Several years ago, I published a book, Notable Women in World History. The goal was to identify 500 women born outside of the United States who had achieved something noteworthy, summarize their lives, and briefly annotate five biographies of each published since 1970. What I discovered was that five hundred women did not have authentic biographies available, and those with none had to be excluded. I changed my criteria to include at least one full-length biography and more if available. Of those remaining women, three noteworthy women come from BCE (Before Common Era). Since many accomplished women have not been included in written history, we must acknowledge those who have been and keep them part of our history.
The earliest of these three women, Hatshepsut (1503(or 8)-1458 BCE), was the first woman pharaoh and ruler of Egypt in two thousand years. The daughter of Thutmose I, she married her half-brother, Thutmose II, and when he died in 1479 BCE, she became regent to his young heir, Thutmose III. In 1473 BCE, she assumed the title of pharaoh, the king. Although she may have fought in Nubia, her reign was generally peaceful, prosperous, and productive. She had a mortuary temple constructed at Deir el-Bahri in Thebes showing scenes of her birth and her achievements, such as bringing the obelisks to the temple at Karnak and retrieving cargoes from the expedition to the Land of Punt on the Red Sea. After her murder, Thutmose III removed her followers from their exalted positions and began his rule. By the time he died, he had smashed her statues and tarnished her reputation. Later historians characterize her rule as progressive with ambitious architectural projects and trade expansion. Proabably many more women have led countries but been erased from history by jealous men.
The second Egyptian queen, Nefertiti (c. 1370-1330 BCE), became the queen of Egypt as the wife of Akhenaton. The daughter of Queen Tiy and Amenhotep III, she promoted and then rejected her husband’s new religion worshipping the sun god Aten as the main Egyptian deity. She raised her half-brother Tutankhamen, educated him, and, after Amenhotep III died, arranged his marriage. When she had him crowned at Karnak, she ensured continuation of her power, with him reinstating the old religion. She has been known only to scholars since the nineteenth century, and information about her comes almost wholly from sites, monuments, and inscriptions. In 1912, archaeologists found a bust that they identified as Nefertiti, and it is one of the most widely recognized Egyptian artifacts. It now exhibits in Berlin’s Neues Museum.
Aspasia (470?-400 BCE) of Miletus, noted for her beauty, genius, and political influence, was the consort of Pericles, the Athenian statesman, after he secured a divorce from his first wife. Since she was not an Athenian citizen, they could not legally marry; therefore, their son, considered illegitimate, was not allowed citizenship. Aspasia was interested in many things; subsequently, her home became a gathering place for the learned and distinguished people of Athens. Associates of the young Socrates knew her well, and she has the reputation of being the teacher of Sophocles. She was one of the two women (Diotima is the other) whom Plato mentioned in his writing. Aspasia influenced many of the decisions that Pericles made, and some historians have held her responsible for the Samian revolt and the Peloponnesian War. She is a character in the play Menexentis, and comedies often attacked her private life and her public influence on Pericles. Information about her after Pericles died of plague in 429 BCE became scarce, but she most likely continued to influence male Athenians as a rare woman in Athens who held intellectual and social power. Modern historians do recognize her influence.
These three women exerted their positions to improve conditions in Egypt and Greece. Unfortunately, we have no biographies in English about other women before 100 BCE although we can sense that many aided civilization’s advances.