History Literature / TheEgyptian

* AnachronismStew: The term "Pharaoh" was not used contemporaneously for a ruler until the reign of Merneptah, over a hundred years after the time of Akhenaten.

* AllMenArePerverts: Extreme example. Nefer's allure on Sinuhe is so strong (or young Sinuhe is so dumbass, if not both) that he gives her everything he has, his family house and even ''his parents's future graves'' only to get laid with her. Which, to top, she refuses to do.
* AmbiguousDisorder: Sinuhe is a genius of medicine and can be very smart at other fields too, but he has pretty much NoSocialSkills, is surprisingly naive even later in his life, and often makes not only impulsive, but also irrational decisions. One can finish the book with the impression that there ''is'' something up with him.

* DatedHistory: Understandable, considering the book was published in 1945. and with over 70 years of development, our knowledge of ancient Egypt and other cultures had progressed quite substantially. Though at the time of publishing it was praised for it's accuracy, and a lot of the book's contents still hold up.

* DeepCoverAgent: Sinuhe of all people! Horemheb sends him on a sort of multi-year spy mission across the known world (Syria, Mesopotamia, Anatolia and Crete), ostensibly to sharpen his medical skill, but really to get a good idea about the military strength of other nations in comparison to Egypt's.

* FramingDevice: The setting, while accurate for it's time and quite enjoyable for itself alone, is a stage on which the true theme of the book - human nature, is presented.

* GodIsDead: The Minoan god is rumoured to have died sometime before Sinuhe, Kaptah and Minea reach Crete. It turns out [[spoiler:to be true, as their "god" is some sort of a sea beast that is dead by the event's time]].

* HappinessInSlavery: Kaptah is often nostalgic for the days when he was Sinuhe's slave, although he notes that in part this was because being a slave he could move around without being noticed, and because Sinuhe was a relatively good master and usually left him to his own devices anyway.

--> Overall I was deeply bored with Kaptah during these days, because he served me food constantly even if I wasn't hungry and all I would have wanted was wine. You see, I had a constant thirst, a thirst that only wine could ease -- I tried to explain this to Kaptah, but he didn't listen to me at all, and ordered me to rest and keep my eyes closed so I could relax. However, I was completely calm in my mind and cold blooded like a dead fish in a barrel of oil -- That's why I didn't want to close my eyes at all and I tried to take my cane so I could hit him, but my arm was so weak, that he only wrenched it out of my hand -- He also hid my excellent knife - the one that I had got as a gift from the Hethic dockhand - so I couldn't find it when I would've gladly seen the blood flowing from my veins.

** At the onset of the war against the Hittites, captured Syrian and Hittite soldiers are sacrificed by the positively ''gleeful'' priests of Sekhmet, her being the goddess of war. It goes to say however that even Horemheb was unnerved and slightly disgusted by this, to say nothing of Sinuhe.

* IronicName: Aside from "beautiful", "Nefer" can mean "good". Oh dear...
* IronicNurseryTune: Or rather Ironic Nursery Fairytale. During their "dating" Nefer tells Sinuhe a story of a man who sacrifices everything to his loved one, including killing his wife and children and as a punishment he gets thrown into a red hot, steaming oven. Later on, Sinuhe gives Nefer everything he has when trying to win her love. This also includes his family's house and later his parent's tomb when they die in the streets as beggars. And the red hot, steaming oven is his own guilt when he realizes [[WhatHaveIDone what he has done]]
* {{Irony}}: After defeating a mountain people in Syria, the egyptian army cuts down the wooden statue of their god and burns it in honor of theirs, which are thus proven more powerful. The "defeated" god's name? Yahweh.
* KarmaHoudini: Two people end up making it in the book: one is a rapist, the other a ruthless "Greed Is Good" kind of capitalist. Everyone else is either dead or in exile. Nefernefernefer also qualifies, as while Sinuhe has her imprisoned in the House of the Dead she charms her captors, turns them against each other and escapes with greater riches than she had before.

* MagicRealism: While it's mostly a straight historical drama there are elements like the blood stancher, whose mere presence can stop a wound from flowing, the [[SeaMonster Cretan god]] and the cures that Ammon's priests perform for Sinuhe that qualify as this.

* NecessarilyEvil: Everything Horemhotep does, [[spoiler: except for his marital rape of Baketamon]], is done to preserve Egypt from the external threat of it's enemies and/or the internal threat of his deluded StupidGood Pharoah.

* PoliceState: The land of Hatti. Not in the modern sense, but it is militarised, movement of foreigners is restricted with special permits, criminals are punished severely (for instance, illegal "sorcerers" are impaled on the side of roads), the hittite king has somewhat dictatorial overtones and it's capital Hatussha is mostly closed-off to outsiders.

