Great Royal Wife

While most ancient Egyptians were monogamous, a male pharaoh would have had other, lesser wives and concubines in addition to the Great Royal Wife.

[5] Meretseger, the chief wife of Senusret III, may be the earliest queen whose name appears with this title; she also was the first consort known to write her name in a cartouche.

After the death of her husband, she became regent because of the minority of her stepson, the only male heir (born to Iset), who eventually would become Thutmose III.

Although other women before her had ruled Egypt, Hatshepsut was the first woman to take the title, pharaoh, as it was a new term being used for the rulers, not having been used before the eighteenth dynasty.

When she became pharaoh, she designated her daughter, Neferure, as God's Wife of Amun to perform the duties of high priestess.