3 BRAVE FEMALE EGYPTIAN PHARAOHS

Three BRAVE FEMALE EGYPTIAN PHARAOHS

CREDITS- https://emanuelthepoet.wordpress.com/

Pharaoh is the name or word used for the monarchs of ancient Egypt. When it comes to know more about Egyptian culture we would realize that Egyptian women were always treated as a true better half or superior to men but when it comes to ruling a whole country women were underestimated most of the times. As in Egypt marrying real brother, sister or cousins is common to secure the royal blood in the family itself so most of the royals were married to their family members too.  Before Roman Empire in 30 BCE reigned the Egyptian empire the total of 9 women made their journey and made their place in the chair of a king and ruled Egypt. But today we talk about three of them.

1. SOBEKNEFERU (DIED IN 1802 BC)

                                                             credits-  ancient-origins.net 

She was the  first woman for whom there is confirmed proof that she reigned as pharaoh of Egypt. Sobekneferu was the daughter of pharaoh Amenemhat III. Her father most likely died without a male heir, ultimately she assumed the Throne. She ruled for three years, ten months and 24 days. She reigned as a full pharaoh with all the royalness and power. One more thing which is questionable for some is that she made no attempt to depict herself as a man, as did queen Hatshepsut of the of the 18^th century.
 Few monuments have been discovered of Sobekneferu although many headless statues of her have been preserved, including the statue that bears her name and is identified as the representation of a King’s royal daughter. It is known that Sobekneferu made additions to the funerary complex of Amenemhat III at Hawara (called a “labyrinth” by Hedotus) and also that she built structures of at Heracleopolis Magna. Evidences have been found which records a flood of 1:83 meters height in the Nile River in year 3 of her reign. Another evidences discovered in the year 4 second month of the season of emergence (it’s a time of lunar eclipse, each day began on a dawn when the warning crescent moon was no longer visible). 
She died in 1802 BC but her tomb which was build after every pharaoh death was not identified. It is immediately north of a similar complex ascribed to AMENEMHAT IV a place called sekhemneferu is mentioned in a papyrus found at Harageh, this might be the name of her pyramid. The costume she used is unique in its combination of elements from female dress, echoing her occasional use of male titles in her records. She wears a sed-festival cloak and most unusual crown, which may have resulted from an attempt to combine unfamiliar iconographic elements of male and female rulers. Even after such a different and unique sense of style her burial ground and death remains a mystery for everyone.

2. HATSHEPSUT (1507 BC-1458 BC)

Source- ThoughtCo

She is known as the most successful female pharaoh of all time. She was the one who set up a high bar for others pharaohs and took Egypt's development to the next level. She was the fifth pharaoh of the eighteenth dynasty of Egypt. She was the second historically confirmed female pharaoh.
Some terms you have to be aware of here before we proceed:

1. -Queen regent- A person ruling or governing because the about to be king is a minor, is absent, abdicated the throne, is incapacitated or dead or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy. The rule of a regent or regents is called a regency.
   
2. -Queen consort- She is the wife of a reigning king, or an empress consort in the case of an emperor. A queen consort usually shares her spouse’s social rank and status. But historically doubted she does not share the regent’s political and military powers.
   

Unlike other queen’s of Egypt her bloodline was not controversial or historically doubted she was the daughter, sister and wife of a king. Born in a family of royal king named THUTMOSE I you would be abled to get your hands on everything you want. Same goes for her, and her understanding of religion allowed her to establish herself as the god’s wife of Amun. She wasn’t directly ascended to the throne,  first she became a queen regent for her child THUTMOSE III, who has ascended to the throne the previous year as a child of about two years old.

 She reigned as a queen regent from 1481-1472BC. Hatshepsut and Thutmose II had a daughter named Neferure. Hatshepsut was described as having a reign. Hatshepsut could have assumed power as early as 1512 BC or as late as 1479 BC. She re-established the trade networks that had been disrupted during the Hyksos occupation of Egypt during the second intermediate period, thereby building the wealth of the eighteenth dynasty. She oversaw the preparations and funding for a mission to the LAND OF PUNT. This trading expedition to Punt was roughly during the ninth year of Hatshepsut reign. LAND OF PUNT was a trading partner of ancient Egypt, it was known for producing and exporting gold, aromatic resins, blackwood, ebony, ivory and wild animals. The region is known from ancient Egyptian records of trade expeditions to it. The ships of Hatshepsut were set out in her name with total five ships each measuring 70 feet (21m) long, bearing several sails and accommodating 210 men that include sailors and 30 rowers. Many trade goods which were bought through this expedition were frankincense (aromatic resin used in natural gum, incense, perfume and medicine). Hatshepsut would grind the charred frankincense into kohl and then use as a eyeliner which is first recorded use of the resin as a eyeliner. Hatshepsut was one of the most prolific builders in ancient Egypt, commissioning hundreds of construction projects throughout both upper Egypt and lower Egypt.

 
Undoubtedly her buildings were big and more numerous than those of any of her middle kingdom kings. Some later pharaohs attempted to claim some of her projects as theirs. During her reign, so much statuary was produced that almost every major museum with ancient Egyptian artifacts in the world and many other artifacts and monuments were built under Hatshepsut governance. In comparison with other female pharaohs, Hatshepsut’s reign was successful in warfare early in her reign but generally is considered to be a pharaoh who inaugurated a long peaceful era. She re-established many trading relationships too, which was lost earlier. She also initiated many building projects like Hatshepsut’s temple which is one of them.
 These projects  raised the caliber of ancient Egyptians Architecture, that wouldn't be rivaled by any other culture for a thousand years. Hatshepsut died as she was approaching what we would consider middle age given typical contemporary lifespans, in her twenty second regnal year. The medical evidences had indicated that she probably died from any of these problems as she have all of these- diabetes, bone cancer which had spread throughout her body while she was in her fifties, arthritis and bad teeth.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

Source- The not so innocents abroad, Hatshepsut temple 

3. PHARAOH TWOSRET (TAUSRET)

  SOURCE- Behance, TWOSRET

Her royal name, Sitre Meryamun means “daughter of re”, beloved of Amun. Twosret birth date is unknown Twosret is thought to have been a daughter of MERENPTAH, possibly a daughter of Takhat, thereby making her sister to Amenmesse. She was thought to be the second royal wife of SETI II. After her husband death she became first regent to Seti’s heir Siptah jointly with chancellor Bay. It is believed that expeditions were conducted during her reign to the turquoise mines in Sinai and in Palestine and statues have been found of her at HELIPOLIS and THEBES. Twosret constructed a mortuary temple next to the Rammesseum, but it was never finished and was only partially  excavated although recent re-excavation shows it is more complex than first thought. Tausret was the last ruler of the nineteenth dynasty and one of the few to rule  ancient Egypt as a king with full pharaonic honors. A mummy found in KV35 and known as unknown D has been identified by some scholars as possibly belonging to Twosret, but there is no other evidence for this other than the correct nineteenth dynasty period of mummification.

These details gave us no reason to deny the accomplishments done by female pharaohs, how much power and she represents and they prove us that females are experts in multitasking.