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Pharaoh Across Time: Her Majesty King Hatshepsut
“Am I crazy? I could be thrown into jail.”
Risking her safety and career, young Egyptologist, Mira Waterfield, is compelled to become guardian of a secret discovery. Despite the threatening consequences of her crime, she treasures her glimpses into the life of the ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Hatshepsut, from her childhood to the end of her reign. [Hat - Shep – Sut]
How did a woman become Pharaoh in an airtight male-dominated system of monarchy? Hatshepsut’s inherent intelligence and abilities in leadership, guide her triumphant reign of nearly twenty-two years, circa 1479 to 1458 BCE. During this golden era, she commands some of ancient Egypt’s greatest accomplishments.
Pharaoh Across Time balances the connections and intimacies of the various characters with their adventures in the broader world. Some characters travel great distances through time and in the geographical world, and their stories converge through different periods in their lifetimes. Ancient cultures reveal different ways of observing and thinking - closer to the natural world and the cosmos. The nature of animals and plant-life infuse an understanding of, and reverence for, the powerful Egyptian gods and goddesses. Time, light, and dreams bend and fold like floating mirages, creating visions of ancient Egyptian architecture, artwork, and ceremonial events. The young archaeologist, Mira, as well as the reader, are transported to multi-layered perceptions of past, present, and future.
Another story line evolves from the love shared by Hatshepsut and Tau, captain of her Royal Trade Fleet. She remains his inspiration as he sails extensive trade missions including the famous expedition to Punt. On a later mission, tragedy strikes Tau’s ship, setting it adrift to unfamiliar lands of the Americas. He embarks on rich adventures with diverse cultures and follows their far-reaching trade routes, while he dreams of finding a way back to Egypt, and to Hatshepsut.
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Risking her safety and career, young Egyptologist, Mira Waterfield, is compelled to become guardian of a secret discovery. Despite the threatening consequences of her crime, she treasures her glimpses into the life of the ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Hatshepsut, from her childhood to the end of her reign. [Hat - Shep – Sut]
How did a woman become Pharaoh in an airtight male-dominated system of monarchy? Hatshepsut’s inherent intelligence and abilities in leadership, guide her triumphant reign of nearly twenty-two years, circa 1479 to 1458 BCE. During this golden era, she commands some of ancient Egypt’s greatest accomplishments.
Pharaoh Across Time balances the connections and intimacies of the various characters with their adventures in the broader world. Some characters travel great distances through time and in the geographical world, and their stories converge through different periods in their lifetimes. Ancient cultures reveal different ways of observing and thinking - closer to the natural world and the cosmos. The nature of animals and plant-life infuse an understanding of, and reverence for, the powerful Egyptian gods and goddesses. Time, light, and dreams bend and fold like floating mirages, creating visions of ancient Egyptian architecture, artwork, and ceremonial events. The young archaeologist, Mira, as well as the reader, are transported to multi-layered perceptions of past, present, and future.
Another story line evolves from the love shared by Hatshepsut and Tau, captain of her Royal Trade Fleet. She remains his inspiration as he sails extensive trade missions including the famous expedition to Punt. On a later mission, tragedy strikes Tau’s ship, setting it adrift to unfamiliar lands of the Americas. He embarks on rich adventures with diverse cultures and follows their far-reaching trade routes, while he dreams of finding a way back to Egypt, and to Hatshepsut.
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623 pages, Paperback
Published January 15, 2024
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2 people want to read
About the author
Anne Stackpole-Cuellar
4 books1 followerBalancing performing and teaching flute for over thirty years, Anne Stackpole-Cuellar worked for nearly twenty years at Boulder Public Library, Boulder, Colorado. Her books include, Sculpting the Art in Music, Observations of a Flutist, non-fiction; Fidelia’s Friends, a children’s book; Pharaoh Across Time, Her Majesty King Hatshepsut, a novel. Her poems have been published in VoiceCatcher, Rain Magazine, The Avocet, and Voices From the Mill Pond.
She performed in various chamber music ensembles in southern Oregon and in the Boulder-Denver area, and recorded and published three CDs of original compositions and arrangements. Some of her music compositions were performed by The Playground ensemble of Denver University, and at a faculty concert at Colorado State University.
While a music student in France, she was invited to join a group of international archaeology students on a dig of an ancient Gallo-Roman site in the Auvergne countryside – an experience that helped to inspire this book these many years hence.
She performed in various chamber music ensembles in southern Oregon and in the Boulder-Denver area, and recorded and published three CDs of original compositions and arrangements. Some of her music compositions were performed by The Playground ensemble of Denver University, and at a faculty concert at Colorado State University.
