Today I'm excited to have here Katie Hamstead an awesome writer that I'm
fortunate to say is my friend and CP.
As I already told all of you her book Kiya: Hope of the Pharaoh is out
on stores and she’s doing a blog tour so everyone can know more about her and
the book.
In this occasion I asked her to talk about why she made Kiya Hebrew. So
here it's what she has to say:
Why did I make Kiya Naomi the Hebrew?
Back in High School, when I first learned about the Amarna period and
Kiya, I was also studying the Old Testament and Hebrew culture. Back then,
there wasn’t much known about Kiya at all, and no one seemed to know where she
came from or where she went. So, I thought to myself; What if she was a Hebrew,
and because they were considered a “lower” people to the Egyptians they had to
cover her true origins?
While doing my research, I discovered that Kiya is believed by most
historians to be a Mitanni princess. Yes, this is very different to a Hebrew
girl, but there are certain qualities and beliefs the Hebrew culture holds
within it that I wanted her to have. So, I made up the story that Akhenaten was
given a dream telling him to take her, then he made up another story saying she
was created and sent by Aten.
This as a result, gives me the room to explore not only Egyptian
history, but what the Hebrews were doing in Egypt during the time between
Genesis and Exodus. Using the later period theory, where the Hebrews followed
Moses out of Egypt during the time of Ramses II, this places the Hebrews in
Egypt during the reign of Akhenaten. So how did they go from Joseph being loved
by the Pharaoh to slaves? By making Kiya Naomi the Hebrew, I was able to create
a fiction world around these historical theories.
Anabel back here, isn't it interesting how she intertwined history with
fiction. If you haven't read it I think you should consider doing it since it's
a very interesting read.
You could buy it here:
Also follow her to know more about Kiya and all her new stories.
Twitter - @katieteller1
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Great post, Katie and Anabel. I loved the fact that Kiya is Hebrew in your story. It adds a lot of depth to her characterization.
Thanks Stacey! And a big thank you to you, Anabel for all the support you always give me <3