Throughout the history of the Egyptians there where several women who came to rule their people, but none was brave or ambitious enough to assume the title of King and Pharaoh, except for Queen Hatshepsut, or more accurately put…. King Hatshapsu (dropping the “t” of the end of her name made it a masculine name instead). Before Hatshepsut there where queens who had ruled Egypt but until then ….never a female Pharaoh!

Contrary to any ancient culture, where women were expected to stay at home, women of ancient Egypt had a lot more freedom. They were allowed to own property and hold official positions, they were also given rights to inherit from deceased family members and were allowed to present their cases in court. They also played a cardinal role in the religion, where religion was integral to a ruler’s role so royal women acted as priestesses and officiated at the rites in temples.

Hatshepsut ruled Egypt between 1479-1458/57. She was a unique and intelligent individual, who brainstormed, not only to legitimize her position as pharaoh but also make herself god-like, to win the complete approval of her subjects. Due to her boldness she may have been the first to start a Feminist movement to seek out prominent women from antiquity and publicized their achievements.

Ma’at-ka-Ra Hatshepsut was the eldest daughter to Thutmose I and Queen Ahmose, the first king and queen of the Thutoside clan of the eighteenth dynasty. Upon the death of her father, Hatshepsut married her half-brother, Thutmose II, and assumed the title of Great Royal Wife. They had one daughter, Neferure, who Hatshepsut groomed to take over the roles she played as queen. Upon his death Thutmose II left behind a very young Thutmose III (born to Isis a lesser wife of Thutmose II) to succeed him. Being too young to assume the tasks of pharaoh, Hatshepsut became his regent not long before she proclaimed herself Pharaoh.

After the Oracle of Amun pronounced that the will of the god Amun was that Hatshepsut should become Pharaoh; she adopted many male attributes. She assumed all the regalia and symbols of the pharaonic office: the Khat head cloth, topped with the uraeus, the traditional false beard and shendyt kilt.

She ruled for about twenty years gloriously, during which Egypt witnessed a long period of prosperity. She was also known to be a strong, fair and just ruler. Besides being the only female pharaoh to erect the most monuments during her reign, the projects she commissioned took Ancient Egyptian architecture to higher standards that set the calibre for the pharaohs that succeeded her. The first and the most beautiful of the temples in the Valley of the Kings was her great mortuary temple Djeser-Djeseru. It is the focal point of the complex at Deir al-Bahari on the west bank of the Nile, opposite the city of Luxor.

Although she was known to be a peaceful queen, she made some conquests notably the expedition to the Land of Punt (perhaps present day Somalia) She re-established trading relations that were lost during a foreign occupation by the Hyksos, bringing great wealth to Egypt. The expedition to Punt brought back myrrh, frankincense, woods, sweet-smelling resin, ivory, spices, gold, ebony, ivory and aromatic trees, this was the first ever recorded attempt to replant foreign trees.

Hatshepsut was also the first Pharaoh to erect an obelisk; she had two erected in front of her temple yet only one still stands today, as the tallest surviving ancient obelisk on Earth. She is also the owner of “the Unfinished Obelisk” in Aswan as it establishes how obelisks were quarried.

With all her success and accomplishments she disappeared from history after about twenty years of her reign. To this day no one knows how and when she died exactly, or where her mummy is buried. However, if the recent identification of her mummy in KV60 is correct, CT scans of the mummy indicate that she died of metastatic bone cancer in her 50s.

Depicted in many novels and films, whether as a wicked step mother or a romantic amiable queen, it is undeniable that she was the first great woman in History!

About the Author:
Gawhara Hanem
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Egypt Tours

Best known for being called “The Most Beautiful Woman in the World,” and one of Egypt’s more powerful queens to have ruled. Her acclaim is credited to her iconic bust that is on display at The Berlin’s Altes Museum.

The lovely sculptured face of Queen Nefertiti was found in the workshop of the famed sculptor Thutmose. In 1913, the German archaeologist, Ludwig Borchardt, listed it among his findings but mentioned that it was a worthless piece of gypsum and hid it in a box, in an attempt to smuggle it out of Egypt. It now attracts half a million visitors yearly and is regarded as a supreme artifact of the Pharaonic era.

