Historically women have played a significant role, with much of this significance having occurred in the last 100 years. In some ancient instances though women have been placed in important roles, including Nefertiti in 18th dynasty Egypt, whom many scholars refute the coregent greatness of. Nefertiti’s historical greatness and success in 14th century BC Egypt relied solely on Akhenaten’s idealistic propaganda and their coregency. This will be made evident through analysing the sources evident, the typical role of women in Egypt, and the changes her and Akhenaten introduced. Her rise to power will also be explored, as well the brevity of the religious revolution, highlighting just how reliant Nefertiti’s status in Egypt was.
The evidence available to outline Nefertiti’s reign is limited and fragmentary, due to the nature of how events were recorded in Ancient Egypt. Restricted archaeological evidence is available from …show more content…
The traditional role of women in the ancient world was to stay home and undertake general household duties. Though Herodotus states, “…the Egyptians… seem to have reversed the ordinary practices of mankind,” continuing to outline that women attended market whereas men stayed home to do the weaving (Williams, 1996). Ancient Egyptian females could also legitimately participate in religion, with stelas evident depicting women worshipping the Gods and making music, most notably acting as singers at the temple of Amun (Strudwick, 2007). However, royal women in ancient Egypt took their rank from their husband or father, and were often featured alongside males in these inscriptions, highlighting that full equality did not exist between these two genders (Lawless, 2010). Nefertiti conforms to these gender expectations, as she is shown as a deity only through coregent association with
The evidence available to outline Nefertiti’s reign is limited and fragmentary, due to the nature of how events were recorded in Ancient Egypt. Restricted archaeological evidence is available from …show more content…
The traditional role of women in the ancient world was to stay home and undertake general household duties. Though Herodotus states, “…the Egyptians… seem to have reversed the ordinary practices of mankind,” continuing to outline that women attended market whereas men stayed home to do the weaving (Williams, 1996). Ancient Egyptian females could also legitimately participate in religion, with stelas evident depicting women worshipping the Gods and making music, most notably acting as singers at the temple of Amun (Strudwick, 2007). However, royal women in ancient Egypt took their rank from their husband or father, and were often featured alongside males in these inscriptions, highlighting that full equality did not exist between these two genders (Lawless, 2010). Nefertiti conforms to these gender expectations, as she is shown as a deity only through coregent association with