Encyclopedia: Nitocris I, the Empress Who Endured Through the Ages (Part 1) [Fourth Update]

Female Pharaoh Nitocris: June 21, circa 2200 BC–September, 2113 BC. A pharaoh of Egypt's Sixth Dynasty, she was an outstanding stateswoman, military strategist, artist, and poet of the Sixth Dynasty. Her reign marked the end of Egypt's Old Kingdom and the beginning of the Middle Kingdom.

The era ruled by Nitocris was the most prosperous period in the history of the Egyptian kingdom.

Perhaps it could be said that Pharaoh Nitocris was the most famous pharaoh in ancient Egyptian history, as well as the most legendary female ruler in the world—without equal.

She lived a life steeped in legend.

She was a powerful queen, an invincible general, a stateswoman revered by all her people, and a tireless builder.

Crowned with all these honors, Nitocris I (Nitocris I, Nitocris the Great) reigned for approximately sixty-nine years, and she still enjoyed this renown to this day.

Her enemies feared her, her subjects loved her, and her gods blessed her.

Living during Egypt's Sixth Dynasty, Nitocris I left an indelible mark not only on Egyptian history, but on human history as well.

At eighteen, she took the throne from her husband and royal brother, Merenre II.

During her reign, she had neither a royal consort nor any children. She was truly a chaste queen.

Rumor had it that although Pharaoh Nitocris never chose a royal consort in her life, she had a lover—a yellow-skinned man from the East. Such accounts were common in unofficial histories, but in the eyes of most historians, they were nothing more than baseless nonsense. There was no evidence that people from the East had crossed continents and oceans to reach Egypt in distant Africa.

Nitocris lived an extraordinarily long life. At a time when ancient Egyptians had an average lifespan of just over forty years, she lived to