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History. Sociology. Women's Studies. Nonfiction. HTML: This riveting narrative explores the lives of six remarkable female pharaohs, from Hatshepsut to Cleopatra-women who ruled with real power-and shines a piercing light on our own perceptions of women in power today. Female rulers are a rare phenomenon-but thousands of years ago in ancient Egypt, women reigned supreme. Regularly, repeatedly, and with impunity, queens like Hatshepsut, Nefertiti, and Cleopatra controlled the totalitarian state as power-brokers and rulers. But throughout human history, women in positions of power were more often used as political pawns in a male-dominated society. What was so special about ancient Egypt that provided women this kind of access to the highest political office? What was it about these women that allowed them to transcend patriarchal obstacles? What did Egypt gain from its liberal reliance on female leadership, and could today's world learn from its example? Celebrated Egyptologist Kara Cooney delivers a fascinating tale of female power, exploring the reasons why it has seldom been allowed through the ages, and why we should care..… (more)
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This book chronicles what little is known about these amazing women that took charge when they had to to secure the throne for their people and for their sons. Yes, in many cases it wasn’t that the woman was deemed wise or appropriate but was the mother of the next in line. But when given the chance – she made things happen. As long as they were still perceived as abiding by the rules of the day for the weaker sex. Don’t overstep your boundaries little lady…..
Their stories are rich and it’s important that they not be forgotten. This book assures that a new generation will learn about them and keep their memories alive.
This book was received for free in return for an honest review.
The backgrounds of what is known about each period are important and Dr. Cooney frames her narrative with much, as the information on some of these queens is sparser than historians would like. I do appreciate Dr. Cooney using the right language, too, when speculation is the only possible reconstruction: "probably", "may have", "would have". There must have been other sons of Thutmose I alive when Thutmose II died who could have served on the throne of their dead brother. Many other hereditary monarchies would have followed this course instead. But not the ancient Egyptians.
The Egyptians had already created a complicated set of mythologies to grapple with exactly this kind of succession problem. You will remember that Osiris, king of Egypt, was murdered by his brother Seth before his time. His young son Horus was not mature enough to take control of Egypt on his own. The dead king’s brother Seth made his claim to the throne, while Isis, the boy’s mother, retreated with Horus into the marshes, protecting him from the many assassination attempts launched against him.
And I like her grit. Why are we so hostile to female rule yesterday and today, so rancorous to female ambition for power? How does that aversion take shape? Because we are not just talking about Cleopatra, Nefertiti, and Tawosret, but also Hillary Clinton, Angela Merkel, Margaret Thatcher, Theresa May, and Elizabeth Warren—all of whom have been discredited as erratic, drama-prone, inconstant, deceitful, opaque, flighty, illogical, even evil, ruled only by hot flashes and full moons.
I have been teaching a class at UCLA called "Women and Power in the Ancient World" for four years. In 2017, for the first time, I didn’t have to convince my 200 undergraduate students of gender disparity. [...] But the 2016 U.S. presidential election revealed a visceral opposition toward women in power that did all the explaining for me. In 2017, the revelations of sexual harassment and sexual assault against women by scores of powerful men in America brought the imbalance of power between the sexes into even starker relief. It’s gotten personal. And nasty. Misogyny now has a face, but we avoid looking directly at its smudged, dirty visage as much as possible. And Men don’t suffer as many mood swings as women in a given day—but, then again, which gender commits the most violence and murder in human society? Which gender yields the most suicide bombers? Which gender is the most common serial killer? Which is more active in fomenting and continuing war? The answer is obvious and demands that we turn our perception of female emotionality on its head. Well, Dr. Cooney writes good books and I plan to check out her one on Hatshepsut (plus I pre-ordered "The Good Kings: Absolute Power in Ancient Egypt and the Modern World" coming in November.)
I was curious about some conflicts in the text. Dr. Cooney talks briefly about Cleopatra having Mark Antony have her half-sister Arsinoe killed. But she says "Once the woman was dead - killed in her early thirties..." The information I found was that Arsinoe was 27 when killed. And "Indeed, Jesus of Galilee lived around the same time as Cleopatra and also fought the great Roman Empire in his own way—and he also lost, only to be martyred and later worshipped in his own popular mystery cult." ??? About sixty years later if the biblical stories are to be believed.