Egypt's Golden Couple

When Akhenaten and Nefertiti Were Gods on Earth

By: John Darnell, Colleen Darnell

Narrated by: Siiri Scott

Length: 13 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

Two celebrated Egyptologists bring to vivid life the intriguing and controversial reign of King Tut’s parents

Akhenaten has been the subject of radically different, even contradictory, biographies. The king has achieved fame as the world’s first individual and the first monotheist, but others have seen him as an incestuous tyrant who nearly ruined the kingdom he ruled. The gold funerary mask of his son Tutankhamun and the painted bust of his wife Nefertiti are the most recognizable artifacts from all of ancient Egypt. But who are Akhenaten and Nefertiti? And what can we actually say about rulers who lived more than three thousand years ago?

November 2022 marks the centennial of the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun and although “King Tut” is a household name, his nine-year rule pales in comparison to the revolutionary reign of his parents. Akhenaten and Nefertiti became gods on earth by transforming Egyptian solar worship, innovating in art and urban design, and merging religion and politics in ways never attempted before. Combining fascinating scholarship, detective suspense, and adventurous thrills, Egypt’s Golden Couple is a journey through excavations, museums, hieroglyphic texts, and stunning artifacts. From clue to clue, renowned Egyptologists, John and Colleen Darnell, reconstruct an otherwise untold story of the magnificent reign of Akhenaten and Nefertiti.

©2022 John Darnell,Colleen Darnell (P)2022 Spotify Audiobooks

horrible narration

The voice actor for this book is unbearable to listen to. She consistently mispronounces words. She takes audible breaths that sound like she is surprised every 3 sentences. The way she puts emphasis on parts of the sentence and not others does not make any sense. She sounds like she is reading a travel brochure to a group of children. Super disappointed, and hoping they re-record with a new actor at some point.

The once forgotten lives again

Gave new interpretation of a turbulent time based on solid research. Fictional scenarios based on this research helped mobilize the information.

Better off being physically read

Although I still have about four hours left in the book, I think I have an opinion solidified. The detailed descriptions and the translation of the hieroglyphs are difficult to follow when listening. I feel like we are missing something with an audio version, and I don't normally say that. There are a couple of mispronnunciations that I caught. Who knows if there are more, but given this is a historical book, I would have imagined that consulting with the authors or other Egyptologists on pronunciations should have happened?

Narration is mechanical but good information

I love Egyptology and so wanted to push through but I don’t think this work lends itself to audiobook. The narration was very “jerky” - somewhat mechanical and distracting, and citations made it somewhat hard to follow whereas if I’d been reading it it might have been more clear.
But good thorough information.

Very interesting book

Just listened to "Egypt's Golden Couple" by John & Colleen Darnell.  Very enjoyable.  The fictional scenes of Amenhotep III & Tiye and Akhenaten & Nefertiti are a little fanciful, but fun.  What is especially interesting is the analysis of the Amarna Art style introduced during Akhenaten's reign.  Including an in depth discussion of the religious bases of the changes and how the traditional artistic grid system played a part.  The roles of Tiye and Nefertiti are well told. The narration could have been better.

A great piece of historical writing.

Many of the other reviews did not like the narrator of this text. However, I enjoyed the narration overall, I think this was an excellent book.

Narrator needs work

Lots of mispronounciations and very, very slow reading made this book cumbersome. Query and quarry are two different words. August the month and august the descriptor are pronounced differently. Needs re-taped with a different narrator for sure.

Beware of narration…

As has been stated in every review, the narration of this book is poor (at best). The “odd” pronunciation of proper names as well as common words detracts significantly from the understanding of the text. It took me several minutes of rewinding, listening carefully and finally context to figure out that “Anna-Bess” was referring to the Egyptian god Anubis ( just one of many frustrations).
At one point the narrative places Pharaoh Rameses II in the second century BCE, I fervently hope this is an error in narration rather than an oversight by the authors.
I did manage to stick it out to the end, and I’m certainly glad I did. Some of the conclusions of the authors regarding the story of succession (my no means settled by scholars) was truly intriguing, and I confess some of it I’d never considered.
All in all I would have enjoyed print edition more.

Reads like a speech

I did enjoy this, however the performance could put me to sleep. It felt like she

Refreshing History

Akhenaten and Nefertiti are two names that are synonymous with Egyptian history. While Tutankhamen and his treasures have eclipsed the couple, the heretical pharaoh and his wife have remained, in large, untouched for years. What we know, or thought we knew, is challenged in part through this book.
John and Colleen Darnell dive into the lives of the couple, from before Akhenaten changed his name and moved his capital city, to their treatment of the major gods and goddesses of Egyptian religion. The fundamental shift that occurred during his reign was massive. For decades, it has been the common assumption that Akhenaten did nothing with his military, letting Egypt crumble as he focused on his religious shift. But evidence presented in this book shows otherwise.

The Darnell's take us through Akhenaten's father briefly, and the lineage of Nefertiti (although still somewhat uncertain), and through their reign, into that of their daughter, and eventually that of Tutankhamen.

This was a really interesting read, and I enjoyed it. While I don't agree with all of the theories put forward in this book, I found that the majority of them do make sense, and deserve some deeper dives into study and research. As someone who has loved Egyptian history for many, many years, this book brought some interesting new information forward, changing the way we think about the reign of Akhenaten, and the eventual demise of the religion of Aten itself.