Ancient Egypt’s Fiercest Female Rulers

Image credit: tanja-v / Shutterstock. Article by Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi. Discover Magazine – March 16, 2023. Article originally published July 15, 2022.

Roman visitors in ancient Egypt often marveled at how differently women lived. Roman law only required a man to raise his firstborn daughter; he could leave any others to die. To the Romans’ surprise, the Egyptians didn’t have a common practice of infanticide of unwanted girls. Women’s participation in the economy was another culture shock. Well before the Ptolemies took power, Egypt had expanded women’s legal rights. A woman could choose her husband and, if desired, divorce him and keep her dowry. Married, widowed and divorced women were allowed to operate businesses and loan money. As much as a third of the economy in Ptolemaic Egypt belonged to women. […]

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