Predecessors of Cleopatra

In attempting even a brief and imperfect outline of the history of Egyptian queens the author has undertaken no easy task and craves indulgence for its modest fulfillment. The aim has been merely to put the little that is known in a readable and popular form, to gather from many sources the fragments that remain, partly historic, partly legendary, of a dead past. To present -- however imperfectl -- sketches of the women who once lived and breathed as Queens of Egypt.