Moses and Akhenaten: The Secret History of Egypt at the Time of the Exodus

This was a very interesting book. A lot of information to think about.

Really enjoyed the theory, research, and overall flow of the material. This is my first book from this author, and I will be buying more from him.The quality research that is apparent from the read itself, isn't presented in a way that distracts from the point the author is working towards. I have read plenty of material where an author is showing so much proof of why/where/what that it becomes too reference. The author includes Appendices at the end of the book for any reference to sources, cites, and more in depth reasoning. I thought this worked well for the flow of the book, it's ease of the read, but still presented the proper amount of information that the author has a basis for his theories.The chapters aren't very long. He presents his thesis and questions from the first paragraph of the chapter. Then he ends the chapter by summarizing his opinion and thoughts that were presented with research in the central portion of the chapters.Overall the book is a very easy read. His theories are presented well, as well as some opposite viewpoints are given throughout the book.I'm not sure I'm completely sold to his theory of specifically linking Moses with Ahkenaten (maybe 90%), but I do believe the timing of monotheism to Egypt and the dating of biblical Moses to be correct. The minimal references to Egypt, during a time when that country had dominated the area culturally, within the Bible has always been a curious point to me.I enjoyed the book. Even if you don't believe in the theory at all, it is worth the read. I will be buying more of his books for sure.My only regret is that I wish I would've read his other Title, 'Stranger in the Valley of the Kings', where he had made more in depth points to an age before the time of Moses, in regards to a vizier named Yuya, as being the biblical Joseph.

I rated, "Moses and Akhenaten: The Secret History of Egypt at the Time of the Exodus," by Ahmed Osman with four-stars because there were chapters in the book that overwhelmingly captivated my mind. Other chapters seemed to drag a bit and I found myself having to force myself to read each word on the page.I am not an expert on Biblical or Egyptian History, however I did learn and discover newfound knowledge and information after reading, "Moses and Akhenaten: The Secret History of Egypt at the Time of the Exodus."I would recommend other readers pick up a copy of, "Moses and Akhenaten: The Secret History of Egypt at the Time of the Exodus," by Ahmed Osman.

You can see the link and the probability from the evidence. You’ve got to read it to believe it! My preacher once said one Sunday he almost lost his belief over the weekend, but decided our church had such a worthy mission (foster care, support and adoption) that he decided to continue on. Did HE read this book!?

I could not engage with this book enough to finish reading it. The author seemed to assume an in-depth level of background knowledge that the average person lacks. I am intrigued by the ideas presented, but the reading was so dense that I could not tease out the supporting evidence and make sense of it. Innately I feel like the author could very well be right in his hypothesis that Moses was Akhenaten but I could not assimilate the evidence he presented in a way that allowed me to form a stronger conclusion. I found it mentally exhausting. I personally found the organization of the text lacking. If you are a historian, you might enjoy the book more than I did. I gave it to my friend who was a history major and is fascinated with Egyptian history as well. I’m not sure that she has read it because she has not commented on it. This is just the opinion of someone without a history background. If intrigued, buy the book. You might enjoy it.

The story of Moses and Akhenaten is a fascinating tale and one that makes a lot of sense historically. Unfortunately, the author used the venue of the book to spend most of his time arguing with other scholars in the field with a different viewpoint.There was no coherent chronology and much of the evidence for Egyptian Hebrew sources was assumed by the author to be in general knowledge. For instance, he makes a comparison to Yuya and Joseph of the Biblical multi-coloured coat as being the patriarch of the Egyptian Jews, though there is no chronology or discussion of how he got to Egypt and why he would be there in the first place. If Yuya were indeed the father of the Egyptian Hebrews, then a more in-depth discussion of his origins would have been helpful.Most of the book is spent refuting other scholars ideas, in no particular chronological order, without having the reader engaged as to why these facts are important. Was it Year 1 or Year 21? While it may be important in the timeline of the Amarna Dynasty, the reader is left to read between the lines as to why this would be important and specifically whom is referred, as the author refutes the findings of someone named Redford.A good editor could save this book by first laying out a coherent argument and chronology as to what happened, where and when. Then other arguments may be presented with scholarly refutation and counter-argument. As it is, the book is a piecemeal presentation of a confusing subject.

The book was used...I knew that.Still good for my library.Weather the facts line up or not is speculative.Other than the bible's word...were the Israelites really slaves in Egypt???

