Sobekneferu (r. -1799 to -1795), aka Neferusobek, was the first known queen of Egypt to rule in her own right, not in the name of an underaged son. She completed the Labyrinth, which the Ancient Greeks would gawk and marvel at over a thousand years later. She was the last ruler of the 12th Dynasty and its 200 years of peace and prosperity. The last of her line, in death she was worshipped as a goddess.
“Sobekneferu” means “Beauty of Sobek”. Sobek was the crocodile-headed god of the Fayum where her family was from. She built temples to him, especially in Crocodilopolis, the centre of his cult. She was also a priestess of Ra and of Amenemhat III (r. -1855 to -1808), her own father, whose religious cult she set up.
It is not uncommon for Egyptian dynasties to end with a queen. Not because women are bad rulers but because they are a sign the dynasty has run out of male heirs, leaving an opening for a new dynasty. In Sobekneferu’s case, Egypt went on as before, but after her death power passed peacefully to the 13th Dynasty. It seems that during her reign the top families had agreed to a rotating succession, where each family held the throne for two years or so. Egypt did not go into decline till some 50 years after her death.
Incest: Her father had a harem of hundreds of women. And yet his only male heir was Amenemhat IV, her brother – and husband. And he died after only nine years on the throne, leaving her in charge. It seems that 200 years of incest had caught up with them. Growing up she expected to marry her father, but wound up marrying her brother instead. They produced no son. Kings married sisters and daughters to keep power within the family and to maintain the balance of power among elite families. For the 12th Dynasty it helped to keep the peace for 200 years. But in the long run incest leads to sterility, leaving no male heirs, bringing the dynasty to an end.
The she-king: As queen she was called a king. The Egyptian word for queen just means “king’s wife”, of which there were many. She wore a male kilt over her dress, making no attempt to hide that she was a woman. In fact, her royal titles were feminized. For example, the hawk in her royal name was a female hawk. Her style of rule was also different, ruling by consensus rather than force. She played up her father more than a male ruler would have.
Statue: The statue pictured above is probably her. She certainly has her grandfather’s big ears and stern look. What seems to be its lower half identifies her as a king. The statue, kept at Berlin, was destroyed during the Second World War by Allied bombing.
Tomb: Her tomb, much less her body, has not (yet) been found. There are two pyramids in Mazghuna that are probably hers and her brother’s – they were built at the right time. The northern one is probably hers, but the name of its owner has not yet been found.
– Abagond, +2023.
See also:
- Egypt: a brief history
- Egyptian queens:
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Abagond 
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