How many pharaohs were women

Like deities and kings, royal women are seen holding symbols such as the ankh symbol of life , the sistrum rattle and the menit necklace. G irls born to royal wives were given the title "king's daughters" to distinguish them from those of non-royal wives.

Royal wives were called the king's principal wives to distinguish them from the others, although the principal wife was not always of royal birth. Daughters of foreign kings were sometimes wed to the pharaohs in diplomatic marriages.

Not all these women had children by the king, however. Many were engaged in spinning, weaving and other household duties within the various palaces throughout Egypt. L ittle is known about the queens, but there are exceptions. Ahmose-Nefertari , the wife, and sister, of the first pharaoh of the eighteenth dynasty, King Ahmose, became a very powerful queen.

She was the first in the history of Egypt to be given the title of God's Wife. When her son died, there was no obvious heir to the throne, so an army general, Thutmose I, became king.

Upon his death, his son, Thutmose II, ruled with his half sister Hatshepsut. When he died, Hatshepsut took command and ruled Egypt as a pharaoh for 20 years. This was the first time a woman wielded such power and influence over the affairs of the state. Some of the most powerful and important deities in the Egyptian pantheon were female, and the ancient Egyptians believed in the wisdom of female rulers.

Historical records show that Merneith was a queen consort and regent — the wife of Djet and mother of Den, the pharaoh. However it is believed that she may have also been a ruler in her own right. Her tomb bears a striking resemblance to those of Egyptian pharaohs from the First Dynasty and contains artefacts usually reserved for kings — a large underground chamber, graves for servants, and sacrificial offerings.

She was the last ruler of the 12th Dynasty, following the death of her brother Amenemhat IV. She was the first monarch named after the crocodile god Sobek , symbol of pharaonic might.

Sobekneferu ruled only briefly — three years and 10 months — and at a time of civil unrest and then a period of anarchy. She is said to have created her own pyramid at Mazghuna near Dahshur, but no trace of her burial has been found. The second historically confirmed female pharaoh, Hatshepsut became queen of Egypt at the age of 12 upon marrying her half-brother Thutmose II.

She then became regent to her infant stepson Thutmose III, following the death of her husband. The first monarch named after crocodile god Sobek, symbol of pharaonic might, Sobeknefru took the standard five royal names of a king — Merytre Satsekhem-nebettawy Djedetkha Sobekkare Sobeknefru — with the epithet Son of Ra the sun god amended to Daughter of Ra.

Her portraits blended male and female attributes, the striped royal headcloth and male-style kilt worn over female dress. Sobeknefru is also depicted in the cloak associated with her coronation.

She seems to have built her own pyramid at Mazghuna near Dahshur, but no trace of her burial has been found. If she is mentioned at all in modern histories, it is only to be dismissed as the last resort of an otherwise male dynasty.

Yet the throne passed smoothly to a succession of male kings who followed her lead by naming themselves after the crocodile god.

Her innovations inspired the next female pharaoh Hatshepsut ruled c— BC , who adopted the same kingly regalia and false beard. The modern tendency to cast Hatshepsut as a cross-dresser is only possible because her female forerunners have been played down or ignored.

Such is the case with Nefertiti. She is judged almost entirely on her beautiful bust, yet evidence suggests she wielded the same kingly powers as her husband and may have succeeded him as sole ruler. She was the last female pharaoh for almost a thousand years, the final millennium BC being marked by successive foreign invasions of Egypt.

The most successful of these were the Macedonian Ptolemies, claiming descent from Alexander the Great and ruling for the last three centuries BC. Their Egyptian advisor Manetho created the system of royal dynasties we still use today. Married to two successive kings of Macedonia, Arsinoe II then returned to her Egyptian homeland and the court of her younger brother Ptolemy II, marrying him to become queen for a third time.