‘The King and her Children’ my first book, was published in 2018 and is the story of Hatshepsut the Egyptian princess who made herself pharaoh. But there are many mysteries surrounding her which Egyptology alone is unlikely to solve, especially as we are talking 3,500 years ago.
Hatshepsut had a successful reign and was buried with honour, but 30 years after her death, her statues were ruthlessly smashed and buried and her name removed from all her monuments.
What had she done?
The story of Hatshepsut lends itself to a historical novel, and there are many, but how to find out the truth?
It is interesting to note that the geographical area and the time period covered by Ancient Egypt, roughly 3,000 BCE to 30 CE, covering Egypt and the Levant, is remarkably similar to that of the biblical record.
And this combined information is not true of any other records we have. So it is logical that they should be considered together. And when we do this, it becomes apparent that Egypt had a very good reason for destroying Hatshepsut’s memory. She had adopted a slave child and given him the status to wreak havoc on Egypt.
My second book, published in May 2023, picks up the story after Hatshepsut’s death.
It focuses on the next pharaoh, Tutmose lll, known among Egyptologists as the ‘Napoleon of Egypt’ because he is the greatest empire builder of them all.
But it is how he built his empire that has perhaps been missed.
War is expensive, so how could he go to war for 20 years almost nonstop, finding the manpower to do it, yet leave Egypt far stronger than at the outset of his reign?
The city states of Canaan he soon brought under control, but the powerful states of ancient Syria were a different matter.
Elite civilisations with written records and a formidable knowledge of war. At this time, Naharin, otherwise known as Mittani, was in the ascendancy. An advanced civilisation, who with their introduction of the war chariot and lethally powerful composite bows, had even invaded Egypt and held it for 100 years.
The books have been fun to research and write.
They have taken ten years so far, and should not end here.
But I hope you can enjoy the journey as much as I have.
Annette Duckworth
