This volume is the collaborative effort of several Egyptological scholars from the United States, Canada, Egypt, and England; each contribution is a comprehensive investigation of a specific aspect of kingship in ancient Egypt and represents a particular area of expertise of that author. The first part of the book examines the nature of kingship and the role of the ruler. The second part of the book focuses on the role of kingship and its characterization in particular periods.

The last section of the volume consists of two studies on the concretization of royalty in architectural contexts. Ancient Egyptian Kingship is the most comprehensive work in English on the subject since Henri Frankfort published Kingship and the Gods in 1948. Richly illustrated with photographs, plans, and diagrams, it is a new, extensively researched analysis of the topic.