While a music student in France, she was invited to join a group of international archaeology students on a dig of an ancient Gallo-Roman site in the Auvergne countryside – an experience that helped to inspire this book these many years hence.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 7, 2024
Anne Stackpole-Cuellar in Pharaoh Across Time, Her Majesty King Hatshepsut has written the classic historical fiction novel with a twist of fantasy about two strong women: Pharaoh Hatshepsut Maatkare (1507 BCE to 1458 BCE) during Egypt’s Eighteenth Dynasty and present-day archaeologist Mira Waterfield.
The author begins the book in 2017 in a desert site in Egypt where Waterfield works with three other team members on an exploratory dig. In the opening scenes, the young archaeologist encounters a rare sand cat and a buried object that piques her interest. From that point, Waterfield finds herself in peril. The object, of astounding beauty with colors of blue-green and crystalline-white, acts as a conduit to Hatshepsut and her life. It is through Mira that the reader learns about the great and mighty pharaoh, the only woman king to lead Egypt during an extended period of peace.
And Hatshepsut, indeed, comes alive as a character. We learn of her ambitions; her strength when called upon to lead Egypt; her sadness due to the deaths of her siblings; her love for Tau, the captain of her Royal Trade Fleet; and her dismay as she realizes the destruction of her twenty-two years of accomplishments.
Likewise, the reader learns about Mira and the challenges she faces. Her fear throughout the book is evident, but so is her compassion for the sand cats and their habitat, and the people with whom she associates.
Stackpole-Cuellar’s writing is lyrical with passages that wake the senses. “It was imbued with a loving grace of line and form, alive with a calm clarity of color and light.” Readers will almost be able to smell the sumptuous fragrances of the flowers and delicate foods. The author’s description of the sands and winds will evoke the reader’s sense of touch.
These lyrical excerpts help build the ancient and present-day worlds. The author has a quality of describing the settings and environments with articulacy, such as, “The city of Per-Bast was splendid in the twilight. Large lamps flickered along the causeway to the nearby palace. … stately sculptures of Goddess Bastet—womanly forms with faces and ears of cats.”
The author does not shy away from difficult themes in this book: love, family strife, sacrifice, war, power, and freedom. However, the predominant theme addressed by her is women’s inequality. During Hatshepsut’s era and in our culture today, men’s accomplishments are credited more than women’s. Hatshepsut reigned for twenty-two years. She commissioned more monuments than any other leader in the country until Ramses II. Yet, much of her legacy has been lost.
Therefore, bravo to Anne Stackpole-Cuellar for seamlessly weaving together two time periods and bringing back the regal and must-read story of Her Majesty King Hatshepsut.
The author begins the book in 2017 in a desert site in Egypt where Waterfield works with three other team members on an exploratory dig. In the opening scenes, the young archaeologist encounters a rare sand cat and a buried object that piques her interest. From that point, Waterfield finds herself in peril. The object, of astounding beauty with colors of blue-green and crystalline-white, acts as a conduit to Hatshepsut and her life. It is through Mira that the reader learns about the great and mighty pharaoh, the only woman king to lead Egypt during an extended period of peace.
And Hatshepsut, indeed, comes alive as a character. We learn of her ambitions; her strength when called upon to lead Egypt; her sadness due to the deaths of her siblings; her love for Tau, the captain of her Royal Trade Fleet; and her dismay as she realizes the destruction of her twenty-two years of accomplishments.
Likewise, the reader learns about Mira and the challenges she faces. Her fear throughout the book is evident, but so is her compassion for the sand cats and their habitat, and the people with whom she associates.
Stackpole-Cuellar’s writing is lyrical with passages that wake the senses. “It was imbued with a loving grace of line and form, alive with a calm clarity of color and light.” Readers will almost be able to smell the sumptuous fragrances of the flowers and delicate foods. The author’s description of the sands and winds will evoke the reader’s sense of touch.
These lyrical excerpts help build the ancient and present-day worlds. The author has a quality of describing the settings and environments with articulacy, such as, “The city of Per-Bast was splendid in the twilight. Large lamps flickered along the causeway to the nearby palace. … stately sculptures of Goddess Bastet—womanly forms with faces and ears of cats.”
The author does not shy away from difficult themes in this book: love, family strife, sacrifice, war, power, and freedom. However, the predominant theme addressed by her is women’s inequality. During Hatshepsut’s era and in our culture today, men’s accomplishments are credited more than women’s. Hatshepsut reigned for twenty-two years. She commissioned more monuments than any other leader in the country until Ramses II. Yet, much of her legacy has been lost.
Therefore, bravo to Anne Stackpole-Cuellar for seamlessly weaving together two time periods and bringing back the regal and must-read story of Her Majesty King Hatshepsut.
March 5, 2024
Fabulous, interwoven facts, myths and present-day adventures of young archeologists digging into artifacts of the Egyptian PHAROAH ACROSS TIME, Her Majesty King Hatshepsut. Ms Stackpole-Cuellar's extensive research enters naturally as observation or comment by the sympathetic characters. The Timeline, dictionary and bibliography at the end of the book were helpful without being obtrusive. I believe this will be an award-winning first novel.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews