Chronicle of the Queens of Egypt Book

Chronicle of the Queens of Egypt traces the lives and reigns of Ancient Egyptian queens from early dynastic times to the Ptolemaic period. It's important to stress right off the bat that this is a book written and designed for a general, rather than specialist, audience. That said, it is a Joyce Tyldesley book which means it's a high quality, reliable read regardless.

I really enjoyed reading a book dedicated to Ancient Egypt's royal women. Tyldesley is not alone in dedicating a book to this subject, but I believe Chronicle of the Queens of Egypt is more accessible than most, if not all. Typically, an overview of Egyptian history will focus on the kings, and only really explore the few female pharaohs (e.g. Hatshepsut), those queens that have left their mark on popular culture (e.g. Nefertiti) and those queens that straddle that border (e.g. Cleopatra). As such, this book is a very welcome addition to my library.

After providing an overview on the role of women and, more specifically, royal women in Egyptian society, Tyldesley begins by discussing each individual queen that ruled from c. 3100 BCE to 30 BCE. The book is divided into six sections:
1. The First Queens (Early Dynastic Egypt)
2. Queens of the Pyramid Age (Old Kingdom)
3. Chaos and Rebirth (First and Second Intermediate Periods, Middle Kingdom)
4. Queens of the Empire (The New Kingdom)
5. Weakened Royal Power (Third Intermediate and Late Periods)
6. The Last Queens of Egypt (Ptolemaic period)

Each section provides a basic overview and then discusses each queen in as much detail as possible. This is no doubt dictated by what evidence there is for each queen - there is a severe lack of evidence for many of Egypt's queens. The queens that are better attested naturally have more written about them than the ones we have minimal evidence of. Obviously, the likes of Nefertiti and Cleopatra could have - and have had - entire books dedicated to their lives and reigns, but Tyldesley wisely limits herself to an overview lasting only a few pages.

The largest section is dedicated to the New Kingdom ("Queens of the Empire"), which is just under 90 pages long. This is hardly surprising - the New Kingdom was the time of the most famous of Egypt's native queens. Hatshepsut, Tiye, Nefertiti, Ankhesenamun and Nefertari all lived and ruled in this time period.

Along the way, Tyldesley provides "special features" to provide more detail about a particular topic. These topic run from women's health and childbirth to particular titles or regalia used by the queens to Cleopatra's adoption of Isis's imagery and more.

All in all, it's a very thorough look at Egypt's royal women. And it's typical Tyldesley - detailed, reliable and an easily accessible read. You really can't go wrong with a book written by Tyldesley.

It is not perfect read, though. To begin with, some information is out of date. I'm not suggesting that Tyldesley should have updated her book with every new bit of information that was released, but it's something for the reader to be aware of.

As it is designed for a general audience (as mentioned above), the book is sometimes quiet on the detailed debates going on in Egyptology circles. A few times, Tyldesley would make a statement, I'd blink and think, "well, it's actually a lot more complicated and a hell of a lot less certain than that". But again, Tyldesley is writing for an audience that don't need to be (and probably wouldn't want to be) dragged down into the tarpits of Egyptological debate.

I also thought that the section on the Ptolemaic queens could have been longer and more detailed.

Chronicle of the Queens of Egypt is a very thorough, detailed look at the queens of Ancient Egypt, a welcome addition to my library with only a few minor flaws to bring it down. I would find it very easy to recommend this book.