Queen MeritNith is the very first queen in the history of ancient Egypt actually recorded as having reigned. Her name meant ‘beloved of Nit’. She was 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. She was given a funerary structure at the Royal funerary enclosure at Abydos as well as funerary monument at Saqqara.

Queen Nefertiti, the wife of Akhenaten, is also one of the most famous of the queens of Egypt. She was renowned for her beauty. Nefertiti was the chief queen of Egypt during her husband’s reign, at least up until the twelfth year. The mummy of Nefertiti remains missing. To date, only jewellery bearing her insignia has been found.

Queen Hatsheput preferred to dress in men’s clothing in order to prove her status as pharaoh. Upon the death of her father, she married her half brother as was customary, when he acceded to the throne.

Her rule continued successfully for some fifteen years, when she mysteriously vanished. It is thought that her nephew and his advisor might have plotted her death as he came of age. The mystery of her deaths seems destined to remain just that, no tomb or mummy of her have been ever found.

Little is known about queen Nitocris. Another queen named Sobekneferu had her name inscribed in a cartouch. Her Horus name appears in a serekh beneath the cartouche: ‘The Female Hawk, Beloved of Re’ and the title ‘Lady of the South and North’.

Queen Aahotep I was married to King Sekenen-Re Taa II. She was probably influential in driving out the Hyksos from Egypt. 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 Ahmose Nefertari was a New Kingdom influential queen with political and religious titles. She was the first one to carry the title of God’s Wife of Amun. She was involved in the king’s building projects.