It’s exciting, fun, informative and engrossing and a surprisingly quick read. Brings a fresh and distinctively Egyptian feel to such a hackneyed thematic terrain, something that’s been a long time coming too since topics like alchemy invariably bring up the ancient Egyptians. the story begins in southern Egypt, Al Minya, with a stunning archaeological find – the temple of Thoth and in it an Ashmunin, a sand clock necklace of non-Egyptian origin. The thing doesn’t even belong to that period of history, apparently. A journalist named Basim makes his way into the hallowed chambers and snaps away with his camera, to the consternation of the Egyptologist in charge, Dr. Mustafa. The good professor can’t explain the find but Basim goes online and finds literary references to the symbol in question that go against conventional knowledge, and prints it all in an article.
No sooner has the discovery been made, and the puzzle posed, that a friendly Scotsman by the name of Richard makes his presence felt, contacting Basim and making his way to the exhibit to take a peek at the mysterious Ashmunin. You suspect straight away that Richard works for somebody and wants to get at the artefact. That’s when all hell breaks loose, with another group trying to steal the symbol for their own ‘apocalyptic’ machinations.
Ahmed Al-Mahdi is a southern Egyptian, only for Richard (so-called anthropologist and metaphysician) from as far north as you can get – Scotland – to embroil himself in the impending mystery. Note also that the main scene for the action is Alexandria, a city southern Egyptians have a certain affinity for and Egypt’s traditional doorway to the world. I also don’t think it’s a coincidence that the unofficial headquarters of the occult necromancer bad guys is in Cairo, the capital city, which has always been neglectful of the south. Selim also has an Ottoman sound to it, like the bombastic name of a Sultan. (Ahmed tells me Eanor is a Turkish name too, along with Rostom. What a coincidence!)
Ahmed Al-Mahdi digested all these elements from mythology and literature and produced a reasonably original mix here; one that feels genuine and authentic, not imitation. And its’ about time both the West realised what we can do with their myths, while we at the same time need to stop making pale imitations of how the West looks at our history. We’re besotted with novels and stories in Egypt, mostly horror, about the curse of the Pharaohs, which isn’t a notion modern-day Egyptians hadn’t heard of till Hollywood movies began dealing with mummies in scary stories. The portrayal of ancient Egypt is really nuanced and convincing in this novel and an alternative to the way we’re normally portrayed. Religiosity to us means naivety and patience and humility, and hospitability, not to mention ‘responsibility’ over the tremendous powers that knowledge gives you.