Ancient Egyptian civilization is surrounded by an aura of mystery in popular culture. At the same time, in fact, it is one of the most studied civilizations of antiquity. This is all thanks to the fact that the Egyptians loved to write, draw and carve statues. Although much of the life of ordinary Egyptians and their rulers is still hidden behind the veil of centuries, Egyptologists have still managed to study and learn a lot about how the Egyptians lived and how they died.

Classmates

And most of the information remains, of course, about the pharaohs and their relatives: their deeds, the circumstances of their birth and death were entered into the chronicles. In addition, many mummies remained from them, which can be studied using tomography and DNA analysis.

One of the most famous rulers of Ancient Egypt is the young Tutankhamun. Death mask the king was a portrait of a beautiful young man. Speculation and legends immediately began to be made around the personality of Tutankhamun. The king's early death was especially intriguing.

Speculations included murder during the conspiracy and injuries from falling from the chariot while it was still moving. The second version could explain the fact that Tutankhamun’s right hand was missing fingers, and traces of fractures were found on his legs.

The latest research revealed that before his death the young man suffered from malaria. Taking into account the fact that medicines for malaria were placed in his tomb, most likely he died from it.

As for the lameness and lack of fingers, the pharaoh's body was gradually undermined by necrosis of the limbs due to genetic problems caused by generations of incest in his dynasty. Incest between ancestors could also be the reason why Tutankhamun was born with a cleft palate. He himself was married either to his own or to a cousin.

In any case, the dynasty ended with Tutankhamun: his children were born dead, so he left no heirs.

But the mother of Tutankhamun, one of the daughters of Amenhotep III, the sister of the pharaohs Akhenaten and Smekhkara and, probably, the wife of Akhenaten, clearly did not die a natural death. At first, archaeologists believed that the deep wound on the queen's face was the work of grave robbers, but later research showed that it was this wound that was fatal for Tutankhamun's mother. Whether it was an accident or murder is still unclear. But the queen died at about 25 years old.

As for Akhenaten himself, he was probably poisoned: records of an attempt on his life have been preserved, and the pharaoh himself lived less than forty years.

Whether it’s Ramses II from the next dynasty! That's who definitely died of old age, living to about 90 years old. During his life, he managed to become the father of one hundred and eleven boys and fifty girls. In addition to his active politics, hot temper and red hair, Ramesses II was known for constantly training in running. The fact is that once every thirty years he participated in a certain ritual race with a sacred vessel in his hand. If the pharaoh failed to run the race, it would be considered a bad omen. But Ramses himself knew very well that it was all about training.

By the way, the ancient Egyptians were famous for being fast runners.

His namesake from the next dynasty, Ramesses III, also lived quite a long time, but was killed as a result of a conspiracy arranged by one of his disgruntled wives. For a long time it was unclear exactly how he died. Poisoning or a deep, but initially non-fatal wound that was poorly treated was assumed. Finally, a tomogram of the neck put everything in its place. Ramses was slashed in the throat with a knife. He died almost instantly.

The conspirators were tried. One of them, a young prince, the son of the same wife who, perhaps, stabbed his father, was sentenced to change his name. The chronicle also states that he committed suicide out of shame, but a modern autopsy revealed that the prince was tied up and strangled. He was then hastily embalmed, wrapped in an “unclean” goatskin, and buried in a simple coffin.

It is still unknown how the famous Nefertiti died. This is not in the chronicles, and the queen’s mummy has not yet been found. It is only clear that Akhenaten, who initially admired his wife, lost interest in her around the age of 30. Her story can hardly be called history great love and family happiness.

It was long suspected that the ruling queen Hatshepsut was killed by her successor and stepson, Thutmose III. He hated her so much that, upon becoming pharaoh, he ordered all mentions of her to be erased. Of course, it wasn’t possible to erase everything.

However, analysis of the queen's remains revealed that she was an obese woman in her fifties, suffered from arthritis, dental problems and diabetes, and died of liver cancer. The cancer probably developed due to a very dangerous substance that was used to make painkillers. The queen most likely rubbed herself with medicine to relieve pain in her teeth and joints.

