The Egyptian (1954)
Director: Michael Curtiz
Starring: Jean Simmons (Merit), Victor Mature (Horemheb), Gene Tierney (Baketamon, Pharoah's sister), Michael Wilding (Akhnaton, the Pharoah), Bella Darvi (Nefer), Peter Ustinov (Kaptah), Edmund Purdom (Sinuhe, the Egyptian), Judith Evelyn (Taia, Queen Mother), Henry Daniell (Mekere, High Priest), John Carradine (grave robber), Carl Benton Reid (Senmut, father of Sinuhe), Tommy Rettig (Thoth, son of Merit), Anitra Stevens (Queen Nefertiti)
The story of Sinuhe in Akhenaten's reign.
Sinuhe was a poor orphan who became a physician. He had such a good reputation that he was appointed to serve the Pharaoh Amenhotep IV. As a member of the royal court, he inevitably becomes involved in some of the political intrigue of the court. He is approached to join a plot to kill the Pharaoh. Will the physician be able to survive the coming political upheaval with his honor in tact?
Historical Background:
Egypt's Golden Empire (The New Kingdom) (1526-1080 B.C.)
1560 -- Egypt was occupied and divided and on the verge of extinction. In the north the Hyksos ruled, while to the South were the warlike Nubians. The Hyksos invasion was the first time Egypt was completely invaded. The invaders stayed for some 150 years. The Egyptian capital at Thebes and the Egyptian royal line were in bad shape. They were caught between two super powers of the time. Northern Egypt and the pyramids belonged to others.
1550-1295 -- Egypt's 18th Dynasty.
The King of Thebes wanted Egyptian power back. He had two sons: Kamos and Akmos. The father rebelled and was brutally slaughtered. Examination of his skull revealed many axe marks. Kamos wanted to destroy the two enemy powers, but he had to be careful given the weakened Egyptian position.
He did not have to wait long. The spies of Kamos were able to intercept Hyksos messenger on a secret mission. They carried a letter to Nubia that suggested that Nubia join with Hyksos and divide what was left of Egypt between them.
Kamos started to prepare for war. He suddenly became a freedom fighter. At age 20 Kamos went north (while young brother Akmos could only watch). His forces came across a fortified town, which Kamos took in a battle. The victory made Kamos very happy. He then headed tyo Avaris, the capital of Hyksos. But Kamos died on the verge of kicking the Hyksos out of old Egypt.
At age 10, Akmos now had to step up. But he was more cautious than his brother. After ten years of preparation, he set off to war. Akmos was successful. He fought a decisive battle for Egypt and was victorious. He was now pharaoh of a united Egypt. At home, he was able to get rid of taxes.
1526 -- the beginning of the New Kingdom of Egypt. Akmos made sure to thank the god Amen-Ray ("The Hidden One") for his victories. Given Akmos's many successes, he himself was worshiped as a god.
Akmos wanted more gold and so he invaded Nubia and crushed them.
After 25 years on the throne, Akmos had pushed Egypt's borders farther than ever before: to the Sinai Desert and deep into Nubia in he south. Thebes, the religious capital, now flourished.
Pharaoh Hatchetputh was key to the expansion of Thebes. The raised a great many obelisks, which rose to a height of 30 meters, that became the symbol of Egypt.
In 1903, a British archaeologist discovered that the Pharaoh was a woman. She was co-regent for awhile with her son Tukmosas, but soon had herself declared Pharaoh. Hatchetputh had to fight against a good deal of resistance to her rule. Much of this resistance came from the army led by her step-son. So she sent the army on a trading expedition to Poont. The expedition set her apart as the Pharaoh who reached out beyond Egypt itself.
After 22 years on the throne, she died.
Following her death, the step son Tutmosus asserted himself and became Pharaoh. Once in power, he decided to obliterate any trace of the female Pharaoh. Her beautiful temple was defaced and all evidence of her destroyed. Furthermore, her name was excluded from the list of kings.
A coalition of Middle Eastern princes moved south to take Megiddo in the Levant. In responding to the challenge, Tutmosus decided to not only counter the threat but to build an empire. With four great divisions of 20,000 men, the Pharaoh headed north up the Mediterranean coast. In accounts of the adventure, the word Israel was recorded for the first time as a place conquered by the young Pharaoh.
