The novel opens on the night of the miraculous Scorpion-Star when the heavens blaze portents over Thebes. Here, beneath the sky-signs of the gods, scribe's son Pinhasy enters the world -- aht the same instant as the infant Prince Amunhotpe, later becomes the Heretic Pharaoh, Akhenaten. Simultaneously, the prophecy is uttered which overshadows their lives; "He shall banish the gods and put an end to Pharaoh." Who? Will it be Pinhasy, Akhenaten or both? From obscurity, low-born Pinhasy rises rapidly and mixes with the greatest in Egypt: Pharaoh Amunhotpe III, Queen Tiye, royal Nefertiti, the Princess Mutnodjme, Smenkhkare, Tutankhamun -- and not least, Akhenaten himself.