Ancient Egyptian Forum

Si-amun · Posted: Sun Oct 17, 2004 7:27 pm Post subject: Women Pharaohs

How many women actually ruled Egypt independently, not including regents. Many people disagree over certain rulers. For example some argue that Tausret didn't rule independently at the end of the 19th Dynasty or that she wasn't crowned as Pharaoh. How many women were crowned Pharaoh?
_________________
Thou dost appear beautiful on the horizon of heaven, oh living Amun, he who was the first to live.

Google · Sponsor

Tadukhipa · Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2004 1:36 am Post subject:

Maybe we should start a sort of list of all female rulers, with some sort of coding system. For example, if there's stars beside the name, it means that she ruled independantly, and something else could mean that she was a co-regent or something...

I'll start with the obvious:

***Hatshepsut***
_________________
*Tadukhipa*

http://strictlybecca.blogspot.com

Si-amun · Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2004 6:07 pm Post subject:

Perhaps a bracket either side could be a co-regent.

(Tausret)
(Nefertiti) Perhaps!
_________________
Thou dost appear beautiful on the horizon of heaven, oh living Amun, he who was the first to live.

Ankhesenpa-aten · Posted: Tue Oct 19, 2004 7:54 pm Post subject:

Oh! I did a project on this last year. I think the accepted number of female pharaoh's, who ruled in their own right, as accepted by the scholarly community is 4.

-Nitokerty (6th dynasty?)
-Sobekneferu (12th Dynasty)
-Hatsheptsut
-Tauseret
_________________
"Pharaoh he was a powerful man, with the ancient world in the palm of his hands, for all intents and purposes he, was Egypt, with a capital E..."

Si-amun · Posted: Tue Oct 19, 2004 9:11 pm Post subject:

Did all of them go through the formal coronation then?
_________________
Thou dost appear beautiful on the horizon of heaven, oh living Amun, he who was the first to live.

Ankhesenpa-aten · Posted: Wed Oct 20, 2004 6:46 pm Post subject:

The last 3 are, but little is known about Nitokerty. They assumed she reigned by herself from a royal/offical looking tablet with her name, or something like that. The book I got the info from wasn't really specific. If you want to check it out, it's overall a pretty informative book. Silent Images, by Dr. Zahi Hawass.
_________________
"Pharaoh he was a powerful man, with the ancient world in the palm of his hands, for all intents and purposes he, was Egypt, with a capital E..."

Si-amun · Posted: Wed Oct 20, 2004 8:38 pm Post subject:

Thankyou for that. Has anyone got any interesting information about Sobekneferu? I know next to nothing about the whole time period she comes under.
_________________
Thou dost appear beautiful on the horizon of heaven, oh living Amun, he who was the first to live.

Osiris II · Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2004 2:37 pm Post subject:

I found this information doing a search on Google.

The Middle Kingdom
Dynasties 12-14
c. 1991 - 1640 BC (c. 470 years)

By Ottar Vendel

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dynasty 12
1991 - 1783 BC (208 years)

This dynasty should bring back the values from the Old Kingdom with
divine kingship, but all in the minds of the pharaohs themselves.
Its glory lies in the fact that the rulers were able leaders
developing agricultural methods and exploiting
the Fayum. They all tried to imitate the
great pharaohs from the passed.
Egypt was prosperous and
the era saw at least
seven more
pyramids.

Sobeknefru

Sobeknefru
Sobeknefru (sometimes also Neferusobek) was most likely a daughter of Amenemhet III and her name (within a cartouche right) means "Beautiful of the god Sobek". She is mentioned in Manetho's text, in the Karnak and Sakkara lists but not noted in the canon from Abydos temple wall. She was probably the sister or half sister to her husband Amenemhet IV whose title and occupation she took over shortly after his death.
Often her name appears with the addition Shedty and this can indicate that she was involved in the creation of a religious centre in Fayum called Shedet.
This cult praised the crocodile god Sobek and it's possible, though not confirmed, that the priests of this old local deity were the ones who backed her up as a national leader though their power (and hers) obviously was limited. This would also explain her break of tradition by taking a crocodile name as a pharaoh for the first time.
Sobeknefru reconstructed

The economic importance of Fayum had been increased since much land for cultivation had been reclaimed from the marshes during the reigns of several kings.
Physical evidence from her reign is scant but inscriptions at the second cataract, a cylinder seal with her names and texts associating her with her father, have survived. She completed her fathers mortuary temple where her name appears many times (and that of Amenemhat IV - not at all).
An apparent remain are three fragmentary life-size basalt statues of her found at the site Tell el Dab'a (former Avaris) in the eastern delta. One of them is shown in the picture left with a fictive addition giving an impression of what it once might have looked like. Note that the statue fragment has breasts and does not have a false beard and thus once clearly showed Sobeknefru as a real female pharaoh.
Her tomb has not been found, but there is a hardly begun pyramid at Mazghuna North that might be a remnant of hers.
If this is the case she seems to have left the Fayum area for the traditional administrative and religious centres up north like Memphis and Heliopolis. Where she actually had her residence is not known.
So far (year 2002) no depiction of her has appeared in paintings or 3D form. A possible exception is a small statue from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York mentioned in an article edited by C.J. Eyre published in: Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta, nr. 82 (p 227-236). It is an intact depiction of a female pharaoh with a unusual crown on her head and wearing a Hebsed cloak. The assumption that it is of her is made purely on stylistic grounds.
Her reign concluded the 12th dynasty, a prosperous period in Egyptian history.
She was one of very few women (probably one of two in 3000 years) to achieve the rank of pharaoh over Egypt.

Kiya · Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2005 2:17 pm Post subject:

Originally posted by Ankhesenpa'aten

Senetseshat · Servant Joined: 07 Nov 2006 Posts: 15 Location: Edinburgh

There is also Queen Ahhotep who ruled while Ahmose was a child and fought the Hyksos (http://www.ancientegyptonline.co.uk/qahhotepI.html) and Queen Ahmose Nefertari who was also a regent around the same period (http://www.ancientegyptonline.co.uk/qahmosenefertari.html)
_________________
iw m hotep
welcome in peace

Kemet Design
Ancient Egypt Online

Kiya · Posted: Fri May 11, 2007 11:06 am Post subject:

Yes but aahotep was a regent although a very powerful one while her son was away fighting the Hyksos.

Osiris II · Posted: Fri May 11, 2007 2:37 pm Post subject:

As far as I know, only three--Hapshepsut, Sobekneferu and Cleopatra VII-- were actually crowned Pharaoh. All of the others mentioned were either regents or co-rulers.

Kiya · Posted: Tue May 15, 2007 12:17 pm Post subject:

We talk a lot about 'crowned pharaohs' but what records do we actually have that coronations for these women took place? I'm more comfortable talking about whether or not we know they actually held power as pharaoh, coronation or not. I.e. Do we have any art, wall paintings, statues etc showing them as pharaohs as opposed to queens? Apart from Hatshepsut, Sobeknefru, Nitocris of the 6th Dynasty appears to have held power but this may be based on assumption as opposed to any real evidence. If anyone knows of any please let us know. Then Twosret.
A lot of the Ptolemaic women held power as pharaoh. More so than just Cleoptra VII as by convention a brother/sister/husband/wife combination ruled jointly together. Cleoptara II ruled as Philometra Soteira (Mother-Loving Savior) as did her daughter Cleopatra III who was left the throne by her husband to rule with whichever of their sons she chose. Then there is Cleopatra-Berenice III, Berenice IV, all who ruled as pharaohs.