Queen Nefertiti
In ancient Egypt, many women were as powerful as any man could be. One of the most famous of these women was the step-mother of King Tutankhamun, Queen Nefertiti. Her husband, the Pharaoh Akhenaten, was known as the heretic king as he disposed of the normal pantheon of gods and worshiped only one god, the Aten. Her name meant “The Beautiful One is Come” and was thought to be the most beautiful woman of her time. She was displayed as being an equal to her husband and ruled beside him in all manners, even driving her own chariot. Her mummy has never been found, however, a colorful bust of her image was found buried in an ancient workshop and has been housed in a museum in Berlin, Germany.
Tags: Ancient Egypt, King Tutankhamun, Nefertiti
One of my favorite stories from yesteryear is the story of the Celtic warrior queen, Boudica. She was the queen of the Iceni tribe in what is now the Norfolk area of Eastern Britain. After the death of her husband, King Prasutagus, she became one of Rome’s greatest enemies. After being beaten by Roman soldiers, and watching them rape her two young daughters, Queen Boudica went on a rampage that sent shivers throughout the Roman Empire. She and her army decimated the cities of Camulodunum (Colchester) and Londinium (London). Her army was eventually beaten by the Romans, though it’s not known exactly where this battle took place, nor whether or not the queen died during this battle, or lived another day. Her remains have never been found.
One of the most powerful Pharaohs to rule ancient Egypt was not a man, but a woman who we know today as Queen Hatshepsut. When her husband, the Pharaoh, died, his only heir was a mere child. Queen Hatshepsut took control as regent, but when the time came for her to move aside for her step-son, she refused and took over the title as Pharaoh. Upon her death, her name was all but erased from the memories of her people. There were only a few places in which her name could still be found, but her mummy was lost to history. That is until April of 2007, when 5 mummies were studied and tested for DNA. It was announced in June of 2007 that one of the mummies was the queen herself, and was identified by a broken tooth found in a canopic jar bearing her royal cartouche.
Around 350 BC, the king of Halicarnassus passed away and was entered in to one of the most elaborate tombs ever made, the Mausoleum of Maussollos. In fact, this is where we get the term Mausoleum today. The mausoleum was built by the Queen, Artemisia. Not only was she his wife, but she was also his sister. In her grief over his passing, she had the most beautiful tomb built for her husband that the world had seen up to that point. The tomb was so opulent, that it was written about by many ancient historians, and was deemed one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Halicarnassus lies in what is now modern day Turkey. The tomb of Maussollos stood firm until the 13th century when it succumbed to an earthquake. Then, in the late 1400's, the Knights of St. John used the remaining stones in construction of their castle. Today, little remains of this once grand mortuary.
