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Author

Christian Jacq

Christian Jacq is a French author and Egyptologist best known for historical novels set in ancient Egypt. Born in Paris in 1947, he developed an early fascination with Egyptian civilisation and later completed academic research in Egyptology. His fiction combines archaeological detail with dramatic narratives of royal courts, religious belief, political rivalry and the lives of pharaohs.

Jacq achieved international success with his five-volume Ramses series, which follows the reign of Ramesses II from his youth to his later years as one of Egypt’s most powerful rulers. His other works include the Stone of Light, Queen Liberty and Mysteries of Osiris series. Through these novels, he presents ancient Egypt as a complex society shaped by ritual, administration, warfare and the struggle to preserve political and spiritual order.

Periods and events

Ancient Egypt Ptolemaic Egypt Byzantine Empire Reign of Justinian I New Kingdom Egypt Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt Reign of Ramesses II Second Intermediate Period of Egypt Hyksos Rule in Egypt Theban War against the Hyksos Fall of Avaris and Expulsion of the Hyksos Interwar Period World War I & Interwar Era Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt

Series

Series by Christian Jacq (5 series)

Mysteries of Osiris in Order

by Christian Jacq 4 books 4.6

The Mysteries of Osiris series is set in Middle Kingdom Egypt during the reign of Senusret III. It follows the young scribe Iker into a conspiracy surrounding the sacred Tree of Life at Abydos, where royal authority, religious ritual and hidden enemies are bound together. The sequence combines…

The Tree of Life

4.4

The Conspiracy of Evil

4.8

The Way of Fire

4.7

The Great Secret

4.6

The Stone of Light in Order

by Christian Jacq 4 books 4.5

The Stone of Light series is set around the hidden artisans’ village known as the Place of Truth, the community associated with the royal tomb-builders of Deir el-Medina. It follows Nefer, Ubekhet, Paneb and the craftsmen whose work and sacred knowledge are threatened by ambition, betrayal and political…

Nefer the Silent

4.4

The Wise Woman

4.7

Paneb the Ardent

4.8

The Place of Truth

4.4

The Judge of Egypt in Order

by Christian Jacq 3 books 4.7

The Judge of Egypt trilogy is a legal and political mystery set during the reign of Ramesses II. It follows the young judge Pazair as local inquiries draw him into a wider conspiracy threatening the pharaoh and the state. The series uses courts, temples, scribes, physicians and officials…

Beneath the Pyramid

4.7

Secrets of the Desert

4.7

Shadow of the Sphinx

Ramses in Order

by Christian Jacq 4 books 4.5

The Ramses series follows Ramesses II from youth and accession through war, diplomacy, temple building, family conflict and old age. The books present the Nineteenth Dynasty as a world of divine kingship, palace rivalry, Hittite confrontation and monumental ambition. The sequence is biographical in shape, using the long…

Ramses: The Son of Light

4.4

Ramses: The Temple of a Million Years

4.4

The Lady of Abu Simbel

4.6

Ramses: Under the Western Acacia

4.6

Queen of Freedom Trilogy in Order

by Christian Jacq 3 books 4.2

The Queen of Freedom Trilogy retells the struggle of Ahhotep and the Theban royal house against Hyksos power during Egypt’s Second Intermediate Period. The novels move from occupation and dynastic danger through open war to the reunification of Egypt under the early New Kingdom. The series is centred…