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REVIEW BY JPP
This is a beautifully presented book, amply illustrated with full-colour photographs throughout. The author uses the ancient Egyptian dating system of regnal years, seasons, months, and days for events, which (although more accurate than BC dates) is disconcerting at first. However, his knowledge of the subject material is unsurpassed, and he has been meticulous in recording both the latest information available and alternative interpretation of the facts where appropriate.
Dodson begins by giving a brief introduction outlining the events leading to establishment of the New Kingdom under Amenhotep I at the start of the Eighteenth Dynasty. He then records all the known facts about the reigns of Thutmose I, Thutmose II, Hatshepsut as the wife of Thutmose II, Hatshepsut as regent during the minority of her son Thutmose III, Hatshepsut as a joint ruler with Thutmose III, and Thutmose III as a sole ruler. In the process he debunks several accepted ‘facts’. For example, he points out that the widely held view that Hatshepsut did not wage war is not supported by the evidence (which shows that she led troops in battle in Nubia).
The book was published before the announcement this year (2025) that the tombs of Thutmose II had been found. However, Dodson surmises correctly that the king was initially buried in Tomb C4 in Wadi Gabbanet el-Qurud, to the west of the Valley of the Kings, which has now been positively identified as the king’s original resting place.
Unusually, the author includes the names and biographies of the main officials of the court – including Vizier, Chancellor, Steward of the King, and Overseer of Works. This information is available elsewhere, but not gathered in one place in this way.
The building works undertaken during the reigns are described, covering in detail, for example, the development of Karnak Temple. The evidence for the relationship between Hatshepsut and Senenmut is examined, and Dodson is convinced that they were ‘life partners’. However, the reasons for, and timing of, Senenmut’s fall from grace, when his monuments were mutilated, remain unclear. Also unclear, as Dodson confirms, is the reason for the 20-year gap after the death of Hatshepsut before her monuments were systematically destroyed.
The later chapters of the book describe the ‘Houses of Eternity’ of the two pharaohs, their legacy in dynastic Egypt, their rediscovery by early Egyptologists, and the fate of their remains. Dodson is convinced that the mummy identified as belonging to Hatshepsut and now in the National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation in Fustat is not hers, but more likely that of a singer named Ty.
It is difficult to imagine a more comprehensive account of the ‘lives and afterlives’ of these two important characters in the history of ancient Egypt, and this work deserves a place on the shelves of all those, amateur and professional, for whom this period holds fascination.
You can read articles by Aidan Dodson based on this book in AE 147, and in this issue here.
THUTMOSE III AND HATSHEPSUT, PHARAOHS OF EGYPT: THEIR LIVES AND AFTERLIVES
by Aidan Dodson
AMERCIAN UNIVERSITY IN CAIRO PRESS, 2025
ISBN 978-1-6490-3159-4
Hardback, £29.99
