This book is about women in ancient Egypt, and is mainly concerned with the Predynastic and Pharaonic periods, from 5000 BC to 300 BC. The later periods are only briefly included as Egypt was increasingly subject to influence from Greece and Rome. There have been many fine books on women in ancient Egypt but those purporting to be for a general readership often gloss over controversy and those written for scholars can appear dull. The aim of this book is to appeal to the general reader but also to introduce contemporary scholarly research in Egyptology. The book is intended to make people think; it is a book for the educated lay person and the student of Egyptology or women in history, a book which makes an understanding of the past relevant to the present.
The book’s title should be explained. For most of this long period of history, and for both rich and poor, Hathor, or goddesses linked to her, influenced how human women were perceived and, in turn, human women would have influenced how this goddess was perceived. For the Egyptians, Hathor was the goddess of female sexuality par excellence, and more temples were built to her than any other Egyptian goddess. She was revered in statues, paintings, feasts and dance. While it was mainly women who danced for her, men at times also did so; the king himself danced for Hathor.
However, we should not assume that all aspects of gods and goddesses were mirrored in the lives of everyday men and women. While ancient Egyptian gods were not the distant all-powerful beings of religions such as Judaism, Islam and Christianity, they were still different from humanity. So, while they might appear human, eating, drinking and making love, and were even being subject to practical jokes, or illnesses, deities were not human. Gods and goddesses, for example, might be portrayed as androgynous, but normal people were not. Kings, however, who were in part gods, could be portrayed as both male and female.
I would like to thank several individuals who in some ways contributed to this book. Firstly, my husband, Paul Graves-Brown, who has been encouraging and supportive, should have some of the credit, though none of the blame, for mistakes herein. Additionally, many thanks to all those women who have believed in me, helped, encouraged and acted as role models, in particular, my mother Carol Brown, but also Rosemary Cramp, Daphne Stanford and most recently, Wendy Goodridge. Finally, I should like to thank Continuum for allowing me to publish this book.