Nitocris

Old Kingdom (2700–2190 b.c.)

Dynasty VI (exact dates unknown b.c.)

The kings list in Abydos, Egypt, lists a pharaoh named Merenre II. This ephemeral ruler, who reigned for only a single year, would have been married to Queen Nitocris. According to the Egyptian historian Manetho (ca. 280 b.c.), Nitocris was the last ruler of the Sixth Dynasty. Another kings list also places her immediately after Merenre II, describing her as "king of Upper and Lower Egypt." This woman, whose fame grew in the Ptolemaic (Greek) Period in the guise of the mythical Rhodopis, was the first known queen to exercise political power over Egypt.

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