Hatshepsut: From Queen to Pharaoh

Apart from the cunning and beautiful Cleopatra, little is known about Egypt's women rulers. The editors of this glorious exhibition catalogue seek to illuminate the life of one of these women. Drawing on archeological discoveries of the remains of her rule, Roehrig, a curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and her coauthors offer a magnificent portrait of this remarkable woman and all aspects of Eyptian life in the 18th Dynasty, from religion and politics to art and jewelry. In 1473 B.C., Hatshepsut ascended the throne as co-regent with her husband, Thutmose II. After his death, she became ruler of Egypt, taking the name "King of Upper and Lower Egypt." She consolidated the country culturally and led military campaigns against Nubia and Kush. Hatshepsut's innovative construction projects included processional roads and 100-foot-high obelisks. Abandoning the traditional closed-off temple structure, her temple in Deir el-Bahri in Thebes was opened to the light with colonnades. Soon after her death, Hatshepsut's successor erased almost every trace of her reign, but this beautiful book draws on the remains with 386 illustrations—226 of them in color—to offer a splendid testimony to the life of this oft-forgotten Egyptian ruler. (Jan.)

Correction : The author of Crunchy Cons (reviewed Dec. 19) is Rod Dreher.