Women of Power and Influence in Ancient Egypt


Women of Power and Influence in Ancient EgyptWomen of Power and Influence in Ancient Egypt By Brian Alm

Brian Alm writes about the remarkable royal women of ancient Egypt who, out of duty or ambition, stepped beyond the ancient world’s traditional roles and shaped Egypt’s history.

Names include:-

Merneith/Meretneith

Ankhenesmeryra and Neithiqerti

Hetepheres I

Sobekneferu

Khentkawes I

Ahmose-Nefertari

Tetisheri

Ahhotep

Hatshepsut

Tiye

Mutemwia

Nefertiti-Neferneferuaten

Tawoseret

Cleopatra VII

Article in Nile Magazine

4 thoughts on “Women of Power and Influence in Ancient Egypt”

  1. I am thorougly impressed, by the valuable information and contribution by these great women of their time. The standards set by them are indeed remakable and must be introduced to our yonuger generations as we move forward into the 21st century and beyond.

  2. Carol- Egyptians were/are ethnically diverse and, yes, included Black rulers (the Kushites). Slavery was rampant and brutal, spanning 700 CE until the 1930s. The most well-known today are the Israelites—a White minority population who Seti or Ramses II enslaved, murdering their firstborn sons. (This is the setting for the Bible’s Moses story.) The Mamluks were all White enslaved mercenaries (mostly Slavic and Greek); the practice continued for more than 300 years until one rose to power.

    More recently: In the 1800s, Muhammad Ali decided that western slavery was a good idea, and he enslaved many Sudanese men to work in their fields (including thousands on his own property). The British required them to stop Sudanese slavery in 1877.

    None of this mentions women, who were enslaved throughout the 4,000 years of Egypt’s history. The last slavery law was in 1884, when slavery of White women was finally abolished. However, the practice continued, with at least 60 White women enslaved by Abbas II in 1930. Of course, there are more slaves today, in the 2020s, than at any point in world history.

    Egypt has never paid reparations, though the legally enslaved and/or their children live today.

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