Tea at Trianon: Sobekneferu: The First Female Pharaoh of Egypt?

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Thursday, February 9, 2023

Sobekneferu: The First Female Pharaoh of Egypt?

From The Collector:

Sobekneferu (also Nefrusobk, Neferusobek, Sobekkara) ruled as king of Egypt from 1760-1756 BCE and was the last King of the 12th Dynasty (1938-1756 BCE). Her name means “beauties of Sobek” and relates to the crocodile god. The kings of the 12th dynasty had made Fayoum their economic and religious center, and it was here where crocodiles were worshipped and cared for.

The structure of Egyptian royalty was undoubtedly meant for men. The Pharaoh was seen as the earthly manifestation of the male god Horus, and it was normal and expected that the king would be succeeded by his eldest son. However, fate would have it that every so often, this system failed, and a woman found herself on the throne of Ancient Egypt.

Sobekneferu’s father was Amenemhet III; however, it is unclear which of his wives was her mother. With her father’s death, the throne passed to her (maybe half) brother, who by this time was getting on in life. Some have claimed that her brother was also her husband; however, the evidence for such a claim is somewhat hazy. (Read more.)