Pillar of Fire (novel)
{{short description|1995 novel by Judith Tarr}}
{{about|the Judith Tarr novel|the Ken Follet novel|A Column of Fire}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox book
| name = Pillar of Fire
| image = Pillar of Fire (novel).jpg| caption =
| author = Judith Tarr
| cover_artist =
| country =
| language = English
| series =
| subject = Egypt--History--Eighteenth dynasty
| genre = Historical fiction
| publisher = Forge
| pub_date = 1995
| english_pub_date =
| media_type =
| pages = 448
| isbn = 0-312-85542-7
| dewey= 813/.54 20
| congress= PS3570.A655 P55 1995
| oclc = 32088557
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
}}
Pillar of Fire is a 1995 historical fantasy novel by Judith Tarr. It deals with the reigns of Egyptian pharaohs Akhenaten and Tutankhamun and the Exodus from the perspective of a Hittite slave girl of Ankhesenpaaten.{{cite web
|url= http://www.nesfa.org/reviews/Olson/PillarOfFire.html
|accessdate= 2009-04-08
|title= Pillar of Fire: A book review by Mark L. Olson
|work= NESFA Members' Reviews
|publisher= New England Science Fiction Association}} It draws heavily on Ahmed Osman's suggestion that Moses and Akhenaten were the same person.{{cite journal
|url= http://www.booklistonline.com/default.aspx?page=show_product&pid=568550
|accessdate= 2009-04-12
|title= Pillar of Fire, by Judith Tarr (REVIEW)
|first= Whitney
|last= Scott
|journal= Booklist
|publisher= American Library Association
|date= 1995-06-01}}
The idea of Akhenaten as the pioneer of a monotheistic religion that later became Judaism has been considered by various scholars starting with Sigmund Freud's views in Moses and Monotheism.Freud, S. (1939). Moses and Monotheism: Three Essays.Gunther Siegmund Stent, Paradoxes of Free Will. American Philosophical Society, DIANE, 2002. 284 pages. Pages 34 - 38. {{ISBN|0-87169-926-5}}Jan Assmann, Moses the Egyptian: The Memory of Egypt in Western Monotheism. Harvard University Press, 1997. 288 pages. {{ISBN|978-0-674-58739-7}}N. Shupak, The Monotheism of Moses and the Monotheism of Akhenaten. Sevivot, 1995.Montserrat, (2000)William F. Albright, From the Patriarchs to Moses II. Moses out of Egypt. The Biblical Archaeologist, Vol. 36, No. 2 (May, 1973), pp. 48-76. doi 10.2307/3211050 Tarr comments in the endnotes that she was surprised at how little she had to tweak historical fact to write the story.
The audiobook version, published in 1998, ran for approximately 22 hours and was read by Anna Fields.{{cite web
|url = http://www.blackstoneaudio.com/audiobook.cfm?id=1832
|accessdate = 2009-04-12
|title = Pillar of Fire
|publisher = Blackstone Audio
|url-status = dead
|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20050405004458/http://www.blackstoneaudio.com/audiobook.cfm?ID=1832
|archivedate = 2005-04-05
}}
Synopsis
Set in ancient Egypt, the narrative is based on the notion that Moses and the Pharaoh Akhenaten were one and the same. Narrated in the third person from the viewpoint of a Hittite slave girl, the novel juxtaposes the Exodus story with the events in the Egyptian court.{{cite web|url=http://2020ok.com/books/46/pillar-of-fire-pillar-of-truth-4846.htm|title=Pillar Of Fire, Pillar Of Truth|accessdate=2009-04-16}} Sholars generally do not recognize the biblical portrayal of the Exodus as an actual historical event,{{cite book | last= Grabbe | first= Lester | editor1-last= Dozeman | editor1-first= Thomas | editor2-last= Evans | editor2-first = Craig A.| editor3-last = Lohr | editor3-first= Joel N. | title= The Book of Exodus: Composition, Reception, and Interpretation| chapter= Exodus and History|year= 2014| publisher=BRILL |isbn= 9789004282667 |chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=TmGeBQAAQBAJ&q=%22primarily+Amos+and+Hosea%22%22middle+of+the+eighth+century%22&pg=PA61 |pages=61–87 }}
Awards
Reviews
Publishers Weekly said With her usual skill, Tarr (Throne of Isis) combines fact and fiction to create yet another remarkably solid historical novel set in ancient Egypt... This is a highly entertaining blend of romance, drama and historical detail."{{Cite book|isbn=0812539036|title=Pillar of Fire|last1=Tarr|first1=Judith|date=15 December 1997|publisher=Macmillan }}
Kirkus Reviews said that "The small but telling details of society and everyday life, the heart's-blood of historical fiction, are all too often absent here. Tarr's hard-to-swallow revisionist Exodus ends up neither engaging nor persuasive."{{cite web |title=PILLAR OF FIRE |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/judith-tarr/pillar-of-fire/ |website=Kirkus |publisher=Kirkus Reviews |access-date=30 August 2022 |language=en}}
According to Brian M. Britt, who revers to Akhenaten as "quasi-monotheistic, "Tarr's novel represents the most dramatic connection between the Amarna phase of Egyptian history and Hebrew monotheism."{{cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Il1D-ihZrYkC&q=Pillar+of+Fire+Judith+Tarr&pg=PA26| title=Rewriting Moses | author=Brian M. Britt| page=26| publisher=Continuum International Publishing Group| year=2004| isbn=978-0-567-08087-5 }}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{LCCN|95006315}}
- {{cite book| title=Pillar of Fire| author=Judith Tarr| publisher=Macmillan| year=1997| isbn= 978-0-8125-3903-5 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TxzMMxEfesAC }}
- [https://books.google.com/books?id=Il1D-ihZrYkC Rewriting Moses], by Brian Britt, references Pillar of Fire
- {{cite news|last=Jacomb|first=Brian |date=July 29, 1999|title=Crete And Quarrel|newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/43541126.html?dids=43541126:43541126&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Jul+29%2C+1999&author=Brian+Jacomb&pub=The+Washington+Post&desc=Crete+And+Quarrel&pqatl=google|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020024738/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/43541126.html?dids=43541126:43541126&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Jul+29,+1999&author=Brian+Jacomb&pub=The+Washington+Post&desc=Crete+And+Quarrel&pqatl=google|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 20, 2012}} Describes Pillar of Fire "highly acclaimed".
- Kliatt magazine, September, 1997, review of Pillar of Fire, p. 54
- Library Journal, June 15, 1995, Cynthia Johnson, review of Pillar of Fire, p. 96
- Publishers Weekly May 22, 1995, review of Pillar of Fire, p. 50
Category:American alternate history novels
Category:Novels set in ancient Egypt
Category:Novels based on the Bible
Category:Novels set in the 14th century BC
Category:Cultural depictions of Akhenaten
Category:Cultural depictions of Moses