Women in Ancient Egypt...?

Question

I'm going to do an asignment comparing Women in Ancient Egypt to another civilisation's women.

What period should I focus on, Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom or New Kingdom? - considering the amount of information available etc.

Answer 1

You are probably more likely to find information dating to the New Kingdom. There is a great deal of information about both royal and non-royal women in the New Kingdom and Late Periods. For a non-royal perspective on women, you may want to look for information relating to the settlement of Deir el-Medina. It was a village near the various tombs on the west bank across from Thebes, including the Valley of the Kings. The inhabitants were employed working on the tombs and it is from this village that a great deal of the information we have about village life in ancient Egypt is drawn.

You will probably want to have a look at the book "Women in Ancient Egypt" by Gay Robins as a starting point for your research.

You may want to consider that while Cleopatra VII (the famous Cleopatra) ruled Egypt, she was the last of a long line of non-Egyptian rulers of Egypt - a dynasty which took their name from their founder, Ptolemy, a general under Alexander the Great. So, it may not necessarily be appropriate to discuss Cleopatra has an indicator of the roles and status of women in ancient Egypt. The Ptolemaic period is also quite a bit later than the New Kingdom.

Answer 2

New Kingdom, for sure. And many good choices for comparisons at that time too.

Answer 3

The one with Cleopatra, and figure out thou similariteis and contrast of the other women in that time period. Actually, now i'm curious about that, maby i'll figure it out for myself.

Answer 4

Maybe the New one, that way you can analize the influence of the greek culture in the egyptian woman.

Answer 5

middle kingdom...glad to help : )