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412 reviews for:
The Woman Who Would Be King: Hatshepsut's Rise to Power in Ancient Egypt
Kara Cooney
3.71 AVERAGE
412 reviews for:
The Woman Who Would Be King: Hatshepsut's Rise to Power in Ancient Egypt
Kara Cooney
3.71 AVERAGE
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Audio version... Narration was 👎🏼
The speculation didn't sit with me after the author said speculation was not right.
The speculation didn't sit with me after the author said speculation was not right.
Really interesting! I do agree with other reviewers that it would have been an un-put-downable book if she'd written the whole story the same way she wrote the very beginning.
In THE WOMAN WHO WOULD BE KING, Cooney provides an in-depth look at this incredible woman who became Ancient Egypt’s longest-reigning female king (and yes, I specifically mean king. Queens weren’t a thing).
www.theliteratureladies.com
www.theliteratureladies.com
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Incest, Sexual content
Moderate: Misogyny, Pedophilia, War
Minor: Child death, Miscarriage, Pregnancy
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
This was an interesting and exhaustively researched account of a female pharaoh about whom I knew very little. I'd known she had successfully made herself king before Nefertiti and Cleopatra thought to do it, but I was thrilled to learn the context behind her rule and the ways that ancient Egyptian society both encouraged her rule and, paradoxically, helped to erase all evidence of it when it was over.
While the research was great, for some reason I didn't always vibe with Cooney's writing style. Maybe it felt repetitive? Anyway, this was still a great and very important account of a woman in power, who succeeded so well at her task that her reward was to be forgotten, though hopefully not for much longer.
While the research was great, for some reason I didn't always vibe with Cooney's writing style. Maybe it felt repetitive? Anyway, this was still a great and very important account of a woman in power, who succeeded so well at her task that her reward was to be forgotten, though hopefully not for much longer.
challenging
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
adventurous
informative
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
While there are many questions left unanswered, and endless mysteries to uncover still, Kara Cooney's "The Woman Who Would Be King" offers readers a treasured glimpse into the life and continued influence of one of histories most powerful enigmas: Hatshepsut.
Like most students who covered ancient Egypt in their middle school history class, we often get the abridged and entertaining events of a person's life in our textbooks. For Cleopatra it was her seduction, for Joan of Arc it was how she died, and for Elenore Roosevelt it was for being married to the president who served the longest term in office.
Hatshepsut was no exception to this practice, and until I listened to Cooney's book she was simply "the first woman pharaoh". Not only does the research of Egyptologists like Cooney correct readers and other historians in this statement (Sobekneferu was technically the first female pharaoh), but she and others continue to expand upon this woman who did an immeasurable amount in her lifetime, whether she was female or male, human or god. Her echoes never fully died, even though key players in her story tried to silence her forever.
Cooney also offers readers a glimpse into the religion and culture of ancient Egypt, and how it was inextricably linked to the political climate of the day. We learn more about the temples, who inhabited them, and how those who celebrated there worshiped. We also get an extremely detailed description of how one would have been mummified in ancient times, and it may be best to not eat or drink during that portion.
I feel as though this book could offer so much to most discussions, from women's studies to sociology, from religion to architecture, and from biography to mystery. I look forward to more of Cooney's work, and how she spotlights other women of ancient Egypt who, like Hatshepsut, were lucky to be condensed to a sentence in a seventh grade history textbook.
Like most students who covered ancient Egypt in their middle school history class, we often get the abridged and entertaining events of a person's life in our textbooks. For Cleopatra it was her seduction, for Joan of Arc it was how she died, and for Elenore Roosevelt it was for being married to the president who served the longest term in office.
Hatshepsut was no exception to this practice, and until I listened to Cooney's book she was simply "the first woman pharaoh". Not only does the research of Egyptologists like Cooney correct readers and other historians in this statement (Sobekneferu was technically the first female pharaoh), but she and others continue to expand upon this woman who did an immeasurable amount in her lifetime, whether she was female or male, human or god. Her echoes never fully died, even though key players in her story tried to silence her forever.
Cooney also offers readers a glimpse into the religion and culture of ancient Egypt, and how it was inextricably linked to the political climate of the day. We learn more about the temples, who inhabited them, and how those who celebrated there worshiped. We also get an extremely detailed description of how one would have been mummified in ancient times, and it may be best to not eat or drink during that portion.
I feel as though this book could offer so much to most discussions, from women's studies to sociology, from religion to architecture, and from biography to mystery. I look forward to more of Cooney's work, and how she spotlights other women of ancient Egypt who, like Hatshepsut, were lucky to be condensed to a sentence in a seventh grade history textbook.
adventurous
informative
inspiring
medium-paced