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WOMEN. WOMEN. Position always lower than that of men holding same position Had courtly & priestly positions Some were artisans and tradespeople Prime function was to be in the home Women don’t appear to have been taught to read or write (exc. Nebet )
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WOMEN • Position always lower than that of men holding same position • Had courtly & priestly positions • Some were artisans and tradespeople • Prime function was to be in the home • Women don’t appear to have been taught to read or write (exc. Nebet) • No account of a women’s life is completely intact
QUEENS • Two Types: • Mother of the King • Wives of the King • MOTHER OF KING WAS MOST IMPORTANT • High status marked by elaborate tombs • Kings may have had more than one wife: • Khafre, Teti, Pepi I & II – Several wives • Userkaf, Sahure – One wife
QUEENS... • Difficult to distinguish them from other rich women • Mid 4th Dynasty - Queen Mothers shown wearing Vulture cap and holding an ankh/wadj: Uraeus Wadj Vulture Cap Queen Khentkaus II
QUEENS TITLES.... • Some were religious: Suggested the Queen was in proximity to the Gods • Some were associated with the court • Some stated her position – Queen regent, Queen Consort • Queen Ankhenesmeryre II – mother of King Pepy II (Q.R) • ‘Everything she says is done for her’ - Five queens in OKE hold this title
Provide a male heir Maintain an image projected by the goddess Sexual partner to her husband • Role of the Queen Perform Female cultic activities Represented Hathor: Carrying out earth ritual activities Priestess for the god Thoth & two bull gods
THE PRINCESSES.... • Some do not appear to have been married • Some married high ranking officials or kings • Priestesses for goddess Hathor sometimes Neith • No Princess was a priestess for a male God except the cult of their grandfather • Some people were given the title Princess even though they were not the King’s daughters.
FEMALE COURTIERS • Women who attended the court • Lower Status to Princesses • Married to middle ranking and higher officials • Some not married at all • TITLES: (Modelled on those of males) • ‘She whom the king knows’ • ‘Royal Ornament’ • Highest Ranking non royal female was ‘Sole Royal Ornament’ • Companion • Held Priesthoods as well
FEMALE COURTIERS Others who held similar titles but did not attend court • Were women of rank • From the provinces • Rank comes from position held by their husbands • Akhim – Provincial woman – ‘The wife of the God Min’
VIZIER NEBET • ?Served under Pepy I • Held titles associated with vizierate • Held titles as daughter of the Gods • Held title of hereditary princess
Physicians • Roles of Female courtiers Manicurists Stewards Hairdressers
LOWER CLASS WOMEN • Artisans and Craftswomen who appear to have been paid for their work • Some reliefs depict women selling stock at the markets – indication of a relative amount of freedom • Serf women were at the lowest end of the social scale and appear on reliefs showing them harvesting, baking and brewing beer.
Burials of Women • Large number buried in same tombs as their husbands • Sometimes wife of tomb owner appears next to husband in funerary statue (in comparable size) – important as indication of life after death • Appear in tomb paintings and reliefs – although sometimes left out • Some independent women had their own tombs – Sons may have organised it for their mothers • Examples of women who held official positions at court and were not married. • Neferesres – Overseer of pleasures, Overseer of all the pleasures of the King of Lower Egypt, Overseer of Royal Dancers... Shared her tomb with a ‘tomb partner’, not married.