I purchased this because I enjoyed the Author's "Stranger in the Valley of the Kings" the theory behind this book is intriguing but other titles lead me to wonder his motivation for some of the theories. His original motivation was clearly explained but these not so much.

I was intrigued by the story of the exodus as I always believed that the biblical narrative must have been an allegorical accounting to depict political event. It seemed to me that Moses must have been an Egyptian, but not being an expert in ancient Egyptian history I could not give a definitive argument as to why this would have been the case. This book provides a very good argument for why Moses and Akhenaten could have been the same person. However, a lot also hinges on the fact that Yuya may have been the historical Joseph of the Bible and I did not find much in the book that made the case. However this could be because the author had already made the case in a previous book which I have not yet read. There is some degree of conjecture with some ideas put forward by the author such as co-regency between Akhenaten and Amenhotep III, but the author gives a fair and well researched argument stating the case.All in all a very interesting and well written book.

This book compares the lives of the 'rebel pharaoh Akhenaten' and Moses. The author expounds the theory that they were the actually the same person by comparing their histories and their religion. It makes fascinating reading! Akhenaten was the first person to propagate the idea on a large scale that there is only 'one god' to be worshipped and his reasons for doing so- which was partly to break the monopoly that the priesthood had during that time. He puts the theory forward in a very compelling way even explaining convincingly the episode where he went back to Egypt to 'Pharaoh' and turned his staff into a 'serpent' without resorting to the supernatural to explain it- just very simple and erudite reasoning. This is a great book about the Exodus and one of the most important chapters in the history of religion partly explaining the reason why so many people assert that their religion is the 'only one and true one'

Moses and Akhenaten - ReviewMBPLeeThe impression I get with the Old and New Testaments is that it is too cosmetic, too clinical, and too comprehensive and too immediate. The whole basis of the doctrines of Judaism (and Christianity) in the Bible essentially rests on the tablets and the message brought down from Mount Sinai by Moses. But did Judaism really appear suddenly in 1314 BC out of the genius of Moses and his seeing the "Burning Bushes" or did the religious beliefs of Moses and monotheism evolve from existing religions, gods, cultures, and traditions of the peoples in Egypt? And If it did evolve from Egyptian religious cultures, why has this fact been suppressed all this time?Egyptian historical evidence has proven that the Pharaoh Akhenaten (1380 - 1334 BC) also known as Pharaoh Amenhotep IV abolished polytheism and replaced it with a single god Aten who was spiritual without image or form. Akhenaten ruled Egypt for seventeen years, but his vision of a mono-theist god upset the people and especially the fundamentalists polytheist priests to such an extent that he was forced to abdicate the throne and allowed his successor to allow the people to include the worship of the old gods of Egypt, Amun. The animosity of the polytheists and the followers of the monotheists were irreconcilable at that point in time. Akhenaten was forced to seek refuge in Sinai taking with him his Egyptian and Israelite supporters. And this was the beginnings of Judaism.Sigmund Freud had suggested that Moses was in fact one of the Egyptian priests from the Aten Temples who started the religion of Judah. But as he was Egyptian, it was convenient if his identity was removed so as not to alienate the Jews since there was not much love between the Egyptians and the Jewish people.But Egyptian scholar Ahmed Osman hypothesized that in fact Moses as depicted in the Old Testament was, in fact, a spiritual representation of Akhenaten. They were one and the same person although the accounting differed in the different texts.The Egyptians, of course, divorced themselves from this blasphemy. The Jews wanted a new identity also divorced from any Egyptian connections. The Romans and Christians were determined to suppress any connections to the Egyptian polytheist culture as it would have undermined their own narratives, independence and authority.The lives of Amenhotep IV, Akhenaten, Moses, the creation of Aten, the Temples of Aten, and monotheism all occurred about the same time in history. Was it simply coincidence, or is there some credibility in the hypothesis of Sigmund Freud and Ahmed Osman? Only further archaeological findings will prove of disprove such hypothesis but the evidence and timing is too coincidental to be chance.

This is an incredibly detailed account of a very interesting story/dispute that appears to be ongoing.The author does a fantastic job leaving no stone unturned to bring us what I believe is the most truthful and accurate version of this story. 10/10.

Ahhhhh! what a book. We cannot get enough of Ahmed Osman. A tireless researcher. A challenging historian and knowledgeable exponent of Egyptian history. A scholar. I invite the world to read his works. Anything you can lay your hands on by Osman will be greatly rewarding. I assure you.