Ancient Egypt: A beginner's guide
Egyptian women
Websites
Women and Gender in Ancient Egypt
www.umich.edu/~kelseydb/Exhibits/WomenandGender/
title.html
Academic website based on an exhibit at the University of Michigan's
Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, which deals with the status and representation
of Egyptian women from prehistory to late antiquity.
Women in Ancient Egypt
www.womenintheancientworld.com/
women_in_ancient_egypt.htm
Good website on the position of women in this ancient society, including
information on clothing and fashion, economic concerns, literacy and religion.
Books
Women in Ancient Egypt by Gay Robins (British Museum Press, 1993).
Out of print; may be available from second-hand bookshops.
Using primary sources, this book provides a review of the lives of Egyptian
women between 3000 BC and AD 332. It deals chiefly with the élite
class since the peasants left little mark, and shows how, despite restrictions,
some women wielded great power in ancient Egypt.
The Harem Conspiracy: The murder of Rameses III by Susan Redford
(Northern Illinois University Press, 2002). US edition only; may be available
from online bookshops.
Archaeologist Redford discovers the threads of a murder conspiracy among
the women of Rameses III's harem. Evidence is accumulated from ancient
papyri and careful readings of temple carvings, and a theory involving
divisions between clans and rival lineages culminating in a murder plot
is put forward. This explanation of the harem conspiracy casts new light
on crime, punishment and the role of women in Egyptian society, as well
as the legacy of the assassination as a contribution to the decline of
Egyptian power.