There is another version: Hatshepsut did not have time to die from cancer, because she died from blood poisoning after her aching tooth was pulled out.

For some reason, the theme of ancient Egypt became very close to me, as if I had once lived through this whole story.

In this article I would like to draw attention to the wives of the pharaohs. The legendary Theia, wife of Amenemhet, is a beautiful, cruel, proud, vain, intelligent and autocratic woman. No one examined how she twisted history, interfering in state affairs. The most important passion of her life was unlimited power.

In practice, it was she who ruled the state together with Aye instead of Akhenaten, who was under the strict supervision of his domineering mother all his life. The only person The one she trusted was the vizier Ey, he came from the provincial priesthood and had unlimited power over the queen. He was not a relative, but rather a spiritual brother to Teye. In an effort to strengthen his power, Aye puts forward Nefertiti; whether she was his natural daughter is still a question, but a spiritual daughter for sure. Similar stories of royal houses are repeated many times, there are always kings who are in plain sight and those who really control them, they are always in the shadows. Most likely, these were rich families of that time, perhaps using some kind of religious movement, which Akhenaten represented. It was about changing the social system, but as they say: “they were too far from the people”... This is the topic of other articles. Today I would like to draw attention to the fate of these particular wives of the pharaohs.

Together with her husband, Nefertiti ruled Egypt for 17 years. Those same two decades that were marked by a religious revolution unprecedented for the entire ancient Eastern culture, which shook the very foundations of the ancient Egyptian sacred tradition and left a very ambiguous mark on the history of the country: the cults of the ancestral gods, by the will of the royal couple, were replaced by a new state cult of Aten - the life-giving solar disk." Great the royal wife", "the wife of God", "the King's Ornament", was, first of all, the high priestess, who together with the king participated in temple services and important rituals, and through her actions supported Maat - world harmony. The task of the queen participating in the service is to pacify and appease the deity with the beauty of her voice, the unique charm of her appearance, and the sound of the sistrum - a sacred musical instrument. Unattainable for most mortal women, the status of the “great royal wife”, who had great political power, was based precisely on religious foundations.

Portrait of Queen Nefertiti in profile 1983

The happiness did not last long. In the twelfth year of the reign of Akhenaten and Nefertiti, Princess Maketaten died. On the wall of the tomb prepared in the rocks for the royal family, the despair of the spouses is depicted. A dead girl is stretched out on the bed. The parents froze nearby - the father with his hand clasped above his head, and with the other hand grabbing his wife’s hand, and the mother, who pressed her hand to her face, as if she still couldn’t believe her loss. The elderly nanny of the deceased is rushing to the body of her favorite, held by a young maid. The death scene of Maketaton, in terms of the strength of the feelings conveyed, undoubtedly ranks among the masterpieces of Egyptian relief.

Mourning a daughter

Soon, Queen Mother Teiye also died. The death of Teiye, who firmly held all power in her hands, became a turning point in Nefertiti’s life. The priests nominated a new queen. From that moment on, all of Akhenaten's attention was focused on his secondary consort named Kiya. Even under Amenhotep III, the Mitannian princess Taduheppa arrived in Egypt as a “guarantee” of political stability in interstate relations. It was for her, who according to tradition took the Egyptian name, that Akhenaten built the luxurious country palace of Maru-Aten. Kiya was the mother of princes Smenkhkare and Tutankhaten, who became the husbands of the eldest daughters of Akhenaten and Nefertiti.

Nefertiti fell into disgrace and spent the rest of her days in one of the forgotten palaces of the capital. One of the statues discovered in the workshop of the sculptor Thutmes shows Nefertiti in her declining years. Before us is the same face, still beautiful, but time has already left its mark on it, leaving traces of fatigue, even brokenness. The walking queen is dressed in a tight dress, with sandals on her feet. The figure that has lost the freshness of youth belongs no longer to a dazzling beauty, but to a mother of six daughters who has seen and experienced a lot in her life.

