Pharaoh. If ever a word symbolized the power and mystery of Egypt, it is this one. Ancient Egyptian society revolved absolutely around the charismatic figure of the sovereign, heir to the gods and the intercessor between the earthly and divine worlds. Christiane Ziegler, director of the department of Egyptian Antiquities at the Louvre Museum, has overseen the loan of hundreds of exhibits from the most important Egyptian collections worldwide, including those of the Cairo Museum, in order to illustrate the multi-faceted nature of the Pharaoh and to shed light on life at court in ancient Egypt - the palace, the family, the harem, the court functionaries and the artistic expressions dedicated to royalty in life and death. Hundreds of beautiful artworks from the era of the New Kingdom, the golden age of Egyptian history, illustrate the splendour of the Pharaohs in this volume, which accompanies the show at the Palazzo Grassi in Venice. The focus of this book - which offers far more than what is on show at the exhibition - is the nature and function of the king of Egypt: his place in history, his divine origin, his diverse images, and his roles as a ritualist, builder, warrior and governor. It is also the first volume to present the twofold nature of the pharaoh: the opposition between the function and the person. With more than 600 glorious colour illustrations and specially commissioned photographs, The Pharaohs is essential reading for anyone interested in these great figures who did so much to shape ancient history.