Queen - or, as she would prefer to be remembered king - Hatchepsut was an astonishing woman. Brilliantly defying tradition, she became the female embodiment of a male role, dressing in men's clothes and even wearing a false beard.

Hatchepsut ruled over an age of peace, prosperity and remarkable architectural achievement, but after her death there was a serious attempt to obliterate her name from Egyptian history by vandalizing or destroying her monuments and portraits. Totally forgotten until Egyptologists deciphered hieroglyphs in the 1820s, she has since been subject to intense speculation about her actions and motivations. Combining archaeological and historical evidence from a wide range of sources, Joyce Tyldesley's dazzling piece of detection strips away the myths and misconceptions and finally restores the female pharaoh to her rightful place.

An archaeological survey in Middle Egypt. (BAR -S414, 1988)