Editing Woman (section)

== History ==
The earliest women whose names are known include:
* [[Neithhotep]] (c. 3200 BCE), the wife of [[Narmer]] and the first queen of ancient Egypt.<ref>Aidan Dodson & Dyan Hilton (2004). ''The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt''. Thames & Hudson. {{ISBN|0-500-05128-3}}.</ref><ref>J. Tyldesley, ''Chronicle of the Queens of Egypt'', 2006, Thames & Hudson.</ref>
* [[Merneith]] (c. 3000 BCE), [[Queen consort|consort]] and regent of ancient Egypt during the [[First Dynasty of Egypt|first dynasty]]. She may have been ruler of Egypt in her own right.<ref name="books.google.co.uk">{{Cite book |author=Wilkinson, Toby A.H. |author-link=Toby Wilkinson |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AR1ZZO6niVIC&q=merneith+wife+daughter&pg=PA74 |title=Early dynastic Egypt |publisher=Routledge |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-415-26011-4 |page=74 }}{{Dead link|date=May 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>Aidan Dodson & Dyan Hilton (2004). ''The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt''. p. 140. Thames & Hudson. {{ISBN|0-500-05128-3}}.</ref>
* [[Peseshet]] (c. 2600 BCE), a [[physician]] in [[Ancient Egypt]].<ref>Plinio Prioreschi, ''A History of Medicine'', Horatius Press 1996, p. 334.</ref><ref>Lois N. Magner, ''A History of Medicine'', Marcel Dekker 1992, p. 28.</ref>
* [[Puabi]] (c. 2600 BCE), or Shubad&nbsp;– queen of [[Ur]] whose tomb was discovered with many expensive artifacts. Other known pre-Sargonic queens of Ur (royal wives) include Ashusikildigir, Ninbanda, and Gansamannu.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Women, Crime, and Punishment in Ancient Law and Society: The ancient Near East |author=Elisabeth Meier Tetlow |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ONkJ_Rj1SS8C&pg=PA221|publisher=[[Continuum International Publishing Group]] |isbn=978-0-8264-1628-5 |year=2004 |access-date=29 July 2011|page=221}}</ref>
* [[Kubaba|Kugbau]] (''circa'' 2,500 BCE), a taverness from [[Kish (Sumer)|Kish]] chosen by the [[Nippur]] priesthood to become hegemonic ruler of [[Sumer]], and in later ages deified as "Kubaba".
* [[Tashlultum]] (c. 2400 BCE), [[Akkadian Empire|Akkadian]] queen, wife of [[Sargon of Akkad]] and mother of Enheduanna.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Women, Crime, and Punishment in Ancient Law and Society: The ancient Near East |author=Elisabeth Meier Tetlow |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ONkJ_Rj1SS8C&q=Tashlultum&pg=PA245 |publisher=[[Continuum International Publishing Group]] |isbn=978-0-8264-1628-5 |year=2004 |access-date=29 July 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Mesopotamia and the ancient Near East |author=Michael Roaf |author-link=Michael Roaf |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SapVAAAAYAAJ&q=Tashlultum |publisher=Stonehenge Press |isbn=978-0-86706-681-4 |year=1992 |access-date=29 July 2011}}</ref>
* [[Baranamtarra]] (c. 2384 BCE), prominent and influential queen of [[Lugalanda]] of [[Lagash]]. Other known pre-Sargonic queens of the first Lagash dynasty include Menbara-abzu, Ashume'eren, Ninkhilisug, Dimtur, and Shagshag, and the names of several princesses are also known.
* [[Enheduanna]] (c. 2285 BCE),<ref>{{cite web |author=Samuel Kurinsky |title=Jewish Women Through The Ages&nbsp;– The Proto-Jewess En Hedu'Anna, Priestess, Poet, Scientist |url=http://www.hebrewhistory.info/factpapers/fp036_women.htm |publisher=Hebrew History Federation}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Jennifer Bergman |title=Windows to the Universe |url=http://www.windows2universe.org/people/ancient_epoch/enhedu.html |website=www.nestanet.org |publisher=National Earth Science Teachers Association |date=19 July 2001}}</ref> the [[Ordination of women#Sumer and Akkad|high priestess]] of the temple of the [[Sin (mythology)|Moon God]] in the [[Sumer]]ian city-state of [[Ur]] and possibly the first known poet and first named author of either gender.<ref>{{cite book |first1=J.M. |last1=Adovasio|first2=Olga |last2=Soffer|first3=Jake |last3=Page |title=The Invisible Sex: Uncovering the True Roles of Women in Prehistory |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MBFNkKKypdMC&q=The+Invisible+Sex:+Uncovering+the+True+Roles+of+Women+in+Prehistory |publisher=Smithsonian Books & Collins (Harper Collins Publishers) Smithsonian Books |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-06-117091-1 |pages=278–279}}</ref>
* [[Shibtu]] (c. 1775 BCE), king [[Zimrilim]]'s consort and queen of the Syrian city-state of [[Mari, Syria|Mari]]. During her husband's absence, she ruled as regent of Mari and enjoyed extensive administrative powers as queen.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Women, Crime, and Punishment in Ancient Law and Society: The ancient Near East |author=Elisabeth Meier Tetlow|publisher=[[Continuum International Publishing Group]] |isbn=978-0-8264-1628-5 |page=84|date=2004}}</ref>

The glyph (♀) for the [[Venus|planet]] and Roman goddess [[Venus (mythology)|Venus]], or [[Aphrodite]] in Greek, is the [[Gender symbol|symbol]] used to represent the female sex.<ref>{{cite book |title=Encyclopedia of Theory & Practice in Psychotherapy & Counseling |date=2014 |publisher=LuLu Press |isbn=978-1312078369 |editor1-last=Fadu |editor1-first=Jose A. |page=337}}</ref><ref name="Stearn1962">{{cite journal |last1=Stearn |first1=William T. |author-link=William T. Stearn |date=May 1962 |title=The Origin of the Male and Female Symbols of Biology |journal=Taxon |volume=11 |issue=4 |pages=109–113 |doi=10.2307/1217734 |jstor=1217734}}</ref><ref name="Schott2005">{{cite journal |last1=Schott |first1=GD |date=December 2005 |title=Sex symbols ancient and modern: their origins and iconography on the pedigree |url= |journal=[[The BMJ]] |volume=331 |issue=7531 |pages=1509–10 |doi=10.1136/bmj.331.7531.1509 |pmc=1322246 |pmid=16373733}}</ref> In ancient alchemy, the Venus symbol stood for [[copper]] and was associated with [[femininity]].<ref name="Schott2005" />