Abstract
In recent years, scholars have begun examining the vast collection of references to cultures of the ancient Mediterranean in heavy metal music. In terms of gender analysis, such studies have focused almost exclusively on the reception of Greek and Roman men such as Achilles, Alexander, and Aeneas as icons of strength, masculinity, and heritage that appeal to a metal subculture that is still disproportionately male and white (e.g., Djurslev 2015 and Fletcher 2020). In this paper, we aim to fill the gaps in scholarship on metal’s reception of both ancient women and ancient Egypt, with special attention to how bands from across the globe perpetuate, nuance, and reinterpret orientalist tropes of Egyptian women. In keeping with the usually sexist representation of women in metal, Egyptian queens are often presented as heavily sexualized (e.g., Nefertiti), manipulative and scheming (e.g., Nitocris), or both (e.g. Cleopatra VII). Using these three queens as case studies, we show how these archetypes often fit into an orientalizing framework that reproduces an otherization of Egypt already present in the work of Classical authors such as Herodotus. Egyptian women in metal music are illuminating examples of how peripheral topics can offer an opportunity to critically reassess traditional academic discourses in Classics.