New insights into prevalent Old Kingdom women's titles

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    Abstract

    Traditionally, scholars associate many of the known Old Kingdom women’s titles with conferring association, social status, or marital status instead of functional positions. Understanding how titles relate to a person’s rank, affiliation, and occupation is often challenging, and obtaining meaningful translations can be difficult. Women’s titles even more so because androcentric lenses determined many of the original translations. Building upon earlier challenges to these gender biased determinations and owing to the culmination of new evidence from recent archaeological excavations, new interpretations, and a recent dedicated study has brought new insights into some of the most prevalent women’s titles from this period. This paper aims to transform existing narratives on some of the women’s roles from Early Dynastic and Pyramid Age Egypt (c. 3080-2181 BCE) by offering new perspectives into women’s involvement, influence, and impact on the state’s socioeconomic structure in early Egypt. In particular, the meaning and significance of the titles ır͗ı(͗ t) ḫt nswt/rḫ(t) nswt, mıt͗ rt, ẖkrt nswt, ẖkrt nswt wꜥtt, and ḏryt are reconsidered. The methodology employed in this research applies an interpretative and theoretical approach to women’s titles. It offers the ability to reframe the narratives and contribute new interpretations of the lives and times of a cross-section of the female population who held these titles.
    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publicationCurrent Research in Egyptology 2023
    Subtitle of host publicationproceedings of the Twenty-Third Annual Symposium, University of Basel, 10-14 September 2023
    EditorsL. Dogaer, C. H. W. Fong, E. L. Hertel, M. Kilani, G. K. H. Lunden
    Place of PublicationOxford, UK
    PublisherArchaeopress Publishing
    Pages221-233
    Number of pages13
    ISBN (Electronic)9781803278223
    ISBN (Print)9781803278216
    Publication statusPublished - Sept 2024
    EventCurrent Research in Egyptology annual symposium (23rd : 2023) - University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
    Duration: 10 Sept 202314 Sept 2023

    Conference

    ConferenceCurrent Research in Egyptology annual symposium (23rd : 2023)
    Abbreviated titleCRE 2023
    Country/TerritorySwitzerland
    CityBasel
    Period10/09/2314/09/23

    Keywords

    • women
    • titles
    • Early Egypt
    • social power
    • agency

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