Women and Power in Ancient Egypt

Leading Egyptologist Kara Cooney speaks at CSUSB

Renowned Egyptologist and best-selling author Kara Cooney examined the lives of six remarkable female pharaohs, from Hatshepsut to Cleopatra, in her lecture “When Women Ruled the World” at CSUSB’s Robert and Frances Fullerton Museum of Art in late January.  Often neglected in history books, the lecture explored why these women were considered exceptions to the rule and what was so special about ancient Egypt that provided women access to the highest political office. Cooney, a professor of Egyptology at UCLA, discussed the undeniable power and influence of these women. Cooney’s academic work focuses on death preparations, afterlife beliefs, and gender studies. She appeared as lead expert in the popular Discovery Channel special “The Secrets of Egypt’s Lost Queen,” and is the creator and host of Discovery’s “Out of Egypt.” She has two books: “The Woman Who Would be Queen,” published in 2014 and “When Women Ruled the World: Six Queens of Egypt,” published by National Geographic Books in 2018.