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The first female warrior attested to historically is Queen Ahhotep I of Egypt (l. c. 1570-1530 BCE) who put down a rebellion by the Hyksos when her son, Ahmose I, was campaigning against the Nubians. In literature, the first mention of women warriors comes from Homer's Iliad (8th century BCE), which references the Amazons.
Whether attested to by historical or literary documents, women warriors are nothing new. According to Greek mythology, Epipole of Carystus disguised herself as a man to fight in the Trojan War, and the Assyrian queen regent Sammu-Ramat (r. 811-806 BCE) is said to have led troops and is also believed to be the inspiration for the legendary warrior queen Semiramis. It is possible that Queen Hatshepsut of Egypt (r. 1479-1458 BCE) did the same long before Sammu-Ramat, but this has been challenged.
Recent criticism claiming that women warriors are somehow an invention of 21st-century revisionist historians is untenable as historical and literary works spanning thousands of years argue otherwise. The following image gallery presents a sample of ancient, medieval, and modern warrior women from around the world.
Questions & Answers
Who is the first female warrior attested to historically?
- The first female warrior attested to historically is Queen Ahhotep I (l. c. 1570-1530 BCE) of Egypt's New Kingdom, who is said to have put down a rebellion by the Hyksos.
Who is the first female warrior attested to in literature?
- The Amazons are the first female warriors attested to in Homer's Iliad of the 8th century BCE.
Were there female gladiators in ancient Rome?
- Yes. Female gladiators are attested to by ancient Roman writers and archaeological evidence.
Were there North American Native female warriors?
- Yes. Among the best-known Native American female warriors are Weetamoo of the Wampanoag, Buffalo Calf Road Woman of the Northern Cheyenne, Pretty Nose of the Arapaho, and Lozen of the Apache, among many others.
License & Copyright
Original image by Juan R. Lazaro. Uploaded by Mark Cartwright, published on 03 March 2017. The copyright holder has published this content under the following license: Creative Commons Attribution. This license lets others distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon your work, even commercially, as long as they credit you for the original creation. When republishing on the web a hyperlink back to the original content source URL must be included. Please note that content linked from this page may have different licensing terms.
