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Egypt’s Golden Empire:The Queens of Ancient Egypt
In this lesson you will focus on learning about some of ancient Egypt’s great queens –
Nefertiti, Tiy, Hatsheptsut, and Nefertari. You will learn about what made these women
powerful as well as how they influenced the lives of the common people by being held
in such high regard by their husbands, the pharaohs.
Lesson Objectives:
Students will:
1. Analyze a common quotation and participate in a class discussion about its meaning
and their opinions about the quote.
2. View video clips and read Web site content related to ancient Egyptian queens
Nefertiti, Tiy, Hatsheptsut, and Nefertari.
3. Work in small groups to create quiz questions and answers about the 4 queens.
4. Participate in a classroom competition utilizing their quiz questions and answers.
5. Participate in a class discussion about how these 4 queens impacted ancient
Egyptian life and influenced the role of women in the culture.
6. Complete a project that illustrates what they have learned about Nefertiti, Tiy,
Hatsheptsut and Nefertari and their impact on the ancient Egyptians.
• Do you agree with this statement? Why or why not?
The following are a list of websites in which you will find information about the queens.
Use these sources in order to help create your 8 question and answer quiz.
Women in Power: http://www.pbs.org/empires/egypt/newkingdom/women_power.html
Queen Tiy
http://www.pbs.org/empires/egypt/newkingdom/tiy.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j55j1NZoAKk
Queen Nefertiti
http://www.pbs.org/empires/egypt/newkingdom/nefertiti.html
http://www.biography.com/people/nefertiti-9421166
Queen Hatsheptsut
http://www.pbs.org/empires/egypt/newkingdom/hatshepsut.html
http://discoveringegypt.com/ancient-egyptian-kings-queens/hatshepsut/
https://app.discoveryeducation.com/learn/videos/1f4d1c85-3bc7-410b-ac3b8d2cfd3cdcea?hasLocalHost=false
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLsf6m4VX2PAF8CiwmInNAE6grqTNI8dq&v=JbBNkp1FfMc
Queen Nefertarihttp://www.pbs.org/empires/egypt/newkingdom/nefertari.html
http://www.mummies2pyramids.info/egyptian-queens/queen-nefertari.htm
https://app.discoveryeducation.com/learn/videos/8EEA61B8-4081-4383-85A72CF09D857155?hasLocalHost=false
The following questions will be answered during a discussion as a class. DO NOT
answer them on your own.
1. 1How did Nerfertiti, Tiy, Hatsheptsut, and Nefertari demonstrate support for their
husbands, the pharaohs?
2. How did the various pharaohs show that they appreciated the support and love of
their chief wives, Nefertiti, Tiy, Hatsheptsut, and Nefertari?
3. In what ways were these women different than previous chief queens? How were
they the same?
4. At a time when the women of the world were not typically in positions of power or
seen as equal to men, why do you think the Egyptians decided to raise the status
of these three women and women in general?
5. In your opinion, how much influence did Nefertiti, Tiy, Hatsheptsut, and Nefertari
have on the way their husbands ruled as pharaohs? Were their influences
positive or negative? Explain your answer using specific examples. Individual Project
Based on what you have learned about Nefertiti, Tiy, Hatsheptsut, and Nefertari, you
will complete one of the activities below to illustrate what they have learned.
 Compare and contrast Nefertiti, Tiy, Hatsheptsut, and Nefertari by creating a
graphic organizer such as a Venn Diagram to show the similarities and
differences between three out of the four queens. Write a two to three paragraph
response to the following question: while these four ancient Egyptian queens
shared some of the same qualities and characteristics, in your opinion,
what was it that made them so popular with the pharaohs and the people
alike? Give examples to support your opinions.
 Create a series of journal entries based on the life of Nefertiti, Tiy, Hatsheptsut,
or Nefertari. Record three to five journal entries that describe major events that
impacted on the pharaoh, the Egyptian people, or the queens personally. The
journal entries should be written from one queen’s point of view. The entries
should be historically accurate, while including what the student believes the
queen’s thoughts and feelings would have been. This should be based on what
they learned about her from the class activities. Queen Tiy
http://www.pbs.org/empires/egypt/newkingdom/tiy.html
Born a commoner, Que en Tiy soon became the near equal of her husband,
Pharaoh Amenhotep III and was even worshipped as a god.
Amenhotep III married Tiy, a commoner. He announced the news on a stone scarab a small insect-shaped stone, engraved with letters and used to carry news across the
empire.
Common get it
The daughter of Yuya, a chariot officer, and Thuya, a queen's servant, Tiy would have
been familiar with the pharaoh's court, but she was still a commoner. Any lesser
woman might have been intimidated by her sudden rise to fortune. Not Tiy.
