Mara, Daughter of The Nile

A work of historical fiction set in the 15th century BCE, Mara, Daughter of the Nile draws from the author’s careful research and features at least three real-life figures from Egyptian history: Queen Hatshepsut, King Thutmose III, and Count Senmut. Many of the biographical details surrounding these three fictionalized figures are accurate; for instance, Hatshepsut did indeed wear a ceremonial beard on her chin after assuming the role of pharaoh around 1479 BCE, and her steward Senmut was the chief architect of many of her building projects, including the iconic temple at Deir el-Bahari and her twin obelisks at Karnak. Also, as in the novel, the Egyptian empire suffered a series of military crises shortly before the queen died in 1458 BCE, owing mostly to a coalition of hostile states led by the king of Kadesh, a city in northern Syria.

However, for the purposes of her story, the author has taken considerable artistic license with other details of Hatshepsut’s reign. For instance, Mara repeatedly refers to Thutmose III as Hatshepsut’s brother, when, in fact, he was her stepson. The author seems to have conflated him with Thutmose II, Hatshepsut’s half-brother and husband, who died in 1479 BCE—after which the queen was crowned regent and ruled alongside her two-year-old stepson, Thutmose III. Also, there is no historical evidence that Hatshepsut ever plotted to kill Thutmose III, or that she kept him a virtual prisoner in the palace well into adulthood, as claimed by the novel. In reality, Hatshepsut and Thutmose III shared the throne for many years, with no indication that either of them unfairly subjugated the other during their lengthy co-reign. In fact, Thutmose III was a politically powerful figure during this time and commanded several military campaigns.

Similarly, although the novel describes Hatshepsut as a fiscally irresponsible tyrant who impoverished her subjects with exorbitant taxes to pay for her lavish building projects, this portrayal bears little resemblance to historical facts. Hatshepsut was indeed a prolific and innovative builder, but her reign was also noted for its prosperity, and she is now regarded as one of the greatest pharaohs of all time. Indeed, her reputation rests more on domestic achievements than on warfare or foreign conquests, and her lack of interest in military reprisals did lead to some uprisings toward the end of her reign, as recounted in the novel. However, this unrest was by no means the catastrophe that the novel makes it out to be; still less is there any suggestion that the queen died by suicide at the behest of her co-regent, Thutmose. Scientific studies of the mummy that has tentatively been identified as hers suggest that she may have died from a form of bone cancer.

In fairness to McGraw, her novel was researched in the mid-20th century, when historians knew less about Hatshepsut and Thutmose III than they do today. For instance, Thutmose’s notorious vandalism of his stepmother’s statues and cartouches after her death has been reassessed and may not have been the act of vengeance and acrimony it was once thought to be. Additionally, although McGraw’s novel is rich in references to Egyptian lore, the text presents itself less as a work of serious historical fiction than as a suspense novel driven by romance and political intrigue, with plot twists and characterizations that sometimes border on the melodramatic. As such, McGraw’s sinister portrait of Queen Hatshepsut, one of the most powerful women of the ancient world, reimagines her as more of a femme fatale stereotype from a 1950s film noir: beautiful, conniving, domineering, and deadly. As for Hatshepsut’s familial relation to Thutmose, McGraw may have determined that the assassination of a sister would be marginally more palatable than a mother’s murder.

Aside from the historical inaccuracy of this sororicide, McGraw’s version of Thutmose III, unlike her version of Hatshepsut, more faithfully reflects the historical record. Her description of a “short, powerfully built man with the nose of a conqueror, vigorous and restless in all his movements” (86), is in accordance with the well-known images and exploits of the victorious warrior-pharaoh who has been dubbed “the Napoleon of Egypt” (86). During his solo reign (1458-1425 BCE), Thutmose conducted 17 military campaigns, built the world’s first combat navy, and pushed the boundaries of the Egyptian empire to its broadest reaches. These accomplishments mark him as a charismatic, forceful figure who commanded great loyalty from Egyptians of all walks of life.