Role Of Egyptian Queenship And Queen Nefertari

Egyptian queenship and Queen Nefertari In ancient Egypt, queenship was synonymous to “royal women”. Egyptian kings required female counterparts to legitimize their divine and supreme power. One of the reasons for this was because having a female counterpart followed the same pattern of the Egyptian gods. Queens represented fecundity, an important factor in continuing the kingship. Egyptian queenship was closely linked to the mother goddesses Hathor and Isis. As such, Egyptian queens were associated with motherhood, protection, and nurturing.
The ancient Egyptians did not have a word to describe queens, using the relationship the woman had with the king as their title instead. They did not hold real power like the kings; women in Egyptian history that did hold such power (such as Nefertiti, Hatshepsut, etc) were not referred to as queens. Because the power of a ruler was considered masculine, they were referred to as kings instead.
Nefertari was an Egyptian queen of the thirteenth century BCE. She was the first of Ramses II’s many wives- he had eight, one of them being a Hittite woman involved in maintaining the peace between Egypt and Hatti. Historians believe Nefertari was Ramses’ principal queen, as one of her titles on her tomb is “The King’s Great Wife”. Her importance is further emphasized in her image being on …show more content…
The power of the Hittite Tawananna was strong within the court. She had considerable domestic power, especially in the capital. That being said, Hittite queens were generally not co-rulers with their husbands. Judging from the varying influence and power that Hittite queens had (for example, the immense power of Queen Puduhepa), it was likely that the queen’s authority was limited mostly by her husband’s resolve or her own ambitions. The only Tawananna who had real political power most domestically and internationally was Hattusili III’s wife,