If you ask ChatGPT4 for a complete list of early rulers of ancient Egypt, you’ll likely get a list of male names. If you ask it who Neith-Hotep was, it doesn’t know. The gender bias in the ChatGPT3.5 and 4 data is very real. But it is wrong. In actuality, we now know that the second ruler in proto-dynastic Egypt was a woman. In fact, she is the earliest historical female that we know by name: Neith-Hotep, which means “Neith (a war goddess) is satisfied.” You can see her signature seal below, which is a stylized person holding a crossed arrows, and perhaps a mace. The name was often placed next to a building, which symbolizes an administration building or palace.

Originally, Neith-hotep was erroneously thought to be a male, because of the royal serekh around their name, indicating (usually male) kingship, and also because of the outstandingly large size of her mastaba (tomb), whose niches resembled a palace facade. But then, archeologists began to decipher the earliest Egyptian hieroglyphics writing, (contemporaneous with early Mesopotamian cuneiform writing,) and realized that she was female. She is thought by some to be the same individual as Teti in the King Lists.

In Neith-Hotep’s case, not only was her name found inside a serekh, but also, inside a rare double-serekh, meaning that she ruled twice, once as a ruler in her own right, presumably after the death of her husband King Narmer (aka Menes, Unifier of Upper and Lower Egypt around 3150 BCE), and a second time as an interim ruler, presumably after the earlier death of her son, Pharaoh Hor-Aha. The fact that there was an interruption in the succession after Hor-Aha, called an “intereggnum,” is also mentioned in the Stone of Palermo.

Her symbol was found in the Wadi Ameyra region of Sinai as well, thought to be graffiti from an expedition travelling east on her behalf. (1st image above.) The appearance of her name along this known trade route suggests that Pharoah Neith-Hotep commanded a substantial expedition to that region to import food items and to mine for precious minerals. Ordering such an expedition would not have been within the powers of a mere queen consort. She had to have royal powers of kingship to accomplish this.

In addition to her “Horus” name of “Neith-Hotep” and the possibility of the King’s List name of “Teti,” she definitely held other royal titles which were handed down to later female pharaohs, including “consort of the two ladies” and “foremost of women”.

Queen Neith-Hotep’s origins are disputed. Some believe her to have been from the region of Naqada in Upper (southern) Egypt, because of the location of her tomb there, despite the fact that she must have ruled from Memphis (in northern Lower Egypt), since Pharaoh Narmer moved the capital there. On the other hand, some surmise that she was a princess of Lower (northern) Egypt, because such a political union would also have served to seal Narmer’s rule of the Two Lands. Her origins remains a mystery. In her Naqada grave, cosmetics, stone bowls, ivory tags, obsidian fragments, and clay seal impressions were found, along with items bearing the names of King Narmer and King Hor-Aha. The material from which the objects were made were difficult to source and indicate an individual of extremely high status. Her name was also found in the tombs of her son Hor-Aha and her grandson Pharoah Djer at Abydos, south of Naqada.

One additional fact that may be of relevance is that the goddess Neith was the patron goddess of the coastal Mediterranean city of Sais in Lower Egypt. The temple to Neith in that city was built by Pharaoh Hor-Aha, Queen Neith-Hotep’s son, as was the mastaba for her in Naqada. Obviously, her son held her in enormous regard, along with the rest of the Two Lands.

So now you know about the first female pharaoh known in history, mother and ancestor of future pharaohs, both male and female, whose name was found inscribed from the southern area of Abydos all the way to the Sinai peninsula. Queen Neith-Hotep is a neglected, forgotten historical giant. Share her story and let it be known!