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30 chapters
INTRODUCTION.
INTRODUCTION.
In attempting even a brief and imperfect outline of the history of Egyptian queens the author has undertaken no easy task and craves indulgence for its modest fulfillment. The aim has been merely to put the little that is known in a readable and popular form, to gather from many sources the fragments that remain, partly historic, partly legendary, of a dead past. To present—however imperfectly—sketches of the women who once lived and breathed as Queens of Egypt, which has been more ably and comp
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CHAPTER FIRST. THE BLACK LAND.
CHAPTER FIRST. THE BLACK LAND.
Kem, “the Black Land,” in hieroglyphic, or Kemi, in the later and more familiar demotic, was so called from its dark and fruitful soil, a loam, which turned up freshly, after a recent inundation of the Nile, has, as one traveller describes it, “a brown and velvety lustre.” Through it winds and flows the great river of which Homer speaks as “Egypt’s Heaven descended stream” and that more than any other has set its stamp upon the country and its inhabitants. So potent for weal or woe is it that on
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CHAPTER SECOND. THE QUEEN.
CHAPTER SECOND. THE QUEEN.
Egyptian Queens! What a picture their name seems to call up of old time splendors—of the light of Eastern skies, the soft breath of eternal summer—of the great river Nile as a beneficent deity, of monuments and palaces, gardens and waving palm trees—houses with gorgeous coloring, of princes and slaves—all mingled on the tapestry of time! In an age sometimes called “the Woman’s Era,” when woman has become a subject of analytical study to herself and to man, it may be interesting to turn from the
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CHAPTER THIRD. MERTYTEFS.
CHAPTER THIRD. MERTYTEFS.
Year by year the patient research of the archeologist unearths new discoveries, confirming or contradicting those already made, and translating, as it were, into actual fact much that had previously been considered legendary. And still, year by year, till the whole history is laid bare, the process is likely to continue. Comparatively late discoveries at Abydos have converted the mythical kings of the First Dynasty into real human beings, living and dying thousands of years ago. Their burial pla
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CHAPTER FOURTH. NITOCRIS.
CHAPTER FOURTH. NITOCRIS.
The Sixth Dynasty is illustrated by the name of Queen Nitocris. Famed, and it may be fabled, the obliterating touch of the centuries has yet spared something of her personality. The “most beautiful and spirited woman of her time” is the record that comes down to us from very ancient sources, and “rosy-cheeked” the epithet applied to her. She was the last sovereign of her dynasty, but first we must glance at a few, less noted, that preceded her. Dynasty after dynasty was named according to the gr
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CHAPTER FIFTH. SEBEK-NEFRU-RA.
CHAPTER FIFTH. SEBEK-NEFRU-RA.
Spirit seems to have especially distinguished those queens who have made their way up through the mists of oblivion which lie so heavily and darkly over many centuries of the Egyptian chronology. No vast library remains for us to turn to and in direct sequence acquaint ourselves with the early history of this land and people. Broken monuments and tombs and half obliterated fragments of papyrus alone tell the story. Hence from the Sixth to the Twelfth Dynasty, during which period these sources of
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CHAPTER SIXTH. AAH-HOTEP.
CHAPTER SIXTH. AAH-HOTEP.
Between the Fourteenth Dynasty, of which we last spoke, and the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Dynasties, to which this chapter brings us, occurs the third chasm in the monuments, and as they are the chief dependence in learning the history of Egypt, the information in regard to this intervening period is very meagre. Egypt was ruled with special favor shown to the central portion, and weaker monarchs had succeeded the great Amenemhats and Usertesens. Foreigners, the so-called Hyksos, or Shepherd Ki
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CHAPTER SEVENTH. AAHMES-NEFERTARI.
CHAPTER SEVENTH. AAHMES-NEFERTARI.
Aahmes, also called Amosis, son of Queen Aah-hotep and an Egyptian father (whose history is as yet unknown), was one of the greatest warriors and most noted kings of Egypt, and regarded as the savior of his country, since he freed it from the long thrall of an alien race. Ambition was evidently a ruling passion with him, but he appears to have been devoted and even tender to those he loved. His wife, the Princess Nefertari-Aahmes, or Aahmes-Nefertari, was long supposed to be the daughter of an E
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CHAPTER EIGHTH. HATSHEPSUT.
