Joseph in Egypt

Thomas Mann regarded his monumental re-telling of the biblical story of Joseph as his magnum opus, telling of Joseph's fall into slavery and his rise to be lord over Egypt.

As Joseph is saved from the well and sold to Egypt, he adopts a new name, Osarseph, replacing the Jo- element with a reference to Osiris to indicate that he is now in the underworld. This change of name to account for changing circumstances encourages Amenhotep to change his own name to Akhenaten. How Mann manages to pull suspense out of this famous Biblical story that everyone knows is just amazing. It's a page turner from start to finish!