The Good Kings: Absolute Power in Ancient Egypt and the Modern World by Kara Cooney

The Good Kings: Absolute Power in Ancient Egypt and the Modern World Reviews

• 
  Nenia ✨ I yeet my books back and forth ✨ Campbell

  
  
  
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  This was such a frustrating read for me because I really wanted to like it. Unlike some of the reviewers for this book, I do share the author's politics, and I appreciated the way that Cooney discussed the colonist appropriation and whitewashing of Ancient Egypt, and how the way that we, in the modern world, glorify it is analogous to the way we (generic we) fetishize strongman leaders and absolute rule.
  
  
  
  Unfortunately, some of these comparisons ended up feeling a bit like a stretch, which made the book feel like a painfully long TED talk or a padded-out op-ed piece. Learning that Cheops/Khufu was a jerk and Ankhenaten was just shy of a cult leader, for example, was really interesting, but it couldn't really carry the whole book, which had the dry tone of a textbook. It's clear that the author is passionate about her research and her views and I think that really comes across in the writing, it just wasn't as engaging as I would have hoped.
  
  
  
  Thanks to the publisher for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review!
  
  
  
  2 to 2.5 stars
• 
  Scott D.

  FALSE ADVERTISING. Like me, you probably saw the cover and thought, "Ooh! Cool Egyptian history stuff!" Then you read the blurb and it seemed to confirm your interest, so you bought the book...and then, reading the first chapter, you realized you'd been had.
  Hate to break it to you, but this is little more than a hyper-feminist screed against the "systemic patriarchy" and all that victimhood nonsense. If you're into that kinda thing, by all means read this book and confirm your beliefs. You just wanted to explore some good history, you'll get a heavy dose of brow-beating. Good luck.
• 
  Socraticgadfly

  This is NOT “in the tradition of historians like Mary Beard.” Not even close!
  
  Given Cooney’s second-most-recent previous book was ultimately about claims that Hatshepsut was really a king, the basic premise of this book smacks as “hypocrisy alert.”
  
  What changed since she wrote it? Donald J. Trump. Nothing else.
  
  With that, I need to “identify” politically myself. I’m a non-Democrat actual leftist of some sort, so review readers understand it’s not just Trump Train riders who think this book is dreck AND that, up front, they know that it’s dreck because of factual errors, not just politics. And, I’ve got the receipts below.
  
  Most of her parallels from ancient Egypt to today are thin and stretched and smack of modern political revisionism. I often laugh at Trump Trainers and other conservatives attacking books; in this case, they have every right to do so. I don’t reject all “wokeness,” but I do reject wrongful wokeness, and it abounds in this book.
  
  As for that Hatshepsut book and Cooney's rants about the "patriarchy"? Nowhere in this book, not even in the epilogue, does she apologize for "patriarchializing" Hatshepsut, or for, presumingly willingly, letting herself be co-opted by the patriarchy in so doing.
  
  Plus, the errors? Or conjectures even more extreme than in her Hatshepsut book?
  
  First, I’d never heard that Rameses II was Hyksos. (Speaking of, as an Egyptologist, why does she use the older spelling Ramses, rather than Rameses or Ramesses? Also, why does she still use BC and AD?)
  
  Second, no, Akhenaten did not influence Yahwism, which arose from Midian in today’s northwest Saudi Arabia, in all likelihood, and did not move from henotheism to monotheism, in all likelihood, until after the end of the Exile.
  
  Third, not all Roman Imperial history was bloody. With the exception of Gaius (still, 4 years), 68 CE, Domitian (still 15 years) and Commodus (still 12 years) and thereafter, Rome’s imperium was relatively tranquil until the Crisis of the Third Century. After Diocletian stabilized it, it was relatively quiescent until battles over Christianity. When Constantine then triumphed, it was quiescent again, for the most part, for the rest of the century. And, most of the murders of previous emperors were by the Praetorians or else by provincial generals; they were NOT by city of Rome Senatorial elites, so, she’s wrong there, too.
  
  And, while we’re here, Augustus was Julius’ grandnephew, not nephew, and that whole sentence was so confusing I first thought she meant Julius.
  
  Fourth, you can’t claim that Rameses was the first pharaoh to thrust his kids into the spotlight when you’ve already talked about an image of Akhenaten kissing his daughter. That's not the only inconsistency.
  
