Christian Jacques devoted himself to studying the history of Ancient Egypt. He has a doctorate in Sorbonne in Egyptology. Founder of the Ramses Institute, engaged in the formation of photographic funds of ancient texts and manuscripts, as well as their publication in scientific journals. In addition to being a talented scientist and archaeologist, Christian Jacques is a writer with many bestselling books, including the famous Ramses novel cycle. In addition to historical works that take place in ancient Egypt, the author also writes modern detective stories using various pseudonyms.
Creative search
Christian Jacques was born on April 28, 1947 in Paris, from an early age the boy discovered a talent for writing. He tried himself in various genres, wrote poetry and plays, read a lot. Crucial for Christian was the work of Jacques Pirenne, “The History of Ancient Egyptian Civilization,” with whom he met at the age of thirteen.
From this moment, a fascination with Egyptology captured the young man. Influenced by the creativity of the Pirenne, Christian Jacques wrote his first novel, which takes place in ancient Egypt. Over the next five years, he prepared material and groundwork for eight books, and also wrote a libretto for opera.
Memphis
Love, like creativity, captivated Christian quite early, even before leaving school, at the age of seventeen, he married. The newlyweds spent their honeymoon traveling in Egypt, inspired by a common passion for unraveling the secrets stored in the depths of the history of this amazing country. Ancient Memphis impressed the young writer, and a visual study of the giant statue of Ramses II determined a new direction for the writer. After the Egyptian journey, Christian Jacques became interested in studying the dynasties of the great pharaohs.
Scientific work
At the age of twenty-one, Jacques published his first research paper, which examined the relationship between the times of Ancient Egypt and the Middle Ages. At the same time, Christian abandoned his philosophy of research in the library and moved on to archaeological field work. Such hard work bore fruit, and the young bachelor, and then the master eventually received a doctorate in Egyptology.
The dissertation was titled Traveling the World of the Dead. Labor concluded a study of the ideas of the ancient Egyptians about the afterlife. The examples of posthumous trials and metamorphoses of the soul presented in it were collected thanks to the decoding of the inscriptions found in the pyramids and sarcophagi of the pharaohs, as well as the noble dignitaries of the ancient kingdom. This work marked the beginning of Christian Jacques' university career; he publishes more than twenty scientific articles, including the work The Great Pharaohs of Egypt, awarded the 1981 French Academy Award.
Creative career
As a great connoisseur and popularizer of history, Christian was an assistant producer on the channel "Culture of France" and worked on the creation of the program "Preparing for knowledge." Literary success came to the author in 1987 with the publication of the novel Champagne-Egyptian. Today, he has in his asset more than fifty works and is one of the most widely read and popular authors.
Attitude to popularity
Interestingly, the writer Christian Jacques, all of whose books, whether scientific or fiction, are dedicated to his greatest love - Ancient Egypt, always rejoices when his next creation resonates with the reader. As the author admits, his childhood dream has come true, and public interest in the theme of Ancient Egypt inspires him to literary and research work.
When, for the creation of the Judge of Egypt trilogy in 1992, Jacques received the prize of the national literary union, The Press House, the writer noted that the success of novels among readers was his biggest award. The work that has remained in the list of literary bestsellers for more than a year, and now continues to be popular.
Christian Jacques: books
The author of the Judge of Egypt trilogy was already known in many countries. In 1995, the writer realized a long-conceived idea and told the world the story of the life and dynasty of the great pharaoh Ramses II. The work of five volumes, written between 1995 -1997, has the common name "Ramses" and tells the story of the pharaoh, who became a symbol of the power of Ancient Egypt. Before the reader appears the image of not only a tough ruler who sought to maintain the unity of the country and the great commander who won in many battles, but also a man with his weaknesses and affections. All books of the Ramses cycle belong to the category of bestsellers; more than eleven million copies of the work have been sold, which is very popular with the reader to this day.
This was followed by such successful cycles of novels as:
- “Stone of Light” - a work consisting of four novels, tells about amazing stories related to the secrets of the tombs of the “Valley of the Kings” and the fate of the guardians, called upon to protect the “Places of Truth” at all costs. In the pursuit of secret knowledge, many are ready for terrible crimes and betrayals, but in their path there are always those who are ready to stop evil in all its guises.
- Two novels, “Wrath of the Gods,” describe the fate of the courageous and brave Queen Yahothotep, who throughout her life fought for the liberation of Egypt from the Asian invaders. As a real warrior, she goes to her goal in spite of betrayals, intrigues and conspiracies. Her path is difficult and dangerous, but even the loss of her closest people cannot break Yakhhotep’s will, and she is preparing the army for a decisive battle near Avaris.
- “The Mysteries of Osiris” - a series of novels immerses the reader in the world of palace intrigues and secrets. A coup and attempt on the pharaoh is being prepared. And the center of the palace plot, for a reason known only to the gods, becomes poor orphan Iker. He is just a modest student of the scribe, but somehow his fate was connected with the pharaoh Sesostris.
- "Land of the Pharaohs" consists of two novels that tell of the adventures of a young man named Narmer. He was destined by providence with a great fate to become the first pharaoh of Egypt and stop the endless clan wars. But until that moment, Narmer has to overcome many obstacles in his path, reveal a lot of secrets and save his only beloved.
Today , the author lives and works in Switzerland. Jacques Christian, whose new books is always an event in the literary world, continues to create, and fans of the historical novel genre still continue to look forward to his next bestseller. As, for example, the novel "Cursed Grave", published in 2015 and transporting the reader to the author’s favorite era - the reign of Ramses II.