Women in Ancient Egypt

A work in progress bibliography on the topic of women in ancient Egypt.

General

• Ayad, M.F., Women in Ancient Egypt: Revisiting Power, Agency, and Autonomy (2022). Preview
• Budin, S.L. and Turfa, J.M., Women in Antiquity: Real Women across the Ancient World (2016). Preview
• Capel, A.K. and Markoe, G., Mistress of the House, Mistress of Heaven: Women in Ancient Egypt (1996). Preview
• Graves-Brown, C., Dancing for Hathor: Women in Ancient Egypt (2010). Preview
• James, S.L. and Dillon, S., A Companion to Women in the Ancient World (2012). Preview
• Lesko, B.S., The remarkable women of ancient Egypt (1978).
• Robins, G., Women in Ancient Egypt (1993). Preview
• Tyldesley, J., Daughters of Isis: Women of Ancient Egypt (1994). Preview
• Watterson, B., Women in Ancient Egypt (1991). Preview

Royal women

• Arnold, D., The Royal Women of Amarna: Images of Beauty from Ancient Egypt (1999).
• Callender, V.G., In Hathor’s image I: The wives and mothers of Egyptian kings from Dynasties I-VI (2011).
• Callender, V.G., Curious names of some Old Kingdom royal women, JEA 97 (2011), 127-142.
• Davis, T.M., The Tomb of Queen Tîyi (1910).
• Dodson, A. and Hilton, D., The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt (2004).
• Dodson, A., Nefertiti, Queen and Pharaoh of Egypt: Her Life and Afterlife (2020).
• Fletcher, J., The Search For Nefertiti (2004).
• Lilyquist, C., The Tomb of Three Foreign Wives of Tuthmosis III (2003).
• Lohwasser, A., Die kuschitischen Königinnen: Ethno-archäologische und ikonographische Zugänge zum Queenship von Kusch, in: Matronage: Handlungsstrategien und soziale Netzwerke antiker Herrscherfrauen (2013), 27-30.
• McCarthy, H.L., The Osiris Nefertari: A Case Study of Gender, Decorum and Regeneration, JARCE 39 (2002), 173-195.
• Roth, S., Die Königsmütter des Alten Ägypten von der Frühzeit bis zum Ende des 12. Dynastie (2001). Preview
• Roth, S., Gebieterin aller Länder: Die Rolle der königlichen Frauen in der fiktiven und realen Aussenpolitik des ägyptischen Neuen Reiches (2002). Preview
• Stünkel, I., Royal women: Ladies of the Two Lands, in: Ancient Egypt transformed: The Middle Kingdom (2015), 92-95. Preview
• Tyldesley, J., Nefertiti: Egypt’s Sun Queen (1998). Preview
• Tyldesley, J., Chronicle of the Queens of Egypt from Early Dynastic Times to the Death of Cleopatra (2006).
• Tyldesley, J., Cleopatra: Last Queen of Egypt (2008). Preview
• Tyldesley, J., Nefertiti’s Face: The Creation of an Icon (2018).
• Wildung, D., Kandake: The queens of ancient Sudan, in: Queens of Egypt: From Hetepheres to Cleopatra (2008), 200-205.
• Winlock, H.E., The Treasure of Three Egyptian Princesses (1948).
• Ziegler, C., Queens of Egypt: From Hetepheres to Cleopatra (2008).

Female pharaohs

• Cooney, K., The Woman Who Would Be King: Hatshepsut’s Rise to Power in Ancient Egypt (2014). Preview
• Cooney, K., When Women Ruled the World: Six Queens of Egypt (2018).
• Roehrig, C.H. (ed.), Hatshepsut: From Queen to Pharaoh (2005).
• Roth, A.M., Models of authority: Hatshepsut’s predecessors in power, in: Hatshepsut: From Queen to Pharaoh (2005), 9-14.
• Roth, A.M., Hatshepsut’s mortuary temple at Deir el-Bahri: Architecture as political statement, in: Hatshepsut: From Queen to Pharaoh (2005), 147-151.
• Roth, A.M., Erasing a reign, in: Hatshepsut: From Queen to Pharaoh (2005), 277-281.
• Tyldesley, J., Hatchepsut: The Female Pharaoh (1996). Preview
• Wilkinson, R.H. (ed.), Tausret: Forgotten queen and pharaoh of Egypt (2012). Preview