By the way, few people have studied the role of female queens and their influence on the development of the state. Nefertiti's name translates as "setting beauty." The period of Akhenaten's reign caused a long-term decline and only Ramses the second with his wife Nefertari (whose name: Rising Beauty) raised the glory of the Egyptian state to unprecedented heights, reviving the religion destroyed by Akhenaten. But more on that later...

What was the reason for Nefertiti’s unexpected disgrace and the collapse of the union, the love and mutual feelings of which were sung in dozens of hymns? Probably the main problem of the royal couple was the lack of a son who could inherit the throne. Nefertiti's daughters did not ensure the reliability of the continuation of the dynastic change of power. In his almost manic desire to have a son, Akhenaten even marries his own daughters. Fate laughed at him: the eldest daughter, Meritaton, gave birth to her own father another daughter - Meritaton Tasherit ("Meritaton Jr."); one of the youngest - Akhesenpaaton - another daughter...

Portrait of Akhenaten's eldest daughter Meritaton 1977

However, the triumph of Kiya, who bore sons to the king, was short-lived. She disappears in the sixteenth year of her husband's reign. Having come to power, Nefertiti's eldest daughter, Meritaten, completely destroyed not only the images, but also almost all references to the hated inhabitant of Maru-Aten, replacing them with her own images and names. From the point of view of the ancient Egyptian tradition, such an act was the most terrible curse that could be carried out: not only the name of the deceased was erased from the memory of descendants, but also his soul was deprived of well-being in the afterlife.

In 1907, in Thebes, in the Valley of the Kings, the necropolis where the greatest rulers of Egypt found their final refuge, Ayrton's expedition made a discovery. Stone steps led into a tiny tomb. The female sarcophagus, lying on the floor of a room carved into the rock, was partially open. The mask of the sarcophagus was destroyed, the names in the inscriptions on it were cut out. Next to the sarcophagus, the remains of the funeral palanquin of Queen Teye, Akhenaten’s mother, shone in gold. Inside the sarcophagus was the mummy of a young man. The discovery became the reason for an endless discussion. it is assumed that the body buried in the tomb belonged to Smenkhkare. For whom was the sarcophagus prepared? Who was the woman whose beautiful, somewhat cruel face was captured with such skill on the lids of canopic jars by an unknown sculptor? Painstaking long-term research has shown that the original owner of the vessels was Kiya. The body of the unfortunate woman was thrown out of the sarcophagus, converted and used for the burial of her son. An incredible rise and no less terrible end to this fate...

portrait of Pharaoh Smenkhkare 1979

Akhenaten died in the seventeenth year of his reign. He was inherited by Smenkhkare, Meritaten's husband, and a year later, after the mysterious death of the latter, by just a boy, twelve-year-old Tutankhaten. Under the influence of the Theban nobility, Tutankhaten revives the cults of traditional gods and leaves the capital of his father, changing his name to “Tutankhamun” - “The Living Likeness of Amun”. Religious reform collapsed and disappeared like a desert mirage.

Akhetaten was systematically destroyed. When one of the king's envoys entered Thutmes' sculpture workshop, two paired busts of Akhenaten and Nefertiti stood on a shelf nearby. Apparently, from the first blow that hit Akhenaten’s face, the neighboring bust of Nefertiti fell face down into the sand and remained untouched. Akhenaten and his time were cursed. Official documents of subsequent eras referred to him only as “the enemy from Akhetaton.” They forgot about Nefertiti.

Portrait of Akhenaten's third daughter Ankhsenpaaten

Ankhesenpaaton, the third daughter of Akhenaten and Nefertiti, became the wife of the young Tutankhamun. The children-spouses reigned under the rule of Ey for only six years. Tutankhamun dies under mysterious circumstances. Ankhesenamun, refuses to marry Ey, (but that’s another article...) and the name Ankhesenamun disappears from history, and the throne of Tutankhamun was inherited by Ey

Mutnojemet, Nefertiti's younger sister, a few years later became the wife of Pharaoh Horemheb, and Nefertiti's story repeated with her: the queen tried in vain to give birth to a son-heir to the pharaoh. The degeneration of the royal house was obvious. Its result is horrifying: what was left of Mutnodzhemet's body was discovered along with a stillborn child; Horemheb's wife died during the thirteenth (!) attempt to give birth to an heir to the throne.