* TragicHero: By the book's end, Sinuhe had [[spoiler:sold off his parents' grave for sex, killed Akhenaton, ostensibly to save Egypt but also causing Eie and Horemheb's unlawful ascendancy to the throne, lost two women he loved and his son Thoth, had his home burned, killed a Hittite noble who accepted him courteously and is finally exiled to never retorn to Egypt under pain of death because he knows too much by then.]]

* AluminumChristmasTrees: Yes, ancient Egyptian and Greek physicians actually knew skull surgery.

** It is noted that Akhenaton can make people see the world the way he does. Horemheb notes that, if it were possible just to bring everyone in the world to the Pharaoh so that he could talk to them personally, the world might be changed. In a SugarWiki/{{Funny Moment|s}} we later hear that he'd actually made calculations for trying to achieve this.

* TheConfidant: Kaptah is rather this for Sinuhe than a slave.

** InherentInTheSystem

The novel was made into a 1954 Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox film starring Edmund Purdom as Sinuhe, Michael Wilding as Akenaten, Bella Darvi as Nefer, Creator/JeanSimmons as Merit, and Creator/VictorMature as Horemheb; Peter Ustinov does his usual scene-stealing as Kapteh. It is hard to believe that this rather ponderous movie was directed by Creator/MichaelCurtiz, the director of ''Film/CaptainBlood'', ''Film/TheAdventuresOfRobinHood'', and ''Film/{{Casablanca}}''. Nevertheless, it has a memorable score by Music/BernardHerrmann ''and'' Music/AlfredNewman. Creator/MarilynMonroe apparently auditioned for the role of Nefer. The movie has some substantial differences from the novel.

''The Egyptian'' (or ''Sinuhe the Egyptian'') is a [[HistoricalFiction historical novel]] by Mika Waltari first published in Finnish in 1945. It details the life-story of an Egyptian doctor named Sinuhe, and his interactions with others during the turbulent reign of Akhenaton during the [[AncientEgypt 18th dynasty]].

Sinuhe's story begins when he is found as [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything a baby floating down the Nile in a reed boat]]; he grows up to become a doctor and in the process meets and befriends the Pharaoh, Akhenaton, as well as the general, Horemheb. After losing all his possessions to a woman he escapes into exile, where he spends his time spying and learning in various foreign lands. In Babylon he meets and sets free a woman named Minea destined for human sacrifice on Crete; after her death Sinuhe returns to Egypt and becomes embroiled in the conflict between the Pharaoh Akhenaton with his new god Aton and the old church of Ammon. Eventually Sinuhe poisons his friend the Pharaoh, and Horemheb becomes the true ruler of Egypt, although first under a succession of puppet-rulers. Finally Sinuhe confronts Horemheb over his various misdeeds and is sent into exile, where he writes down his life's story.

The novel was made into a 1954 Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox film starring Edmund Purdom as Sinuhe, Michael Wilding as Akenaton, Bella Darvi as Nefer, Creator/JeanSimmons as Merit, and Creator/VictorMature as Horemheb; Peter Ustinov does his usual scene-stealing as Kapteh. It is hard to believe that this rather ponderous movie was directed by Creator/MichaelCurtiz, the director of ''Film/CaptainBlood'', ''Film/TheAdventuresOfRobinHood'', and ''Film/{{Casablanca}}''. Nevertheless, it has a memorable score by Music/BernardHerrmann ''and'' Music/AlfredNewman. Creator/MarilynMonroe apparently auditioned for the role of Nefer. The movie has some substantial differences from the novel.

* AnachronismStew: The term "Pharaoh" was not used contemporaneously for a ruler until 1200 BC, over a hundred years after the time of Akhenaten.

* ManipulativeBastard: Many -- ''e.g.'', Ay, Horemheb, Kaptah, Nefer... Although Kaptah arguably rises to [[MagnificentBastard magnificience]].

* ArtisticLicenseBiology: As it is trapped on its cave, the Cretan god is said to eat only the human sacrifices they send to him, which amount to one person every month. A carnivorous beast of enough size to leave man-sized dung piles, as Sinuhe finds, could not possibly sustain itself by eating so little (and it is explicitly said it is trapped in the cave, meaning it cannot leave it to feed in open sea). Either the islanders actually feed it aside from the sacrifices, or the creature is actually supernatural.

* ArtisticLicenseBiology: As it is trapped on its cave, the Cretan god is said to eat only the human sacrifices they send to him, which amount to one person every month. A carnivorous beast of enough size to leave man-sized dung piles, as Sinuhe finds, could not possibly sustain itself by eating so little.

* BrokenAngel: The Cretan god. When Sinuhe gets to see it, [[spoiler:it is just the floating corpse of what used to be a magnificent creature which people worshipped like a god.]]

** It is noted that Akhenaton can make people see the world the way he does. Horemheb notes that if it were possible just to bring everyone in the world to the Pharaoh so that he could talk to them the world might be changed. In a SugarWiki/{{Funny Moment|s}} we later hear that he'd actually made calculations for trying to achieve this.

