There was no word for a female regnant in ancient Egypt. A woman could be the King’s Wife, King’s Mother, King’s Sister, or King’s Daughter. In title, then, her power was not her own, but reflected her relationship to him. So when women ruled ancient Egypt, they adopted the only title available to them: King. In this course, we will explore the lives of six women who ruled ancient Egypt, as well as the Nubian Kandake rulers. We will consider the circumstances that led to their rise to the throne, their achievements, and the challenges they faced in navigating both gender and kingship.

DELIVERY MODE

• Hybrid (F2F & Online simultaneously)

SUGGESTED READING

• Ayad, M. (ed.) 2022, Women in Ancient Egypt: Revisiting Power, Agency, and Autonomy, (AUC Press), ISBN: 9781649032706
• Cooney, K. 2018, When Women Ruled the World, (National Geographic), ISBN: 9781426219771
• Ziegler, C. 2008, Queens of Egypt: from Hetepheres to Cleopatra, (Somogy Éditions d'Art), ISBN: 9782757201909

COURSE OUTLINE

• Perceptions of female sovereignty
• Merneith
• Sobekneferu
• Hatshepsut
• Nefertiti
• Tawosret
• Cleopatra
• The Kandakes

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this course, students should be able to:

1. Identify female rulers of ancient Egypt and Nubia
2. Situate female kings in their historical contexts and recognise key events in their reigns
3. Consider the influence of gender on institutions of power like kingship in the ancient world