POWERFUL EGYPTIAN WOMEN
Egypt’s most powerful women
Men weren’t the only people to help shape one of the most remarkable civilisations of the ancient world
SOBEKNEFERU
Ruled 1777–1773 BC
Though it has been proposed that women did rule Egypt before the 12th Dynasty, Sobekneferu was the first female pharaoh of ancient Egypt to be confirmed by archaeological evidence.
Among a small collection of surviving sources to bear her name and royal titles is a cylindrical seal made of steatite, now housed in the British Museum. She acceded to rule at the end of the 12th Dynasty, after the death of her brother, Amenemhat IV, who died without a suitable male heir.
Unlike Hatshepsut –a woman who later adopted the appearance of a traditional male king (see below) – Sobekneferu alternated traditional female clothing with royal attire and regalia, creating a composite gender image that can be seen in her few surviving statues. It has been suggested that the pharaoh may have used this deliberate ambiguity as a way to combat critics of her position based on her sex.
Though very little is known about Sobekneferu’s nearly four-year rule, some experts believe that she oversaw the building of a pyramid in Mazghuna, in the northern region of modern Egypt.
CLEOPATRA
Ruled 51–30 BC
The ruler known to history simply as ‘Cleopatra’ was actually the seventh queen of that name. Like Nefertiti (see below), Cleopatra’s modern reputation is dominated by myths of her great beauty, but there is also much evidence to suggest that she was highly intelligent, a skilled scholar and a shrewd politician; she was the first Ptolemaic ruler to learn Egyptian in addition to Greek, and she spoke seven other languages.
At the age of 18, she was made co-regent with her brother Ptolemy XIII, at a time when the capital Alexandria was a thriving cultural centre. Soon, Cleopatra had become the dominant ruler and courted Roman support for her regime, leading to her famed relationships with Roman statesman Julius Caesar and, later, Roman general Mark Antony; she had children by both men. During her rule, she built wealth and resources, and displayed political acumen to consolidate her power. Though after Caesar’s assassination, opposing Roman powers would prove too strong.
Cleopatra died in 30 BC after defeat at the battle of Actium the previous year, with some stories claiming that she chose to be bitten by a poisonous snake rather than face humiliation and mistreatment at the hands of the victorious Octavian, the future Roman Emperor Augustus. It’s one of many myths that surround Cleopatra’s legacy, though what’s surely certain is that she was much more than the lascivious beauty depicted in Roman propaganda.
NEFERTITI
Queen of Akhenaten, who ruled 1352–1336 BC
One of the most familiar faces of ancient Egypt, the 14th-century BC bust of Nefertiti shown below (now residing in Neues Museum in Berlin) has led to her reputation as a figure of ancient glamour and beauty.
But some experts also believe that Nefertiti wielded the same kingly powers as her husband, Akhenaten, and may even have succeeded him as the sole ruler after his death.
Her high position in Akhenaten’s court ran alongside radical religious reform, as Akhenaten and Nefertiti sought to divert the polytheistic religious practices of 14th-century BC Egypt, instead promoting the worship of a single god: the sun disk, called the Aten. Due to depictions of Nefertiti making offerings to the Aten without her husband, it has been suggested that she possessed an unusual level of autonomy.
For many years, it was widely accepted that Nefertiti had died as Akhenaten’s queen. But recent interpretations of inscriptions on Akhenaten’s tomb, and of jewellery found in the tomb of Tutankhamun that had been made for his (alleged) father Akhenaten’s co-ruler, have led some scholars to conclude that Nefertiti was a shortened version of a co-ruler called Neferneferuaten, who ruled for several years in their own right after Akhenaten’s death.
“It has been suggested that Nefertiti possessed an unusual level of autonomy”
HATSHEPSUT
Ruled 1473–1458 BC
With a name that translates as ‘foremost of noblewomen’, Hatshepsut is one of the most significant female rulers of ancient Egypt. She is often hailed as one of the most politically minded pharaohs and oversaw the construction of some of Egypt’s most famous buildings, including the temple of Deir el-Bahri. Historians were unaware of her until the 19th century, as her stepson and successor Thutmose III ordered virtually all traces of her rule to be destroyed.
TAUSRET
Ruled 1188–1186 BC
Tausret was the last pharaoh of the 19th Dynasty, and one of only two female rulers thought to have been buried in Egypt’s renowned Valley of the Kings, where a cache of jewellery purportedly belonging to her (including the necklace pictured) was discovered in 1908. There is evidence to confirm that she was the consort of Pharaoh Sety II, and possibly also a descendant of Ramesses II, placing her high in the ruling class of the time. Artefacts bearing her name have been found as far away as Lebanon, indicating the potential span and impact of her rule.
ARSINOE II
Queen of Ptolemy II, who ruled 285–246 BC
When the third-century BC pharaoh Ptolemy II found himself in a need of a queen, he revived an old Egyptian royal tradition by marrying his sister, Arsinoe. Despite only being queen for a relatively short period (around five to seven years), Arsinoe II proved highly influential, and after her death, she was deified by her husband. Statues of Arsinoe II were placed in all of Egypt’s major temples so that they could be worshipped alongside the traditional deities, and her cult later flourished in Alexandria during the Roman period.