Elizabeth Day on Hatshepsut

Great Lives

BBC

History, Documentary, Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.2 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 20 October 2025

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

"One of the things that she claimed was that her mother had been impregnated by the sun god Amon-Ra." Elizabeth Day's interest in the female pharaoh Hatshepsut was sparked by a trip to Egypt less than a year ago. What intrigued her was how this woman survived and thrived as ruler in a traditionally male role. Joining her in discussion is Professor Joyce Tyldesley, recent winner of archaeologist of the year. She says that Hatshepsut changed her life when she wrote her biography. Matthew Parris presents.

Elizabeth Day is the author of six novels and host of How to Fail. The producer for BBC Studios in Bristol is Miles Warde

Transcript

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0:00.0	BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts.
0:07.3	Welcome back to the home of the oxymoron.
0:10.5	Evil genius.
0:11.6	He asked the newspaper to print his obituary early so he'd enjoy it.
0:15.5	That's like hiding at your own funeral.
0:17.1	Yeah, a bit great gig.
0:18.6	I'm Russell Kane.
0:19.6	Join me to weigh in on whether the biggest players in history are more evil or genius.
0:24.2	Becoming that rich, I'd say that is some level of genius.
0:26.4	It also helps that it's a long time ago, right?
0:29.4	It's like the podcast version of telling your kids the ice cream van plays music when it's out of ice cream.
0:34.9	Listen to evil genius on BBC Sounds.
0:38.1	Cleopatra may be the most famous woman of ancient Egypt, but far more significant, was Hachepsut,
0:46.0	a female pharaoh of the 15th century BC during the early period of the New Kingdom.
0:52.6	These are the opening words of a beautiful book from the
0:55.7	Metropolitan Museum of Art. It's in front of me now, and Hachepsut is our subject today,
1:02.0	a mighty pharaoh and Egyptian queen, whom I know little about, so I'm looking forward to
1:07.6	today's show. My guest here in the studio is the novelist and history graduate Elizabeth Day.
1:13.3	Welcome to Great Lives and thanks for your nomination.
1:16.8	Why have you picked this intriguing woman?
1:19.8	First of all, thank you for the introduction of me as a history graduate.
1:23.5	I don't often get to use that these days.
	...

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