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rpnelson 's review for:
This book is an attempt to imagine what happened to allow Hatshepsut to rise in power to the level of a pharoah when a young man with more traditional ties to the throne was seated literally right next to her. Several reviewers have chastised her for doing so (speculating!) when it is exactly what she says she's going to do in the introduction. It is necessary because the only facts that survive are the official state propaganda, which is a) not always believable, and b) isn't consistent through time. In fact, these contradictions are what inform her writings and make her speculations plausible.
The book has a few repetitions that drag a few times, but is otherwise excellent. The only thing missing is a larger description of the social, cultural, and religion milieu of the era. While this is certainly not ignored, much of it was new to me and I would have liked to hear more about the mythologies, religious practice, and everyday life.
I also wish the publisher had gone with footnotes rather than endnotes (at least that's how they appear in the Kindle version). When reading, I assumed they were simply references to supporting articles and generally ignored them. In fact, Ms. Cooney provides a great deal of ancillary information that is worth seeing on the same page. Additionally, while the book provides a timeline of the New Kingdom and a family tree, I would have liked a finer grained personal timeline of the life of Hapshetsut in the front matter. (This would have to be approximate, but it would still be helpful.)
The book has a few repetitions that drag a few times, but is otherwise excellent. The only thing missing is a larger description of the social, cultural, and religion milieu of the era. While this is certainly not ignored, much of it was new to me and I would have liked to hear more about the mythologies, religious practice, and everyday life.
I also wish the publisher had gone with footnotes rather than endnotes (at least that's how they appear in the Kindle version). When reading, I assumed they were simply references to supporting articles and generally ignored them. In fact, Ms. Cooney provides a great deal of ancillary information that is worth seeing on the same page. Additionally, while the book provides a timeline of the New Kingdom and a family tree, I would have liked a finer grained personal timeline of the life of Hapshetsut in the front matter. (This would have to be approximate, but it would still be helpful.)