Ancient Egypt
The scale of ancient Egyptian history is overwhelming. Americans (North and South) wrestle with the consequences of five hundred years of invasion, conquest, and settlement. Europeans argue over what delineates different phases of their history (modern, the rise of the nation-state, phases of the Renaissance, medieval, post-Roman, and so on). Well, that gets you back only 1500 years. Classicists pride their discipline on another thousand years. Egyptians look on, bemused. They go back 6000 years without breathing hard. Ancient Egypt (a deep and long category, obviously) represents a civilization that still fascinates us. Think pharaohs, pyramids, mummies, hieroglyphs, the Sphinx, the Nile, "King Tut." Children and adults love such stuff. I debated with myself whether to be a purist on Ancient Egypt and end my listings with Alexander the Great's conquest and the great era of the Ptolemaic dynasty, but you would miss so much in those 275 years leading up to the pragmatic and unimaginative Romans building their empire on Egyptian grain. I wanted to include the Pharos lighthouse, Alexandria and its library, Cleopatra. So I did, and I will. This page, these offerings, like the rest of Whistlestop, will be carefully curated and vetted and supplemented as I find and list interesting items.
Child of the Morning
Child of the Morning
Harkens back to the age of Egypt's greatest queen
Based closely on historical events, this sensuously beautiful, astonishingly evocative novel tells the story of one of history’s most remarkable women—the first female Pharaoh of Egypt. Thirty-five centuries ago, Hatshepsut, the youngest daughter of the Pharaoh, was to marry her father’s illegitimate son and heir to the throne, Thothmes, in order to cleanse the bloodline in accordance with Egypt’s supreme law. Fearing his son’s incompetence, Hatshepsut’s father chose her as the heir—provided that the unprecedented ascension by a woman did not inspire the priests to commit treason or instill enough hatred in the envious heart of her half-brother and future consort to have her put to death. Rich in historical detail, this account recalls the rule of one of Egypt’s greatest queens who, under her father’s guidance, assumed the throne at the age of 15 and ruled brilliantly for more than two decades.