It happened several times that Great Royal Wifes and Mothers of the King stepped in and took over the reins when kings died or were mere young children. Some of these queens seem to have reigned in their own rights as well. They didn´t make the same impact as Hatshepsut and Cleopatra, which have been given great and adequate attention elsewhere, but these other queens deserve to be mentioned.

What follows here is a brief overview of these women, not intending to be exhaustive at all, and therefore I have only included those who are not usually treated, and left out Nefertari, Tiye and the two alrerady mentioned above. They will be included later, of course.

The word 'queen' in ancient Egypt could be used for more than one woman with a close kinship with the king.

There are three different titles, which all could refer to the word 'queen'; Hemet Nesw Weret, which was the king´s Great Royal Wife, next the Mwt Nesw, Mother of the King, and then the king´s other, lesser wives, Hemw Nesw.

The Great Royal Wife is often seen depicted beside the king, and was next to him in the hierarchy. Most frequently it was the son of the Great Royal Wife who became the next king. :

Nithotep (Neithotep)
This is the name of the wife of King Aha or Narmer. Once a lady of importance - perhaps the first queen of a united Egypt to ever have come down through history. The name Nithotep is spelled in various ways: NeithHotep, N-th-t-p, Nithetep - all of them indicating Nit as the aim of the devotions.

Her tomb, originally thought to belong to the mythical Menes, but later acknowledged as belonging to the mother of Aha, was found at Naqada. There has been some speculations if she was from Lower Egypt, as indicated by the name, Nit being a deity from there, and married Narmer for political reasons. Nothing has been found to support this theory. As she most likely buried at Naqada, it might be that she originated from there and that Narmer married her to secure an alliance with this important location in Upper Egypt.

MeritNit

In Dynasty 1, c 2950 b.c., Queen MeritNit (MerytNeith, MerNeith, spelling varies) must have been a significant woman as she was given a funerary structure at the Royal funerary enclosure at Abydos as well as funerary monument at Saqqara. She is also the very first queen in the history of ancient Egypt actually recorded as having reigned.

MeritNit or MerNeith, meaning Beloved of Nit, was probably daughter to King Djer, the second king of the 1st Dynasty, the Great Royal Wife of King Djet and the mother of King Den, all of the 1st Dynasty. She is thought to have ruled alone after the death of Djet while her son Den was very young. Her name, when found on one of the two large stelae at her tomb at Abydos, was first thought by Petrie to be that of a king´s, but because of the many sealings of Den which were found in her tomb, it is now believed that the name of MeritNit must have been the King´s mother. There has also been excavated a clay seal impression from the tombs of Den and Qa´a, which lists chronologically the names of the early kings, from Narmer to Den on which the word 'Mwt Nswt' (King´s Mother) is added.

The tomb of MeritNit was first excavated by Petrie in 1900. Its structure corresponded to the tombs of the kings and consisted of a central burial chamber surrounded by eight store rooms. Around this over 40 subsidiary tombs were found. The content of these indicate that many of them were in her service. There was buried her shipmaker, her vasemaker and her artists. Nearby was found two large funerary stelae with the name of MeritNit (MerNeith) in raised relief.

It was customary for the early dynastic kings to have two funerary monuments, one for the actual tomb, the other one functioned as a cenotaph. MeritNit is sofar the only woman to have been commemorated in this way. At her funerary monument at Saqqara there were burials of craftsmen who were to work for her in the Afterlife, and a solar boat to enable her to travel with the Sungod in the Afterlife. This solarboat was something which was exclusively the right of the King. This indicates that she may very well have been a regent or co-regent, and at the least, she must have been an influential and powerful woman.

Apart from this, evidence of MeritNit outside of Abydos is scarce. There exists an unprovenanced alabaster cylinder vessel with her name in relief, and also on three vessel fragments from Saqqara. Her name, MeritNit, meaning Beloved of Nit, indicates that she had some power in Lower Egypt, where the cult center of Nit was located at Sais. At this period Nit was a deity with great importance, ever since Predynastic times and according to Hornung held a dominant influence at court.

Nitocris

The next one is Nitocris, from the last dynasty of the Old Kingdom period. Little is know about her; in fact, there is no clear evidence of her existence, and she might be just a legend. Herodotus relates a story about her in which she managed to kill all the people she believed responsible for her husband's death. (Herodotus' tales of Egypt would probably not meet today's standards for historical scholarship, since at least some of them appear to be based on casual reports of travellers.) Nitocris is known only from Herodotus and from Manetho, the only other source is her mentioning in the Turin Papyri

Sobekneferu

Queen Sobkneferu;'Beauty of the god Sobek' - (1785-1782 bc) Dyn 12, Middle Kingdom. Her throne name was Sobek-ka-ra, which means 'Sobek is the soul of Ra'. She even had her name inscribed in a cartouch which can be seen at the British Museum. Her Horus name appears in a serekh beneath the cartouche: Meryt-Ra - 'The Female Hawk, Beloved of Re' and the title 'Lady of the South and North' (Normally only Kings had a Horus name). Nebty name : "sat sekhem nebet tawy", Gold Horus name : "djedet khaw". She may also be called NeferuSobek and had a sister by name NeferuPtah.

