Some 3,000 Years Before Cleopatra, this Forgotten Queen Ruled Ancient Egypt
Without her, the pyramids might not have been built
The first Egyptian ruling queen… about whom we know virtually nothing
Let me take you back to an exciting time: around 3,000 BCE when Egypt had only just been brought under one span of control. There is someone I want you to meet in those early days of Egypt’s history.
This is the time shortly after centuries of warring tribes and early states had resulted in that legendary moment when the first king of Egypt united all of the Nile Valley under his rule. Or at least, that is how official history in Egypt records a process of decades - as a single event by a single person. Starting with that first king, the official historical records of the ancient Egyptians then continue with detailed lists of his successors.
And in those lists, the person I want you to meet has been left out. Were it not for her tomb, she would have been left behind in that early history and I would not be writing this blog. Her tomb. Yes, you read that right.
Her name was Merit-Neith, which means ‘Beloved of Neith’. Neith was a goddess, but not your average friendly goddess: this was the goddess of war. A fitting name for the first-ever woman to rule all of the Nile Valley. She belongs to what Egyptologists call the First Dynasty, the very first family of rulers to govern Egypt. Among all of its kings, there is one queen who stands out — and who was left out.
So first off, what’s the deal with those official Egyptian records? Why is she not in them?
Cancel-culture and spreadsheets some 5,000 years ago
The ancient Egyptians were masters of list-keeping. Honestly, I kid you not, these people invented the spreadsheet some 5,000 years before Excel saw the light of day. They noted down everything: the height of the annual Nile flood, the number of cattle in the country every two years, and the names and regnal years of each and every ruler. That makes for a pretty incredible historic source…
…except that they edited out everyone they did not want to be remembered of.
That makes these lists something of a nightmare for Egyptologists. What we have is the official account of history as the Egyptians would like it to be, not as it actually was. Unsurprisingly, kings and queens not mentioned on the lists keep turning up in excavations — especially Tutankhamun made quite the entrance on the world stage with his tomb, but then again, so did Merit-Neith. Because she had what Tutankhamun did not: dozens of courtiers following her in death.
A tomb filled with dead servants
In her defense: having people murdered to join you on your last journey was a thing back then. All the kings did it. Because how was one to survive the everlasting hereafter without personnel to wait on them hand and foot? The royal tombs were outfitted with extra space for the graves of staff and servants, and judging by the number of these, the early kings of ancient Egypt expected quite something from the afterlife. It was a short-lived habit, though, that is only seen in tombs of the first dynasty — Tutankhamun was buried with hundreds of servants, too, but those were made of wood.
In any case, her son Den made sure she was buried with full royal honors, and with two expensive monuments at her tomb clearly spelling out her name. She got a tomb similar in size to that of the other boys in the same necropolis.
Confused archaeologists
This got archaeologists confused: when the tomb was discovered, their first assumption was that this was the tomb of a king. Found in a royal necropolis, in between tombs of kings…this should be another king, right? It would be a while though before they realized that the owner was, in fact, a woman. It appears that Merit-Neith acted as regent for her young son after his father, King Djet, had died. That is also why there is so little evidence of anything she did, like signed decrees or temple offerings: with Den as the official king, it would be his name on any official document, not hers.
Holding it together
Even though we do not know all that much about her, taking the reins of a fledgling state and governing it on behalf of your young child requires statesmanship. She must have been able to speak with authority, decide diplomatically, issue orders, and — judging by her name — successfully deliver action when those were not fulfilled. Without Merit-Neith holding the country together, there would not have been much left for Den to govern. Would the pyramids have been built without her? If she had not been there to take the helm, that fledgling state might have disintegrated again, and the kings who eventually raised those massive monuments might never have come into existence.
Left out of history
But after the reign of her son Den, Merit-Neith disappears from the record. We don’t know why that is, but it does hint to issues further down the dynastic line. And it’s not just the ancient Egyptian records she is missing from: even in some Egyptological books, you will see the succession of kings jump straight from Djet to Den, adding perhaps a footnote about this remarkable queen.
We don’t know all that much about her, except that she is the earliest role model for female power in history — if anyone asks, you now know she is the first woman recorded in, and nearly kicked out of, history, to take care of business when needed.
References
Dodson, A. 2021. The First Pharaohs. Their Lives and Afterlives. AUC Press
