The Egyptian Queens
The queens of Egypt were avant-garde, so ahead of their time that they were nothing less than mysterious. Rulers of the Egyptian lands were traditionally male, it was only proper that the pharaoh, the reincarnation of the god Horus and son of Re, be a son of Egypt. Maat was the ethical and moral principle that every Egyptian followed, it was believed female pharaohs ruling would go against it; the only loophole contradicting maat was divinity granted by the gods. There was no sure way to prove that the queen in question was divine, but the people were hard-pressed to go against the gods themselves. The female pharaohs were in many respects legendary, from their ascension to the throne and the power they wielded, and to their
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When King Thutmose I died and his throne was inherited by his and the lady of Mutnofret’s son, Thutmose II. Traditional Egyptian standards called for the new king to marry his father’s eldest daughter. At twelve years of age, Hatshepsut marries Thutmose II. They later had one daughter, Neferure. Thutmose II died young, his son Thutmose III from another consort takes his throne.
However, the child was still young so Hatshepsut, acting as his aunt and stepmother, took over the throne as regent for him. After six years as a regent, she declared herself pharaoh and took on the full powers of pharaoh by becoming co-ruler with Thutmose III. It is believed by Egyptologists that Hatshepsut was not driven by ambition and that her move may have been that of political crisis, such as a threat from another branch of the royal family trying to remove Thutmose III from the
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After her father’s death, the throne was passed to her at eighteen years old and her ten year old brother Ptolemy XIII. Soon after their ascension, Ptolemy’s advisers acted against Cleopatra. She was forced to flee to Syria where she raised a mercenary army and returned the following year to face her brother’s forces at Pelusium, on Egypt’s eastern border.
After allowing the Roman general Pompey to be murdered, Ptolemy XIII welcomed Julius Caesar, Pompey’s rival, to Alexandria. Caesar took up residence at Alexandria's royal palace and summoned the warring siblings for a peace conference, which he planned to arbitrate. Aware that Caesar's diplomatic intervention could help her regain the throne, Cleopatra hatched a scheme to sneak herself into the palace for an audience with Caesar. After four months of war between Caesar’s outnumbered forces and those of Ptolemy XIII, Roman reinforcements arrived, with Caesar’s help Cleopatra regained Egypt's throne. Ptolemy XIII rebelled against the armistice that Caesar had imposed but in the ensuing civil war he drowned in the Nile, leaving Cleopatra safely in
Hatshepsut was born in 1508 B.C., daughter of Thutmose I. Thutmose I was the third king of the 18th century, son of a military man. He did not take to the throne as son of a former king, but due to unknown circumstances he rose to the throne. His reign ended in 1493B.C.. Thutmose I was succeeded by his son Thutmose II. After the death of Hatshepsut’s father at age twelve,
After Hatshepsut 's death, Thutmose III destroyed or defaced her monuments, erased many of her inscriptions and constructed a wall around her obelisks. Thutmose III did that to take the credit for all of Queen Hatshepsut’s work in 22 year period that she reigned. It was unlikely, for women to be king and Thutmose III took all her work as his own work. Though past Egyptologists held that it was merely the queen’s ambition that drove her, more recent scholars have suggested that the move might have been due to a political crisis, such as a threat from another branch of the royal family, and that Hatshepsut may have been acting to save the throne for her stepson. Hatshepsut was only the third woman to become pharaoh in 3,000 years of ancient Egyptian history, and the first to attain the full power of the position. Cleopatra, who also exercised such power, would rule some 14 centuries later. There have been rumors and stories about Thutmose III wanted to overrule Queen Hatshepsut reign. It was his reign actually, but Thutmose III was a child and could not rule Egypt. Thutmose I and Ahmose rulers of Egypt, and was the mother and father of Hatshepsut. As people talked back then Queen Hatshepsut was the first female to become Egypt’s king. She ruled for over 22 years of reign in peace. She was married to Thutmose II, and had
During the time of Ancient Egypt, having strong Pharaohs was essential to the maintenance and growth of the civilization, as the Pharaohs were believed to be living Gods. Although leadership of Ancient Egypt was often male dominated, there were admirable female Pharaohs who successfully gained power and left behind a positive legacy; one woman to achieve this was Hatshepsut, meaning ‘foremost of female nobles’. Her innovation and determination allowed her to maintain her position of Pharaoh for about twenty years (1479-1458 BCE). Hatshepsut was considered to be a very successful leader because of her confidence and ambition, magnificent building projects, and establishment of a strong trading network.
To understand the struggles of Hatshepsut, there has to be some history about her journey to become Pharaoh of Egypt. History tells that most heirs come from the bloodline of the past royal family. Hatshepsut had that advantage, because “Thutmose had no surviving sons with his...
After her father’s death when she was 12, Hatshepsut became the queen of Egypt when she married her half-brother and he became the Pharaoh Thutmose II. He was the son of her father and one of his second wives. During the reign of Thutmose II, Hatshepsut assumed the traditional role of queen and principal wife. During their marriage, Hatshepsut and Thutmose II were not able to produce a male heir but had a daughter named Neferure. Because she was the first and main wife and queen of Thutmose II, when he died, she proclaimed herself the fifth Pharaoh while denying the old Kings son, her nephew.
