The book "Akhenaten Dweller in Truth," takes the reader on a trip through the course of Pharaoh Akhenaten's rule. Akhenaten was the ruler of Egypt during the Amarna Period, and the father of Tutankhamun. In the book you see different aspects of his reign through the eyes of various people, in various social classes in Egypt. The reactions of the citizens of Egypt in the book was very negative, and they found him to be an oppressive dictator. The peoples of Egypt's reactions to the reforms led by Akhenaten are accurately reflected in "Akhenaten Dweller in Truth." The people of Egypt despised him, and this is well reflected in the book.
The people of Egypt didn't like the reforms that Akhenaten made to religion, and continued to practice their faith in secret. Akhenaten was a heretic, he was going against the religion of every citizen in all of Egypt. In the book through eyes of the a religious leader in Egypt, you see how determined Akhenaten was to convert the people from a religion centered around Amun, to his personal religion revolving around Aten (The Sun God). The religious leader "prepared for holy war, and was ready to sacrifice everything for the sake of Amun and [his] country" (Mahfouz 21). This passages for the book expresses the people of Egypt's resistance to the worship of Aten which was being forced on them by Akhenaten. They would, and did do anything to continue practicing their religion. Primary sources from the time of Akhenaten quoted by Bob Brier in Daily Life of The Ancient Egyptians describe his reforms as "horrible" and "oppressive." The words directly coincide with the description of him in the book. In both cases, book and fact, his religious reforms are hated by the people.
Akhenaten ruled with little to know care for his people. He was self centered, and made rulings that only benefited him. As show in the book, all safety measure revolved around him, and left out the ordinary citizen in Egypt.
