Table Of ContentKing of Egypt,
Kind of Dreams
Other books in the Insomniac Library Series:
Gwendolyn MacEwen, Julian the Magician
G w e n d o l yn
M a c E w en
King of Egypt,
King of Dreams
INSOMNIAC PRESS
Text copyright © 2004 by the Estate of Gwendolyn MacEwen
Afterword copyright © 2004 by Carol Wilson
First published by Macmillan (Toronto) in 1971.
Insomniac Library edition 2004.
Series editor Richard Almonte
Interior design by Marijke Friesen
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means,, without die prior
written permission of the publisher or, in case of photocopying or other repro-
graphic copying, a license from Access Copyright, 1 Yorige Street, Suite 1900,
Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5E 1E5.
National Library of Canada Cataloguing in Publication Data
MacEwen, Gwendolyn, 1941-1987.
King of Egypt, king of dreams / Gwendolyn MacEwen.
(Insomniac library; 2)
First published: Toronto: Macmillan of Canada, 1971.
ISBN 1-894663-60-8
I. Title. II. Series.
PS8525.E84K55 2004 C813V54 C2003-907381-5
The publisher gratefully acknowledges the support of the Canada Council, the
Ontario Arts Council and the Department of Canadian Heritage through the
Book Publishing Industry Development Program. We acknowledge the support of
the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Media Development
Corporations Ontario Book Initiative.
Printed and bound in Canada
Insomniac Press
192 Spadina Avenue, Suite 403
Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5T 2C2
www.insomniacpress.com
ONTAI.,0 ARTS COUNC.L
CONSEIL DES ARTS DE I/ONTARIO
It is a very common belief that the further man is separated from the
present in time, the more he differs from us in his thoughts and feelings;
that the psychology of humanity changes from century to century like
fashions or literature. Therefore no sooner do we find in past history an
institution, a custom, a law or belief a little different from those with
which we are familiar, than we immediately search for all manner of
complicated explanations, which more often than not resolve themselves
into phrases of no very precise significance. And indeed, man does not
change so quickly; his psychology at bottom remains the same, and even
if his culture varies much from one epoch to another, it does not change
the functioning of his mind. The fundamental laws of the mind
remain the same, at least during the short historical periods of which
we have knowledge; and nearly all the phenomena, even the most
strange, must be capable of explanation by those common laws of the
mind which we can recognize in ourselves.
Ferrero: Les Lois Psychologiques
INTRODUCTORY
HISTORICAL NOTE
In 1575 B.C. the Pharaoh Ahmose I of Thebes freed Egypt from
the rule of the "foreign chiefs," the Semitic Hyksos kings, pursuing
them from their capital at Tanis to the southern frontiers of
Palestine. The period known as the New Kingdom opened up with
the 18th Egyptian Dynasty—a dynasty whose rulers included
the "Pharaoh with breasts," Queen Hatshepsut, and the famous
conqueror Thutmose III who carved out an empire in Syria and
Palestine. During the reign of Amenhotep III (1405-1367 B.C.)
Egypt was at the height of her glory, and foreign tribute poured in
from the conquered nations of north and south. No less abundant
than the wealth of Amenhotep was the wealth of the ruling priest-
hood of Amon in the capital city of Thebes, for Amon-Ra was
supreme deity of king and state. The ancient capital of On
(Heliopolis) which had flourished in former days, and its sun-priests
of Ra, had long since been eclipsed.
The empire extended from Kush (Ethiopia) in the south, ruled
by a viceroy of Pharaoh, to Naharin, the northernmost frontier
province on the southern border of Mitanni. Mitanni, a kingdom
populated by a Hurrian people from the region of what is now
Armenia, and ruled by an Indo-Aryan royal house, played an
important role in Egyptian politics, for it lay between the Hittite
territories in the north and Pharaoh's possessions in Syria, forming
a kind of buffer state between the two powers. Some areas of Syria
were dependent on Mitanni, while others (mainly the coastal areas)
and Palestine, were divided into principalities with fortified cities
presided over by local kings. Often Egyptian regents or "Watchers"
were placed at the side of these vassals to ensure fidelity and the
paying of tribute.
During Amenhotep Ill's latter years the Habiru tribes were
attacking the eastern fringes of Palestine and causing havoc within
the country, and the Hittites had begun to gain a hold in northern
Mitanni. But the son of Amenhotep who inherited the throne and
the empire of his forefathers was not a warrior but a priest. He
ruled from 1367 to 1350 B.C. Later generations were to mutilate
his monuments, strike off his name from the list of kings, and refer
to him under their breaths as "the Criminal." His name was
Akhenaton.
Akhetaton
(Tel-El-Amarna)
King of Egypt, King of Dreams
Description:The Insomniac Library is proud to reissue Gwendolyn MacEwen’s second novel, more than thirty years after its original appearance in 1971. The novel bears important resemblances to MacEwen’s earlier Julian the Magician. Writing to poet Al Purdy, MacEwen confessed she wanted her second nov
