Queens of ancient times

¶ … Queens of Ancient Egypt by Leonard Cottrell

Bobbs-Merrill, Indianapolis 1967.

Lady of Two Lands: Five Queens of Ancient Egypt

This book is a study of the five queens of Egypt, Hashepsowe, Tiye, Nefertiti, Ankhesnamun and Nefertari. It focuses on the details of the lives of these women and the behind-the-scenes roles they played in their world, more than three millennia ago. The author describes the women in terms of the culture of their times, and includes references to the archeology, art, music books, writing, philosophy, politics, men, children, slavery, hope and despair of ancient Egypt.

This is a subject which has been frustrating for historians because very little is known for sure about the women of this time period. The main reason for this is that there were only a few people who could write. Those who could write were called scribes and were all males. The scribes had to undergo rigorous training and only males were educated in academics.

The author has done a lot of research and draws on the scant threads of evidence; history's remnants, a varied assortment of archeological remains, historical documents to support his thesis and manages to pull it all together and to provide valuable insights about the women of this era. For example, Nefertiti is renowned as the most beautiful woman in all of Egypt, and one of the most powerful. She was the first queen to be equal with the king. Queen Nefertiti, however, she has remained largely unknown and unrecognized for her contributions to Egyptian society. Nefertiti suddenly and completely vanished from historical record. Was she banished by her husband or raised to rule as his equal? Did she reign, under another name? This book sheds new light on these and other unsolved mysteries of the past.

Relevant Literature

Many books have been written on this subject. Sarah Pomeroy's "Women in Hellenistic Egypt: " From Alexander to Cleopatra" examines the roles of women as queens, wives, businesswomen, and slaves in Egypt, but her book focuses more on the common, everyday housewife and has less to say about the lives of royalty.

"Women and Society in Greek and Roman Egypt: A Sourcebook," edited by Jane Rowlandson and Roger S. Bagnall, contains more than 300 translated texts illustrating women's lives in Greek and Roman Egypt, but there are few details about the queens of Egypt's past.

"Silent Images: Women in Pharaonic Egypt" By Zahi Hawas looks at the daily life of the ancient Egyptian woman from the perspective of modern Egypt, but this book also focuses on the average woman.

Joyce Tyldesley's "Nefertiti: Egypt's Sun Queen" is a historical biography and covers only the life of Nefertiti.

A work with a similar title, "Lady of Two Lands" by Elizabeth Delisi is about Hattie Williams, an artist, who is transported back to the time of the pharaohs in ancient Egypt, a time when women had no rights or power. Hatshepsut persuades her to masquerade as queen and help protect Egypt. The story plays off the true facts of the female pharaoh's reign and the suspected romance between her and Senemut. Ms. Delisi writes an intriguing book, but it is based on loosely woven facts, and the historical accuracy is in doubt.

Five Queens of Ancient Egypt is different from these other books.

It is historically accurate. It discusses all five queens and not only relates what is actually known about these exciting women but also shows the fascinating process by which this information has been extracted from a few scattered clues.

Conclusion

I highly recommend this book. The author has put together an amazingly detailed view of the women and their times. Created for the general reader, it is well researched and organized into palatable chapters. It is not possible for any historian to give readers a strong sense of the individual personalities of the women, the evidence simply isn't there; but this author has managed to reconstruct from scant evidence, an interesting and accurate chronicle of the five women, and has helped to bring the queens of Egypt out of the shadows.