Predynastic

• Savage, S.H., The Status of Women in Predynastic Egypt as Revealed through Mortuary Analysis, in: Reading the Body: Representations and Remains in the Archaeological Record (2000), 77-92.
• Walters, E., Hierakonpolis women of stature and the legacy from the Near East in Egypt, in: Moving across borders: Foreign relations, religion and cultural interactions in the ancient Mediterranean (2007), 267-297.

Old Kingdom

• Fischer, H.G., Egyptian women of the Old Kingdom and of the Heracleopolitan period (2000).
• McCorquodale, K., Representations of the family in the Egyptian Old Kingdom: Women and Marriage (2013).
• Roth, A.M., Little women: Gender and hierarchic proportion in Old Kingdom mastaba chapels, in: The Old Kingdom Art and Archaeology (2006), 281-296.
• Vasiljevic, V., Hierarchy of women within elite families: Iconographic data from the Old Kingdom, in: Art and Society: Ancient and Modern Contexts of Egyptian Art (2012), 139-149.
• Vasiljevic, V,. Female owners of carrying chairs: Sitzsänfte and Hocksänfte, SAK 41 (2012), 395-406.

Middle Kingdom

• Grajetzki, W., Tomb Treasures of the Late Middle Kingdom: The Archaeology of Female Burials (2014). Preview
• Quirke, S., Women of Lahun (Egypt 1800 BC), in: Archaeology and women: Ancient and modern issues (2007), 246-262. Preview
• Stefanović, D., Dossiers of Ancient Egyptian Women: The Middle Kingdom and Second Intermediate Period (2016).

New Kingdom

• Backhouse, J., Figured ostraca from Deir el-Medina, in: Current Research Egyptology XII (2012), 25-39.
• Backhouse, J., Female Figurines from Deir el-Medina: A Review of Evidence for their Iconography and Function, in: Current Research in Egyptology XIII (2013), 22-40.
• Donker van Heel, K., Mrs. Naunakhte & Family: The Women of Ramesside Deir Al-Medina (2016).
• Koltsida, A., Domestic Space and Gender Roles in Ancient Egyptian Village Households: A View from Amarna Workmen’s Village and Deir el-Medina, in: Building Communities: House, Settlement and Society in the Aegean and Beyond (2002), 121-414.
• Meskell, L., Private Life in New Kingdom Egypt (2002). Chapter 1
• Pemler, D., Looking at Nubians in Egypt: Nubian Women in New Kingdom Tomb and Temple Scenes and the Case of TT 40 (Amenemhet Huy), Dotawo: A Journal of Nubian Studies 5 (2018), 25-61.
• Roth, A.M. and C.H. Roehrig, Magical bricks and the bricks of birth, JEA 88 (2002), 121-139.
• Sweeney, D., Gender and Language in the Ramesside Love Songs, BES 16 (2003), 27-50.
• Sweeney, D., Women Growing Older in Deir el-Medina, in: Living and Writing in Deir el-Medine (2006), 135-153.
• Sweeney, D., Gender and Oracular Practice in Deir el-Medina, ZÄS 135 (2008), 154-164.
• Sweeney, D., Gender and Requests in New Kingdom Literature, in: Sex and gender in ancient Egypt: ‘Don your wig for a joyful hour’ (2008), 191-213.
• Sweeney, D., Women at Worship on Deir el-Medina Stelae, in: Deir el-Medina Studies (2014), 181-193.
• Toivari-Viitala, J., Women at Deir el-Medina: A study of the status and roles of the female inhabitants in the workmen’s community during the Ramesside period (2001).
• Wilfong, T.G., Menstrual synchrony and the “place of women” in ancient Egypt (Oriental Institute Museum Hieratic Ostracon 13512), in: Gold of Praise: Studies on Ancient Egypt in Honor of Edward F. Wente (1999), 419-434.

