Christian Jacq

Christian Jacq is a renowned French author, famous for his historical fiction and non-fiction books. He is particularly known for his works on Egyptian history, and has written several series based on this subject. Jacq's interest in Egyptology began at the young age of 13, after reading "History of Ancient Egyptian Civilization" by Jacques Pirenne. This book inspired him to write his first novel and sparked a lifelong passion for Egyptian history. At 17, Jacq visited Egypt for the first time, and went on to study Egyptology and archaeology at the Sorbonne.

Jacq's books have gained immense popularity worldwide, with millions of copies sold in over 30 languages. His first commercially successful book, "Champollion the Egyptian," was published in 1987. Since then, he has written over fifty books, including several non-fiction books on Egyptology. In 1995, Jacq and his wife founded the Ramses Institute, which is dedicated to creating a photographic description of Egypt for the preservation of endangered archaeological sites.

Jacq's most famous work is the five-book suite "Ramsès," which was published between 1995-1997. This series describes a vision of the life of Pharaoh Ramses II, and each volume focuses on a different aspect of his historical life. Jacq's series portrays Ramses as having two power-hungry siblings, a decadent older brother named Shanaar and a corrupted older sister named Dolora. He also describes Ramses' marital life, including his relationships with Isetnofret (Iset), Nefertari (his first Great Wife), and Maetnefrure (his wife in his old age). Jacq gives Ramses only three biological children: Kha'emweset, Meritamen, and Merneptah. The other "children" in the series are young officials trained for government and referred to as "sons of the pharaoh."