“When Women Ruled the World” - Dr. Kara Cooney

👑 Dr. Cooney is a notable Egyptologist and her premise for this book is fascinating. She writes that ancient Egypt was an anomaly even by modern standards in that women were repeatedly elevated to wield political power as god-pharaohs; sometimes as regents, sometimes as consorts, and occasionally, even in their own right. WWRW explores possible explanations - cultural, religious, and legal - that supported female political power in ancient Egypt.

👑 I should note that while Dr. Cooney is an academic, WWRW is not exactly a scholarly paper. No doubt there is fact-based evidence for much of what Cooney writes, but I found much of the book to be “informed speculation”. Also, while I don’t disagree with her analysis, she spends time intermittently on drawing parallels with modern politics. Her conclusions are logical, but the modern comparison seems disjointed in her overall narrative.

👑 I learned quite a lot about various ancient dynasties. Admittedly, I knew very little when I picked up this book. Cooney covers the life and times of six female pharaohs - Hatshepsut, Nefertiti, and Cleopatra among the more famed in the West. Cooney identifies a clear, deliberate pattern of seeking out female rule when Egypt was on the brink of calamity. Per Cooney, the rationale was that a woman (with female ruling tendencies toward peace), was preferred to fractious in-fighting or an unknown warlord assuming power by force, until peaceful succession could be reestablished.

👑 She is careful to note that the ancient Egyptians were not as progressive as all that, however. Women ruled when needed (a male was not available or old enough), but they were nearly always efficiently scrubbed from history as soon as they were replaced by a male pharaoh. They were powerful, yes. But always pawns of a patriarchal system.

👑 Cooney identifies the pattern of female rule in Egypt as part of the “dichotomy of perception” - the female pharaohs are perceived as the protective mother figure versus the ambitious, power-hungry politician. Where have we seen this dynamic recently? WWRW is an interesting read, and I’d certainly recommend it to anyone curious about female pharaohs.