Third Intermediate Period

• Li, J., Women, Gender and Identity in Third Intermediate Period Egypt: The Theban Case Study (2017). Preview
• Swart, L., Observations on the Status of Women in the 21st and 22nd Dynasty, Thebes, Egypt, JSSEA 35 (2008), 207-216.

Late Period

• Azzoni, A., Women and property in Persian Egypt and Mesopotamia, in: Women and property in ancient Near Eastern and Mediterranean societies (2005).
• Donker van Heel, K., Mrs. Tsenhor: A Female Entrepreneur in Ancient Egypt (2014).
• Johnson, J.H., Women, property, and legal documents: A case study from the Persian Period, in: Joyful in Thebes: Egyptological Studies in Honor of Betsy M. Bryan (2015), 283-292. Preview

Greco-Roman Period

• Bagnall, R.S., Women’s petitions in late antique Egypt, in: Hellenistic and Roman Egypt: Sources and approaches (2006), 53-60. Comparable article | Preview book
• Johnson, J.H., Women, Wealth and Work in Egyptian Society of the Ptolemaic Period, in: Egyptian Religion: The Last Thousand Years: Studies Dedicated to the Memory of Jan Quaegebeur (1998), 1393-1421.
• Nifosi, A., Becoming a Woman and Mother in Greco-Roman Egypt (2019).
• O’Brien, A.A., Women in Ptolemaic and Roman Thebes, in: Acts of the Seventh International Conference of Demotic Studies (2002), 273-281. Preview
• Parca, M., The women of Ptolemaic Egypt: The view from papyrology, in: A companion to women in the ancient world (2012), 316-328.
• Riggs, C., Portraits, prestige, peity: Images of women in Roman Egypt, in: A companion to women in the ancient world (2012), 423-436.
• Rowlandson, Women & Society in Greek & Roman Egypt (1998). Preview
• Vandorpe, K. and Waebens, S., Women and gender in Roman Egypt: The impact of Roman rule, in: Tradition and transformation: Egypt under Roman rule (2010), 415-435.

Late Antique/Coptic Period

• Sheridan Moss, J., Women in late antique Egypt, in: A companion to women in the ancient world (2012), 502-512. Preview
• Wilfong, T.G., Women of Jeme: Lives in a Coptic town in late antique Egypt (2002). Preview
• Wilfong, T.G., Gender and Society in Byzantine Egypt, in: Egypt in the Byzantine World (2007), 309-327. Preview

Occupations

• Ashby, S., Dancing for Hathor: Nubian Women in Egyptian Cultic Life, Dotawo: A Journal of Nubian Studies 5 (2018), 63-90.
• Ayad, M.F., God’s Wife, God’s Servant: The God’s Wife of Amun (2009). Preview
• Bryan, B., Property and the God’s Wives of Amun, in: Women and property in ancient Near Eastern and Mediterranean societies (2005).
• Graefe, E., Untersuchungen zur Verwaltung und Geschichte der Institution der Gottesgemahlin des Amun vom Beginn des neuen Reiches bis zur Spätzeit (1981).
• Lesko, B.S., The women of Karnak, in: Perspectives on ancient Egypt (2010), 221-227.
• Lorenz, M., Women and their employment, in: The life of Meresamun: A temple singer in ancient Egypt (2009), 98-104.
• Onstine, S.L., The Role of the Chantress in Ancient Egypt (2005).
• Teeter, E. and Johnson, J.H. (eds.), The life of Meresamun: A temple singer in ancient Egypt (2009).

Legal/Marriage

• Johnson, J.H., “Annuity contracts” and marriage, in: For his ka: Essays offered in memory of Klaus Baer (1994), 113-132.
• Johnson, J.H., The Legal Status of Women in Ancient Egypt, in: Mistress of the House, Mistress of Heaven: Women in Ancient Egypt (1996), 175-186.
• Johnson, J.H., Speculations on Middle Kingdom Marriage, in: Studies on Ancient Egypt in Honour of H.S. Smith (1999), 169-172.
• Johnson, J.H., Sex and marriage in ancient Egypt, in: Hommages à Fayza Haikal (2003), 149-159.
• Johnson, J.H., The social, economic, and legal status of women in ancient Egypt, in: The life of Meresamun: A temple singer in ancient Egypt (2009), 82-91.
• Johnson, J.H., The Range of Private Property Envisioned in Demotic Documents Pertaining to Marriage and Inheritance, in: Mélanges offerts à Ola el-Aguizy (2015), 249-265.
• Pestman, P.W., Marriage and matrimonial property in ancient Egypt: A contribution to establishing the legal position of the woman (1961).