The bust is in fact made of limestone and the queen’s features were painted on and still exhibit their vivid colors. She is depicted with full lips embellished with bold red. The perfectly preserved sculpture is flawed except for a broken left ear and the missing crystal inlay of the left eye. Both her eyelids and brows are outlined in black. A significant feature of the bust is her gracefully swan-like elongated neck and the yellow-brown color of her smooth skin. The flat-top crown on her head and her necklace display vibrant colors that set this bust apart from any other. 

Queen Nefertiti (1370 BC - 1330 BC) became queen when she was fifteen years old, when she married King Amenhotep IV (later changing his name to Akhenaton). She reigned along side her husband for a mere 12 years but together they managed to make many fundamental changed to Egyptian history.

Little is known about Queen Nefertiti before she came to the thrown, yet she continues to captivate the world with her beauty!

The name Nefertiti means, “The beautiful, one has arrived,” and when she later changed it to consolidate her husband’s newly adopted religion, she called herself, Neferneferuaten-Nefertiti meaning, “The Aten is radiant of radiance [because] the beautiful one has arrived”. She carried many titles, as seen from an inscription at the Temple of Karnak:

Heiress, Great of Favors, Possessed of Charm, Exuding Happiness, Mistress of Sweetness, beloved one, soothing the king’s heart in his house, soft-spoken in all, Mistress of Upper and Lower Egypt, Great King’s Wife, whom he loves, Lady of the Two Lands, Nefertiti’.

The major change that Pharaoh Akhenaton and his Queen Nefertiti brought to their people was a new religion. Different from their polytheistic religion, they introduced only one god, Aten, the sun disc, and only through the royal pair could the full blessings of the god bestow the people. They also moved the capitol of Egypt from Thebes, where it had been for centuries, north to Akhetaon in Tell- el Amarna. For these reasons they were fairly unloved by their subjects.

King Akhenaton was known to have suffered form Marfan Syndrome (characterized by unusually long limbs), but Queen Nefertiti devoted herself to loving and caring for her deformed and sickly husband. It was very evident that the pair was inseparable and very much in love, shown in many pictures to be embracing. Nefertiti bore six daughters within 10 years of her marriage. Two of her daughters became queens of Egypt, and she was also step-mother to Tutankhamen. 

Queen Nefertiti was like no other queen of Egypt, she may have been one of the most powerful queens to have ever ruled. She was shown to be wearing the crown of a pharaoh and also depicted in scenes of battle, something that was only reserved for male rulers.

But after the 14th year of Akhenaton’s rule, Nefertiti disappears from view. To date, the mummy of this famous and iconic queen has not been found. The ultimate fate of Nefertiti’s body has long been a subject of curiosity and speculation. There maybe several assumptions for this, the most simple of which is that she died. It is also thought that she may have assumed a male identity and ruled after her husband’s death until his predecessor Tutankhamen came of age and took the thrown. 

Mystery surrounds Nefertiti, the Sun Queen, but with the many still undiscovered treasures hidden in Egypt, we never know what the future may reveal.

About the Author:
Gawhara Hanem
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Egypt Tours

Of all the ancient temples, the sacred temple island of Philae is said to be the most beautiful. As it is on an island it is reached by boat. From the level of a small boat it captivatingly rises up from the calm deep waters of the Nile like a mirage. Its serene aura reaches you even before you set foot on its stone floor. The placid ambiance may not only be due to its scenic location but more to, the secrets the pillars and walls have witnessed over time. They seem to be willing to share stories and events but only at their leisurely calm pace. The Temple of Philae or “The Jewel of the Nile” in ancient days was the center of the worship of Isis, and the last outpost of the nearly 4000 year old ancient Egyptian religion.

It was told that Isis managed to trick the all powerful sun god Ra into telling her his secret name (the name that held all his divine power). By creating a magical serpent that bit Ra. She was called upon to cure him but to do so she had to know his secret name, which he finally divulged giving her power equal to his own and so she became divine and as powerful as Ra himself.

The end to this religion came in 535 A.D. when the Roman emperor Flavius Anicius Justinianus ordered the closure of the temple, forbad the art of reading and writing hieroglyphs and imprisoned its priests. This put an end to the religion that had spread beyond the lands of Egypt and spread all across the Mediterranean.

Isis was the sister-wife of Osiris and the mother of the god Horus. Osiris was a great and just king who was loved by his people and wife, but he was hated by his brother Seth (the god of the underworld). Seth was jealous of his brother so he devised a plan to get rid of him. He secretly obtained Osiris’ measurements and had a magnificent casket of the rarest wood and decorated with ebony, ivory, silver and gold made to fit him exactly. He then held a great feast in honor of Osiris where he offered to give the casket to whoever fit it exactly. With the aid of 72 of his wicked friends they tricked Osiris into trying it for size, but as soon as he lay in it they nailed the lid shut and threw the casket into the Nile.

