Ancient History Essay: Comparing Female Rulers Cleopatra and Wu Zhao

This essay provides a comparative analysis of two prominent female rulers from ancient history: Pharaoh Cleopatra of Egypt and Empress Wu Zhao of China. It explores the unique circumstances surrounding their rise to power and the challenges they faced in patriarchal societies. The essay highlights their leadership strategies, including Cleopatra's use of intelligence and sexuality and Wu Zhao's consolidation of the Tang dynasty. It delves into the cultural differences between Egypt and China, examining how these differences shaped their leadership styles. The essay also discusses the similarities in how both rulers had to navigate societal expectations and overcome gender-based obstacles to assert their authority. The conclusion reflects on the enduring relevance of their experiences and the ongoing struggle for female empowerment.

Running head: ANCIENT FEMALE RULERS
ANCIENT FEMALE RULERS
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Topic: Comparison of the ancient female rulers
The objective of this essay is to compare Pharaoh Cleopatra and Empress Wu Zhao.
These two rulers exemplified female leadership, autonomy and courage and autonomy during a
period when the dominance of female leadership was not heard by many people. Given the time
period in which these female rulers reigned, there were restrictions of the governance by female
rulers in the countries and the kingdoms. Considering this as the backdrop, the aim of this essay
is to discuss about Empress Wu Zhao and Pharaoh Cleopatra.
Empress Wu Zhao and Pharaoh Cleopatra
Countries like China and Egypt are known for propagating and upholding the principles
of a patriarchal culture. Before this there have been no trace of female leadership in the age of
monarchy as it were men who the sole legitimacy to rule the country or assume the title of
pharaoh or emperor (Luiselli, 2014). This brings us to an important question that in a period
when female monarchical leadership was prohibited. This was a period that was exemplified
with rule by women in the world where women did not have the privilege to assert their
supremacy and dominance. Therefore, the discussion becomes interesting to understand in what
ways the and strategies these female leaders ruled despite potential challenges and barriers in the
patriarchal society. Both these women, Tang Empress Whu Zetain of China (born 624 CE
currently in the Shanxi province and died on 16th December, 705 in Luoyang) and Pharaoh
Cleopatra of Egypt became the rulers of their respective countries under unusual circumstances.
In the context of Tang Empress Wu Zetian she could not have ruled the country of China unless
the situation of illness, incapacity to rule and the looming of death would have dominated the life

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of her emperor-husband Wu Zetian. All these circumstances paved the path for her reign in
China and propelled her to descend the throne of her husband. Wu Zetian commenced and
continued her reign along with her husband, Gaozong. Another name for Wu Zetian is Wu Zhao.
During the period of her rule, the Tang dynasty was consolidated and the entire empire was
unified. She entered the Tang Dynasty as a concubine at the age fourteen and consorted with
Gaozong. She is known for wiping out her female rivals and in 655 she ascended the position of
the empress. She used her authority to bring about the downfall of the elder statesman of the
kingdom and she exercised great influence on the kingdom (Abusch, 2001). The elderly
statesmen had opposed her ascendance to the throne and challenged her rising position. The
opposition against her was not tied to her gender along but also because of her social rank as she
was her gender. Wuhou did not belong to the royal clan and her ascendency was seen as a heresy
to the established order. It was in the year 660 that Wuhou had triumphed over her opponents,
exiled and dismissed the opponents and finally executed them. WuZetian did not even spare the
uncle of the emperor who was the head of the family of the Changsun, was of imperial descent,
and ruined the relatives of the uncle.
Cleopatra VII of Egypt was born in the year 69 BCE. She was the last of the Hellenistic
rulers in the Ptolemaic dynasty and was the daughter of Ptolemy XII. Cleopatra received her
education from different tutors and that played an important role in her mastering the Egyptian
language (Date with the Pharaohs 2010). In case of Cleopatra knowing the Egyptian language
proved to be beneficial as it allowed her to assert her power over the referent subjects and
thereby establishing a unique connection with the subjects. She ruled the kingdom with alacrity
and ensconced her position through her astuteness and intelligence. The polytheistic and the
fatalistic culture in Egypt gave the rulers status as similar to the God. Much like the rulers of the

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Egyptian kingdom who adopted the title of the God and capitalized on this Egyptian tradition,
Cleopatra followed the same route. The divine status of Cleopatra rendered her the confidence
and this belief shaped the opinion of the public. She had confidence in her godliness that
rendered her a sex-appeal that was of great interest for the powerful men in her kingdom.
Cleopatra believed that that it was rightful position and she was a powerful goddess-like ruler.
Similarities and the differences
The cultures of Egypt and China have both convergences and the divergences. The
Chinese society is known for being highly conservative, authoritative and discipline. Everything
is laid out for the citizens. All the citizens are expected to engage in extreme competition. In this
culture, it is men who are more vocal compared to women and the women are expected to
remain subservient and meek (Sayre 2015). On the other hand, Egypt is considered to be a more
expressive society where the communication is considered extremely important. Another aspect
of the culture of Egypt is that being productive is considered to be important. There is a strong
military presence and continuous funds for all the individuals.
Two things I learned
In case WuZetain it was found that she rose like the phoenix given her earlier status as a
concubine to the ascendancy to the throne in the Chinese kingdom. In case of Pharaoh Cleopatra
it can be seen that she used her intelligence and sexuality to rise her way to the top and
capitalized on the Egyptian tradition of godliness to entrench her position. It can be stated that
even if women attained higher status through their abilities, their intentions were always
questioned and so as their legitimacy as rulers. This continues to be the situation even in the year
2018. Secondly, I learnt that WuZetian and Pharaoh Cleopatra had to face challenges of ruling in

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a patriarchal culture where women were expected to remain subordinate to men. If women could
ruled despite all the challenges during that time, this could be possible in the present day too.

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References
Abusch, T. (2001). The Development and Meaning of The Epic of Gilgamesh: An Interpretive
Essay. Journal of The American Oriental Society, 121(4), 614.
Date with the Pharaohs. (2010). Science, 328(5985), pp.1449-1449.
Luiselli, M. (2014). Personal Piety in Ancient Egypt. Religion Compass, 8(4), pp.105-116.
Sayre, Henry M. (2015). The Humanities: Culture, Continuity & Change: Volume 1 (Third
Edition). Boston, MA: Pearson