Akhenaten, Dweller in Truth

Akhenaten, Dweller in Truth is a novel written and published by Nobel Prize-winning author Naguib Mahfouz in 1985. It was translated from Arabic into English in 1998 by Spoiler warning: Plot or ending details follow.

On the way from Sais in ancient Egypt with his father, the scribe Meriamun points out the ruins of Akhetaten, the city that the "heretic pharaoh" Akhenaten built for his One and Only God. Seeking a balanced perspective on the events of that time which split Egypt politically and religiously, Meriamun gets a letter of introduction from his father to many members of Akhenaten's court, among them the High Priest of Amun, his chief of security Haremhab, and his queen Nefertiti. From the varied accounts given by those close to him, Meriamun -- and the reader -- is left to judge for themselves whether Akhenaten was a power politician or a true believer.