Excellent interview, the last part about her on-site research being extremely interesting. As for the earlier part, I think that the attitudes toward women in power may be an old evolutionary adaptation, since until less that two centuries ago and the invention of modern medicine, child and maternal mortality were so high and life expectancy so short that women had to spend all of their time and energy on child raising and running the house in order for humanity to survive. Now women can spend a vastly smaller fraction of their lives in the home, making them able to work more or less equally with men. However, the plunging birthrates in all developed societies leave a lot to be thought about; does the Western civilization want to survive, repel its rivals and flourish?
It's so rare to find work that goes beyond the one-damn-thing-after-another approach to history to really dig into the lived experience of the real people who made history. This book is full of conjecture and hypotheses, but all based on a strong foundation of research. I loved the way she thought about the motivations and daily life of this remarkable person. It was also fascinating to think about how such an unusual king stretched and played with this complex theology.
The iconoclasm and "damnatio memoriae" began some twenty years after Hatshepsut's death, toward the end of Thutmose III's reign, when the shaky claim of his son as successor had to be reinforced. Also, it seems to me that from the 17th Dynasty to the mid-19th dynasty, there was a long line of powerful women, many of them consorts of kings, at least from Tetisheri to Nefertari and including the late-18th Dynasty matriarch Tuyu, and it may be possible that Hatshepsut's legacy was caught in a dynastic powerplay involving that line of royally-descended women. The queens of that era, certainly, were unusually prominent and well educated, with Tiy and Nefertari well attested in surviving diplomatic correspondence in Egypt and other Kingdoms (not forgetting the outlier Nefertiti). Hatshepsut was placed by circumstance in a regnant role, with Thutmose III apparently working with her as he grew up into a great general. She must have been both capable and supported by many nobles to become Pharoah herself.
I congratulate Professor Cooney for bringing Ancient Egyptians to life, because there is so much to learn from our shared human history!
My favorite Teacher on this topic!
Excellent interview, the last part about her on-site research being extremely interesting. As for the earlier part, I think that the attitudes toward women in power may be an old evolutionary adaptation, since until less that two centuries ago and the invention of modern medicine, child and maternal mortality were so high and life expectancy so short that women had to spend all of their time and energy on child raising and running the house in order for humanity to survive. Now women can spend a vastly smaller fraction of their lives in the home, making them able to work more or less equally with men. However, the plunging birthrates in all developed societies leave a lot to be thought about; does the Western civilization want to survive, repel its rivals and flourish?
She's fantastically Not normal! one of the brightest stars I believe.
It's so rare to find work that goes beyond the one-damn-thing-after-another approach to history to really dig into the lived experience of the real people who made history. This book is full of conjecture and hypotheses, but all based on a strong foundation of research. I loved the way she thought about the motivations and daily life of this remarkable person. It was also fascinating to think about how such an unusual king stretched and played with this complex theology.
The iconoclasm and "damnatio memoriae" began some twenty years after Hatshepsut's death, toward the end of Thutmose III's reign, when the shaky claim of his son as successor had to be reinforced. Also, it seems to me that from the 17th Dynasty to the mid-19th dynasty, there was a long line of powerful women, many of them consorts of kings, at least from Tetisheri to Nefertari and including the late-18th Dynasty matriarch Tuyu, and it may be possible that Hatshepsut's legacy was caught in a dynastic powerplay involving that line of royally-descended women. The queens of that era, certainly, were unusually prominent and well educated, with Tiy and Nefertari well attested in surviving diplomatic correspondence in Egypt and other Kingdoms (not forgetting the outlier Nefertiti).
Hatshepsut was placed by circumstance in a regnant role, with Thutmose III apparently working with her as he grew up into a great general. She must have been both capable and supported by many nobles to become Pharoah herself.
Wow, she looks amazing
Hello
Hi. Thanks again for the interview.