It is unknown how Nefertiti herself ended her days. Her mummy has not been found. The destinies of these women are very real, they are carved on slabs. Before us is the history of only 3 generations of pharaohs and their families. Can these women be called happy? In the pursuit of power, the priesthood took nothing into account. How many children died? Women invested with power, and who did not have love, how many unaccepted destinies, pain and superiority over people. There is not a single woman of this time who would live happily ever after. But it is no coincidence that the pharaohs were considered the children of God on earth, what can we say about ordinary people that time...

The story was explored with you by Spring Rhapsody.

And a great reformer. His wife is the most beautiful woman in the kingdom. The reign of this couple occurred during the Amarna period. Why Akhenaten and Nefertiti became famous for short period of your reign? Among all the great queens of Egypt, only the name of the most beautiful and revered ruler remained in the hearing. It was not often that pharaohs allowed their wives to rule, but Nefertiti was not just a wife - during her lifetime she became a queen, whom they prayed for, whose mental abilities were extolled so highly. “Perfect” - that’s what her contemporaries called her, extolling her merits and beauty.

Amenhotep IV (Akhenaton)

Akhenaten should not have ruled Egypt because he had an older brother. But Tutnos died during his father’s reign, so Amenhotep became the legal heir. IN last years During his lifetime, the pharaoh was seriously ill, and the opinion of historians comes down to the fact that the youngest son was a co-ruler at this time. However, it was not possible to establish how long such joint rule lasted.

After the death of his father, Amenhotep becomes pharaoh and begins to rule the country, which by this time had achieved great power and influence. Queen Teye, famous for her prudence and wisdom, helped her son in the early years. She skillfully directed his thoughts in the right direction and gave wise advice.

New religion

During the reign of the pharaoh, the cult of the Sun reached unprecedented heights. The previously not so popular Aten (sun god) becomes the center of the religion. Using new technologies, a grandiose temple is being built for the supreme deity. Aten himself is depicted as a man with the head of a falcon. God was given the status of a pharaoh, the boundary between Amenhotep and the sun was erased. To top it off, he changes his name to Akhenaten, which means “useful to the Aten.” All family members, as well as the most important dignitaries, were also renamed.

In order to establish a new deity, a new city is built. First of all, a huge palace was built for the pharaoh. He did not wait for the completion of construction and moved along with the entire court from Thebes. The temple for Aten was built immediately after the palace. Residential areas and other buildings for residents were built from inexpensive materials, while the palace and temple were made of white stone.

Pharaoh's wives. Nefertiti

Akhenaten's first wife was Nefertiti. They married before his accession to the throne. On the question of at what age did the pharaohs take girls as wives: they became brides from the age of 12-15. Future husband Nefertiti was several years older than her. The girl was unusually pretty, her name literally translates as “the beauty has come.” This may indicate that the pharaoh's first wife was not Egyptian. It has not yet been possible to find confirmation of its foreign origin. His wife supported Akhenaten in everything; she contributed to the elevation of Aten to the rank of the highest deity. There are many more images of her on the walls of the temple than of the pharaoh himself. His wife could not give him a son: during their marriage she gave birth to six daughters.

Nefertiti raised the son of Akhenaten's sister. He would later become the husband of one of her daughters, Ankhesenpaaton, and rule Egypt under the name Tutankhamun. The girl will change her name to Ankhesenamon. One of the daughters of the royal solar couple will die in childhood, the other will be married to her brother. The fate of the rest of the story is unknown.

Nefertiti and Akhenaten appeared together everywhere. Her greatness and importance can be judged by the fact that she was allowed to accompany her husband during sacrifices. They prayed to her in the temples of Aten, and all actions were carried out exclusively in her presence. During her lifetime, she became a symbol of the prosperity of all of Egypt. There are many frescoes and statues of this the most beautiful woman. On the walls of the Akhenaten Palace there are many joint images of the pharaoh and his wife. They are captured at the moment of a kiss, with children on their laps; there are separate images of daughters. None of the wives of the pharaohs of Egypt received such honors as this person.