CHAPTER EIGHTH. HATSHEPSUT.
With Hatshepsut, or Hatsu, some 1600 B. C., we come to the most celebrated of all the Egyptian queens, not perhaps excluding the world-renowned Cleopatra, and her reign bears also a noteworthy feature, an especial ornament to a woman’s brow—it was a reign of peace. Her father and brothers, especially the younger, were warriors, but she was not. To the male of all species the fighting instinct more particularly and rightfully belongs. No wars of defence, none of aggression and conquest, disturbed
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CHAPTER NINTH. HATSHEPSUT (CONCLUDED).
CHAPTER NINTH. HATSHEPSUT (CONCLUDED).
An inscription in the temple of Karnak reads thus, it is as it were the deed of gift of the royal father Tahutmes I to his favorite child, and addressed to the god Amen: “I bestow the Black Land and the Red Land upon my daughter, the queen of Lower and Upper Egypt Ma-Ka-ra, living eternally. Thou hast transmitted the world into her power, thou hast chosen her as king.” Hatshepsut claimed divine origin in that the god Amen had taken upon him the person of her father and in an especial manner cons
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CHAPTER TENTH. MAUT-A-MUA.
CHAPTER TENTH. MAUT-A-MUA.
The great Hatasu was no more and after her no woman held such extended and absolute sway. The next queen whose name occurs at all prominently is Maut-a-mua, or Maut-em-va, “Mother of the boat,” wife of Tahutmes IV and mother of Amenophis III. She appears to have held the regency after her husband’s death till her son assumed full power, or if not actually in this official position, to have had great influence with him. The tie between mother and son was a close one and even his marriage did not
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CHAPTER ELEVENTH. TYI.
CHAPTER ELEVENTH. TYI.
With Queen Tyi (or as her name is variously spelled, Ti, Tai, Tity, Tii, Teye, Tuaa, Thua) we again consider the story of a woman of unusual power, and though not leaving such indelible impression upon the page of history as did Queen Hatasu, her influence was strongly felt. Both as wife and mother we see the traces of her ideas and wishes on the actions of husband and son; both, evidently, turned to her for counsel and each in his own way showed her devoted affection. So potent was her sway ove
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CHAPTER TWELFTH. TYI (CONTINUED).
CHAPTER TWELFTH. TYI (CONTINUED).
As the reign and influence of Queen Hatasu or Hatshepsut included, in part as those of her father and two brothers, so did that of Queen Tyi those of husband and son. The fair young girl who had left her own country with high hopes and aspirations had crystallized into the determined woman, who bent all the energies of a strong nature to the accomplishment of her wishes and purposes. The religion of her fore-fathers was no longer kept in the background. She inspired her son with the zeal of an a
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CHAPTER THIRTEENTH. NEFERTITI.
CHAPTER THIRTEENTH. NEFERTITI.
Before the death of Amenophis III he seems to have adopted the frequent Egyptian habit of associating his son with him on the throne, though the latter was probably young, as Queen Tyi appears to have acted as regent after her husband’s death. Also, at the time of his death, the father was negotiating for a marriage between his heir and a Mitannian princess, the same country from which had come Queen Tyi herself, and the wife of Thothmes IV. That the existing relationship gave the new queen some
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CHAPTER FOURTEENTH. TUAA.
CHAPTER FOURTEENTH. TUAA.
Probably years after Queen Tyi, or Tuaa, wife of Amenophis III and mother of the heretic King Khu-n-aten, was laid in her grave, her grand-daughter and namesake became the consort of the reigning monarch. The Eighteenth Dynasty had passed away and a new race held sway. They seem to have had no hereditary title to the crown, but may have claimed Hyksos ancestry. Might, however, often makes right, and they were a noted and powerful succession of monarchs. After King Horem-hib and Queen Notem-Mut c
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CHAPTER FIFTEENTH. NOFRITARI-MINIMUT.