Childbirth

• Dupras, T.L. et al., Birth in ancient Egypt: Timing, trauma, and triumph? Evidence from the Dakhleh Oasis, in: Egyptian bioarchaeology (2015), 53-65.
• Pinch, G., Childbirth and Female Figurines at Deir el-Medina and el-‛Amarna, Orientalia 52 (1983), 405-414.

Gender

• Depauw, M., Notes on Transgressing Gender Boundaries in Ancient Egypt, ZÄS 130 (2003), 49-59.
• Eaverly, M.A., Tan Men/Pale Women: Color and Gender in Archaic Greece and Egypt (2013). Preview
• Graves-Brown, C. (ed.), Sex and gender in ancient Egypt: ‘Don your wig for a joyful hour’ (2008).
• Wilfong, T.G. (ed.), Women and Gender in Ancient Egypt: From Prehistory to Late Antiquity (1997).
• Wilfong, T.G., Gender in ancient Egypt, in: Egyptian archaeology (2010), 164-179.

Writing & literacy

• Bagnall, R.S. and Cribiore, R., Women’s letters from ancient Egypt, 300 BC-AD 800 (2006). Preview
• Shubert, S.B., Does she or doesn’t she? Female literacy in ancient Egypt, in: Proceedings of the Near & Middle Eastern Civilizations Graduate Students’ annual symposia, 1998-2000 (2001), 55-76.

Art

• Asher-Greve, J. and Sweeney, D., On Nakedness, Nudity, and Gender in Egyptian and Mesopotamian Art, in: Images and Gender: Contributions to the Hermeneutics of Reading Ancient Art (2006), 125-176.
• Eaverly, M.A., Tan Men/Pale Women: Color and Gender in Archaic Greece and Egypt (2013). Preview
• Robins, G., Some Principles of Compositional Domination and Gender Hierarchy in Egyptian Art, JARCE 31 (1994), 33-40.
• Roth, A. M., The Absent Spouse: Patterns and Taboos in Egyptian Tomb Decoration, JARCE 36 (1999), 36-53.
• Sweeney, D., Forever young? The representation of older and ageing women in Ancient Egyptian art, JARCE 41 (2004), 67-84.

Other topics

• Austin, A. and C. Gobeil, Embodying the Divine: A Tattooed Female Mummy from Deir el-Medina, BIFAO 116 (2017), 23-46.
• Eyre, C., Women and prayer in pharaonic Egypt, in: Decorum and experience (2013), 109-116.
• Hoffmann, F., Warlike women in ancient Egypt, CRIPEL 27 (2008), 49-57.
• Köpp, H., Weibliche Mobilität im Alten Ägypten: Frauen in Sänften und auf Streitwagen, in: Miscellanea in honorem Wolfhart Westendorf (2008), 34-44.
• Lesko, B.S., Women’s Monumental Mark on Ancient Egypt, The Biblical Archaeologist 54 (1991), 4-15.
• Morris, E., Paddle Dolls and Performance, JARCE 47 (2011), 71-103.
• Szpakowska, K., Hidden voices: Unveiling women in ancient Egypt, in: A companion to women in the ancient world (2012), 25-38.

Dissertations

• Li, J., Elite Theban Women of the Eighth-Sixth Centuries BCE in Egypt: Identity, Status and Mortuary Practice (Berkeley 2010).
• Lisle, M., The presence and involvement of women in religious practice of the nineteenth dynasty (Macquarie 2014).
• McCorquodale, K.E., Representations of the family in the Old Kingdom: Women and Marriage (Sydney 2010).
• O’Brien, A.A., Private tradition, public state: Women in demotic business and administrative texts from Ptolemaic and Roman Thebes (Chicago 1999).