David Freer

1324869

Analyzing the Status of Ancient Egyptian Women through Artwork and Texts

Historical analysis depends on the group being analyzed; obviously kings lived

differently from peasants and men lived differently than women. It may, however, prove

useful to examine the general level of equality in Ancient Egypt with other ancient

cultures. It can be claimed that women’s position in Ancient Egypt was favorable when

compared with their lot in Ancient Greece, where they were seemingly only valuable as

tools of propagating the species. Beyond the general comparisons, however, women in

Ancient Egypt were rarely literate and often excluded from the bureaucracy. Women

were only pharaoh four times in the history of Ancient Egypt out of hundreds of male

pharaohs. Yet women as goddesses had power. Ancient Egyptians recognized the power

of female sexuality and the fertile womb. Yet it was the men who usually ran the

government and religion of Ancient Egypt. Men were generally more powerful, literate,

and in power; women were beautiful and fertile and those women who did hold earthly

power were depicted as being more masculine. Ancient Egyptian society, while

providing women more rights than other ancient cultures, was overwhelmingly

patriarchal in nature. By analyzing Ancient Egyptian art, clothing, and mythology one

can trace the extent of gender equality among and between social classes throughout the

Dynasties of Ancient Egypt.

Consider Nefrititi’s bust:

Her face is the epitome of beauty. Her face was more frequently shown throughout

Ancient Egypt than any other queen.2 Interestingly scientists have discovered that even

as babies, we are drawn to “beautiful people.”3 Perhaps Nefrititi’s beauty has endured

because it appeals to an innate sense of beauty and perfection. We can only assume

Akhenaten married a beautiful queen and that her bust was not a creation of an artist.

Nefertiti provides a fascinating look at the royal women of Ancient Egypt. Her

prominence makes it obvious even among the most elite there was no equality.

Nefertiti’s beauty set her apart for the ages. Also Nefertiti played a key role in the

monotheistic worship of Aten. Interestingly, at times, Nefertiti wore the crown usually

associated with kings.4 Nefertiti was an extremely powerful queen who achieved

unequaled fame for her beauty.

1
http://www.maatkare.com/faces.html
2
Women in Ancient Egypt Gay Robins page 53
3
http://wwics.si.edu/index.cfm?fuseaction=wq.essay&essay_id=135758
4
Women in Ancient Egypt Gay Robins page 54
From a completely different social class, consider a “Bar Maid at Work”:

Consider this brewery maid working, worlds away from the queens of Egypt. As she

provides alcoholic relief, her breasts suggestively remind us of her femininity. Her

position may be interpreted as being servile and bowing as she labors.5 In the final

analysis, perhaps the only thing this brewery maid and a queen like Nefertiti would be

their ability to bear children.

Religion and Gender:

Female goddesses play a central role to Egyptian mythology. Many of the primeval

goddesses were female.6 “The two "protectors of the realm" of Egypt were originally

5
http://www.maatkare.com/faces.html
6
http://www.watson.org/~leigh/egypt.html
Nekhbet, vulture goddess of Northern Egypt, and Wadjet, cobra goddess of Lower

Egypt.”7

Consider the headdress of the goddess Nekhbet:

The headdress was originally worn when the goddess Nekhbet was in human form.8 In

the Fifth Dynasty the headdress became a symbol of female royal power which lasted

throughout Egyptian history. Perhaps the symbolism strengthened the queen’s

connection with Hathor, the goddess of sexuality and daughter of Ra. Thus the royal

headdresses indicate a sense of divinity among queens as in kings.

King’s married their sisters possibly in order to eliminate intrigue. The sons of the

pharaoh received an upbringing “appropriate to a possible future king” while daughters

played roles in rituals. 9

Women as Pharaohs:

7
http://www.watson.org/~leigh/egypt.html
8
Ibid page 25
9
Ibid page 37
The kings of Egypt were overwhelmingly male, as mentioned before. The four women

who occupied the institution were in an “anomalous” position.10 The important fact to

recognize is that the man or women occupied a divine office. Royal women were given

names such as ‘king’s mother’, ‘king’s wife’, ‘king’s daughter’, ‘king’s principal wife’

and ‘king’s sister.’11 Such titles gave authority to the women but did not effectively

challenge the assertion that Egypt was a patriarchal society.

Hatshepsut:

12

Hatshepsut was the daughter of Tuthmose I; she assumed power when her brother died.

Her reign was actually a co-regency.13 Her attire and demeanor seem reminiscent of

masculine dress but we must remember that Hatshepsut was filling the office of the

pharaoh.

To compare the equality between women and men in Ancient Egypt, we should analyze

the Ancient Egyptian conceptions of physiological differences between the sexes. First of

all, the birth of a child for a woman was a traumatic event because of the very real

10
Women in Ancient Egypt Gay Robbins 21
11
Ibid page 23
12
http://touregypt.net/historicalessays/hatshepsut.htm
13
http://www.bediz.com/hatshep/story.html
possibility of death for the woman. Magic spells were often associated with the act of

childbirth to save the mother. There was a belief that eating sperm can create pregnancy;

therefore we can infer that the Ancient Egyptians knew that sperm caused pregnancy.14

“Early man” differed from “civilized man” in many obvious ways. One difference may

not be immediately apparent, however; class differences between the richest and poorest

were either created or intensified by the formation of civilization. The separation in

income and power between men and women generally seemed to increase as civilization

spread. Most Egyptians, as most humans though out recorded history, made their living

by farming and extant written and artistic records show next to no women participating in

agricultural harvests.15 Some evidence exists that women could take part in outdoor work

but the majority shows men as workers.16 In spite of this, men and women were more

equal in Egypt than in other societies.

There seems to be little evidence proving marriage was an institution controlled by the

state. Marriage seems to be an arrangement centered on cohabitation and procreation.

There is evidence women could initiate a “divorce” and women of the same social class

as men were allowed similar rights under the law. In this the Egyptians were quite

revolutionary especially when compared with cultures of the same time period. Literacy

in Ancient Egypt was not wide-spread; only one in one hundred could write and

overwhelmingly that one was a man. Women in well-educated families were allowed to

write; however it was by no means as common as men.17

14
Women in Ancient Egypt Gay Robins page 70
15
ibid page 121
16
ibid page 122
17
ibid page 113
Women in Ancient Egypt lived and died in a patriarchal society. Though they enjoyed

more rights than in say Sumer or Greece, earthly life was dominated by men. Men held

the overwhelming majority of governmental and religious positions. Women were unable

to equal men because men took on the majority of work in the fields which was essential

for life. We can find an interesting parallel with today: women are kept from fighting on

the front lines and nearly absent from some jobs such as airline pilots or senators. The

study of gender relations in Ancient Egypt through artwork and literature reveals a

divided society by class and gender; by studying such divisions we may learn more about

our own society.