She was the sister-wife to Amenemhet IV and acted as ruler after he died. Later she ruled in her own right. There are few written records left of them and no pyramid has been satisfyingly ascribed to either of them. The Turin Canon states that her rule was three years, ten months, and twenty-four days long. There are to date five statues found, where she appears dressed as female, sometimes male attire is added. The fact that she is included in the Turin Canon, shows that Sobekneferu was considered as legitimate rule of Egypt. She is also recorded in the Saqqara King list.

To her is ascribed the completion of the mortuary temple of Amenemhat III at Harwa. The location of her own tomb is uncertain and she may be buried in an uninscribed tomb in the pyramid complex at Mazghuna, north of the complex ascribed to Amenemhat IV.

Aahotep I

Queen Aahotep I (c 1590-1530) was the daughter of Sanakten-Re Taa I and Tetisheri. She was married to King Sekenen-Re Taa II and had two sons; Kamose and Ahmose. The latter one succeeded his father on the throne when this one was killed in battle. It is believed that this happened when Ahmose I was very young, and that Queen Ahhotep I was acting as regent. She was probably influential in driving out the Hyksos from Egypt. A stele in the temple of Amun-Re at Karnak says about her: 'She is one who has accomplished the rites and cared for Egypt; she has looked after Egypt's troops and she has guarded them; she has brought back the fugitives and collected together the deserters; she has pacified Upper Egypt and expelled her rebels'. In her coffin was found a golden necklace with three examples of the 'Golden Fly', (or the 'Fly of Valour'), a honorific award given for excellence in military service. Queen Ahhotep I lived until she was over 90 years old and was found buried beside Kamose in Thebes.

Ahmose Nefertari

Queen Ahmose Nefertari - (1570-1505 bc) was a New Kingdom influential queen with political and religious titles. She was the spouse of Ahmose, son of Queen Ahhotep, and it´s thought that she was his sister or halfsister. Ahmose Nefertari was never a regent per sé, but through her, we get some knowledge about the new political role of women in the early 18th Dynasty. As an example, she was the first one to carry the title of God's Wife of Amun. This title was bestowed on her by Ahmose and the event is recorded on a stele in the temple of Amun at Karnak. The stele also tells that there was an endowment of goods and land together with the office, which would stay with her and her heirs for all eternity.

Ahmose Nefertari was also thought to have been involved with the king´s building projects. The limestone quarries opposite Memphis, and the alabaster quarries of Assiut displays her name, and on a stele at Abydos there is an inscription by the king, saying that he sought her approval before erecting it to the honor of his grandmother Tetisheri.

Often there are listed ritual offerings dedicated by queens and kings, but those by Ahmose Nefertari, which have been found in temples at Karnak, Abydos, Deir-el-Bahri and Serabit-el-Kadim in Sinai, outdoes them both chronologically and numerically. This tells us of her involvement in the cult, both concerning the buildings, the rituals, and the dedication of ritual objects. Probably this was done in her capacity as God´s Wife of Amen, a title which she preferred to use instead of other royal titles like 'king´s wife' etc.

Ahmose Nefertari outlived both her husband and her son Amenhotep I. During the next king, Thutmose I, she still enjoyed a high esteem, and the king set up a statue of her in the temple at Karnak. The date of her death is unknown, but a fragment of an inscription tells us: 'when the God´s Wife Ahmose Nefertari, justified with the great god, lord of the west, flew to heaven'. Both during her lifetime and after, she overshadowed her son´s principal wife Meritamun, who, even though the title of God´s Wife of Amun was passed over to her, did not leave any significant traces.

Her importance lingered after her death. She and her son Amenhotep I was deified and worshipped as their patrons in the workmen´s village at Deir-el-Medina, where her cult survived all throughout the New Kingdom.

Tewosret

Queen Tewosret - Birth name: Twosret Setepenmut (Mighty Lady Chosen of Mut), Throne name: Sitre-MeryAmun (Daughter of Re, Beloved of Amun)- (1187-1185bc) Dyn 19, New Kingdom. She is also known as Twore or Tausert.

Tewosret was married to Seti II and mother of Seti-Merenptah who was the heir-apparent but who died before he became king. She was also stepmother to Siptah, a son of a younger queen of Seti II. Siptah succeeded his father and when he too died, Tewosret as his stepmother declared herself King. She used a full royal titulary, just as Hatshepsut had done ca 300 years earlier. Her reign was short, only a couple of years. The times were unruly, with hardships for the people, and she and her close advisor, the Chancellor Bay, was put to blame for these circumstances.

She had her tomb built and was put there at her death. Later, she was ousted from it by King Setnakhte, the first ruler od the 20th Dynasty. When she died, the 19th dynasty ended. She is buried in Tomb KV14 Valley of the Kings.