Great Wife, otherwise appearing in

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali ...

as Senior Wife, is an honorific applied to contemporary royal and aristocratic consorts in states throughout modern

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

(e.g., Mantfombi Dlamini of eSwatini, who once served as the chief consort of a

Zulu King This article lists the Zulu monarchs, including chieftains and kings of the Zulu royal family from their earliest known history up to the present time. Pre-Zulu The Zulu King lineage stretches to as far as Luzumana, who is believed to have li ...

History

In ancient Egypt, the

pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: '' pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until th ...

's principal consort was known as the

great royal wife Great Royal Wife, or alternatively, Chief King's Wife ( Ancient Egyptian: ''ḥmt nswt wrt'', cop, Ⲟⲩⲏⲣ Ⲟⲩⲣϣ), is the title that was used to refer to the principal wife of the pharaoh of Ancient Egypt, who served many official ...

. She presided over her husband's

harem Harem ( Persian: حرمسرا ''haramsarā'', ar, حَرِيمٌ ''ḥarīm'', "a sacred inviolable place; harem; female members of the family") refers to domestic spaces that are reserved for the women of the house in a Muslim family. A har ...

, and served a variety of priestly functions in the kingdom. In

Kush Kush or Cush may refer to: Bible * Cush (Bible), two people and one or more places in the Hebrew Bible Places * Kush (mountain), a mountain near Kalat, Pakistan Balochistan * Kush (satrapy), a satrapy of the Achaemenid Empire * Hindu Kush, a ...

and the other African states of the pre-colonial period, the chief royal consorts often functioned in much the same fashion.

Today

The practice of creating great wives, with the most senior

polygynous Polygyny (; from Neoclassical Greek πολυγυνία (); ) is the most common and accepted form of polygamy around the world, entailing the marriage of a man with several women. Incidence Polygyny is more widespread in Africa than in any ...

spouses of contemporary African royals and aristocrats often being referred to as their ''Great Wives'', has continued to the present. In addition to the queen of the Zulus, contemporary holders of the title have included the numerous bearers of the

Olori Agba Olori, otherwise appearing as Oloorì, is a title of honour within the chieftaincy system of the Yorubas of West Africa. It is typically translated from the Yoruba language as either queen consort or, more correctly, princess consort. Usage Ol ...

attribute of

Yorubaland Yorubaland () is the homeland and cultural region of the Yoruba people in West Africa. It spans the modern-day countries of Nigeria, Togo and Benin, and covers a total land area of 142,114 km2 or about 60% of the land area of Ghana. Of this ...

and the principal consort of the

Ingwenyama iNgwenyama (also ''Ingwenyama'') is the title of the male monarch of Eswatini. In English, the title is sometimes translated as King of Eswatini. The iNgwenyama reigns together with the Ndlovukazi, a spiritual leadership position held by the ...

Eswatini Eswatini ( ; ss, eSwatini ), officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and formerly named Swaziland ( ; officially renamed in 2018), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its no ...

List

References

{{Reflist Royal consorts African culture

History

Today

List

See also

References