The plot of the novel is explicitly set in ancient Egypt, more precisely at the end of the Ramesside Period. Although nowadays widely recognised as fictitious, the figures of both Ramses XII and XIII were occasionally perceived as historical figures in Prus’s time. However, the only historical figure is Herhor, based on the high priest and later king Herihor. While writing his novel, Prus used some Egyptological works, including those of Gaston Maspero, popular presentations by Ignacy Żagiell (from which he took the figures of Ramses XII and Ramses XIII), as well as novels by the Egyptologist Georg Ebers. Some ancient texts are explicitly quoted in the novel, including The Tale of the Eloquent Peasant and The Satire of Trades. A possible allusion to The Tale of Sinuhe seems also to be present in the sequence in which prince Ramses, while returning from a military expedition to Libya, learns about the death of his father.

Overall, the novel reflects various stereotypes about ancient Egypt which were widespread in Prus’ time. Egypt is thus portrayed as a country over-attached to religion, which brings her into crisis. Egyptian priests are represented as power-hungry manipulators, who, although possessing the true knowledge about the world, do not reveal it to the people to keep them in obedience (this is best seen in the sequence when the priests plan to use the upcoming solar eclipse against king Ramses XIII). Orientalist stereotypes concerning the harem are also embodied in the figure of the young priestess Kama who seduces Ramses and convinces him to abandon his former lover Sara. Apart from this, a number of elements have been taken from the classical authors: these include excessive worship of animals (e.g. in the opening sequence, in which Herhor commands to fill in a peasant’s canal to make way for the pharaoh’s army to prevent the soldiers from trampling sacred scarab), pyramids as buildings without any practical purpose (an idea expressed by Ramses himself), or the preponderance of the Labyrinth. All these elements build up into a complicated and rather pessimistic and bitter meditation on the hypocritical nature of power, in which ancient Egypt is used as a background to universalise the intended message.

Author: Filip Taterka