CHAPTER FIFTEENTH. NOFRITARI-MINIMUT.
With the exception of Cleopatra, one or two Ptolemy queens, Hatasu, and possibly Nitocris, the history of Egypt which has come down to us deals principally with the kings, and not with the queens. The latter are mentioned incidentally, or not at all, though holding a very different place from the female sovereigns of other Eastern nations, and the student explorer who endeavors to vitalize these fragmentary and scattered outlines has not an easy task. In no case is the above more true than in th
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CHAPTER SIXTEENTH. UR-MAA-NOFRU-RA.
CHAPTER SIXTEENTH. UR-MAA-NOFRU-RA.
The many wived Rameses II, if so he was, did not adopt Blue Beard’s plan of despatching one before he espoused another, but merely set up separate establishments for each, and so preserved the peace. The king could do no wrong in those days, his divine right never being questioned, and it may be doubted whether the first wife was surprised at, or even objected to, the arrangement. It was an early form of Mormonism and accepted without protest. While Queen Nofritari-Minimut was, there is little q
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CHAPTER SEVENTEENTH. TAUSERT.
CHAPTER SEVENTEENTH. TAUSERT.
As Queen Urma-nofru-Ra may be considered the bride of life, so we may call Queen Tausert the bride of the tomb, since it is from her tomb alone that we learn anything of her history, and even there the information is most meagre. Her name is mentioned as Ta-ursr, Tauser, Tausert or Taosiri, and it makes her somewhat distinctive among the various Neferts and Tis. She is called “the great queen and the lady of the land, the princess of Upper and Lower Egypt.” She is noteworthy chiefly as being of
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CHAPTER EIGHTEENTH. SUCCEEDING QUEENS.
CHAPTER EIGHTEENTH. SUCCEEDING QUEENS.
From the time of Rameses II to that of the Ptolemy period no queen seems to make a marked impression on the passing centuries. We have here and there a name, here and there an anecdote; but no figure, with salient points, stands out, about which cluster vitalizing incidents, or upon whom we may drape a robe of woven romance. Nor were there many, even among the kings, who have the bold outlines of some of their predecessors. Seck-net or Seti-nekht was first of the Twentieth Dynasty, is believed t
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CHAPTER NINETEENTH. SUCCEEDING QUEENS (CONTINUED).
CHAPTER NINETEENTH. SUCCEEDING QUEENS (CONTINUED).
Authorities agree that the Twenty-second Dynasty made Bubastis its principal city, and seem to have been descended from a race of great chiefs. Shashanq or Sheshenk I, the Sesonchis of the Greeks, and Shishak of I Kings, was the first king of the dynasty, a Libyan, son of the chief Namareth, who was buried at Abydos, and of whom there are statues in Florence, as well as gold bracelets with his name in the British Museum. Also the grandson of Shashanq, the “great prince of Mashauasha,” and the Eg
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CHAPTER TWENTIETH. DAILY LIFE.
CHAPTER TWENTIETH. DAILY LIFE.
“How lived, how loved, how died she?” are questions that rise in the mind in thinking of these royal ladies of the past. Of their individual lives but few records remain, and it is from inscriptions and paintings on the tombs, especially of those of less prominence than the kings, we may gather something of the daily life of the queens. “No nation of the earth has shown so much zeal and ingenuity, so much method and regularity in recording the details of private life as the Egyptians,” says Brug
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CHAPTER TWENTY-FIRST. PERSIAN QUEENS.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIRST. PERSIAN QUEENS.
With the conquests of Cambyses Egypt became subject to a new set of rulers, by whom its manners and customs were, in a degree, changed or modified. Yet such are its inherent characteristics that it has been often said of Egypt, as of Greece, that she rather impressed herself upon her masters, than was impressed by them. Through the Persian period, to that of the Ptolemies, women retired into the background, and no one name comes into prominence, at least in an official character. It is in connec
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CHAPTER TWENTY-SECOND. ROXANE.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SECOND. ROXANE.