** After a period of religious unrest in Thebes, a mercenary army is dispatched by Horemheb & Eie to quell the new religion, the results are NOT pretty.

* TragicHero/AlasPoorVillain: By the book's end, Sinuhe had [[spoiler:sold off his parents' grave for sex, killed Akhenaton, ostensibly to save Egypt but also causing Eie and Horemheb's unlawful ascendancy to the throne, lost two women he loved and his son Thoth, had his home burned, killed a Hittite noble who accepted him courteously and is finally exiled to never retorn to Egypt under pain of death because he knows too much by then]]

* CorruptChurch: The church of Ammon, in marked contrast to the SaintlyChurch of Aton. Though the latter is actually far from being completely pure, as some of her priests are described to be too zealous to debate, and Akhenaton and his court orders to do some nasty things in the name of Aton.

* DatedHistory: Understandable, considering the book was published in 1945. and with over 70 years of development, our knowledge of ancient Egypt and other cultures had progressed quite substantially. Though at the time of publishing it was praised for it's accuracy.

* HappinessInSlavery: Kaptah is often nostalgic for the days when he was Sinuhe's slave, although he notes that in part this was because being a slave he could move around without being noticed, and that Sinuhe usually left him to his own devices anyway.

* HeroicBSOD: Sinuhe has a really bad one, when Minea dies. It hit him so hard, that he actually sank into an alcoholic, self-harming, nearly suicidal depression for several months, before Kaptah gives him some EpiphanyTherapy

** At the onset of the war against the Hittites, captured syrian and hittite soldiers are sacrificed by the positively ''gleeful'' priests of Sekhmet, her being the goddess of war. It goes to say however that even Horemheb was unnerved and slightly disgusted by this, to say nothing of Sinuhe.

* LightIsNotGood: In a twist, both Aton and Ammon are explained using light-imagery, as they both were [[ThePowerOfTheSun solar deities]] in the Myth/EgyptianMythology canon.

* SaintlyChurch: The church of Aton. A deconstruction in that the novel asks the question of which one is ''worse''.

* UndyingLoyalty: Kaptah for Sinuhe, Sinuhe for Pharaoh, and Pharaoh for Aton, most prominently. Unfortunately it really only goes well for Kaptah.

* VirginSacrifice: In a play on the story of [[Myth/GreekMythology The Minotaur]] Minea is to be sacrificed to the Cretan God... only GodIsDead and rather than being sacrificed, she is killed to keep this a secret. Yeah, it's [[CrapsackWorld that kind of story]].

* SpoiledSweet: The little princesses as shown in the film. They're only on for a few seconds but steal our hearts in those moments.
--> '''Ankhesenpaaten.''' I wish he'd ask to be a ''cheesemaker!'' I wish he would!

* WideEyedIdealist[=/=]KnightTemplar: Ahknaton manages to qualify as both.

The story is told ''via'' the FramingDevice of Sinuhe writing down his memoirs; as this clever device allows for plenty of room for [[UnreliableNarrator doubts as to his reliability]], the novel is an impressive example of combining both ShownTheirWork and ScienceMarchesOn: much of what Waltari writes was considered the best historical knowledge of his day, although much has also been reevaluated by modern historians. The main character of the book is named for the protagonist of a story called ''The Story of Sinuhe'' who overhears a secret and has to leave Egypt. The parallels to the protagonist of the novel is noted by characters inside the story.

* Irony: After defeating a mountain people in Syria, the egyptian army cuts down the wooden statue of their god and burns it in honor of theirs, which are thus proven more powerful. The "defeated" god's name? Yahweh.

** It is noted that Akhenaton can make people see the world the way he does. Horemheb notes that if it were possible just to bring everyone in the world to the Pharaoh so that he could talk to them the world might be changed. In a CrowningMomentOfFunny we later hear that he'd actually made calculations for trying to achieve this.

* ArtisticLicenseBiology: As it is trapped on its cave, the Cretan god is said to eat only the human sacrifices they send to him, that is, a person every month. A carnivorous beast of enough size to leave man-sized dung piles could not possibly eat so little.

* CharmPerson: It is noted that Akhenaton can make people see the world the way he does. Horemheb notes that if it were possible just to bring everyone in the world to the Pharaoh so that he could talk to them the world might be changed. In a CrowningMomentOfFunny we later hear that he'd actually made calculations for trying to achieve this.
** And Nefernefernefer takes this power UpToEleven.
* CrushingThePopulace: After a period of religious unrest in Thebes, a mercenary army is dispatched by Horemheb & Eie to quell the new religion, the results are NOT pretty.

