Posted on 04/08/2005 4:21:11 PM PDT by nickcarraway
CAIRO (AFP) - A Hollywood flick on an alleged love affair between pharaonic Queen Nefertiti and the Biblical Prophet Moses is soon to begin shooting in Egypt, renowned British producer John Heyman has revealed to AFP.
"Nefertiti married perhaps one of the first monotheists in history and the film will tell their story, which logically enough should be set in Egypt" said Heyman on a brief visit to Cairo.
"One can find in the Old Testament that Moses and Nefertiti had a relationship," he added.
The movie will also deal "with the return to the worship of the sun god," said Heyman.
He was referring to Aten -- the radiant disk of the sun -- whose cult was briefly re-introduced by Pharaoh Akhenaten, the 10th king of the 18th Dynasty also known as the "heretic king" for breaking with traditional religion in the 1350s BC.
The cult of Aten is considered by some experts to be a predecessor of modern monotheism.
Scholars generally agree that Nefertiti, often referred to in history as the "most beautiful woman in the world", was Akhenaten's wife.
But few have argued that Akhenaten and Moses may have been the same man, although there is no consensus on their respective dates of birth and death.
Others contend that Ramses II, the third ruler of the 19th dynasty, was in fact Moses while Jews believe the pharaoh king is responsible for their exodus from Egypt.
And founding father of psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud ventured his belief in "Moses and Monotheism", published in 1939, that Moses was in fact an Egyptian follower of Aten that brought the monotheistic doctrine out of Egypt as Judaism when he led the Israelites away from slavery to freedom some 3,300 years ago.
Ahmed Osman, on whose 1990 book "Moses and Akhenaten: The Secret History of Egypt at the Time of the Exodus" the script of Heyman's next film is based, admitted that "my argument is controversial and not widespread among many Egyptologists."
"But I have collected evidence proving that Akhenaten and Moses are the same person, which so far nobody has been able to contest," said Egypt-born Osman who has lived in London for the past 20 years where he studied Egypt's ancient history.
"Egypt's history is greatly ignored by the film industry besides 'Cleopatra' and 'The Ten Commandments' and that's it," said Heyman, referring to the two epic Hollywood blockbusters released more than 40 years ago.
The shoot "will not start before 2006 and locations will be between studios and along the Nile in Upper Egypt," he added.
Although he said it was too early to talk about the cast, Heyman said he had met "several Egyptian actors who are very good and charming, warm and kind".
British director Hugh Hudson, the acclaimed director of "Chariots of Fire," will direct the movie.
Heyman, who produced or co-financed major films such as "Chinatown", "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" and "Marathon Man", is also known for creating the Genesis project -- a scholarly endeavor to put all the Hebrew and Christian scriptures on film.
He also produced "Jesus," filmed on location in Israel in Biblical settings and subsequently translated in more than 850 languages.
So are these different spellings or understandings of the same person or are you saying it's a different person altogether?
It's the same name/character reference as those exotic names are often subject to little variations (witness "Osama/Usama").
Nefertiti was definitely a proponent of one God, doubt it for Nefretiri. Not sure how Moses may have figured in with Nefertiti and Akhenaten, if at all. Your post makes me think that the new movie's makers could be mixed up.
I believe they are two different people.
But that doesn't make any sense. There was opportunity and a relationship with the woman "Nefretiri" who was to become queen.
Was "Queen Nefretiti" later married to Ramses?
What a freaking moron. A first year egyptologist could tell this guy he was smoking crack.
excerpt:
De Mille's final film the remake of his own The Ten Commandments (1956) took it's toll on both cast and crew. The 220 minute epic involved logistical nightmares from changing Anne Baxter's character from Nefertiti to Nefertiri (De Mille fretted the original name would lead to breast jokes) to attempting to have Charlton Heston as Moses carry actual stone tablets carved out of the real Mount Sinai.
That it's the same character is the only explanation that makes any sense. Thank you. The link provided spells it yet another way.
I think many of these old names have had a few translations and spellings. After all, she never wrote her name in English.
LMAO! De Mille obviously missed that one of her outfits is partly see through.
Well, THAT I never noticed. I guess we know what you were looking at. LOL
:)
Do you have a cite? I thought he married an Arab woman during his exile.
She is explicitly referenced in Numbers 12 - the woman Moses married, the Kushite (Ethiopian).
Making a film about Moses in an Islamic country is dangerous business. Muslims regard the use of actors to portray prophets to be blasphemy, regardless of content. A lot of them were even madder than Christians when Last Temptation of Christ (boring but not blasphemous IMO) was released.
THANK YOU! I'm glad someone finally posted the difference in the names. I swear Hollywood just makes up history as it goes along.
Are you familiar with Bloodline of the Holy Grail: The Hidden Lineage of Jesus Revealed, by Laurence Gardner?
(http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1931412928/qid=1113009261/sr=2-2/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_2/102-5300178-9102536)
Gardner lays out an interesting argument that Moses and Akhenaten (born Amenhotep IV) were the same person. I wonder if this movie will be drawing on this source.
Num 12:1
And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman.
My Catholic Bible says "Cushite" (with a "c" instead of the alternate "k" you cited earlier, both meaning the same, as happens with these terms).
Interestingly, blam posted a thread some time back in which an English Egyptologist claimed to have found the mummy of Nefertiti. She is now no longer allowed into Egypt.
Bust of Nefertiti from another angle. A good looking woman, truthfully.
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