The Persian yoke had become so intolerable to the Egyptians that they were prepared to accept any other conqueror with positive enthusiasm, and the Macedonian Alexander and his followers were welcomed rather as friends than as enemies and hated masters. The colossal empire created by the splendid military audacity combined with the judicious tolerance of Alexander the Great may be said to have dropped to pieces by its own weight, and a comparatively few years after his short career was ended, fo
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CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE. PTOLEMY QUEENS.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE. PTOLEMY QUEENS.
In the study of the Ptolemy period, compared with the dates of earlier times, we seem to come so much nearer to the modern era that we might look for certain knowledge. The more, as we now have the histories of early writers, such as Polybius, Diodorus Siculus, Strabo, etc., to consult, as well as the coinage, with dates and portraits of kings and queens, to assist us. But the historical account is frequently at second hand and not as to matters which the writer has himself seen and known, and e
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CHAPTER TWENTY-FOURTH. ARSINOE II.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOURTH. ARSINOE II.
The most prominent figure in the long and involved list of Ptolemy queens, next to that of the famed Cleopatra, is Arsinoe II, daughter of Sotor and Berenike, and sister and wife of Ptolemy Philadelphus. She is spoken of on the Mendes stele, now at Gizeh, as “the charming princess, the most attractive, lovely and beautiful, the crowned one, who has received the double diadem, whose splendor fills the palace, the friend of the sacred Ram and his priestess Uta Utaba, the king’s sister and wife who
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CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE. PTOLEMY QUEENS (CONTINUED).
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE. PTOLEMY QUEENS (CONTINUED).
Ptolemy Euergetes, the Benefactor, son of Ptolemy Philadelphus and Arsinoe II, was the third of his race to become king of Egypt. He ascended the throne when past his early youth, and appears to have remained unmarried until this time. We know little of his early life, and one writer suggests that the all-pervading power and influence of his stepmother, Arsinoe II, may have caused him to absent himself from his native land, but this is merely hypothesis. He chose for himself, or his father chose
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CHAPTER TWENTY-SIXTH. PTOLEMY QUEENS (CONTINUED).
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIXTH. PTOLEMY QUEENS (CONTINUED).
Thus tragically was ushered in the reign of the boy-king, Ptolemy V, Epiphanes, the Illustrious, whose dates are 205-182 B. C., and whose pre-nomen or throne name, found on his cartouch, means “heir of the (two) father loving gods, chosen of Ptah, strength of the Ka of Ra, living image of Amen.” Too young to take matters into his own hands, the power seems to have been divided between Tlepolemus as military, and Aristomenes, called the king’s tutor, as civil administrator of affairs. The reign o
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CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVENTH. PTOLEMY QUEENS (CONTINUED).
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVENTH. PTOLEMY QUEENS (CONTINUED).
Cleopatra II appears with her husband Philometor, Ptolemy VII, in statutes excavated at Cyprus, which were set up “at a temple to the Paphian Aphrodite,” yet we know little of her. There is also an appeal spoken of by Josephus in which a certain Jew begs the king and queen’s permission to build a temple to the God of Israel and reports their majesties’ favorable reply, but the story is not altogether credited. We hear also of the king and queen receiving other petitions, usually a popular action
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CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT. CLEOPATRA VI.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT. CLEOPATRA VI.
We have shown how the Persian rule in Egypt was followed by that of the Ptolemies, and at first the union between prince and people was close and satisfactory. From Ptolemy I to Cleopatra VI the rulers identified themselves with the interests, and especially with the religion of the nation, with whom they were not allied by blood, built cities and temples and, the earlier members of the dynasty at least, wrought for the general good. In the case of most of the later kings, however, they were mor
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CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE. CLEOPATRA VI (CONTINUED).
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE. CLEOPATRA VI (CONTINUED).
Now again came Cleopatra’s opportunity. Antony, victorious in the battle of Philippi, turned his attention to the East, and summoned Cleopatra before him, she being accused, as it has been seen, perhaps untruly, of sending aid to his rival, Cassius. Antony was of the party of Caesar, had delivered his funeral oration and was in a sense his successor. Like Caesar, also he had a fair and devoted wife, the noble Fulvia, but no legal bonds could resist “the Sorceress of the Nile.” Dellius, Antony’s
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