Theory: Archaeologists believe that this burial site at Abydos in central Egypt may actually be the final resting place of Egypt’s forgotten ‘woman king’, Meret-Neith.

King Djet, Meret-Neith’s husband, and his son, King Den, were among the rulers of the First Dynasty of ancient Egypt, but recent excavations suggest that she may also have had such power.

WHO WAS MERET-NEITH?

Meret-Neith was the wife of King Djet and mother of King Den, who were among the rulers of the First Dynasty of ancient Egypt.

She may also have been the first female ruler, reigning around 2950 BC

Inscriptions discovered inside his tomb suggest that Meret-Neith held several important government positions around 3000 BC. C., including a role in the treasury.

His name had already been discovered along with that of his son in an inscribed list of rulers in his tomb at Saqqara.

Experts say this suggests she may have ruled as regent during Den’s youth, which may explain why she is the only woman to own a large tomb in Egypt’s oldest royal cemetery at Abydo.

Her name means “beloved of the goddess Neith.”

Jars filled with grape seeds, some of which were remarkably well preserved and still in their original state, are among the oldest evidence of wine ever discovered.

They were discovered by a team of archaeologists led by Christiana Köhler from the University of Vienna.

“The wine was no longer liquid and we cannot tell if it was red or white,” he said in a statement.

‘We found a lot of organic residue, grape seeds and crystals, possibly tartar, and all of this is currently being scientifically analyzed.

‘It is probably the second oldest direct evidence about wine; the eldest also comes from Abydos.

Köhler added: “The new excavations bring to light new and interesting information about this unique woman and her time.”

Thanks to careful excavation methods and various new archaeological technologies, experts were also able to establish that the Meret-Neith tomb complex was built in several construction phases and over a relatively long period of time.

First discovered by archaeologists in 1900, it was found to have been made from mud bricks, clay and wood, and included the tombs of 41 courtiers and servants.

However, this is not the only other evidence of great power.

Inscriptions discovered inside the tomb suggest that Meret-Neith held several important government positions around 3000 BC. C., including a role in the treasury.

Thirsty work: The Meret-Neith tomb was first discovered in 1900, but the discovery of 5,000-year-old wine during recent excavations at the burial site led experts to their surprising conclusion.

The jars, some of which were remarkably well preserved and still in their original condition, are among the oldest evidence of wine ever found. In the photo the grape seeds appear inside.

His name had already been discovered along with that of his son in an inscribed list of rulers in his tomb at Saqqara.

Experts say this suggests she may have ruled as regent during Den’s youth, which may explain why she is the only woman to own a large tomb in Egypt’s oldest royal cemetery at Abydo.

“The very fact that his name was added to the king list shows that something very important must have happened to Meret-Neith,” Ronald Leprohon, professor emeritus of Egyptology at the University of Toronto, told LiveScience.

However, according to Köhler, what exactly that was remains a mystery.

“No other queen of the early dynastic period possessed so many royal privileges,” Jean-Pierre Patznick, an Egyptologist at Sorbonne University in France, who was not involved in the recent excavation, previously said.

Clever: Thanks to careful excavation methods and various new archaeological technologies, experts were also able to prove that the Meret-Neith tomb complex was built in several construction phases and over a relatively long period of time.

The 5,000-year-old tomb was discovered in Abydos, central Egypt, in 1900. However, new excavations are helping to learn more about Meret-Neith’s possible rule in ancient Egypt.

However, even if Meret-Neith ruled, she probably would not have been considered a “pharaoh.”

This is because experts say the term emerged much later, around the 18th Dynasty, between 1550 and 1295 BC.

It has been suggested that the title, meaning “great horse”, may have been coined by Queen Hatshepsυt because it was gender neutral.

However, questions about Meret-Neith’s status and influence are “at the center of the ongoing investigation,” according to Köhler.

She added: “I am almost certain that once we have completed the excavation of this enormous complex, we will know more.”

WHO WAS QUEEN HATSHEPSUT?

As a woman who lived in the golden age of Egypt, Hatshepsυt was not destined to be king.

Her gender prohibited her from ascending the throne even though she was of royal lineage.

The gods of Egypt had supposedly decreed that the role of king could never be filled by a woman and, although a pharaoh needed a queen to reign with him, she could never rule alone, although there were later notable exceptions.

Hatshepsut refused to submit to this and, to circumvent the rule, claimed that she was married to the king of the gods and therefore had as much right to sit on the throne as any previous pharaoh.

Her brazen approach worked and she had herself crowned around 1473 BC. C., changing her name from the feminine version Hatshepsυt, which means Chief of the Noble Ladies, to the masculine version, Hatshepsυ.

As a woman who lived in Egypt’s golden age, Hatshepsυt (pictured) was not destined to be king. Her gender prohibited her from ascending the throne even though she was of royal lineage.

She reinforced her power by decorating the temples of the gods with portraits of herself in the pharaoh’s traditional kilt, sporting all the symbols of her office, including the black, pointed royal beard.

While conducting affairs of state surrounded by male courtiers, she may have even worn men’s clothing.

However, statements found earlier show that at the beginning of her reign she liked tight dresses that highlighted her figure and it is said that she had the habit of sleeping with her cabinet ministers.

Hatshepsυt was the first, but not the only, female ruler of male-dominated ancient Egypt.

Nefertiti followed her and then Cleopatra took power 1,500 years later, but none took the title of pharaoh like Hatshepsυt.

He showed ruthless ambition and tenacity exceptional for the time in which he lived.

As a result, this mysterious and brave female ruler rewrote the early history of her country and has been called the first great woman in history.

Hatshepsυt insisted that her father, Pharaoh Thυtмosis I, had named her official heir to the throne.

The pharaoh had several sons who predeceased him and turned to his daughter to safeguard the throne.

What immediately followed was not unusual. Hatshepsυt married a much younger half-brother, also named Thυtмosis, whereupon she became queen.

Marriages between siblings were customary at that time and at first the couple reigned together.

But then her brother/husband died, and the marks on her body suggested she was suffering from a hideous skin disease.

Hatshepsυt became regent of another Thυtмosis, her husband’s son by a hare girl. At that point he was no longer content to simply be regent.

Within two years, she had assumed full power and ruled the country from her capital, Thebes, wearing her false beard and all the traditional regalia of royalty.

For many years she and her stepson seemed to have lived happily with this arrangement.

She ruled while Thυtмosis concentrated on his military career. He was so successful that historians know him as the Napoleon of Egypt.

Historians suspect that these campaigns were an excuse to escape the influence of his ruthless stepmother.

In her later years she was becoming so power-mad that Thυtмosis even feared for her life.

In their absence, Hatshepsut built impressive temples in her own honor. They were decorated with reliefs that told how he came to the throne of Egypt and with unlikely stories about his divine connections.

Hatshepsυt ruled as a great politician and stateswoman for 20 years.

She died around the age of 50 from cancer, according to recent research, and is expected to be buried in her most beautiful and well-known temple near the Valley of the Kings.

But it seems that Thυtмosis III took the back of the woman who usurped his throne, burying her in a lesser place.

He survived Hatshepsut by 40 years and appears to have started a campaign to erase her name from history.

She threw her statues into the quarries in front of the great temples she built and even defaced the images of her courtiers.