* CorruptChurch: The church of Ammon.
** SaintlyChurch: The church of Aton. A deconstruction in that the novel asks the question of which one is ''worse''.
* CrapsackWorld: The {{Aesop}} of the story ends on the somewhat existentialist note that you really can't change anything but your own attitude, that people are corrupt and weak, and that the only person who really wished everyone well is completely incapable of grasping this fact, which just ends up making things worse.

* Desert Warfare: Most of the conflicts happen in the desert, which is understandable for the setting.
* DevotedToYou: Horemheb to princess Baketamon.

* GodIsDead: The Minoan god is rumoured to have died sometime before Sinuhe, Kaptah and Minea reach Crete. It turns out [[spoiler:to be true, as their "god" is some sort of a sea beast that had died]].

* HappilyMarried: Akhenaten and Nefertiti. This is TruthInTelevision from everything we know of the royal couple; also that they were GoodParents as you see in the film. Numerous shrine carvings depict them playing with their kids and including them in religious ceremonies.

* HumanSacrifice: At the onset of the war against the Hittites, captured syrian and hittite soldiers are sacrificed by the positively ''gleeful'' priests of Sekhmet, her being the goddess of war. It goes to say however that even Horemheb was unnerved and slightly disgusted by this, to say nothing of Sinuhe.

* KarmaHoudini: Two people end up making it in the book: one is a rapist, the other a ruthless "Greed Is Good" kind of capitalist. Everyone else is either dead or in exile. Nefernefernefer also qualifies. While Sinuhe has her imprisoned in the House of the Dead she charms her captors, turns them against each other and escapes with greater riches than she had before.
* LightIsNotGood: In a twist, both Aton and Ammon are explained using light-imagery.
** And, well, they were [[ThePowerOfTheSun solar deities]] in the Myth/EgyptianMythology canon.
* LoveMakesYouDumb. Sinuhe with Nefernefernefer is a glaring example of this.

* ManipulativeBastard: Many -- ''e.g.'', Ay, Horemheb, Kaptah, Nefer...
** Although Kaptah arguably rises to [[MagnificentBastard magnificience]].

* TheVamp: Nefer.
** Kind of a subversion, because she actually warns Sinuhe, that if he falls for her, she will eventually demolish everything he holds dear. But, being young and stupid, Sinuhe ignores the warnings.
** SayMyName: She is usually referred to as Nefernefernefer because "No man can resist, saying my name just once." It doesn't help that the world ''Nefer'' can mean "beautiful."
*** And also "good". Oh, dear.
* SpoiledSweet: The little princesses as shown in the film. They're only on for a few seconds but steal our hearts in those moments.
--> '''Ankhesenpaaten.''' I wish he'd ask to be a ''cheesemaker!'' I wish he would!

* VillainsNeverLie: Nefer is perfectly honest about her intent to use Sinuhe and then discard him.
** Which is perhaps one of the more obvious points where it becomes clear that we're dealing with an UnreliableNarrator.

The story is told ''via'' the FramingDevice of Sinuhe writing down his memoirs; as this clever device allows for plenty of room for [[UnreliableNarrator doubts as to his reliability]], the novel is an impressive example of combining both ShownTheirWork and ScienceMarchesOn: Much of what Waltari writes was considered the best historical knowledge of his day, although much has also been reevaluated by modern historians. The main character of the book is named for the protagonist of a story called ''The Story of Sinuhe'' who overhears a secret and has to leave Egypt. The parallels to the protagonist of the novel is noted by characters inside the story.

* TragicHero/AlassPoorVillain: By the book's end, Sinuhe had [[spoiler:sold off his parents' grave for sex, killed Akhenaton, ostensibly to save Egypt but also causing Eie and Horemheb's unlawful ascendancy to the throne, lost two women he loved and his son Thoth, had his home burned, killed a Hittite noble who accepted him courteously and is finally exiled to never retorn to Egypt under pain of death because he knows too much by then]]

* FramingDevice
* GreyAndGreyMorality

* HistoricalFiction

Sinuhe's story begins when he is found floating down the Nile in a reed boat; he grows up to become a doctor and in the process meets and befriends the Pharaoh, Akhenaton, as well as the general, Horemheb. After losing all his possessions to a woman he escapes into exile, where he spends his time spying and learning in various foreign lands. In Babylon he meets and sets free a woman named Minea destined for human sacrifice on Crete; after her death Sinuhe returns to Egypt and becomes embroiled in the conflict between the Pharaoh Akhenaton with his new god Aton and the old church of Ammon. Eventually Sinuhe poisons his friend the Pharaoh, and Horemheb becomes the true ruler of Egypt, although first under a succession of puppet-rulers. Finally Sinuhe confronts Horemheb over his various misdeeds and is sent into exile, where he writes down his life's story.

* AnachronismStew: * The term "Pharaoh" was not used contemporaneously for a ruler until 1200 BC, over a hundred years after the time of Akhenaten.