The traditional role of a queen was passive - to provide him with an heir. Tiy wanted
more than this.
Stand by your man
To his credit, Amenhotep realized the value of having a strong, intelligent woman by
his side and was happy to agree to her wishes. Tiy soon became central to her
husband's reign and, effectively, became his second-in-command.
Almost as soon as they were married, Tiy was mentioned in the stone dispatches sent
out by Amenhotep to foreign kings and princes. Even more unusually, foreign kings
were prepared to deal with her on official business and wrote to Tiy as an equal,
ignoring her gender and humble birth.
R.E.S.P.E.C.T.
Women were treated with far more respect in Egypt than in most other countries at
this time. But for a woman to have such an important political role was rare. Abroad,
it must have been almost unbelievable.
As her stature grew, so did her statues. On carved images on temple walls, Tiy rapidly
increased in size until she was shown alongside - and often as large as - pictures of
her husband, the pharaoh. This was an enormous compliment and demonstrated to
his people how much Amenhotep respected his wife and regarded her as his nearequal.
Till death us do part
His respect for Tiy led the pharaoh to build two huge temples in the south, by the Nile
in Nubia. One temple was built for Amenhotep; the second was built for Tiy. However,
the two temples at Soleb were not just built for the pharaoh and his wife; they were
also dedicated to them. Deep in this southern part of the Egyptian empire, Amenhotep
and Tiy were not just obeyed as rulers but were also worshipped as gods.
Tiy outlived her pharaoh husband and remained a respected and powerful figure
during the reign of her son, Amenhotep IV, or Akenhaten.
Queen Nefertari
http://www.pbs.org/empires/egypt/newkingdom/nefertari.html
Little is known of Nefertari, the first chief queen of Ramesses the Great, but
her stunning tomb is a testament to the high regard in which her husband
held her.
Like his predecessors, Ramesses II had an entire harem, but at any one time, just one
wife was given the rank of chief queen. His very long reign saw one consort die after
another.
The first and most beloved of these was Queen Nefertari. Thought to be an Egyptian
noblewoman, Ramesses married Nefertari in 1312 BC and she soon gave him his first
son, Amenhirwenemef.
Crazy in love
Although Ramesses was primarily in love with himself, he was also devoted to
Nefertari and wrote at length of his love and her beauty. He demonstrated this by
building her a magnificent tomb, the finest in the Valley of the Queens.
Although the tomb was later looted of its treasures, its decoration was exquisite. The
walls were covered with intricate paintings using a vast array of colors. It also
featured 'relief carving', a tricky process where the design is carved to stick out from
the surface of the wall.
Going the extra mile
When Nefertari died, she was sealed into her tomb as was customary. Ramesses then
ordered two enormous temples to be built, carved out of the cliffs of Abu Simbel in
Nubia, south of Thebes.
The larger of the two temples was built for Ramesses himself; the smaller temple was
built for Nefertari. The façade of the temple featured two enormous carvings of
Nefertari. However, just to remind his people who was boss, these carvings were
outnumbered by four images of Ramesses himself, even bigger than those of his wife.
There was also an inscription stating that Ramesses II paid for the temple "for the
Chief Queen Nefertari... for whom the sun shines."
Who's the man?
The temples had another purpose: they were a gigantic piece of propaganda. Located
at the most southern point of the Egyptian empire, they were intended to
demonstrate the pharaoh's power to locals and visitors alike.
Visible for miles, the temples and colossal statues of Ramesses and Nefertari would
have filled travelers with wonder and awe - just the reaction Ramesses wanted and a
fitting tribute to his beloved wife, Nefertari.
Queen Hatshepsut
http://www.pbs.org/empires/egypt/newkingdom/hatshepsut.html
As pharaoh, Hatshepsut (reigned from c1479 - 1458 BC)was different - she
was a woman. Customarily Egyptian culture restricted kingship to men, but
Hatshepsut's determination and cunning silenced her enemies and enhanced
her reputation.
Ancient Egyptian society gave women far more respect than most other societies of
the time . But it was still extremely unusual for a woman to become pharaoh.
A man's world
Despite their relatively high status, many thought that it was fundamentally wrong for
a woman to rule. So Hatshepsut had to spend her reign securing her position and
fighting to be seen as a legitimate ruler.
After the death of her father, Tuthmosis I, Hatshepsut became queen to Tuthmosis II,
her half-brother. After he died, power passed to her stepson,Tuthmosis III, while he
was still a small boy.