  Fifth, re the bad parallels? The post-Civil War South didn’t have to look to ancient Egypt for obelisks, since the Washington Monument work had started before the Civil War. Towns like Memphis, Tennessee and Cairo, Illinois, predated the war, too. She cites Taharqa's "surgical strikes" but won't admit that at least part of Ramses' warfare might have been the same. An academic inconsistency is using both "Hebrew Bible" and "Hebrew Old Testament"; in reality, no such critter exists.
  
  Six? The Torah offers no name for the pharaoh of the Exodus. Purely conjecture that is was Rameses. (Reality is there was no “Exodus.”)
  
  Seven? Mao did NOT start China’s one-child policy, it was Deng. And, it was for population control concerns, not to “break” old elite families.
  
  Given that my four-starring of the Hatshepsut book was a bit of a gentleman’s four-star, even though this book has some actually informative items in it, I couldn’t give it three, and my two-star rating may itself be gentlemanly. And, I ultimately decided to drop to one.
  
  Finally, it’s time for one of those comments. I won’t read any other books of hers, and “anti-recommend” her in general.
  
  So, why WON'T she apologize for being part of the partriarchy, for being willingly co-opted, etc.? Why WON'T Cooney quit teaching Egyptology if this is that serious? Maybe she likes the "patriarchy" of capitalism and a tenured university professorship?
• 
  Amber

  Still trying to lie on Kyle Rittenhouse.. she claims he killed two "Black men." Good grief, a little glance at an unbiased website could have fixed that glaring error! Instead she "stands by" this slander. If this one thing is so poorly researched, can you trust the rest? Nope.
• 
  Jo Burl

  It’s rare for me not to finish a book on ancient Egypt but I just couldn’t take it anymore, though I hung in there until page 210.
  
  I have read both of Cooney’s prior books. Liked Hatshepsut and tolerated When Women Ruled but I just can’t appreciate this book.
  
  As before, there is a lot of speculation, a lot of favorite, repeated words (wish I had kept count on reified for one) that took me out of the narrative.
  It seems as if she has such an axe to grind that I can’t see through the polemics to the Egyptology.
  
  I appreciate reading various points of view on a subject. I read FoxNews and CNN in an effort to get both sides of a story so I don’t think I can be classed as a Never-Trumper or Trump lover but I can say that her flagrant hate of Trump is very off putting. I wanted a book on Egypt, not Trump. I also wonder why her hatred of Christianity must come into a book about Egypt.
  
  In many ways her description of Akhenaten seemed to describe the author, with all of the paranoia and twisting of things to suit an agenda.
  
  I highly doubt I’ll read another of her books. I certainly won’t be buying one.
• 
  Ian

  What a heap of crap, the author is clearly suffering from TDS. This is not about neat Egyptian stuff and the author's claims are based on options and not facts. She even goes so far as to say Kyle Rittenhouse killed two black men. How did this even get published?
• 
  Phillip A.

  A bunch of B.S.!
  "... consider Kyle Rittenhouse, who used his semiautomatic weapon to kill two Black men in Kenosha, Wisconsin, while waging a glorious war on behalf of his inherited White power."
  
  They were white!
• 
  Kristina

  *Updated review*
  From my experiences reading Cooney's other works, the history she writes is eminently readable and I would recommend her works to anyone who is interested in ancient history. - Still true -
  
  I see other negative reviews on Goodreads and cringe at the puffed-up hostility on display. Kind of makes the point for her, no? In any case, her first and last chapters do tend to hammer home her own political feelings, and while they include very timely comparisons, they could have been edited down to a tighter preface and epilogue. She does a good enough job making those comparisons to modern authoritarians in her chapters about the kings themselves, no need to elaborate further.
• 
  Matthew Heneghan

  When venturing out to write a book, especially one that aims to tackle and portray factual/historical events, it is important to get said facts organized correctly.
  
  The author erroneously claims that, Kyle Rittenhouse "used a semiautomatic rifle to kill two black men in Kenosha".
  
  Not only is that wholly inaccurate and laughably written, it is unacceptable for someone that holds as prestigious a rank within National Geographic to espouse such fallacy.
  
  And to have not apologized for this shortcoming is equally as deplorable.
  
  There are a plethora of other grammatical errors within this "book" also.
  
