• = historical event

■ = literary event

1570 B.c.

• Queen Ahmose Nefertari, sister and principal wife of King Ahmose, rules as "god's wife," in a new position created by a law enacted by the King.

C. 1490 B.c.

• Queen Hatshepsut rules as pharaoh, several years after the death of her husband, King Thutmose II.

C. 1360 B.c.

• Queen Nefertiti rules Egypt alongside her husband, pharaoh Akhenaten.

C. 620 B.c.

• Sappho is born on the Isle of Lesbos, Greece.

C. 600 B.c.

■ Sappho organizes and operates a thiasos, an academy for young, unmarried Greek women.

• Spartan women are the most independent women in the world, and are able to own property, pursue an education, and participate in athletics.

C. 550 B.c.

• Sappho dies on the Isle of Lesbos.

C. 100 B.c.

• Roman laws allow a husband: to kill his wife if she is found in the...