For centuries, the image of the ancient Egyptian princess has been shaped by ideas of ceremony, beauty and royal privilege. But a new scientific study suggests that some princesses of the Middle Kingdom (2030–1650BC) were highly trained, physically capable women who may have mastered weapons such as bows and maces. Their story challenges the assumption that women in the ancient world were largely observers of power, rather than participants in it.
New scientific analysis published in Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology has shed light on the activities of these royal women. It has found evidence of a group of princesses who were practised archers.