1456 -- the Pharaoh stood on Carmel Ridge. The Great fortress of Megiddo lay ahead of him. There were three approaches to the fortress. The Pharaoh, against the wishes of his advisors, took the most dangerous but shorter passage. Not expecting the Pharaoh's choice of roadway, the enemy was forced back to their fortress. It was a complete route, but on the verge of victory, the Pharaoh's troops stopped soldiering to plunder. This gave the enemy time to re-organize.
The Pharaoh had to settle on a siege. After seven months of siege, facing starvation, Megiddo finally surrendered. Pharaoh returned in trilumph to Thebes along with such plunder as 892 chariots and about 2,000 cattle. The booty made Thebes rich.
By the end of his reign, Egypt controlled Nubia north to Syria, an area which included the Syrian and Lebanese coasts and parts of Israel and Palestine.
1390 -- young Pharaoh Amenhotep ruled in a time of peace, known as the Golden Age. Pharaoh Amenhotep was the richest ruler in the known world. His son was Pharaoh Amenhotep IV.
The times were a-changing. Babylonia, Assyria and Mittani had emerged as powers. Egypt faced new dangers. But, instead of using war as the main instrument of foreign policy, the Pharaoh used diplomacy. And he was good at diplomacy. Ambassadors from places such as Minoan Crete and Babylon flocked to Egypt, while others paid tribute.
The priests of the God Aman-Rei were becoming more powerful than ever before. As a counter measure, Amenhotep changed gods, now being loyal to only Ah-ten, the visible sun.
1352 -- at age 39, Amenhotep III died.
1352-1336 -- Akhenaten or Amenhotep IV introduced a brief period of monotheism (Atenism), based on the worship of the then minor Sun God. It seems he pushed monotheism because the priests of the god Amen had become more wealthy and powerful than the Pharaoh himself. Amenhotep was the first monotheist in recorded history.
The Pharaoh moved the capital to the north to a then desolate place. Everything was suddenly moved to the new capital Amarna. Tens of thousands made the move.
His chief wife was Nefertiti (meaning "a beautiful woman has come). She placed a prominent role in the reign of her husband. Together they had six girls. He had a concubine named Kiya.
1340 -- in the 12th year of his reign, Egypt just started to fall apart. Nefertiti simply disappears. No one knows why for sure, but it seems that the Pharaoh started to persecute the followers of the other gods. Intolerance was now the name of the game. (This made Amenhotep the first religious oppressor in history.) He had armies of men chisel away any mention of the other gods. The Pharaoh lost touch with the outside world and crisis loomed for the Egyptian empire.
1338 -- in the 14th year of his reign, four of his daughters and Kiya died of the plague.
1336 -- Amenhotep IV died. After 20 years of life, the new capital of Amarna was abandoned and crumbled to dust.
The new king was then only nine years of age, the son of Amenhotep by a minor wife. His name soon changed to Tutenkamen.
Source:
The PBS series on DVD, Empires: Egypt.
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This movie, should not be confused with the tale of Sinuhe, who lived during the 12th Dynasty:
1991-1962 B.C. -- Amenemhet I first pharaoh of the 12th Dynasty, who ruled Egypt for 30 years.
King Amenemhet I appointed his son Sesostris I as coregent in the 20th year of his reign.
When Amenemhet I was killed, other royal sons plotted to stop Sesostris from becoming pharaoh.
Sinuhe, an administrator, was with Sesostris. When he heard of a possible plot, he became very worried and fearful. Sinuhe became convinced that both Sesostris and he himself would not survive the impending trouble.
Sinuhe fled Egypt to western Asia (to an area called Upper Retjenu). The ruler Amunenshi took him in and even had him marry his eldest daughter. In addition, he placed Sinuhe at the head of a tribe.
Sinuhe did very well in his new home, living a long and prosperous life. Toward the end of his career, Sesostris, who had survived the plot against him, invited Sinuhe to return to Egypt.
Sinuhe returned to Egypt and was accepted back into the royal court.
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