Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Step back in time to meet queens of ancient Egypt
IF you had 10 seconds to name a queen of ancient Egypt, who would it be? Probably Cleopatra, famous for her alliances with Roman leaders Julius Caesar and Marc Antony.
But who came before her? Nefertari, Isis, Ahmose and Hatshepsut are just a few queens of Egypt whose legacies aren’t as widely known. A new exhibit at the National Geographic Museum in Washington, DC, aims to change that.
“I only knew there was Cleopatra, I didn’t know there were so many other queens,” said Roxie Mazelan, 9, a Girl Scout visiting the
exhibit. Roxie and her fellow pupils put on their 3-D glasses to explore the exhibit’s virtual-reality dome. They
Egypt
Queens
of travelled back in time and walked through the virtual tomb of Queen Nefertari, principal wife of Ramses II. Among the popular artefacts are Nefertari’s shoes, found in her tomb by an Italian archaeologist in 1904, and jewellery, make-up jars and mirrors that once belonged to Egypt’s female rulers. Among the hands-on exhibit features are jars with scents such as henna and lotus which you can pop open and smell. Queen Hatshepsut was the most influential Egyptian queen and known as a great diplomat during her 22-year reign. To gain respect, she dressed as a man, wore a false beard and created statues of herself with a pharaoh’s headdress.
“Out of all the ancient civilisations, Egypt’s was the only one that really valued women,” says Lexie de los Santos, who helps promote National Geographic exhibits.
Egyptian women could own land, choose a husband, get divorced and even govern. “But after their rule, [male leaders] just erased all memory of these women,” she said.
Kara Cooney, an Egyptologist who wrote a book about the queens, said men would put women in high positions to give young males time to mature. When a man was ready to be pharaoh, the woman in charge would step down. – Washington Post