Carefully researched, superbly entertaining and illustrated throughout, Pharaohs is an accessible history of the kings who ruled Ancient Egypt for more than 4,000 years. Arranged by dynastic period, Pharaohs offers a compact history of the reign of god-kings, from Menes, who united the north and south kingdoms, to the Ptolemaic Queen Cleopatra, who was defeated along with her lover Mark Antony at the Battle of Actium (31 BCE) by imperial Rome. Along the way the reader will learn about the Great Pyramid constructed by Khufu, the last of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world; Queen Hatshepsut, a rare female pharaoh whose name means "foremost of noblewomen" and who launched a massive building program at Luxor; the young pharaoh Tutankhamun, whose tomb was discovered intact in the Valley of the Kings, complete with the fabulous trappings of his divine status; and Rameses II ("the Great"), who is thought to have enslaved the Israelites, built the magnificent temple of Abu Simbel, and defeated the Hittites at the Battle of Kadesh (1274 BCE) riding his trademark chariot.