On hearing of this Isis was devastated and set out to look for him throughout Egypt. Isis learnt from the children who played near the riverside the direction of the floating casket. She followed it until she learnt that the chest had come to rest near a tree near the city of Byblos (modern day Lebanon) and because of Osiris’ presence the tree shot out branches and grew leaves and flowers, and soon became a famous tree. The king of Byblos cut the tree down and fashioned it into a pillar for his palace. Isis told the queen of Byblos of her plight and was allowed to take the casket out of the pillar. She returned to Egypt and hid the chest in the marshes of the delta.

And when no one was looking she opened the chest and turned into a bird called the kite and flapped her mighty wings. The wind created by her wings gave Osiris the Breath of Life for one day, during which she conceived her son Horus from him. Seth managed to find the casket again and after opening it he rented the body into 14 pieces and scattered them along the shores of the Nile for the crocodiles to eat. Isis seeking the help of her sister Nephthys and Anubus the son of Nephthys, who was said to take the form of a jackal to find all the pieces of Osiris. All the pieces were recovered except for one. She stuck the pieces together and wrapped him in linen making him the first Egyptian mummy. Not able to return in a human form, Osiris was sent to rule the underworld, being the only person to live after death.

Isis then returned to raise her son Horus, who often took the form of a hawk. Horus eventually avenges the death of his father and manages to defeat Seth. Horus was then given the privilege of taking his father’s place and ruling Earth as Osiris had once done.

About the Author:
Gawhara Hanem
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Egypt Tours

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Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt and probably the most famous of all the kings and queen that ruled during the Pharaonic era, is still a mystery to many archeologists. She wasn’t the first Cleopatra, only the most famous. There were six before her, so that makes her Cleopatra VII. Ruling Egypt between 51 and 30 BC, she came to the throne at the age of eighteen and co ruled with her brother, and husband Ptolemy XII.

Surprisingly to many, Cleopatra had no Egyptian blood in her, although she was the only one in her ruling house to learn Egyptian. Cleopatra and Ptolemy were the last sovereigns of the Macedonian dynasty that governed Egypt since the death of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C. To further her influence over the Egyptian people, she was also proclaimed the “Daughter of Ra“, the “Sun God of Egypt“.

Gold coins with Cleopatra’s face were found in the waters surrounding her temple in the Alexandria harbor. The face on the coins was the profile of a plain-looking woman. Although she became famous for her beauty, she did not look like Elizabeth Taylor in the movie version. On the contrary it was her charm, intelligence, ambition and humor that won her the reputation of being one of the most attractive women in history. The woman who captivated the hearts of two of the most powerful men that ruled the Roman Empire, Julius Caesar and Mark Anthony.

As engaging and glamorous as any story plot from a movie, Cleopatra’s life and love affair with Mark Antony ended tragically. After stabbing himself in the chest, Antony had himself carried to Cleopatra’s mausoleum, where he died in her arms. Rather than be captured as a prisoner by the Romans she committed suicide, in hope to be united with her lover in the after life. To this day the exact cause of her death remains unknown, but legend goes on to say that she held an asp (also known as the Egyptian cobra) to her chest. She died on the last day of August in 30 BC and was buried by Antony’s side, as she had requested.

They are both believed to be buried in the temple of Tabusiris Magna or as it is now being called “The Sunken City“, because it lies submerged in the waters of the Eastern Alexandrian Harbor.

The Egyptian government’s bold and challenging plan to drain the water from Cleopatra’s palace is expected to be completed by November of 2008. Already there have been several discoveries since this project has started in the water surrounding the palace, a 120 meter long underground tunnel, with a number of rooms, and gold coins with the face of Queen Cleopatra.

Archeologists anticipate that the excavation of the two thousand year old palace will yield many an answer to the mysteries that shroud the life of this enigmatic Queen. The restoration of the palace to its timeless historical glory is expected to increase Alexandria’s popularity, putting the city in the spotlight as being the resting place to the end of an epic yet tragic story of two lovers, and if you’re less of a romantic, the end to almost 300 years of Macedonian sovereignty and the annexation of Egypt into the Roman Empire.

About the Author:
Gawhara Hanem
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