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.
Cleopatra: Egypt's Last and Greatest Queen
Cleopatra: Egypt's Last and Greatest Queen
At once daring, clever, smart, rich, determined, and rash, Cleopatra is one of history’s most fascinating figures. Here, children will find out all about:
- The Ptolemy Dynasty into which she was born, its traditions and infighting
- The role of women in ancient Egypt
- How she ascended to, and maintained her place on, the throne
- Her relationships with both Caesar and Mark Antony and the political repercussions of these affairs within the Roman Empire and Egypt
- Her death in Alexandria
- And much more, all beautifully illustrated