Mika Waltari's "The Egyptian" tells us the story of one physician of ancient Egypt, Sinuhe, set against the background of the reign of the fourth pharaoh Amenhotep, whose attempt to impose monotheism on his polytheistic country was one of the strangest and most fascinating experiments of early civilization. Sinuhe is a foundling, adopted by a lowly physician, and in the tradition of ancient times, trained to follow in his adopted father's footsteps, coming of age at the same time a decisive event is about to take place: the death of the reigning pharaoh, Amenhotep III, around 1380 BC, and the accession of his son, Amenhotep IV, who styled himself Akhenaton.

Sinuhe is a loner and a wanderer, whose self-imposed exile from his native country takes him to Syria, the ancient Hittite kingdom of Hatti, and Crete, before finally returning to Egypt, at the same time that Akhenaton attempts to overthrow the reigning god Ammon and his priests, and install his own vision, Aton, the one and eternal god, in Ammon's place. As a political move, trimming Ammon's power in Egypt may have been a wise idea; the priests' power had grown so great that it was challenging that of pharaoh himself. But as a religious experiment it was a disaster, especially in a country as rigidly conservative as ancient Egypt where change of any kind was anathema. We see Akhenaton as a visionary out of touch with reality and with his people, a tragic figure doomed to failure. And we share Sinuhe's ambivalence about this enigmatic figure, intrigued by pharaoh's vision of one just god who brings equality to all mankind, but repelled by the spreading social chaos this vision brings with it, especially when it threatens his own security and the lives of those he loves.

Waltari bring us some of the people that have only existed in the pages of history books -- Akhenaton himself, his incredibly beautiful wife Nefertiti, his scheming, conniving mother Queen Taia, the boy king Tut, and Horemheb, the military general who became pharaoh after Akhenaton's death plunged the country into near anarchy. But "The Egyptian" fortunately doesn't read like a history textbook; Waltari makes ancient Egypt and his characters come vibrantly alive. And Sinuhe himself is wholly believable; a man of his own time and all time, sometimes wise, sometimes foolish in the extreme, trying to find his own place in his world, sometimes succeeding and sometimes not. Waltari is not only a great novelist but a fine historian, and he kept the background scrupulously accurate. The book is true to its time and its location, and Naomi Walford's excellent translation into English keeps the reader moving along effortlessly from the first page to the last. "The Egyptian" is Waltari's masterpiece; it's one of the best historical novels ever written.

I first read this book when I was a girl junior in high school. That was in 1967, which was 22 years after it was written. I just finished reading it again and love it even more. I am 53 now and have read many novels but none compare to my favorite book, The Egyptian. And now that I am older I have come to appreciate the complexity of the characters, their sorrows, their joys, their virtues and vices even more. The writting style is rythmic and lyrical with ancient language like the Songs of Solomon. Yet the plot is easy to follow and the story is enthralling because it is based on historical events and people.

I fell in love with Sinhue as a teenager and have yet to find a more strangely attractive male character in any other book. Sinhue is not a man of action, but a thinking man who loves deeply and is loyal and compassionate. Yet he is also flawed in a way that makes him all the more mysterious and vulnerable. His wiley slave Keptah, the love of his life, Minea, who dances before the bulls in her homeland of Crete, the Pharoah Anknaton, the princess Baketamon and many more characters both fictional and factual are skillfully created and come alive in the beautifully described setting of the ancient world.

I was very gratified to read the other reviews. It seems I am not alone in my life long love of this magical novel. Read it because if you don't you will be missing something in life. But I warn you, no other book you read afterward will ever quite measure up to it.

"The Egyptian" came about as a result of Mika Waltari's experiences during WWII. Published in Finland in 1945, this book is truly a commentary about the terrible social upheavals experienced by Europe during the war years. The abomination of war, the waning belief in religion, and the unravelling of society are some of the themes that resonate from ancient Egypt to mid-20th Century Europe.

This historical tie notwithstanding, the real beauty of this book lies in the way Waltari uses small details to transport the reader to a bygone era. The period that starts with rise of Amehnotep IV (later Akhenaten) and concludes with reign of the great general Horemheb is one of the most compelling chapters of Egyptian history, and this book succeeds in making it into a gripping tale of idealism, stupidity, courage, and politics.

It is truly amazing to see the historical figures fulfill their appointed roles, acting before the background of the first monotheistic religion (doomed to fail through good intentions), a war of conquest, political manipulations, love and loss, and ultimately, fate. In the best tradition of Waltari, the male characters are richly three-dimensional, with moments of courage and moments of cowardice, with hints of idealism and hints of opportunism, and above all, with human frailties.

Truly a delightful read, even if it forces the reader to ponder issues well beyond the action that takes place on the written page.