Kiya’s daughters instead. (Fact and
fiction—the names are real and thought to be decoys for the gods,
but we can’t know if Nefertiti coerced the king.)
Now begins the
weaving of fiction: The little decoy princess witnessed her
mother Kiya’s death in childbirth. Her fear of death soars. Without
Kiya’s protection, King Akhenaten realizes their children will be
vulnerable to Nefertiri’s schemes, so he relinquishes his little
decoy princess to his top soldier—General Horemheb—who adopts the
girl and gives her a new name, Anippe.
When Anippe marries
a handsome army commander, she becomes Amira of her husband’s
fertile Delta estate. But the word fertile conjures
nightmarish memories of her mother’s lifeless body on the birthing
stones.
Anippe sees a Hebrew
baby floating in a basket on the Nile (biblical Truth) and believes
the gods have answered her prayers for a son—without the dangers of
childbirth. (Fiction)
She names him after
her adoptive father—Horemheb—but in the quiet moments
calls him by his Hebrew name, Moses. Will rescuing this boy
from the Nile answer her prayers or cost her life?
The
Pharaoh’s Daughter mingles
Egyptian history, biblical fact, and imagination to tell the story of
a girl who grew up in a palace, defied a king, and raised a Hebrew
boy to lead a nation. Though the movies tell a different story, I
hope you’ll enjoy the unique retelling of this familiar Bible
favorite.
Mesu's Giveaway: Mesu is giving away a copy of her book to one lucky winner! This is international so long as Book Depository ships to your country.
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I love Biblically based books. I know that they cannot be written completely accurate, because the Bible doesn't give a lot of descriptions on emotion. But they draw me into the story with a personal aspect. I can't wait to read this one!
ReplyDeleteGreat to "meet" another biblical novel fan! Please keep in touch, and let me know what you think of TPD!
DeleteThis makes my history/Eygpt-loving soul happy. I've never thought of a book about Pharoah's daughter and this sounds utterly fascinating.
ReplyDeleteThe research was so fun, Annie. Is only done research in Israel, so moving to Egypt was like going to a new planet! Fascinating is the perfect word to describe it. I hope you enjoy the read.
Deletewhat is your passion when it comes to writing?
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by, Amy! My passion is writing about the women in Scripture who remain unnamed or are only briefly mentioned. I love digging into the historical side of the ancient texts to discover unknown details for the reader. It's like a virtual archaeological dig! Ha!
Deletethis book sounds amazing...ty for this chance
ReplyDeleteGlad you were able to enter.
Delete