Sinuhe the Egyptian

The narrator and principal character in this fictional memoir, Sinuhe is born in the same year as Pharaoh Amenhotep IV, downriver from the palace. He is found by a physician's wife, Kipa, and adopted by her and Senmut. He grows up in the poor quarter of Thebes, assisting his father treating poor patients and hearing his mother's stories. Early on he sees that he resembles the nobility more than workers, but only late in life puts together enough pieces to conclude he is the son of the late Princess Tadukhipa.

Sinuhe studies theology and medicine in the House of Life thanks to his father's friend, the royal skull opener, who later selects Sinuhe to assist at Amenhotep III's deathbed. That night, the royal heir leads Sinuhe into the desert and sees a new god, Aton, during an epileptic seizure. Sinuhe also meets the future general and...