Gender, Deities, and the Public Image of Sobekneferu

Sobekneferu ascended the Egyptian throne near the end of the Twelfth Dynasty. She was not only the first female king but also the first royal woman for whom we have evidence of cross-dressing. From the record she has left us it is clear that the gender-incongruent imagery associated with Egyptian warrior goddesses established a foundation for her composite imagery. Sobekne-feru embraced masculine poses in her statues, masculine titles and grammatical endings in her inscriptions, and on her Louvre statue she adopted masculine dress. This paper illustrates how her multiple-gendered works were inspired by well-entrenched ideas organic to Egypt, how her self-styled image was based on historic prototypes, and how her transgression of social gender boundaries was sanctioned by religion.