The night is claustrophobic, and the king lay dead in his bed. French Crusaders are a volatile threat, teetering nearer the edge of the Nile Delta. On her knees, eyes glossed over with calculation, is Shajarat al-Durr: capable, scenic, and unapologetically powerful in her constitution. From slave to state advisor, Shajarat al-Durr was now to become the world’s first self-sustained Sultana and Egypt’s final, free-reigning Queen. When she leaves the tent, she speaks nothing of the tragedy inside. Instead, she smiles. “The king is well,” it was a lie that would change the fate of empires. “Now leave him to rest.” Upbringing of A Beauty Not much is known about Shajarat al-Durr’s early life and upbringing. Her name in Arabic translates to Tree of Pearls or String of Pearls, which many have noted was a self-fulfilling prophecy: she was a thing of immense beauty, sturdy under the weight of the world. Thought to have been born in modern-day Armenia or Turkey, Shajarat al-Durr came from modest upbringings somewhere in the early 13th century CE. The first historical record of her person is dated to 1239 CE, where she had been…
