The Lie

By R.K. Ready

Rekh-sef, son of peasants in ancient Egypt, loves to sketch and mold lifelike figures in the Nile mud, exasperating his father with work he doesn't do on the family farm. Acting on a suggestion from the local priest, Rekh-sef's mother sends samples of her son's craft to the pharaoh's chief craftsman and sculptor Tuthmose, whom she calls her second cousin. Rekh-sef is invited to join Tuthmose's workshops, and when his father agrees to send Rekh-sef to the pharaoh's new city of Akhetaten, it launches the young artist on a life and career unimaginable to him or anyone he knows. Pharaoh Akhenaten is launching Egypt toward worship of one and only one God, Aten, and toward forms of art that are true to life, all part of his own quest for truth. This puts Akhenaten at odds, in both religion and art, with the priests of Amun and other gods of the time. Rekh-sef, who knows neither want nor ambition, finds himself swept into the drama and intrigue of Akhenaten's turbulent reign as he grows in artistic achievement.Word of his father's death leads Rekh-sef to create a bust that Tuthmose acclaims as the finest ever produced in his workshops. Tuthmose promotes the young apprentice to artisan and introduces him to the royal family; he becomes a favorite of the pharaoh even as he struggles to understand his One God. Courtship with Tuthmose's youngest daughter, Renefer, acquaints him with rivalry and falsehood, even as he develops close friendships with Suty, a worldly fellow craftsman, and Meri-Ra, priest-of-Aten-in-training.A bust he creates to celebrate his marriage to Renefer, who bears close resemblance to Queen Nefertiti, causes a rift between Rekh-sef and his father-in-law Tuthmose. Shortly afterward, Rekh-sef learns at his dying mother's bedside that he is not who he thought he was. As he wrestles with this new knowledge, the pharaoh rules that Rekh-sef shall be renamed Rekhsaten to honor his affinity with Aten.When Akhenaten decrees a ban on worship of gods other than the One God-and orders the destruction of all symbols and inscriptions of the god Amun-the pharaoh's tenuous hold on power is threatened by the powerful priests of Amun. Meanwhile, a personal tragedy drives a grief-stricken Rekhsaten to renounce further work for the pharaoh and exile himself to the desert and hard labor in the quarries.The unexpected death of Queen Nefertiti leads Tuthmose to propose that Rekhsaten present the contentious bust of Renefer, given its resemblance to Nefertiti, to Akhenaten with condolences. The grateful pharaoh calls the young artisan from the desert to complete the Temple of Aten, the greatest artistic undertaking of his life, honoring the so-called bust of Nefertiti. Rekhsaten sets out, as his last mark in the temple, to inscribe the truth of the bust below its base, but just as he touches chisel to limestone he witnesses the onset of an assassination attempt of Akhenaten. He saves the pharaoh's life-but not his reign-and must himself leave Akhetaten to save his own.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1481181785
• ISBN13: 9781481181785
• Release Date: April 2013
• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 450 Pages
• Weight: 1.66 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 1.0" x 6.0"