Women In Ancient Egypt

Generally, women in ancient Egypt were tasked with marrying and raising children, but they also played active roles throughout society, laboring in fields and conscripted for public works alongside men. Moreover, they were legally independent citizens who exercised a remarkable degree of self-determination in an era typically dominated by men.

As legally independent citizens, women held comprehensive legal privileges. They could inherit and bequeath property, carry out personal transactions, hire servants, train apprentices, draft wills, and testify in court. Women could manage an inheritance and even serve as judges on village councils.

Women also held titles such as “governor,” “judge,” “steward,” “overseer of doctors,” and even “vizier”—the highest administrative rank beneath the Pharaoh.

Women from upper social ranks often held priesthoods, typically in service of a female deity. Although fewer women than men worked in the temples, the title of ‘priestess’ (hemet netjer, literally ‘wife of the god’) did exist. Priestesses were usually married to priests, and as such, their position heavily relied on their husbands’ status.

Women close to the court sometimes held honorific titles like royal acquaintance or royal ornament, but their status also always depended on that of their husbands.

At times when the man was away, women assumed control. For instance, when the Scribe Nesamenopet was away from Thebes on business, his wife Hennutawi managed the distribution of village grain rations. Although it is often stated that there is no evidence of female scribes, it is likely that some women could consult written records in the course of their official duties (Fletcher, 2003).

It is challenging to fully comprehend the range of female activity since women did not hold nearly as many titles as men.

Women also performed traditional jobs like weaving, turning flax into fine linen on horizontal looms. Several surviving tomb scenes depict rewards given to female weavers for their work in the form of broad gold collars. Typically, weaving work was done at home.

The homes of the poorer classes in ancient Egypt were very much open-air living, while the houses of the affluent were designed to remain cool throughout the summer. Refreshing air currents were made to circulate freely through them via the strategic arrangement of passages and courts. Corridors, supported on columns, provided access to different apartments through a succession of shady avenues and areas, with one side open to the air, similar to our modern cloisters. Even small detached houses featured an open court in the center, often adorned with a garden of palms and a small pond.

Fletcher, J. (2003) Ancient Egypt: Life, myth and art. London: Duncan Baird Publishers.

Global and Book, G. (2005) Egypt: Land and lives of the pharaohs revealed. 1st edn. Australia: Global Book Publishing.

Menu, B. and Hirsch, L. (1999) Ramesses the great: Warrior and builder. London: Thames and Hudson.

Oakes, L. and Gahlin, L. (2003) Ancient Egypt: An illustrated reference. London: Ultimate Editions.

Romer, J. (2003) Ancient lives: The story of the pharaohs’ Tombmakers (phoenix press). London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson History.

Wilkinson, J. G. (1994) Ancient Egyptians: Their life and customs Vol I. United Kingdom: Senate Books