A grab for power
Hatshepsut became co-regent, ruling with others on behalf of her stepson until he
grew up. This was standard practice, but Hatshepsut then surprised everyone by
grabbing sole power for herself and declaring herself Pharaoh - just the third woman
to be pharaoh in 3,000 years.
At first, Hatshepsut's move was very unpopular. To persuade her people, Hatshepsut
stressed her royal ancestry and claimed that her father had publicly appointed her as
his successor.
Telling tales
She also relied heavily on propaganda. On her temple walls she ordered carvings that
told how the god Amen had taken on her father's appearance on the day she was
conceived. This effectively made Hatshepsut the daughter of the chief of all Egyptian
gods.
Then Hatshepsut made sure that she was portrayed in pictures as a man, with a false
beard. Finally, she replaced her husband and father's old courtiers with new
supporters, so if she went, they went too.
Family problems
Despite these efforts, Hatshepsut was still worried about her position. In particular,
she had to deal with her army, which was led by her stepson (and rightful pharaoh),
Tuthmosis. She had a dilemma: if she led them into battle and lost, she would be
blamed and could lose power. If her army won the battle, Tuthmosis would get all the
credit and she could lose power.
Hatshepsut was nothing if not cunning, and she devised a win-win solution. She
ordered the army to make itself useful, not by going into battle, but by setting off on
a trading expedition to the land of Punt, where no Egyptian had been for more than
500 years.
A cunning plan
The expedition had a double advantage: it would keep her army busy so that
Tuthmosis posed no danger to her. It also offered Hatshepsut the chance to bring
back to Egypt a wide variety of valuable and exotic goods, such as ivory, leopard skins
and incense.
The expedition was an enormous success and enhanced Hatshepsut's reputation. She
became the ruler who had reached out to foreign countries and who had delivered to
Egyptians marvelous wonders from far away.
Erased from history
After 22 years of reign, Hatshepsut died and her stepson, Tuthmosis III, finally gained
the throne that had been rightfully his for decades. Tuthmosis resented his long wait
for power and was determined to make Hatshepsut pay. He wanted to wipe her from
history so that Egyptians would forget that she had ever ruled.
In a massive operation, he ordered that her name and image be removed from every
part of Egypt. He was so successful that Hatshepsut was totally erased from Egyptian
history until 1903, when British archaeologist Howard Carter found her tomb and her
story was rediscovered for the first time in 3,500 years.
Queen Nefertiti
http://www.pbs.org/empires/egypt/newkingdom/nefertiti.html
The most powerful woman in Egypt since the Pharaoh Hatshepsut 100 years
earlier, Queen Nefertiti was as influential as she was beautiful, a partner in
power with her king, Akenhaten.
Although Nefertiti was not born of royal blood, she had grown up close to the royal
family. Some evidence suggests that her father was the powerful courtier Ay, advisor
to three pharaohs, including Akenhaten, Nefertiti's husband. Like him, Nefertiti would
prove to be a key player at court.
Hell hath no fury...
During her marriage to Akenhaten, Queen Nefertiti stood with him at the head of the
new regime. Carved images on ancient temples show her killing Egypt's enemies previously only a role given to the pharaoh.
When Akenhaten moved the government from Thebes to Amarna, Nefertiti moved
with him. She was a full participant in important religious ceremonies: when
Akenhaten appeared in public to make religious offerings to Aten, the sun god,
Nefertiti performed them with him. And when Akenhaten ordered colossal statues of
himself, he would order statues of equal size for his 'Great Wife'.
Nefertiti was seen as second only to the pharaoh himself.
All you need is love
The reason for this may have been simple: love. In an age when marriages were
arranged for political reasons, the partnership between Akenhaten and Nefertiti seems
to have been unusually romantic. Nefertiti is also the only Egyptian queen that we
know to have been lovingly described by her husband, the pharaoh.
Their home life appears to have been a happy one. She bore Akenhaten six daughters
and images still exist of the pharaoh and his wife kissing and playing with their
children.
The vanishing
All appeared well. The move to Amarna was a success and life seemed good. Then, in
the twelfth year of Akenhaten's reign and at the height of Nefertiti's powers, she
vanished from history altogether. Until 1822, when scholars learned how to
read hieroglyphics, she simply ceased to exist.
Found again
Despite this breakthrough, Nefertiti remained faceless for almost another century,
until 1912. A German archaeologist called Ludwig Borchardt was digging through the
remains of Amarna and found a life-sized bust of the long-dead queen. As Borchardt
recorded in his diary, "Description is useless, see for yourself." Nefertiti lived up to her
name, 'a beautiful woman has come'.
Today, scholars still don't know exactly why she so suddenly disappeared from history
more than 3,000 years ago.