  1/5
• 
  Kitsune Kukan

  This entire book focuses on gender roles, suppression and what that will lead to our destruction, oh and her fetishized fantasies of how she views the ancient pharaoh personality she claims is taking over the world currently *coughs* hypocrite
  Tried to give a voice to feminism and undermine the patriarchy.
  Romanticizing Egypt is showing appreciation to the art, the culture, the methods used and created by them.
  No one anywhere is saying “yeah we need to go back to living how they did in Egypt where only men rule and women serve.”
  Granted, some Middle Eastern countries still live like that, however, in the United States women do not.
  Women in the US have the utmost power and privilege.
  EVERYTHING, compared to the very limited ability they were given in Ancient Egypt.
  She’s claims the “Egyptian narrative” which is put down, disrespected and belittled, is what we’re living today of authoritarian governing bodies.
  Then she brings up climate change…? Correlating the drying up of the Nile to the icebergs melting? A river….versus every polar ice cap…..
  I get what she was “attempting” to do, but she failed, stupendously.
  The opinion of one historian in how claiming Egyptians abused power under a misogynist fist is today’s world is a very brave statement.
  Was she there?
  Back in Ancient Egypt?
  Did she see this actually happening? All we know is word of mouth which we all know how wonderful and unmistakeable carrying words THOUSANDS of years to and from ears to mouth can all be transferred exactly how it was said?
  Give me a break.
  Were women so put down by the patriarchy, why were there female gods and goddesses?
  Why are there handfuls of females, one being the center of all energy and life, Ma’at?
  Would there be room for them?
  Were the women only allowed certain practices while the men had more, better, closer relationships with these goddesses?
  Were those gods and goddess of divine feminine seen as less then the male counterparts?
  WE DON’T KNOW.
  AND NEITHER DOES KARA COONEY.
  Take this book with a grain of salt.
  Cooney really does stretch and push HER narrative on something harmless like appreciating Egypt and it’s culture. Which if you didn’t catch on by this point is VERY different than today’s world
  Capitalism is the culprit. Money is the motive. Men are the idiots allowing it, if not forced. Don’t attack a gender, attack human morals, attack human choices and question human rights. Climate change everyone’s fault, not just males.
  
  Cooney, your take of the modern world is dripping with absurdity, biases, endless whining and irrelevant opinions. Fancy words doesn’t make for good literature, and neither does a personal agenda.
• 
  Stephanie

  ​The Good Kings examines the rule of five Egyptian pharaohs- Khufu, Senwosret III, Akenhaten, Ramses II, and Taharqa- to understand what made their rule so absolute and memorable today. In addition, Egyptologist Kara Cooney compares these Egyptian rulers to our world leaders today to see how our obsession with these ancient pharaohs has led to the rise of the modern politician. As Kara states:
  This book presents an analysis of how we make ourselves easy marks for the next charismatic authoritarian to come along. It's high time we see how fetishism of ancient cultures is used to prop up modern power grabs.
  
  Cooney accomplishes this through a careful reframing of how we look at these pharaohs and the monuments that they left behind. Reading about these rulers in harsher terms is enlightening and different. Usually, I read about these rulers being put up on a pedestal, literally. Most of these rulers' actions, however, were precise moves done for power, authority and absolute rule making sure that their family stayed on top.
  
  It was very interesting to see how Khufu built the Great Pyramid, the only wonder of the ancient world still standing. The technology used to build the pyramid was advanced and the view is amazing. How exactly Khufu's engineers accomplished building the Great Pyramid is a secret taken to the grave. Khufu's reign was most likely one of a tyrant, with little respect for the people of Egypt. The fact that he built such a large temple to himself shows an insecurity in his rule and created himself as a god to his people. Senwosret III created an image of himself as a tired leader while being a master strategist. Senwosret III churned out propaganda and took hold of Egypt's elite to establish supremacy only to have everything fall apart shortly after his rule was over. Akhenaten, who we might know better by his wife, Nefertiti used his rule to create a new political-religious agenda and threw Egypt into a series of destabilizing changes. The ideas seemed to create equality, but Akhenaten used them to control those who did not choose his way. Ramses the Great used his rule to create an image that most people still know today, a celebrity kingship. He publicized himself throughout Egypt during his long reign so that many people today still believe everything he told about himself. Taharqa wanted to unify Egypt, but used religious zeal showing his piety publicly. Taharqa used his religion to try to justify his actions and show that he was just and moral
  
  
  The comparisons to some of today's leaders showed that while we have made great strides, we still have a long way to go in dismantling the patriarchy.
  
