Neferu Sobek...the unknown queen of Egypt of the golden age
She was the first queen in Pharaonic history to obtain the “five royal titles,” and her era witnessed great stability and prosperity in the Pharaonic state, and with the end of her rule, the Twelfth Dynasty ended. Who is this intriguing queen?
Queen Neferu Sobek, the holder of five royal titles and nicknamed “The Lady of All Women,” is one of the queens who ruled ancient Egypt and astonished the peoples of the world in the modern era, especially the countries of Europe, whose scholars and wealthy people were able to learn a lot about the history of ancient Egypt and its secrets, through what They carried out excavations and excavations for the antiquities of kings, queens, and nobles of the Pharaohs.
It is not yet known the location of the tomb of Queen Neferu Sobek, who is considered one of the most amazing queens of ancient Egypt, due to her many achievements. Therefore, Ayman Abu Zeid, President of the Egyptian Society for Archaeological and Tourism Development, called for opening the door for Egyptologists and archaeologists to search for the tomb of this Pharaonic queen, similar to what was done during a radar survey in the Valley of the Kings area in western Luxor, in search of the tomb of Queen Nefertiti.
Abu Zeid explained to the German News Agency that “it is not known with certainty” where Queen Neferu Sobek, who ruled Egypt alone for several years, was buried, and her period of rule enjoyed stability. Many specialists believe that she is the owner of the unfinished pyramid built of mud brick in the north of the village of Mazghouna in the archaeological area of Dahshur, south of Giza Governorate.
Through discoveries in Luxor, Giza, and other Egyptian cities, archaeologists learned a lot of information about Egyptian queens who ruled the country, and about the status of women in the time of the pharaohs, such as Nefertari and Nefertiti. In addition to them, there are other queens who are not known to many despite their rule of the country alone, such as the rule of Queen Hatshepsut, who enjoys wide fame and whose temple carved into the rocks of Mount Qurna, west of the city of Luxor in Upper Egypt, receives thousands of tourists every day.
A ruler without a partner
For his part, Dr. Mamdouh El-Damaty, an Egyptologist and former Egyptian Minister of Antiquities, told the German News Agency that women in ancient Egypt were able to have a role in governance, and were even able to reach power and be crowned as the ruling queen. El-Damaty points out that Queen Neferu-Sobek, also pronounced “Sobekneferu,” was one of the queens who ruled ancient Egypt after she succeeded her brother and husband, King Amenemhat IV, in power, and she had the opportunity to gain independence with power without a partner or competitor.
According to El-Damaty, this queen was able to rule the country and enjoyed a stable political situation in Egypt and Nubia. Her era was not marred by any rebellions against her rule, and her cartouches were not erased after her death, as happened with Queen Hatshepsut. He pointed out that the name of Queen "Nefru Sobek" was found on many of the artifacts she left behind in Fayoum Governorate, in Tel El Dabaa in Sharkia Governorate, in Ahnasia in Beni Suef Governorate, and at the Second Waterfall in Nubia.
Neferu Sobek, according to El-Damaty, was the first queen to hold the “five royal titles.” She was called “Hor: Merit-Ra” (meaning the beloved of Ra), and “Nebti: Sat-Sekhem-Nebt-Tawi” (meaning the daughter of the powerful, Lady of the Two Lands), and “Hor Nebo: the grandmother of Khau” (i.e., the one who fixed the crowns), and “Nasu Beti: Ka Sobek Ra” (i.e. the consort of the deity Sobek-Ra), and finally she was called “Sa Ra: Neferu Sobek Shediti” (which is the personal name and means the beauty of the deity Sobek. ).
With the end of the rule of Neferu Sobek, the rule of the Twelfth Dynasty ended, and with it a page of ancient Egyptian history turned. It is noteworthy that ancient Egypt knew several Pharaonic queens who ruled Egypt with what is known as “private right,” independent of their husbands. Some of the queens were commoners and others were women of the Pharaoh, but some of them carried the title of queen because they ruled Egypt, and some of them were content to participate with their husbands and take care of managing the affairs of the king’s palace. and his harem, some of whom assumed powers in managing state affairs.
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