Essay on Ancient Egypt Women

What are the main factors and determinants that can explain the change and the variation in Egyptian women's political role?

· Literature review:

The literature review is divided into three main parts; the first part is about the literature written about women in ancient Egypt, the second part is about the literature of women in modern Egypt and finally, the last part is about the literature on women's political empowerment and how the scholars defined this concept. The first part includes the status of women in ancient Egypt in many aspects of life and of course in political life. Moreover, it includes the two main arguments about women in this period, which are mainly: arguments for the idea that women in ancient Egypt had a significant role in society in general, and in political life in particular (that is of course comparing the nation to the other ancient nations), while the second argument is against the idea that women in ancient Egypt had a significant role.

The second part of the literature is about women in modern Egypt, and here we are discussing the political rights of women in modern Egypt. By modern Egypt I mean the period started in 1956 because from this time we are talking about a republic nation, no longer a monarchy. Moreover, 1956 precisely is the year in which Egyptian women entered the parliament. In this part, I will discuss the three main categories of the literature about women in modern Egypt. The three main categories are: whether women have the right to participate in political life or not, the historical narrative of the political rights of women in modern Egypt, and finally, the legal narrative of the political rights of women in modern Egypt.

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Finally, the last part will cover the various definitions of political empowerment and it will emphasize the idea that there is no agreement on one definition of empowerment and that also makes the scholars have no agreement on how to measure empowerment.

I. Women in Ancient Egypt:

There are three main trends in the literature on the status of women in ancient Egypt. The first trend revolves around one common thesis which is “women in Ancient Egypt had a higher degree of rights and privileges in comparison to most other women in ancient Near East and classical worlds.” While the second trend, which is minor in number, believes that women in ancient Egypt didn’t have this unique assumed status. Finally, the third trend is the in-between one. They believe that women in ancient Egypt had a unique status other women in other nations of this time, but they still believe that the independent equality of women at this time wasn’t justified. The world of ancient Egypt was a man’s world, but women had more rights than other cultures. Moreover, the most agreed-upon fact in all the literature is that women were equal to men legally and in front of courts and that they had economic roles.

1. The first trend:

Many scholars argued that women had a political role in ancient Egypt. Theodorides, a modern scholar of Egyptian law, has noted that the woman 'was a 'person' in every sense of the term', while Baines and Malek, two other modern scholars, have observed that aside from the royal family and queens regnant [the woman] had little political power. Theodorides also argued that there is also evidence that some women acted as administrators, both in personal estates and in larger offices as well. (footnote: sky goddess) William A. Ward talked about the political role of the ancient Egyptian woman saying that: “That official functions were relegated to men seems more a matter of accepted custom than a conscious desire to keep women out of politics and government. Some women achieved minor official status in the Middle Kingdom, but not many chose to do so.”

It is not usual to see female rulers whether in the ancient world or now, but ancient Egypt had more than one female ruler, there were queens in ancient Egypt. Lysander Dickerman mentioned in his article more than one example; “there was Nitocris, sister of Mense-soups, of the VIth dynasty. She accepted the throne of Egypt so that she might avenge the foul murder of her brother. During the eight years of her reign, she completed the third Giza pyramid, which Men-kau-ra had left unfinished. She more than doubled its dimensions and gave it that costly covering of granite that has excited the admiration of travelers for 4,000 years. Coming down to the XVIlth dynasty we meet with Queen Hatshepsut, the patron of the most chaste art to be found in Egypt, the originator of the first peaceful voyage of discovery of any magnitude ever made. For her age, she was both Christopher Columbus and Queen Isabella combined. She kept Egypt in perfect peace during her entire reign of nineteen years, one of the greatest anomalies in all history. What other ancient nation ever had a peace of nineteen years' duration? It was she who invented peace and national prosperity, for they never existed before. And what shall I say more? For the time would fail me if I should tell of Nefer-taten-tenen of the XIIth dynasty; of Futhe-tabu and Queens Sebsen and Kema and Nubuk-ka, of the XIIIth dynasty; and Aa-ho-tep and No-fre-ari of the XVIIth dynasty, and the divine Tai-ri-bau, and Sit-ka-mu and the royal sister, Meri-amen and the divine spouse, Ahmes and Me-seker and Maut-m-ra and Queen Noferteiti of the XVI I Ith dynasty, and Nofert-ari, the beloved wife of the great Ramses, who subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, from weakness were made strong, and turned to flight the armies of aliens.”

2. The second trend:

Rebecca Ann in her thesis “The Roles and Status of Ancient Egyptian Women of the Pharaonic Period,” argued that by comparing the ancient Egyptian women's situation to women in Mesopotamia, Greece, and Rome, she didn’t see differences in these women’s lives, especially when it is apparent that these societies, along with Egypt, were all male-dominated, patriarchal societies. She also added: “Despite the fact Egypt had female kings such as Hatsepshut, she like the other female kings, still had to transform herself into a man to gain acceptance….therefore she could not be acknowledged as a king until she denied her womanhood.” She gave her evidence for this argument that; women in ancient Egypt were illiterate while some women in Mesopotamia, Greece, and Rome were able to write, and that according to her because there is no written work by Egyptian women.

3. The third trend:

Susan Tower Hollis in her article “Women of Ancient Egypt and the Sky Goddess Nut,” argued that royal women were enjoying a high similar respect to men but not independent equality. According to her, any notion of an independent equality of women in ancient Egypt appears to be highly unjustified. She insists that the world of ancient Egypt was a man’s world, but women had more rights than other cultures. Although she argued in her article, that the ancient Egyptian woman was a person in every sense. The women had little political power, but the royal women only. The women were educated but education was limited to the women of the upper classes only. There was legal respect for women over men. There is some evidence that women worked as administrators.