The decline of Queen Nefertiti's popularity

Now no one can say what caused her disappearance from the political arena and the family life of the pharaoh. Probably, after the death of their daughter, the spouses’ relationship to each other changed. Or Akhenaten could not forgive the beauty for the lack of an heir. Evidence of her life after her reign is a statue depicting Nefertiti in old age. Still beautiful, but already broken by years and adversity, the woman was forever frozen in a tight dress and light sandals. Undoubtedly, the rejection of her husband broke her and left its mark on the royal face. Nefertiti's tomb has not yet been discovered, which may confirm the assumption of her disfavor. Perhaps she outlived her husband, but they did not bury her with honors.

Kiya

Queen Nefertiti was replaced by the not so beautiful and majestic Kiya. Presumably, she married the pharaoh in the fifth year of his reign. There is also no reliable information about its origin. One version says that the girl was the wife of Akhenaten’s father and after her death she passed on to the young pharaoh. There are no historical references to her high position at court or any participation in the reign of the pharaoh. It is known that Kiya gave birth to a daughter. This is where the story of the Pharaoh's wife ends. Judging by the fact that her name was removed from the temple walls, the woman was disgraced. The burial of this pharaoh's wife was not discovered. There are also no guesses or facts about the fate of her daughter.

Taduhepa

This pharaoh's wife also became his inheritance. The girl came to Egypt from Mitanni at the request of Amenhotep III. He chose her as his bride, but died shortly after her arrival. Akhenaten made Tadukhepa his wife. Some scientists and researchers believe that Nefertiti or Kiya bore this name before her reign, but no evidence has been found for this theory. A message from her father Tushratta to her future husband has been preserved, in which he negotiates for his daughter’s imminent marriage. But this does not confirm the fact that the princess existed as a separate person. Historians also found no mention of joint children.

Death of the Pharaoh

How Akhenaten died has not yet been established. There are paintings that depict an assassination attempt on the pharaoh through poisoning. However, his mummy is required to establish the cause of death. Only the tomb was discovered in the family crypt. There was no body inside, and she herself was practically destroyed. Scientists are still debating whether the male mummy from tomb KV55 is Akhenaten.

Someone tried to keep this a secret by knocking off the name on the sarcophagus and tearing off the mask. DNA testing established that the body belongs to one of Tutankhamun's close relatives. But this could be Smenkhkare, who was also of the same blood as the pharaohs. It is not yet possible to establish the exact origin of the mummy, but archaeologists do not lose hope of finding new tombs and royal bodies.

Pharaoh (Pharaoh) is a youth idol, a new phenomenon in modern Russian rap culture. He is a representative of the so-called “cloud rap”, which is characterized by slow beats, smooth readings and philosophical, often depressive lyrics (although disputes about Pharaoh’s affiliation with cloud rap continue to this day).

At the age of 19, Pharaoh, whose real name was Gleb Golubin, became the leader and ideological inspirer formation Dead Dynasty, the leitmotif of which was a defiant mixture of nihilism and rudeness. The main themes of his tracks are drugs, girls and sex.

Childhood and family of Gleb Golubin (rapper Pharaoh)

Gleb Gennadievich Golubin was born and raised in Moscow, in the Izmailovo district, in a family sports functionary. His father Gennady Golubin was the general director of the Dynamo football club, and later became the head of a company specializing in sports marketing.

Rapper Pharaoh as a child

Naturally, the parents predicted a sports career for their son. From the age of six, the boy played football professionally. At a young age, Gleb managed to play for Lokomotiv, CSKA and Dynamo. Until the age of thirteen, his life consisted mainly of daily training and school. But in adolescence, he realized that he would not turn out to be a second Pele, and his father was not delighted with his son’s sporting achievements.

Music replaced football. At the age of 8, Gleb became interested in the work of the German band Rammstein, for which he even enrolled in courses German language. Another idol of the teenager was American rapper Snoop Dogg. The musical sympathies of the future musician did not find support from his classmates (other performers were in fashion at that time), but this did not bother Gleb.

