The term ‘harem’ conjures images of veiled women lounging in incense-filled rooms, often dressed in revealing clothing, segregated from the outside world. However, this image, if it can be applied to any historical period without being stripped of its elements of Orientalist fantasy, most closely pertains to the Ottoman harem. As such, there is good reason to question the use of ‘harem’ in reference to ancient Egypt. There was, of course, a royal women's quarters in ancient Egypt, referred to as ipt nsw, and Egyptian pharaohs were polygamous, taking multiple wives. Yet the Egyptian ‘harem’, while housing the pharaoh's wives and children, among other women,, was also an administrative unit, nor were the women isolated from the outside world. Given the connotations the term carries, as well as its differences…
