This groundbreaking new book illuminates the lives of the kings, queens, princes, and princesses of ancient Egypt, unraveling family relationships and exploring the parts they played in politics, cultural life, and religion. It ranges from the dawn of Egyptian history, when only isolated glimpses are available of the royal family, through the vast progeny of Rameses II, and ends with the fiendishly complicated—and blood-soaked—interconnections of the Ptolemies and Cleopatras.

The authors begin with a basic summary of the structure of the pharaonic state, including the nature of ancient Egyptian kingship itself and how its functions meshed with those of the bureaucracy. They introduce key members of the royal family and assess what is known about the implications of the major titles that define them.

The book then moves from the general to the particular, with a chronological survey of the royal family from c. 3100 BC and the First Dynasty up to Egypt's absorption into the Roman Empire. For each dynasty, or significant part of a dynasty, the authors provide an historical overview of the period, a summary listing of the kings involved, and a discussion of their families' relationships, including, most importantly, how we know what we think we know about them. Finally, the individuals who made up these families are placed in context via twenty-seven genealogical trees, and described in a comprehensive list of short biographies.

Handsomely illustrated with more than 300 photographs and line drawings, this book will serve equally well as a biographical history of ancient Egypt and a superb volume for home reference. 330 illustrations, 80 in color.