Welcome to our countdown of the top 10 amazing women whose deeds echo through the ages. From scribes who penned the first verses to physicians who defied gender norms, each of these trailblazers carved a niche in a world that often tried to silence them.
Top 10 Amazing Women of Antiquity
10 The First Poet
Among the earliest scripts humanity ever devised, the cuneiform tablets of ancient Mesopotamia, dating back to roughly 3100 BC, hold some of the most treasured texts we know. Within this treasure trove, the very first author whose name survives is Enheduanna, a princess‑priestess who flourished around 2300 BC.
Born to the mighty conqueror Sargon of Akkad, Enheduanna received the honorific “En,” a title reserved for high‑ranking lords. When Sargon seized the city of Ur, he appointed his daughter as chief priestess, granting her authority over the city’s most sacred rites. It was in this elevated position that she crafted the hymns and poems that would secure her fame for millennia.
While the bulk of her work venerates deities such as Inanna, some verses reveal personal turmoil—particularly after her father’s death, when she was expelled from her temple. In one poignant lament she declares, “He has turned that temple, whose attractions were inexhaustible, whose beauty was endless, into a destroyed temple. While he entered before me as if he was a partner, really he approached out of envy.”
Eventually Enheduanna reclaimed her priestly role, and her compositions continued to be copied, recited, and revered for as long as the Mesopotamian cities stood.
9 The First Chemist
Long before the modern laboratory emerged, ancient Mesopotamians were already employing techniques that mirror today’s chemical practices. One such pioneer was Taputti, a woman whose name appears on a small clay tablet identifying her as a perfumer and overseer of a royal palace. This makes her the earliest known chemist by name.
The tablet tells us that Taputti used a still—apparently the first recorded mention of this piece of equipment—to distill fragrant essences from various plants, creating perfumes that would have delighted the elite of her time.
Even more intriguing, the same tablet hints at an assistant whose name ends in “‑ninu,” a suffix indicating a female identity. Though the tablet is damaged, the fragment suggests that Taputti was not alone in her chemical endeavors, pointing to a broader presence of women in early scientific work.
8 The First Portraitist
According to the Roman author Pliny the Elder—though some scholars debate the tale—a woman named Dibutades (also known as Core) is credited with inventing portraiture and pioneering the modeling of clay busts. Legend says that when her lover prepared to depart on a long sea voyage, she was heart‑broken. She traced his silhouette on the wall with charcoal so she could keep his image close.
Dibutades’s father, a skilled potter, was inspired by his daughter’s ingenuity. He fashioned a clay model of the traced outline, mixing pigments to create a lasting tile that preserved the lover’s likeness for posterity.
Her contribution earned her acclaim in antiquity, and during the Enlightenment many artists produced their own renditions of Dibutades as a tribute to her pioneering spirit.
7 The First Alchemist
Maria Prophetissima, better known as Mary the Jewess, lived in Egypt around the first century AD and is often hailed as the earliest alchemist in the Western tradition. Although none of her own writings survive, later scholars cite her extensively, preserving many of her groundbreaking ideas.
Mary’s fragments are cryptic, featuring enigmatic statements such as, “One becomes two, two becomes three, and out of the third comes the one as the fourth.” Yet her practical innovations endure: she refined a type of distillation vessel that resembles modern glassware and introduced the water‑bath technique—now called a bain‑marie—to keep experimental temperatures below the boiling point of water.
These contributions have persisted through the centuries, influencing both scientific practice and culinary arts.
6 The Mathematician
Alexandria, Egypt, was a beacon of learning in antiquity, its famed library drawing scholars from far and wide. The city’s golden age waned as the era of Hypatia of Alexandria drew to a close, and her tragic death symbolized that decline.
Hypatia, a woman of remarkable intellect, taught publicly while donning the traditional male scholar’s attire. She authored treatises on mathematics, crafted sophisticated astronomical models, and produced commentaries on earlier thinkers. Her reputation as a teacher was unrivaled.
