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Ancient Egyptians - Female Pharaohs |
Female Pharaohs Ancient Egyptian Queen - Female Pharaohs Fact Sheet Fact 1 on Female Pharaohs: Names: The names of the ancient queens of Egypt who ruled in their own right were: Queen Sobeknefru Fact 2 on Female Pharaohs: All of the queens of the Ptolemaic Dynasty, including the legendary Queen Cleopatra VII, also ruled in their own right as pharaoh-queens. All but the famous Queen Cleopatra refused to speak Egyptian and insisted on speaking Greek, the native language of the Ptolemies. Berenice I Cleopatra II Cleopatra III Cleopatra IV Berenice III Philopator Cleopatra V Tryphaena Fact 3 on Female Pharaohs: Most of the Ptolemaic queens were called Cleopatra and most of the Ptolemaic kings were called Ptolemy. Fact 4 on Female Pharaohs: Merneith was a queen-consort and a regent of Ancient Egypt and she may also have been a ruler in her own right. Fact 5 on Female Pharaohs: The names of the most famous queen consorts, the wives of pharaohs, were Queen Nefertiti, Queen Tiye and Queen Nefertari. Fact 6 on Female Pharaohs: Queen Cleopatra was the ambitious mistress of Julius Caesar and the wife of Mark Anthony who reigned from 51-30BC. Following defeat at the hands of the Romans, she committed suicide by by allowing an asp to bite her on her chest. She was the last ancient Egyptian pharaoh. Fact 7 on Female Pharaohs: Queen Hatshepsut reigned between 1479–1458 BC during the 18th dynasty. She opened up new trading opportunities in the 'Land of Punt' and was a prolific builder and was memorialized in her mortuary temple at Deir el-Bahari.
Hatshepsut mortuary temple at Deir el-Bahari Fact 8 on Female Pharaohs: Queen Twosret reigned from 1187-1186BC during the 19th dynasty. She was first the regent on behalf of her step-son Siptah and then ruled Egypt with the aid of a high ranking, wealthy, courtier known as Chancellor Bay. Fact 9 on Female Pharaohs: Queen Nitocris reigned during the period in history known as the Old Kingdom. She assumed the throne following the muder of her brother King Merenre Nemtyemsaf II. She exacted her revenge by inviting his murderers to a lavish banquet, then killed them by flooding the sealed room with waters from the River Nile. She then committed suicide. Fact 10 on Female Pharaohs: Queen Sobeknefru reigned from 1785-1782 BC. She died less than 4 years from assuming the throne. Her untimely death led to the rule of the Hyksos, "foreign rulers" who introduced the horse and chariot to the ancient Egyptians. continued... Ancient Egyptian Queen - Female Pharaohs Fact Sheet
Queens of Egypt: Picture depicting Queen Cleopatra at Philae Female Pharaohs Female Pharaohs Ancient Egyptian Queen - Female Pharaohs Fact Sheet Fact 11 on Female Pharaohs: Queen Merneith was the queen-consort of to King Djet and acted as regent for her young son King Den. During her era Human Sacrificewas practised as part of the royal funerary rituals to ensure that the pharaohs had servants in the Afterlife. Fact 12 on Female Pharaohs: There are 225 known names of rulers who were known to be Pharaohs of Egypt. The vast majority were men. Fact 13 on Female Pharaohs: The ancient Egyptians had no word that was equivalent to the word "Queen". The title of a female ruler was the same as a man - King or Pharaoh. Fact 14 on Female Pharaohs: The Queens of Egypt were formally depicted in the same manner as the Kings, complete with the the tightly curled false beard that hooked behind the ears, which was a symbol of royal authority as shown in the following picture of Queen Hatshepsut. Living pharaohs wore a beard with a straight edge. Only when they died could they wear the "osird" beard with the curled edge.
False Beard of Queen Hatshepsut Fact 15 on Female Pharaohs: The pharaoh-queens who ruled in their own right succeeded to the throne of Egypt by right of inheritance, being a high ranking member of the ruling royal family. Fact 16 on Female Pharaohs: Both the male and female rulers wore eye make-up. They also wore wigs as their hair was cropped short to prevent lice. Fact 17 on Female Pharaohs: The rulers of ancient Egypt were untouchable and 'mere mortals' had to pay due homage to by prostrating themselves before them. Fact 18 on Female Pharaohs: When the royal rulers died they became fully deified and many mortuary temples were dedicated to the worship of the deceased pharaoh as a god. Fact 19 on Female Pharaohs: The queen-pharaohs governed the kingdom of Egypt with her family and appointed government officials to assist. The most powerful court officials were the Vizier (chief councillor) and the Nomarchs (who governed regions of the kingdom on behalf of the royal rulers). Fact 20 on Female Pharaohs: The queen-pharaohs were depicted holding the same regalia and insignia as their male counterparts including the royal crown of Egypt and the crook and flail. Refer to Crowns of Egypt for additional info. These were symbols that emphasized their role, their divine power and were used as emblems of their supreme authority as absolute monarchs with the status of a living god.
Ancient Egyptian Queen - Female Pharaohs Fact Sheet
Queens of Egypt: Picture of an Egyptian Queen in the Harem |
