Top 10 Female Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt

Earlier, Egypt’s royal acquisitions had primarily relied on the female blood-line; as Ancient Egypt dynasties had been ruled by a number of female Pharaohs for a long period of time. All this can be inferred by knowing the importance of female Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt. Some great female monarchs of Ancient Egypt include Hatshepsut, Sobekneferu, Cleopatra, Arsinoë II, and other. Some of these female queens have reigned longer than any other male monarch of the indigenous Egyptian dynasty. Have a look!

2. Khentkaus I

Khentkaus I, also referred to as Khentkawes, was a queen of Ancient Egypt during the 4th dynasty. She was claimed as the daughter of Pharaoh Menkaure and the wife of both kings Shepseskaf and Userkaf. Khentkaus I was the mother of Sahure. Khentkaus I was the genealogical link between the succession lines of the 4th and the 5th dynasties of Egypt.

Khentkaus I was buried in Giza. Her tomb is called LG 100 and G 8400, and is located in the Central Field, near the Pyramid of Menkaure.

 3. Merneith

Merneith was the first female Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt during the first dynasty. Officially, she is the earliest queen regnant in the recorded history of Ancient Egypt. Merneith is believed to be the daughter of Djer and was probably the senior royal wife of Djet.

Merneith was buried in Necropolis at Abydos. Queen Merneith ruled from about 2946 BC to 2916 BC.

4. Sobekneferu

Sobekneferu was the daughter of Pharaoh Amenemhat III. She became Pharaoh after the death of her brother Amenemhat IV. Sobekneferu was the last ruler of the twelfth dynasty of Egypt and ruled for almost four years from 1806 BC to 1802 BC.

Sobekneferu was assumed to be interred in a southern pyramid complex in Mazghuna. The pyramidal work of the Queen Sobekneferu was discovered at that place.

5. Neferneferuaten (Nefertiti)

Neferneferuaten governed as Pharaoh toward the end of the Amarna Period during the eighteenth dynasty. The eighteenth dynasty of Ancient Egypt (c. 1550-c. 1292 BC) is perhaps the best dynasty. Queen Nefertiti was the royal wife of Pharaoh Akhenaton and ruled for 17 years.

Neferneferuaten was probably one of the persons buried in the chamber in the Royal Tomb in Amarna.

6. Cleopatra VII Philopator

Cleopatra VII Philopator was the last pharaoh of Ancient Egypt. She was the mother of Caesarion and was a member of the Ptolemaic dynasty, a family of Greek origin that ruled Ptolemaic Egypt.

The long-lost tomb is somewhere near Alexandria, Egypt. However, the burial tomb of Cleopatra VII Philopator from 30 BC, is still unknown.

7. Twosret

Twosret was the last known ruler and the final Pharaoh of the nineteenth dynasty of Egypt. She reigned Egypt for about seven years. Twosret is said to be the daughter of Merneptah and Takhat, and the second royal wife of Seti II.

In the tomb KV56, situated in the Valley of the Kings, some of the objects originally belonging to Twosret and her family were discovered. However, there is no other evidence of her tomb.

8. Arsinoë II

Arsinoë II was the first daughter of Pharaoh Ptolemy I Soter. She was a Ptolemaic Queen and co-regent of Ancient Egypt with her brother-husband Ptolemy II Philadelphus.

Arsinoe and Ptolemy were entombed in their royal capital Alexandria.

9. Nitocris

Nitocris is claimed as the last Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt’s sixth dynasty. She is assumed to be the daughter of Pepi II and Queen Neith. Queen Nitocris ruled for twelve years and at the end of her life had restored order and stability in Egypt.

Nitocris’s most appealing contribution to history was her tomb, which was built on one of the many gates of Babylon. Her tomb had an inscription written on it.

10. Ahhotep I

Ahhotep I ruled during the end of the seventeenth dynasty of Egypt. The Ancient Egyptian Queen Ahhotep I was the daughter of Queen Tetisheri and Senakhtenre Ahmose.

Queen Ahhotep I’s outer coffin was reburied in TT320 in Deir el Bahari.