The first book to convey the full experience of what it was actually like to be pharaoh, one of the most powerful rulers of the ancient world. Garry Shaw covers, through eight themed chapters, all aspects of the realities of pharaoh’s life, from mornings waking in the palace to evenings spent banqueting, with all his duties and activities in between. This vividly written and authoritative account provides new insights into key official ceremonies, including the accession and coronation, and the pomp and protocol of an audience before the king, and is supplemented by numerous box features, from the internal decoration of pyramids and the women who became pharaoh, to pharaonic pets, as well as quotations from contemporary sources and a complete king list with brief biographies of the major pharaohs. Beautifully illustrated with a wide range of images, most in colour, including temples and tombs, reliefs and wall paintings, jewelry and statues, line drawings and reconstructions, maps and plans, this book charts the development of a uniquely Egyptian vision of kingship, exemplified by the men and women who ascended the throne from mythical beginnings and the first ruler of a unified country, through renowned and supreme monarchs such as Khufu, Seti I, and Ramesses II to the decadence of the all-too human Ptolemies and pharaonic kingship’s last gasp under Roman rule.