Why does anyone do anything? Belief. A belief that they are right and just in their actions. Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son, Isaac, because he believed that God had commanded it. To kill your son is unthinkable. A crime. But if you are acting in the belief that your God, your supreme deity whom you must obey, has demanded it of you, is it still a crime?
When Women Ruled the World: Six Queens of Egypt by Kara Cooney
Read time: 6 Days
Rating: 3.5/5 Stars
The Quote: Once upon a time, there were women who ruled the world. Six of them—Merneith, Nerferusobek, Hatshepsut, Nefertiti, Tawosret and Cleopatra—climbed the highest the wielded the most significant power: not as manipulators of their menfolk but as heads of state. Each started as a queen—a mere sexual vessel of their king—but each became chief decision-maker, five of them served as king outright. — Kara Cooney
When Women Ruled the World is perhaps unsurprisingly divided into six sections, one for each of the six queens, an introduction and a conclusion (both of which are on a theme). The six queens are Merneith, Nerferusobek, Hatshepsut, Nefertiti, Tawosret and Cleopatra. There are other women of power noted some are queens others are just women in positions of power in the Egyptian system. These include Neithotep, Tetisheri and Ahmes-Nefertari. The Queen/ King's Horus names are included and explained, all of them are interesting. Nefertiti and Hatshepsut's particularly so. A suggestion for those new to academic non-fiction, if you have an interest in the added detail provided by the notes, try using a second bookmark. But the narrative style used by Kara Cooney means you can skip them with ease. Same are added commentary, some are simply sources and some are where to look for more information.
🤎 Merneith — Queen of Blood (ca 3000-2890 B.C.)
Merneith is the first of the six queens ruling as a regent for her son, Den during the 1st dynasty. Her entry acts as an overview of the kingship in ancient Egypt and the role of the Queen in it. Merneith provides something of a fascinating study in brutal strength and the things one must do to survive. Little is truly known of her really but I like the way this is written. The style empowers her and allows her ferocity to shine.
As much as this is about the women Den himself is interesting, The First King of Upper and Lower Egypt. Den must have greatly respected Merneith burying her in a tomb fit for a king though with fewer human sacrifices (nothing to do with gender everything to do with afterlife necessity).
💚 Nerferusobek — The Last Woman Standing (1777-1773 B.C.)
Nerferusobek has one of the best name meanings, beauty of Sobek. "Named for the fierce god of the Nile inundation, a deity of aggressive sexuality and violent fecundity." (p.77). Her crowned names are Beloved of Re; Daughter of the Powerful One; Mistress of the Two Lands; Stable of Appearances. This entry continues the discussion on succession discussing royal reproduction practices, including harems and a quite interesting section on incest (all neat logic no ick factor). There is an insightful and logical comment on harems that I quite appreciated. Her subtitle comes from why she was even sitting on the Horus Throne, Nerferusobek was the last royal of the 12th Dynasty, a product of incest (probably) causing sterility. She perhaps willingly but perhaps reluctantly took the throne to steady the ship. She had little to gain and was little threat to the status quo, with no chance of a male heir. Her short reign allows the board to be reset and allowed all the major power players to get their viable sons into position for the start of the next dynasty. Nerferusobek is almost the exact opposite of her female predecessor, it is easy to admire her patience and intelligence.
💛 Hatshepsut — Queen of Public Relations (1473-1458 B.C.)
"Hatshepsut broke all the rules."(p.99) is the first line of this section and it is the perfect summation of her rule. Let's start with the pronunciation of her name as included by Kara Cooney Hat-shep-suit. One of the cutest moments in this section is what the young princes were called... nestlings look it made me smile okay. There was an interesting moment for me. The extremely young pharaoh, the two-year-old on the throne, could only happen in ancient Egypt with its focus on mythos and god-kings. Anywhere else would be civil war. Cooney has a great reading on Hatshepsut's potential romantic attachments. They weren't needed for her to maintain power, there was little place in the historical record for them. I did like the section on Hatshepsut and one day I will get around to reading Cooney's Hatshepsut work but not today. This is the longest section of the six, unsurprising really, Cooney wrote The Woman Who Would Be King dedicated entirely to Hatshepsut. As that book does exist there is less discussion and commentary in the notes they are nearly entirely sources. In some ways, I would consider her the opposite side of the coin to Merneith. Where Merneith held her position with strategic blood and violence Hatshepsut used ideology and human relations. Especially ideology.
For her countrymen there was no longer any point referring to her as "queen." That title was only used for women subservient to their sovereign. — Kara Cooney (p.84)
🧡 Nefertiti — More Than Just a Pretty Face (1338-1336 B.C.)
