Although Cleopatra has been known as Egypt’s first female pharaoh, it has been discovered that Queen Arsinoë II may have been there 200 years before her. By analyzing the crown she wore, Swedish researchers are starting to question whether all the pharaohs had all really been male. Queen Arsinoë II (316-270 B.C.) was the first female pharaoh belonging to the Ptolemy family. She was the daughter of Ptolemy I who was a Macedonian general who later became the founder of the Ptolemaic dynasty, which is the dynasty Cleopatra belonged to. She was not a regular queen. She had fought in battles and even won events in the Olympics. She was married three times, that last time being to her brother King Ptolemy II. This is when she was given her unique crown. The symbols on the crown showed that she was a queen, high priestess, and the ruler of Lower Egypt. She dies at the age of 45 and was supposedly honored for 200 years after her death. There was even a special shrine built in remembrance of her, Arsinoëion. The original crown was interpreted into many variations, which were later on worn by future queens such as Cleopatra III and Cleopatra VII.
Bailey W. Period 1
http://news.discovery.com/archaeology/queen-arsinoe-egypt-pharaoh.html
5 comments:
It is interesting that Egypt was the first place to have female rulers. Even though Ptolemy was Macedonian, was his daughter Queen Arsinoë II still considered Egyptian during her rule?
Wait she wasn't the first? That is really interesting. And I agree with what Sarah said and how even the=ough Ptolemy was Macedonian, both Queens were considered Egyptian. And I also liked how the crown was descended down from Queen Arsinoe II to Cleopatra III and Cleopatra VII. This was a very informative post.
Thats interesting that historians might have mistaken Cleopatra as the first female Pharaoh. So they are both from the Ptolemaic dynasty, are there more female Pharaohs that were ruling under the same dynasty?
It's interesting to see how certain people get branded into history and how others are forgotten. We only talk about Cleopatra, but Queen Arsinoe sounds like she had a lot of freedom, power, and talent, along with preceding Cleopatra. And why don't we learn about her? And while Ptolemy was Macedonian, it shows how the two areas were connected to each other. Very nice post.
Your post really sparked an interest for me. I have always been interested in Egypt and thought Cleopatra was the first female pharaoh. Its interesting that they are questioning whether all the pharaohs had really been male. It was very informative.
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