ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS / EGYPT "The Classic work which redefines the timeframe of the Exodus and places it firmly in the age of Akhenaten and Tutankhamun. Essential reading for all Bible historians." --Andrew Collins, author of From the Ashes of Angels and Gateway to Atlantis During his reign, the Pharaoh Akhenaten was able to abolish the complex pantheon of the ancient Egyptian religion and replace it with a single god, Aten, who had no image or form. Seizing on the striking similarities between the religious vision of this "heretic" pharaoh and the teachings of Moses, Sigmund Freud was the first to argue that Moses was in fact an Egyptian. Now Ahmed Osman, using recent archaeological discoveries and historical documents, contends that Akhenaten and Moses were one and the same man. In a reinterpretation of the Exodus story, Osman details the events of Moses/Akhenaten's life: how he was brought up by Israelite relatives, ruled Egypt for seventeen years, angered many of his subjects by replacing the traditional Egyptian pantheon with monotheism, and was forced to abdicate the throne. Retreating to the Sinai with his Egyptian and Israelite supporters, he died out of the sight of his followers, presumably at the hands of Seti I, after an unsuccessful attempt to regain his throne. Osman reveals the Egyptian components in the monotheism preached by Moses as well as his use of the Egyptian royal ritual and Egyptian religious expression. He shows that even the Ten Commandments reveal the direct influence of Spell 125 in the Egyptian Book of the Dead. Moses and Akhenaten provides a radical challenge to long-standing beliefs concerning the origin of Semitic religion and the puzzle of Akhenaten's deviation from ancient Egyptian tradition. In fact, if Osman's contentions are correct, many of the major Old Testament figures are of Egyptian origin. AHMED OSMAN was born in Cairo in 1934, where he studied law. He is also the author of Stranger in the Valley of Kings, Out of Egypt, and The House of the Messiah. He has lived in England since 1964.