Hatshepsut was Thutmose II’s queen, she became regent for Thutmose III ca. 1479 at his death. Egypt prospered under her reign. When Thutmose III was old enough to rule, it was decided that Hatshepsut and Thutmose III would reign together as co-regents. Hatshepsut and Thutmose III’s co-rule may have been strained. After Hatshepsut’s death, Thutmose III defiled or removed many statues, paintings or writings of Hatshepsut life and reign. Not many records exist that show what type of relationship existed between Hatshepsut and Thutmose III. Her name is not listed in the official lists at Karnak and Abydos, Thutmose III had it removed. Thutmose III had it recorded that he assumed the crown in 1490 upon his father’s death. Hatshepsut made the same claim in reverse, but she acknowledged the co-regency but claimed the position of King. Over time, the interpretation of Hatshepsut and Thutmose III’s reign has changed. One biography (Wells) gives the impression that if they could have gotten away with killing each other they would have. The other (Tyldesley) gives a more objective view, and explains that there just isn’t proof of a volatile relationship between the two. Almost as if they were co-regents and each had their strong suit and left each other to it. She (Tyldesley) describes the previous notion of Hatshepsut and Thutmose III’s relationship as overly dramatic.
With Thutmose Hatshepsut bore a daughter, but since the child was not male it was not a legitimate heir to the throne. She could not provide an heir. With Isis, a wife of his harem, Thutmose II was provided a male heir, Thutmose III. Therefore Thutmose III was next to the throne. When Thutmose II died, his son was only a baby or small child at the time.
“The pharaoh of ancient Egypt is normally described as the typical example of a divine ruler” (J. Ray, Hatshepsut, Vol 44, Issue 5, 1994) The ancient Egyptian world has seen hundreds of pharaohs; some excelled and some didn’t. Many of the pharaohs were men, only few females succeeded in gaining such great power, yet some did... specifically Hatshepsut. Few pharaohs of the 18Th Dynasty have aroused as much controversy as Hatshepsut. Hatshepsut was the sixth pharaoh of the New Kingdom and set up co-regency with her nephew and stepson, Thutmose III. (J. Lawless, Hatshepsut, a Personal Study, 2010) Hatshepsut created many junctions in history through politics, building programmes and military. This makes her so recognised in modern day studies, though almost all evidence of her existence has been partially or completely destroyed. Due to this many theories have been created about the standard of her reign.
After the death of her husband, Thutmose II, his son Thutmose III came into throne and they were “seen as equals” within a few years (“Hatshepsut”).
According to biography.com, “complications arose between Cleopatra and Ptolemy XIII.’ So Cleopatra fled to Syria. In Syria, she formed her own army of soldiers to attack her brother and take back the throne for herself only. In 48 BC, Cleopatra came back to Egypt and faced her brother at Pelusium. While Cleopatra was facing her problems, the famous, Julius Caesar was battling Pompey to see who takes over Rome. So Pompey went to Egypt to recover and Caesar followed him there. In Egypt Julius Caesar met Cleopatra and according to text, “ he eventually fell in love with Cleopatra.” So Caesar helped Cleopatra to beat her brother and she did. According to the article, “ Ptolemy XIII fled and drowned in the Nile River.” Around 47 BC, Cleopatra and Caesar had a son, named “ Caesarion”. When Julius Caesar died, Cleopatra and her son went back to Egypt to
Tuthmosis II and Hatshepsut had a daughter together named Neferure. Hatshepsut’s father died when she was very young, probably around 15 years old. Tuthmosis II took over, but only ruled for about three or four years, when he died from what is believed to be a skin disease. After his death, Tuthmosis the III, Hatshepsut’s stepson, was still too young to rule, which led to her ruling as Queen’s Regent. Her charismatic personality and group of followers led to her becoming pharaoh about seven years into Tuthmosis III’s rule.
The woman, by definition is the nurturer of life. She labors through birth, tends to the needs of her family, and assumes unending responsibilities. And while women have given birth to the ancient and modern day male heroes we've come to glorify to this day, we must remember that some of those same women have also been tremendously influential and invaluable all throughout the depths of history. One such woman is Cleopatra, the temptress whose ambition and seduction both augmented her empire's prestige and brought about her theatrical downfall.
...se days a male child was more valued than a girl. Her guard had to always be up, while she had all the power in Egypt there were other people who had the same power as she.
It is difficult to fully understand the role of women in ancient Egyptian society because the understandings of the society and government are still incomplete. There are also two other major problems, those being that there is very little source material on women, and the material that has been found was biased by the ideas and minds of previous Egyptologists. The only source material that has survived from great kingdoms of Egypt is material that has been either found in tombs on the walls and sarcophaguses, or carved on major government and religious document. None of the writings on papyrus and other delicate materials survived. This material, which has survived, is the writings of the Egyptian literate male elite. In their writings the also did not show any emotions or feelings, this was not the style of the Egyptian people, writings were purely a record keeping device. Because of these limitations, “It is essential to avoid the temptation to extrapolate from the particular to the general, a process which can only too easily introduce error.”
Around 69 B.C, one of the most famous female rulers ever known was born, she was Cleopatra. She was the descendent of the Egyptian ruler, Ptolemy XII, and she would eventually become the queen of ancient Egypt herself. She was known for being extremely intelligent and very charming, and because of this many romans feared her and viewed her as a threat. When her father died the throne of Egypt was left to her and her brother, Ptolemy XIII, and rivalry formed between the two, making her even more determined to become the sole ruler of Egypt. Cleopatra had trained all her life to be the successor of Egypt, and she hungered for power.