Queens of Ancient Egypt

Many of the queens of Ancient Egypt are known only by their names - little or nothing is known of their lives. Some are better known than others and usually, but not always, this is because their names are connected with tumultuous events in Egypt’s history.

The women to whom we give the title of 'queen' were not queens in the way we know a queen today - that is, the wife of a king or a ruling monarch herself; in Ancient Egypt, all royal titles stressed the relationship of the person to the king - so the wife of the king had the title of 'King's Wife' and not 'queen'. Although at certain times, other titles were used, 'King's Wife' remained the core title of royal Egyptian wives.

Titles of the very earliest queens are not known for certain but Neithhotep, the wife of the possible first king of dynastic Egypt, Narmer - had the title of 'Consort of the Two Ladies and Foremost of Women'. Her name incorporates that of the ancient goddess Neith - Delta goddess of weaving and hunting. As goddess of weaving, it was she who supplied the bandages/wrappings for mummies.

As we know, ancient Egyptian kings had many wives and the title 'King's Wife' could apply to some other royal women other than the king's chief wife - these were high status women who may have been involved in religious or political affairs. Excluded from using this title were his many lesser wives and 'concubines'.

Inner coffin lid - Ahhotep

Three flies of valour

But the chief 'King's Wife' was the woman who was depicted with him in statuary is seen on wall paintings and named in inscriptions. We don't know exactly what her role entailed but she would properly be the mother of the heir to the throne; in some instances, she probably was expected to deputise for her husband.

Another duty the King's wife may be called upon to do was to act as regent for her son if her husband died prematurely. An example of a woman acting as regent comes from the end of the 17th dynasty, when a King named Kamose was killed in battle - his wife Ahhotep was called upon to act as regent for her young son and, as inscriptions, etc., appear to indicate, may even have led the Egyptian army! This belief stems from a text which says in part 'she looked after her Egypt's soldiers, she has guarded Egypt'. Whatever the truth of this is, what is known is that when her son Ahmose gained the throne he awarded his mother three golden 'flies of valour' - these three golden flies, which are strung on a golden chain, can be seen in the Luxor Museum.

The king's lesser wives are hardly known - being of lesser status their names don't appear in inscriptions or on stelae. But as we know, there are exceptions to every rule, as we can see in the example of the mother of Thutmose III - she was a minor wife called Isis but when her son became Pharaoh, he brought her out of the obscurity of the women's quarters and elevated her to the status of 'Great King's Mother'.

Hatshepsut

Hatshepsut - depicted as a sphinx

Quite separate from these women are the few women who at various times in Ancient Egyptian history ruled Egypt as Pharaoh, even adopting all the titles of a male ruler. The most well known of female Pharaohs is Hatshepsut (see Hatshepsut - The Queen who would be King) but other names that come to mind are Sobekneferu of the 12th dynasty and Twoseret from the 19th dynasty. Although these women didn't have the same impact as Hatshepsut, they deserve a mention. Sobekneferu is believed to have ruled Egypt at a time when there was no male heir and records say she ruled for almost four years. The fact that her name is included in some 'king lists' shows that she was considered to be a legitimate ruler.

The other woman was Twosret - when both her husband and stepson died, she stepped in and declared herself Pharaoh, using the full royal titulary as had Hatshepsut 300 years earlier, however her reign was much shorter and she only reigned for about three years.

Nefertiti

Of Ancient Egypt's other 'queens,' I'll only touch on a few of the better known ones; but having said that, the first one I'm mentioning is one of whom nothing is known! She is Sesheshet - mother of the 6th dynasty king Teti and I've included her only because we had the privilege of visiting the newly discovered pyramid attributed to her at Saqqara in February 2009 (courtesy of Dr Zahi Hawass) see A Visit to the Newly Discovered Pyramid at Saqqara. Nothing is known of her except a record of a request for a hair restorer which is believed to have come from her.

On the other hand, the best known of all Egypt's Royal Wives must be the beautiful Nefertiti, the wife of the Pharaoh Akhenaton. Very little is known of her, her parents and origins are unknown and she is best known for the beautiful bust of her found in the ruined city of Akhetaten and currently on display in the Egyptian Museum in Berlin, Germany. Her last resting place is unknown.

Nefertari

The beautiful wife of Rameses II was Nefertari - although not his only wife, she would appear to have been his favourite. She is well known for the many statues and representations of her in temple reliefs. That her husband held her in high regard is nowhere better shown that at Abu Simbel. Here, just a short distance from the great rock cut temple of her husband is another smaller temple dedicated jointly to her and the goddess Hathor. She also played a political role as is reflected in the title 'Lady of the Two Lands'. Her tomb in the Valley of the Queens is the most beautifully decorated one there; the decorations are still as vivid as when they were first painted. It is to preserve these priceless paintings and inscriptions that her tomb is no longer open to the public.

Cleopatra

Although not a Pharaonic queen, I have to mention Cleopatra who is regarded as the last ruler of Egypt. She became queen at about eighteen years of age, and after initially sharing the throne with her brother, she eventually became sole ruler. She is known to have been an intelligent woman and is reputed to have spoken nine languages, including the Egyptian language, the first one of her Ptolemaic dynasty to do so. She also adopted Egyptian customs and took the goddess Isis as her patron goddess.

Cleopatra is one of the most famous queens in history; well known for her liaisons with both Julius Caesar and Mark Anthony. Legend has it that after Mark Anthony's death she committed suicide by allowing an asp to bite her - the traditional date of her death is August 12 in the year 30 BCE. With her death, Egypt lost her status as an independent state and became a part of the great Roman Empire.

To find out how you can visit the fascinating sites feartured in these articles, please contact Cecelia or Lindy on +27 11 678 4777 or +27 11 478 2884 or email us on: info@egyptandbeyond.co.za.

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