Considering there were so little female pharaohs, it must have not been easy for a woman to become one.Īs a result of believing women should be housewives, people probably did not accept or even expect much from a female in a higher position nevertheless a pharaoh. As for Cleopatra who had two male siblings and a rumored three sisters, she was the one who managed to get the throne and soon rule by herself. Because of this, the position of pharaoh was almost always handed down to the male son or the male following the current pharaoh. Men had higher occupations such as scribes, priests and merchants whilst women would stay home and be housewives. At this time period, women were respected and equal to men in every area except for occupations. A great number of the Ancient Egyptian pharaohs were male making it an only estimated seven female pharaohs. Gender is a obvious differentiation from Cleopatra and the other pharaohs. This however is not the only thing that differed Cleopatra from the other gods. She instead learned over the set up limitations and applied this useful information to become a successful leader. This demonstrates Cleopatra taking advantage of her luxury of having a personal tutor and did not limit her education to politics and religion like most pharaohs usually did. According to the website,, it states, “although he spoiled his children to the utmost of his ability, he also believed that education was very important therefore, he ensured that each child had his/her own tutors”. Moreover, Cleopatra also specialized in astronomy, physics, art, literature, music, medicine and alchemy, that goes beyond than the knowledge of the woman at that time period knew. She instead learned the language which comes to show the independent woman she was.
Unlike other Egyptian pharaohs who didn’t even know the language, Cleopatra did not want to rely on interpreters. Because of her quick mind, Cleopatra knew nine languages including Egyptian.