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Naguib Mahfouz's very first novel, and the opening book of his 'Pharaonic' trilogy, is a sweeping historical drama set during the reign of Khufu, builder of the Great Pyramid.

When a prophecy foretells that the throne will pass not to Khufu's own son but to the newborn child of a temple priest, the aging pharaoh resolves to defy fate and destroy the boy. But destiny is not so easily thwarted: the child, Djedef, is raised in secret, grows into a gifted commander in Khufu's own army, and rises toward the very future the pharaoh sought to prevent.

Blending court intrigue, romance, and battle with a meditation on power and the limits of human will against fate, this debut announces the arrival of the writer who would become the Arab world's first Nobel laureate in literature.