Her close association with the Roman governor Orestes placed her in the crosshairs of the Christian bishop Cyril. When tensions erupted, a mob of Christians destroyed the remnants of Alexandria’s library and brutally attacked Hypatia, tearing her apart with broken roof tiles. Her death marked a grim turning point for the city’s intellectual legacy.
5 The Assassin
Jael (also spelled Yael) appears only briefly in the Old Testament’s Book of Judges, yet she occupies a striking dual role as both heroine and assassin. The Israelites, oppressed by the Canaanite general Sisera, found an unlikely ally in Jael.
When Sisera fled the battlefield, he sought refuge in Jael’s tent. She welcomed him warmly, offering a blanket and a drink of milk. Exhausted, Sisera fell asleep, only to meet a grisly end when Jael drove a tent peg through his skull.
Although her act breached the ancient code of hospitality, the Song of Deborah celebrates her bravery: “Extolled above women be Jael, Extolled above women in the tent.” Thus, she is remembered as a fearsome champion of her people.
4 The Diver
During Xerxes’s massive Persian invasion of Greece, the Greeks achieved a series of astonishing victories. One decisive moment was owed to Hydna, a skilled diver from the island of Scione, and her father Scyllis, a renowned swimming instructor.
Tasked with sabotaging the Persian fleet, Hydna and Scyllis swam out ten miles into the Aegean, untying the ships’ moorings and dragging their anchors, causing chaos and wreckage among the enemy vessels.
In recognition of their heroism, statues of Hydna and her father were erected at Olympia. Later, the Roman emperor Nero pillaged these works, taking Hydna’s statue among the many spoils he collected from across the empire.
3 The Warrior Poet
Telesilla, a Greek poet from Argos who lived around 500 BC, began life as a frail child. Seeking a cure, she consulted an oracle, which advised her to devote herself to the Muses. Embracing this counsel, she became a celebrated poet, though only fragments of her verses survive today.
When Sparta threatened Argos, the city’s male defenders were slain. Telesilla rallied the remaining populace, assigning slaves and elderly men to the walls while arming the women. She led these women into battle, refusing to let the enemy capture the city.
The Spartans, expecting a quick rout, were taken aback by the women’s resolve. Realizing they could not achieve glory through a facile victory, they withdrew, and Argos survived. A statue commemorated Telesilla, depicting her discarding her books for a helmet, symbolizing the union of art and arms.
2 The Philosopher
In classical Athens, women of respectable birth were confined to private quarters, barred from public life. The only women who enjoyed a modicum of freedom were the hetairai—high‑class courtesans famed for their conversational prowess. One such figure, Leontion, entered the intellectual circle of Epicurus.
Epicurus’s Garden welcomed slaves, the poor, and women alike, encouraging open philosophical debate. Though little of Leontion’s own writings survive, we know she corresponded directly with Epicurus, who praised her in letters: “My dear Leontion, what transports of joy did I feel when I read your charming letter.”
Later, the Roman orator Cicero expressed shock at her audacity, remarking, “Leontion, that mere courtesan, who had the effrontery to write a riposte to Theophrastus—mind you, she wrote elegantly in good Attic.” Her legacy highlights both the possibilities and perils faced by women philosophers.
1 The Doctor
In ancient Athens, medicine was dominated by men, and childbirth—once overseen by experienced midwives—had been appropriated by male physicians. Agnodice, a determined Athenian woman, refused to accept this exclusion.
She cut her hair, disguised herself as a man, and traveled to Alexandria to study medicine. Upon returning to Athens, she continued the masquerade, gaining the trust of female patients by revealing her true sex only to them. Her skill soon eclipsed that of her male colleagues, prompting them to bring her to trial for allegedly seducing patients.
During the courtroom showdown, Agnodice simply disrobed, exposing her gender and dispelling the seduction accusations. While new charges of practicing medicine as a woman emerged, her patients stormed the court, demanding her acquittal. Their collective outcry secured her freedom and cemented her place as a pioneering physician.