This morning I point you to some tantalizing images from the (expensive) exhibition Queens of Egypt that just closed at Monaco's Grimaldi Forum. The show focused on a topic near to my heart, the role of women in ancient Egypt, especially those who held positions of power. Grégoire Allix talked with curator Christine Ziegler, formerly of the Louvre's Egyptian antiquities department, who attempted to balance scholarship with accessibility in the exhibition to highlight what we know about these intriguing women:
She believes that women enjoyed an unusual position in ancient Egypt.
"Monogamy was the rule for ordinary subjects. Women... were allowed to
work, own property and bequeath it, and they could be priestesses." But
royalty was a masculine preserve. Only a very few, like Hatshepsut or
Cleopatra, succeeded in rising to the rank of pharaoh and ruling in
their own name.
I was obsessed with Hatshepsut when I was a little girl, and of course Cleopatra has fascinated authors and artists alike for centuries with her famous sensuality, so awesomely portrayed recently by Lyndsey Marshal in HBO's Rome. I love the queens' depictions in the ancient art as well, so powerfully serene. I think I might need to pop into the Art Institute's Egyptian galleries when I'm in Chicago next week...