At the age of 16, the young man went to America for six months. There he finally decided on his musical preferences and opened new horizons for creativity.

Rapper career Pharaoh

In 2013, Gleb returned to Moscow and entered the Faculty of Journalism at Moscow State University. At the same time, he recorded his first track, Cadillak, and began performing as part of the Grindhouse group under the pseudonym Pharaoh.

But the video clip for the track “BLACK SIEMENS” brought real fame to the aspiring musician. In it, Gleb raps against the backdrop of a white Lincoln, which Dmitry Dyuzhev drove in the cult TV series “Brigada”. The song constantly repeats the “skrr-skr” sounds, which later became his trademark.

Rapper Pharaoh - skrrt-skrrt

Tired of constant questions from fans about what this mysterious “skrr-skr” actually means, Pharaoh eventually explained that this was the sound that Bruce Lee made during training. Another version said that “skrt” is an imitation of the sound of car tires.

Pharaoh's next video, "Champagne Squirt", has nearly 10 million views on YouTube. After the premiere of the video, the phrase “Champagne squirt in the face” spread across social networks, and the Pharaoh became a truly cult character among the youth audience.

Since 2014, Pharaoh has collaborated with rappers Fortnox Pockets, Toyota RAW4, Acid Drop King, Jeembo and Southgarden as part of the Dead Dynasty project.

Pharaoh - 5 Minutes Ago

Because of the mysterious image that Pharaoh cultivates in in social networks, fantastic rumors are constantly spreading about his life. In 2015, information appeared that the rapper died of a drug overdose. After this, Pharaoh released a new album, Phosphor (“Phosphorus”), the video for the composition from which “Let’s Stay Home” again gained a huge number of views on the Internet.

In February 2017, he traditionally posted on the Internet a new track “Unplugged (Interlude)”, which stood out from the rapper’s general work - it was recorded with a guitar. Fans of Pharaoh suggested that this is a composition from the upcoming acoustic album, which Pharaoh has mentioned more than once before.

Personal life of Pharaoh

Pharaoh has no shortage of girlfriends. One of his ex-girlfriends– current soloist of the group “Silver” Katya Kishchuk.

At the beginning of 2017, Gleb began dating the scandalous model, daughter of the famous tennis player Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Alesya.

For the first time they appeared in public in one of the capital's cinemas, openly demonstrating their feelings for each other. The model has repeatedly stated that she became a fan of his work long before they met in person. However, in May of the same year, Alesya Kafelnikova wrote on social networks that she was taking a break in her relationship with Pharaoh. Information appeared in the media that the model’s father insisted on separation, who did not like the aura of “notoriety” around her chosen one.

Pharaoh now

In August 2018, Pharaoh presented listeners with a new album “Phuneral” (play on words: pharaoh + funeral, funeral). It is noteworthy that Sergey Shnurov and his project “Ruble” took part in the recording of the tracks “Flashcoffin” and “Solaris”.

Pharaoh – Smart

Ancient Egypt is one of the centers of human civilization, which arose back in the 4th millennium BC. and existed for more than 4 thousand years. At the head of this huge state was the pharaoh. It is implied that he was a man, since the word “pharaoh” does not even exist in a feminine form. And yet, in the history of Ancient Egypt, there were periods when women took the reins of government into their own hands, when powerful priests, military leaders, and hardened palace intriguers bowed their heads before a woman and recognized her power over them.

Woman in Ancient Egypt

What always amazed all ancient travelers to Egypt was the position of women in society. Egyptian women had rights that Greek and Roman women could not even dream of. Egyptian women were legally endowed with the right of property and inheritance, along with men they could conduct commercial and production activities, enter into contracts on their own behalf and pay bills. We would say “recognized as full-fledged owners of small, medium and large businesses.”

Egyptian women operated cargo ships, were teachers, and were scribes. Aristocrats became officials, judges, rulers of nomes (regions), and ambassadors. The only areas where Egyptian women were not allowed were medicine and the army. But this too is questioned. In the tomb of Queen Yahhotep, among other decorations, two Orders of the Golden Fly were found - awards for outstanding service on the battlefield.

