Wonder Woman of the Week: Ahhotep I

This week's heroine comes all the way from Ancient Egypt. Ahhotep I was an Egyptian queen whose story is mostly lost to history- meaning the little evidence historians and Egyptologists have of her is all to remember her by. That little bit of information we have though tells a legendary tale. Ahhotep was the daughter of royalty. In some versions the daughter of the pharaoh and in others the daughter-in-law (with Ancient Egypt, this sometimes meant both). At one point, Ahhotep was the king's consort, but- after the pharaoh died- Ahhotep ruled as steward while her oldest son grew old enough to rule.

Ahhotep I ruled as "substitute pharaoh" during a tumultuous time in Egypt. The Second Intermediate Period was marked with the dissolution of the unified Lower and Upper Egypt (north and south respectively) of the Old Kingdom, and Ahhotep's Seventeenth Dynasty witnessed the invasion of the Hyksos. One story etched in stone describes a single sentence describing a Hyksos siege of Thebes- the capital city of Ahhotep's kingdom- detailing Ahhotep's organization of the city's defense and leading of its defenders in battle.

Ahhotep I lived long enough to see her son become pharaoh and lived well into old age as the queen mother. She may have even been a queen grandmother for her granddaughter whose eventual marriage to Thutmose I would bring about the Eighteenth Dynasty. That relationship between grandmother and granddaughter likely played a major impact on young Ahmose who would in turn have a daughter who would become one of the most famous Egyptian women- Hatshepsut. Ahhotep was likely more than just a trainer of powerful women, she may have inspired greatness among her sons as well. A recent claim from Egyptologist David Rohl details the probability of Ahhotep being the inspiration for the Greek character Io whose relationship with Zeus would produce major heroes of Greek mythology including Perseus and Heracles.