The Egyptian Cinderella by Shirley Climo

The idea that some peoples were innately more fit for servitude and enslavement goes back, not to the ancient world, but to the beginnings of the trans-Atlantic slave-trade - it was a philosophy dreamt up to justify that most unjustifiable and barbaric of practices. To wit: it demonstrates how the institution of slavery, in the ancient world, was far different from its modern counterpart and points to the relatively recent origin of our own concerns with, and ideas of, race. In addition to offering an interesting counterpart to the more well-known (and more contemporary) French version, which has given its name to the tale-type - like Cinderella, this story too includes a lost slipper, used by the pharaoh to find his ideal mate, as well as some magical intervention on the part of the god Horus and his falcon (as opposed to a fairy god-mother) - The Egyptian Cinderella also provides a fascinating snapshot of the world of classical antiquity, and highlights some of the differences between that world and our own. The fairy-tale itself is (of course) fictional, although the story is based upon the life of an actual historical figure. Another retelling can be found in the work of Roman author Aelian (ca. The story of Rhodopis - a young Greek girl captured by pirates and sold into slavery in Egypt, only to go on to become Pharaoh Amasis' queen - is the earliest known example of the 'Cinderella,' or persecuted-heroine-type tale (type #510A in the Aarne-Thompson Folklore Classification system), having first been recorded in the work of the Greek geographer Strabo some time in the late first century BC, or early first century AD.

The Egyptian Cinderella by Shirley Climo