Everyone knows Hatshepsut and Cleopatra. But Egypt had other female pharaohs that history keeps glossing over including possibly the very first ruler of unified Egypt, a woman whose tomb was larger than the first pharaoh’s. The pattern of female rule appearing in succession crises, followed by deliberate erasure, runs through 3,000 years of Egyptian history.
It’s really quite wild the extent they went to censor the existence of female power. It also makes me think about the fact that even in our modern society we struggle to accept even the possibility of female rulers on Minoan Crete. Despite frescoes almost exclusively depicting seated or enthroned women as opposed to men.
I am thinking about a Pharaoh's reply to a Semitic king who had sent his daughter to be a wife of Pharaoh, and then requested that Pharaoh send him a woman to be one of his wives. The reply pointed out that it was a great honor to be a wife of Pharaoh, and sending a woman to another court simply wasn't done.
I wonder if the reply was written by the daughter of the Semitic king, who had discovered that she was now part of the Egyptian government. If Pharaoh's wives acted as a cabinet, it would not be so surprising that such women would step into the breach.
It’s unfortunate that more female pharaohs lack the public recognition that Hatshepsut and Cleopatra enjoy. However, I’ve noticed that the progressive feminist community is increasingly aware of the significance and contributions of ancient female rulers, including Egyptian pharaohs. They’re also on the revered side of the ideology.
It’s really quite wild the extent they went to censor the existence of female power. It also makes me think about the fact that even in our modern society we struggle to accept even the possibility of female rulers on Minoan Crete. Despite frescoes almost exclusively depicting seated or enthroned women as opposed to men.
I am thinking about a Pharaoh's reply to a Semitic king who had sent his daughter to be a wife of Pharaoh, and then requested that Pharaoh send him a woman to be one of his wives. The reply pointed out that it was a great honor to be a wife of Pharaoh, and sending a woman to another court simply wasn't done.
I wonder if the reply was written by the daughter of the Semitic king, who had discovered that she was now part of the Egyptian government. If Pharaoh's wives acted as a cabinet, it would not be so surprising that such women would step into the breach.
It’s unfortunate that more female pharaohs lack the public recognition that Hatshepsut and Cleopatra enjoy. However, I’ve noticed that the progressive feminist community is increasingly aware of the significance and contributions of ancient female rulers, including Egyptian pharaohs. They’re also on the revered side of the ideology.