Scan barcode
mari1532's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
4.0
I listened to this audiobook with Audible.
Brief Summary: This book examines the biographies and legacies of six women who ruled Ancient Egypt: Merneith (consort and regent in the First Dynasty), Neferusobek (Pharoh of the Twelfth Dynasty), Hatshepsut (consort and Pharoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty), Nefertiti (consort of the Eighteenth Dynasty), Tawosret (Pharoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty) and Cleopatra VII (Pharoh of Ptolemy Dynasty).
Thoughts: I had listened to Cooney's Great Courses on women in Ancient Egypt and was excited to dive into this book. I enjoyed it immensely. My favourite was the section focused on Nefertiti, who of the six women discussed is probably the second most recognizable. However, I did not know a great deal about her story. Cooney does an excellent job of discussing the known biographical information of Nefertiti as well as the new research concerning what may have happened to her after the death of her spouse. It is always fascinating to learn about new research.
I also enjoyed the discussion of Cleopatra. I think one of the things that is most difficult to remember when learning about Cleopatra in particular is that she was the loser of a conflict and as a result much of what we know about her is through the patriarchal and xenophobic Roman Generals who defeated her. As a result, Cooney's approach to discussing Cleopatra as a successful ruler was refreshing and a counterbalance to many of the sources from the period in which Cleopatra lived.
I will say that the thing I liked least about this book was how it kept linking the lack of favour for female rule in Ancient periods to today. I think that it was fine to draw that line in the introduction, but it felt a little repetitive after a while. Also, it is difficult to make historical figures out to be proto-feminists, which it did feel like Cooney was trying to argue in certain areas throughout the book. That is not to say that some of the six women discussed did not do things for the women in their societies, but I think it would be a leap to say that their use of power improved the lives of all women within society.
If you are interested in female rulers, Ancient Egypt, or history more generally this is an interesting read that will encourage you to seek out more information.
Brief Summary: This book examines the biographies and legacies of six women who ruled Ancient Egypt: Merneith (consort and regent in the First Dynasty), Neferusobek (Pharoh of the Twelfth Dynasty), Hatshepsut (consort and Pharoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty), Nefertiti (consort of the Eighteenth Dynasty), Tawosret (Pharoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty) and Cleopatra VII (Pharoh of Ptolemy Dynasty).
Thoughts: I had listened to Cooney's Great Courses on women in Ancient Egypt and was excited to dive into this book. I enjoyed it immensely. My favourite was the section focused on Nefertiti, who of the six women discussed is probably the second most recognizable. However, I did not know a great deal about her story. Cooney does an excellent job of discussing the known biographical information of Nefertiti as well as the new research concerning what may have happened to her after the death of her spouse. It is always fascinating to learn about new research.
I also enjoyed the discussion of Cleopatra. I think one of the things that is most difficult to remember when learning about Cleopatra in particular is that she was the loser of a conflict and as a result much of what we know about her is through the patriarchal and xenophobic Roman Generals who defeated her. As a result, Cooney's approach to discussing Cleopatra as a successful ruler was refreshing and a counterbalance to many of the sources from the period in which Cleopatra lived.
I will say that the thing I liked least about this book was how it kept linking the lack of favour for female rule in Ancient periods to today. I think that it was fine to draw that line in the introduction, but it felt a little repetitive after a while. Also, it is difficult to make historical figures out to be proto-feminists, which it did feel like Cooney was trying to argue in certain areas throughout the book. That is not to say that some of the six women discussed did not do things for the women in their societies, but I think it would be a leap to say that their use of power improved the lives of all women within society.