Ideology was also important in Nefertiti's reign. Nefertiti was actually treated as an equal to her husband during his reign. An equal female to his male god. (Because yes he was a 🤡) What is clear is that in any other time, any other place, her husband, the completely bonkers Akhenaten would likely have faced regicide. There isn't a consensus that she even ruled alone, if she did she ruled with her daughter taking the role of Queen, the feminine role to her masculine. So much of everything around her is dependent on which school of Egyptology you belong to. It can be difficult. Was she ever a King in her own right? 🤷🏼♀️ Nefertiti is... complicated. It had to make many comments on her. So much of Nefertiti's reign in her own right is a matter of superposition. But I'm not even sure I knew that I ever knew the potential connection between King Tut and Nefertiti.
💙 Tawosret — The Survivor (1188-1186 B.C)
Tawosret comes from a very different period of Egyptian history. She was needed by Egypt but not welcome. Women were greatly distrusted in any position of power. She is a mixture of all the previous queens except maybe Nefertiti. It all starts with a discussion of how times had changed in Egypt and the Ramesside period. Her crowned names are Daughter of Re, Beloved of Amun; Mighty Lady, Chosen of Mut; Strong Bull, Beloved of Ma'at; Founder of Egypt, who vanquishes foreign countries. Using the title Chosen of Mut is a brilliant ideological move, ditto Beloved of Ma'at. Mut was a mother goddess, her name means mother, she's a primordial deity. Ma'at was a deity tied to balance and justice, a key to the processes of entering the afterlife. All these women knew how to manipulate the greek pantheon for their own power. There is a lovely quote in here about human society and feminine rule. "Many of history's women could rise to power only within extraordinary crisis and, when the immediate predicament had abated, were unceremoniously pushed aside. Indeed, the catastrophe itself was usually blamed on the woman's rue, a Catch-22 if there ever was one." (p.240). Tawosret feels like something akin to one of the British succession crises (there have been three), but one, in particular, ended with a queen on a throne decided from a piece of genetics.
💜Cleopatra — Drama Queen (51-0 B.C.)
If you are going to know any of the Queens it will definitely be Cleopatra. Cleopatra was a true power player, a power player that would likely succeed even in the modern-day, maybe more so in the modern-day. Sex is power and she was totally unafraid to use it but that is far, far from all she was. Cleopatra was also strategic, intelligent and openly ambitious. Even if you know Cleopatra you will likely find information in here you don't know. For example, Cleopatra was in Rome when Ceaser was assassinated or the import of Ceaserion. There was an amusing moment for me when I realised Cleopatra essentially bought Mark Antony, she wanted his power for some form of legitimacy, he needed money to pursue his military campaigning. Cleopatra's section ends with a quick section on what happened to her children. While her sons were killed her daughter, Kleopatra Selene was married to a Roman ally and well. She went on to become a queen and clearly inherited her mother's intelligence. What I didn't know was that Kleopatra Selene and Juba II's son was killed by Caligula just for being descended from Marc Antony and Cleopatra.
I did enjoy this. I enjoyed learning about new powerful women. Women who used power in different ways to maintain the stability of their Egypt and their position. There is some well-written background included too, like the way an heir was chosen and reproductive practices. I had completely missed in all my time reading about ancient Egypt the connection between Nefertiti and Tut. I do appreciate the use of the modern to help readers understand, Trump, Clinton, the Saudi Royal family and just general or universal expectations moments experienced by women.
Let me justify the rating. While I was reading this wasn't a 3-star book. But it feels more like a 3.5-star book upon reflection, I'm rounding down. Cleopatra's section let me down a little. I was confused for quite a bit of it, to be honest, it was a bit of a slog to get through. In the previous paragraph, I mentioned the moments experienced by women, that is also a bit of a flaw. This feels like it is squarely aimed at women. And perhaps relying too much on female experience and contemporary references.
They/Them/Their: A Guide to Nonbinary and Genderqueer Identities - Eris Young
4 ⭐
This is a pretty good overview of the various complexities of non-binary genders and their implications at this point in time.
Being a non-binary person who tries to keep somewhat on top of the current queer discourse, a lot of the information in here wasn't especially new to me in itself, but it was still interesting and informative. The writing style is academic, but terminology is explained well and I feel like it's probably still accessible for most people.
I feel like, if you're questioning your gender, or if you want to get your head around non-binary genders to better understand others, this is worth reading. It also contains a lot of references and resources, which is good!
Books (re-)read in 2022: The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood
Hypothesis: Approximately two out of three fake-dating situations will eventually involve room-sharing; 50 percent of room-sharing will be further complicated by the presence of only one bed.
