Unlike many other countries where everyone was either a peasant or a nobleman, Egypt had a very large middle class. These people tended to live in cities or on small country estates. They made a decent amount of money from skilled labor, so they could afford to buy food and other items instead of making it […]

Just like in any other civilization, the economy of Ancient Egypt relied on a variety of skilled and unskilled labor. There were many different careers available in Egypt, ranging from breaking rocks in mines to making scientific discoveries in a university. Over the course of 3,000 years, the ancient Egyptian empire remained remarkably stable. The […]

In the medical field, women are mentioned as nurses and depicted as midwives. Males and females were nurses who assisted the doctors in procedures. Nurses also played an important role in the life of the king. Egyptologist Carolyn Graves-Brown writes: In the New Kingdom, at least, the royal nurse was an important person, being so close […]

A famous story from Greece relates how a young woman named Agnodice wished to become a doctor in Athens but found this forbidden. In fact, a woman practicing medicine in Athens in the 4th century BCE faced the death penalty. Refusing to give up on her dreams, she traveled to Alexandria where women were routinely allowed in the medical profession. Once she had received her training, she […]

While she was neither Egypt‘s first female ruler, nor its only female pharaoh, Hatshepsut (1479-1458 BCE) was ancient Egypt ‘s first female ruler to reign as a male with the full authority of a pharaoh’s office. The fifth pharaoh of Egypt‘s 18th Dynasty during the New Kingdom period (1570-1069 BCE), today, Hatshepsut is rightly celebrated as a […]

Cleopatra VII (69-30 BCE) had the misfortune to ascend the throne at a time when Egypt’s wealth and military power were in decline and an aggressive and assertive Roman Empire was expanding. The legendary queen also suffered from history’s tendency to define powerful female rulers by the men in their lives. Cleopatra VII was Egypt’s […]

Nefertari means ‘beautiful companion’ and was the first of Rameses the Great’s Great Royal Wives. Known also as Nefertari Meritmutor or ‘Beloved of the goddess Mut’ Nefertari is one of Egypt’s most iconic queens, alongside Nefertiti, Hatshepsut and Cleopatra. However, comparatively little is known about her family or her past prior to Rameses ascending to Egypt’s throne. Much of […]

Hatshepsut (1479-1458 BCE) is considered to be one of ancient Egypt’s most revered if controversial rulers. Celebrated by Egyptologists as a commanding female sovereign whose rule ushered in a long period of military success, economic growth and prosperity. Hatshepsut was ancient Egypt’s first female ruler to reign with the full political authority of a pharaoh. However, in […]

In chapter 18 of  Hellenistic Egypt (2007, pp. 240-253), Jean Bingen discusses the cultural interactions between the native population of Egypt and its ruling minority of Greek-Macedonians and come to the conclusion that there is not much mutual acculturation between the two. The specific aspect of society and this proposed cultural dualism of Ptolemaic Egypt that will be investigated […]