If you are interested in female rulers, Ancient Egypt, or history more generally this is an interesting read that will encourage you to seek out more information.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Suicide attempt, Child death, Classism, Death, Misogyny, Violence, Xenophobia, Colonisation, Infidelity, Chronic illness, Mental illness, Suicide, Murder, Pregnancy, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, War, Incest, Sexism, and Miscarriage
kloughlin's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship and Incest
Moderate: Suicide, War, and Death
Minor: Infidelity, Abortion, and Murder
fkshg8465's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
3.0
I thought I was going to be really interested in this book, but the more I read, the more I wondered why. It was certainly informative and educational, and I’ve definitely learned a lot. However, there were too many blanks filled in by her perspective and expertise. I understand that often had to happen when interpreting history. The issue for me was that it was sometimes hard to distinguish between supposition and recreated facts.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Pregnancy, Violence, Murder, Physical abuse, Suicide, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Incest, Miscarriage, War, and Xenophobia
qwerty88's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
3.25
The author is very certain about people's emotions based on a few sculptures from thousands of years ago.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infertility, Incest, Murder, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, and Misogyny
at least there are lots of footnotesdarkmagyk's review against another edition
dark
informative
medium-paced
1.75
I wanted to like this so much, and hiding in it is a lot of really interesting information. But I was hoping, from an actual Egyptologist, less of a storybook take.
There is a great deal of "she probably felt this" or "she must have known that." And sometimes its used as almost a framing device, saying something like "this woman was born around this time, so she probably saw this important contextualizing event." But other times it seems to go directly into personal thoughts and feelings, even though she, rightly, comments that we can't know a lot of the personal details because so much of the record is incomplete and impersonal.
Another great issue with the book is that much of it tries to relate the role of women in an authoritarian monarchy over a four thousand year history with 21st century American politics. Doing it requires a very essentialist view of womanhood, a constant reframe is "women rule differently." But very little is discussed about how gender was constructed in anticent Egypt that give any idea of what that is supposed to mean, its only meant to be seen through 21st century American view.
I've seen some people call this book pop history. I disagree. I think the history is very good, Cleopatra's chapter was my favorite. It's got a true academics desire to argue there favorite theories, but that's not necessary a bad thing when it is identified as controversial, which it normally is. But what it is is pop feminism. Its essentialist, citing women as behaving one way and men as another, when the six women who's stories are told obviously go about things in different ways. It cites the heavily misogynistic field of study Evolutionary Biology that has been criticized and disproven. It also is almost embarrassing how much it tries to frame 6 (maybe, some of them are contested) women coming to power over 4000 years as an improvement on current American politics. I would never claim American is anything close to free of patriarchy, but like the Anticent Egypt described, you can find a handful (more then 6, even, in a much shorter time frame) women who have ascended to #girlboss and the like.
There is a great deal of "she probably felt this" or "she must have known that." And sometimes its used as almost a framing device, saying something like "this woman was born around this time, so she probably saw this important contextualizing event." But other times it seems to go directly into personal thoughts and feelings, even though she, rightly, comments that we can't know a lot of the personal details because so much of the record is incomplete and impersonal.
Another great issue with the book is that much of it tries to relate the role of women in an authoritarian monarchy over a four thousand year history with 21st century American politics. Doing it requires a very essentialist view of womanhood, a constant reframe is "women rule differently." But very little is discussed about how gender was constructed in anticent Egypt that give any idea of what that is supposed to mean, its only meant to be seen through 21st century American view.
I've seen some people call this book pop history. I disagree. I think the history is very good, Cleopatra's chapter was my favorite. It's got a true academics desire to argue there favorite theories, but that's not necessary a bad thing when it is identified as controversial, which it normally is. But what it is is pop feminism. Its essentialist, citing women as behaving one way and men as another, when the six women who's stories are told obviously go about things in different ways. It cites the heavily misogynistic field of study Evolutionary Biology that has been criticized and disproven. It also is almost embarrassing how much it tries to frame 6 (maybe, some of them are contested) women coming to power over 4000 years as an improvement on current American politics. I would never claim American is anything close to free of patriarchy, but like the Anticent Egypt described, you can find a handful (more then 6, even, in a much shorter time frame) women who have ascended to #girlboss and the like.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Misogyny, and Sexual violence
More...