Famous Female Pharaohs and Queens of Ancient Egypt

Video

There were many Female Pharaohs and Queens in Ancient Egypt who exercised amounts of power and authority, and this video will introduce you to the most famous ones. Spanning from the Early Dynastic Period with Neithhotep and Merneith, to the New Kingdom with Hatshepsut and Nefertiti, and the Ptolemaic Dynasty with Cleopatra VII, this video will take you through the history of female rulers of Egypt- some you may know, and some you may not!

Ancient Egypt was a civilisation where women exercised greater freedom than most other cultures in the ancient world. So it isn't surprising that there were many important female rulers throughout Egypt’s expansive history. Although a number of these women ruled Egypt in their own right, they all required a male from their lineage, whether it be their father or a son who was not yet old enough to rule, to justify their claim to power. This was because of one of the foundational myths of Egypt in which the god Osiris is depicted as the first king and his son Horus as his successor; therefore, only males could rule.