  
  This book was received for free in return for an honest review.
• 
  Jessica Higgins

  Dive into comparing Egypt’s history while paralleling today’s political landscape.
  
  Many of us love the lure of Ancient Egypt, but why are we drawn to it? Is it the artifacts? The civilization? Or is it the absolute power of the Pharoah’s that actually draws us in? Join Kara Cooney, an Egyptologist herself, as she examines the rule of five Egyptian Pharaohs: Khufu, Senwosret III, Akhenaten, Ramses II, and Taharqa. Cooney goes onto to explain why we are drawn not only to these Pharaohs, but also to those in today’s society who exemplify power. She does this in such a way that she deconstructs their reign and brings them down to the human level whereas history often teaches us to refer to them almost as godly beings.
  
  Needless to say, this was not what I anticipated when I picked it up. I thought it was going to be more based on describing their reigns rather than problems with a patriarchal society. Even so, it was an interesting read to get a different take and make me look at things differently, both in the past as well as present day.
  
  I received a complimentary copy of this title from the publisher. The views and opinions expressed within are my own.
  
• 
  Patty

  I have long had a fascination with ancient times and Egypt in particular. There is something about this period in history that just pulls me in. In this new book Ms. Cooney dives into the lives of five great leaders during the reign of the Pharaohs. Often times, as my mother always told me, absolute power corrupts absolutely, but there are times when you get a ruler who truly wants what is best for his (or her) people.
  
  This is a world so very different from the one we currently inhabit so be prepared to immerse yourself in the lives of beings who thought themselves to be gods. Just look at what they had built for their burial chambers – not exactly a small, discreet memorial stone, eh?
  
  The stories are both mundane and fascinating as they were gods and men all at the same time. Ms. Cooney’s writing style is smooth and easy so that you do not feel as if you are deep in a history book but rather you are being told a story by someone who truly loves their subject matter.
  
  This is the best kind of reading.
• 
  Nate Weiland

  Is this a joke?
• 
  Rick Rapp

  Cooney's book is extremely well-written and timely. She explores 3 well-known pharaohs (Khufu, Akhenaten, and Ramses II) and two lesser known ones (Senwosret III and Taharq) and compares their authoritarian rule with the authoritarian and patriarchal practices of today. It is a scathing indictment of the status quo and the destructiveness of this thinking. And yet, it is overall a book of hopefulness in the long overdue coming of change. A small criticism is the overuse of such words as "reified" and "hegemony" which are both used dozens of times in the book. But her research and thoughtfulness are impeccable. Books such as this are enlightening and invaluable as our society struggles to overcome the anger and violence of the white patriarchy.
• 
  David

  Eye opening and inspiring
  
  Brilliantly researched and even more brilliantly argued that the magnificence and majesty of the “good kings” of ancient Egypt should be seen instead as evidence of brutal oppression and resource hoarding and self dealing by a patriarchal system of society and governance that was fundamentally weak and that repeatedly failed. The last chapter balances the otherwise depressing litany of repeated failures of the “good kings” described in the preceding chapters with a fresh perspective and evidence of lasting changes and the adoption of better, often ancient, models of society and governance.
• 
  Danny

  It's an insult to compare this book to anything written by Mary Beard or Stacy Schiff. This writer makes a huge error in reporting the facts of the most publicized trials of the last year. Either she intentionally misrepresented this fact, or gets her facts on modern day America exclusively from MSNBC. Either way, no reason to trust her insights on ancient Egypt.
• 
  Angie

  Just an FYI that this book is full of factual errors, such as Kyle Rittenhouse killing two 'black men.' The men he shot in self defense were all white. If she cannot get a recent, easily verifiably, detail like that correct, I wouldn't trust much else.
• 
  Jim

  Absolute nonsense, full of false statements and incorrect information. Nothing really to do with ancient Egypt, this is basically an extended Twitter screech about “muh patriarchy”.
• 
  Vader

  5 star - Perfect
  4 star - i would recommend
  3 star - good
  2 star - struggled to complete
  1 star - could not finish