The pharaoh's wife often became his adviser and closest assistant, and ruled the state along with him. Therefore, it is not surprising that when the pharaoh died, the inconsolable widow took upon herself the burden of governing the state. History has preserved for us the names of several mistresses of Ancient Egypt.

Nitocris (c. 2200 BC)

She Neitikert (Excellent Neith) ruled Egypt for twelve years. All these years, Beautiful Nate managed to keep an iron rein on the entire country. Egypt knew neither revolts nor coups. Her death was a disaster for the country. Priests, courtiers, officials and military men began to tear each other apart in the struggle for the throne, and this continued for a century and a half (the First Transitional Period).

Nefrusebek (c. 1763 - 1759 BC)

The name Nefrusebek meant “beauty of Sebek.” (Sebek is a god with the head of a crocodile. Yes, the Egyptians had strange ideas about beauty.) The reign did not last long, no more than 4 years, but during this time she managed to become not only a pharaoh, but also a High Priestess, and the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, lead a series of reforms and a victorious campaign in Nubia.

To pacify the regional aristocrats, she married one of the influential nomarchs (ruler of the nome, i.e. governor), but kept the title of pharaoh for herself. The husband, deceived in his hopes, hired a killer and he killed the queen.

Subsequent events showed how right Nefrusebek was in not entrusting the management of the country to her husband. The newly emerged contender for the title of pharaoh failed to retain power. For Egypt, an era of civil wars and coups began, which lasted about 250 years.

Hatshepsut (c. 1489-1468 BC)

Hatshepsut undoubtedly had both will and strong character. With a living male heir, she managed to seize the throne, declared herself pharaoh, took the name Maatkar and the priests crowned her as a man. During ceremonies, she often wore an artificial beard in order to completely resemble a male pharaoh. Both “male” and “female” images of Queen Hatshepsut have been preserved.

Hatshepsut. Women's and men's options

How this masquerade was perceived by the nobles and the people is unclear, but Hatshepsut achieved absolute power, which many male pharaohs did not have, and became the greatest female ruler in the history of Ancient Egypt.

Her reign became the Golden Age for Egypt. Agriculture developed, the queen distributed free land to peasants and issued loans for the purchase of slaves. Abandoned cities were restored. Organized a research expedition to the country of Punt (present-day Somalia).

Hatshepsut. Female Pharaoh

Conducted several successful military campaigns, led one campaign (to Nubia) herself, i.e. She also proved herself to be a military leader. Built on her orders, the mortuary temple of Queen Pharaoh Hatshepsut is the pearl of Egypt, along with the pyramids, and is under the protection of UNESCO.

Unlike other queens, Hatshepsut was able to create a mechanism of succession and after her death the title and throne were safely accepted by Thutmose III. This time Egypt did without cataclysms, which once again proves that Hatshepsut had statesmanship.

Tausert (c. 1194-1192)

Tausert was the wife of Pharaoh Seti II. The marriage was childless. When Seti died, Seti's bastard son Ramses-Saptahu seized power, behind whom stood the keeper of the seal, the gray cardinal of Egypt, Bai. However, after 5 years of the reign of the new pharaoh, Bai was accused of corruption and executed, and a year later Ramses-Saptahu himself died from an unknown illness. As we can see, Tausert was a determined woman and did not suffer from excessive sentimentality.

According to some sources, she ruled for 2 years, according to others for 7 years, but these years were not calm for Egypt. A civil war began in the country. Tausert died for unknown reasons, but civil war it didn't stop. Her successor, Pharaoh Setnakht, with great difficulty restored order in the country and resolved another political crisis in the country.

Cleopatra (47-30 BC)

It would be a stretch to call the famous queen a pharaoh. Egypt was Hellenized and bore little resemblance to the ancient country. Cleopatra's reign cannot be called successful. Egypt was a semi-colony of Rome, legionnaires rampaged through the country and it all ended in a war with Rome, which Cleopatra lost. Egypt lost the remnants of even a ghostly independence and became part of the Roman Empire. Thus, Cleopatra became not only the last female pharaoh in the history of Egypt, but the last Egyptian pharaoh in general.