Theories of a “third gender” have become prominent in New Kingdom Egypt case studies in the last few decades. However, Matić argues otherwise on any evidence for ambiguous genders outside the dichotomy. From the New Kingdom ancient Egyptian era comes the Tale of Two Brothers (Matić 2016, 177). The story explicates how a figurehead named Bata describes himself as a woman after cutting off his own penis after having been accused of adultery (Matić 2016, 177). Matić concludes that binary gender norms are reaffirmed through this story as rather than evidence for additional genders through the logic that one is a male with a certain set of secondary sexual characteristics, and one is female with a different set of secondary sexual characteristics.
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In addition to the different Ancient Egyptian gender roles and privileges one receives, “literate and educated Egyptians believed that creation and regeneration specifically belonged to the male gender (Cooney 2010, 224). The acts of rebirth are highly masculinized, and so the Ancient Egyptian Goddesses are believed to be protective vessels (Cooney 2010, 224). Additionally, the portrayals of goddesses with beards or erect penises, alongside the aforementioned portrayal of the New Kingdom female pharaoh Hatshepsut with a male body, pertain exclusively to both religious and divine beings. Aside from Goddess depictions, Cooney draws on the theory of male creation from her interpretation of a statue from the ancient Egyptian city of Coptos that shows “the god Min engendering his own creation”; thus depicting the ancient Egyptians’ “most sacred moment of the first creation” (Cooney 2010, 224-225). Conflicting with the Western approach on familial roles, “men were thought to be responsible for offspring from a sexual union, not women” (Cooney 2010, 224). Moreover, the ancient Egyptians believed that the dead must transform into manifestations the gods, Atum, Osiris, and Re (gods of creation and regeneration) in order to harness powers of the masculine gender so to be reborn into the next world; and in order to assure the rebirth, deceased females’ names are combined with the gods’ names in coffin inscriptions so to offer regenerative powers (Cooney 2010, 228). The prestige that the male gender receives in regards to the creation and maintenance of life conflicts with the contemporary gender norm that is given to females. In this day and age, women are
In addition to the different Ancient Egyptian gender roles and privileges one receives, “literate and educated Egyptians believed that creation and regeneration specifically belonged to the male gender (Cooney 2010, 224). The acts of rebirth are highly masculinized, and so the Ancient Egyptian Goddesses are believed to be protective vessels (Cooney 2010, 224). Additionally, the portrayals of goddesses with beards or erect penises, alongside the aforementioned portrayal of the New Kingdom female pharaoh Hatshepsut with a male body, pertain exclusively to both religious and divine beings. Aside from Goddess depictions, Cooney draws on the theory of male creation from her interpretation of a statue from the ancient Egyptian city of Coptos that shows “the god Min engendering his own creation”; thus depicting the ancient Egyptians’ “most sacred moment of the first creation” (Cooney 2010, 224-225). Conflicting with the Western approach on familial roles, “men were thought to be responsible for offspring from a sexual union, not women” (Cooney 2010, 224). Moreover, the ancient Egyptians believed that the dead must transform into manifestations the gods, Atum, Osiris, and Re (gods of creation and regeneration) in order to harness powers of the masculine gender so to be reborn into the next world; and in order to assure the rebirth, deceased females’ names are combined with the gods’ names in coffin inscriptions so to offer regenerative powers (Cooney 2010, 228). The prestige that the male gender receives in regards to the creation and maintenance of life conflicts with the contemporary gender norm that is given to females. In this day and age, women are